I am watching the Terri Schiavo case with great sadness. She is the woman who has been in a coma for 17 years as a result of a heart attack that left her in what some doctors are describing as a vegetative state. The husband who is clearly abusing his power as her court appointed guardian is claiming that her wish was to not live in this condition. Of course it took him 7 years to figure this out. His interest in this is IMHO clearly suspect. There was a large amount of money involved when he filed a lawsuit some years ago against the doctors who treated her. The money was supposed to be used for her care but it isn't at all clear that it was. He has moved on with his life and currently lives with a woman and the two have children together. For some odd reason, he has not divorced Terri and it appears as if it is so he doesn't lose power over this very sad situation. Her parents would like to try to give her a chance at therapy which it appears she has been denied by the husband. His being her guardian seems to be a conflict of interest in what is best for this woman. What is truly unbelievable is that the courts have gotten involved and have supported the husband and his decisions every step of the way despite the fact that there remain serious questions surrounding his involvement in this woman's life. Terri's friends report that just before this terrible incident occurred, the two were contemplating filing for a divorce. If this is true, wouldn't you think that judges would be a little cautious about awarding this man guardianship?

The parents are pleading for the opportunity to take over her care and give her therapy that they feel might improve their daughter's situation. The American government seems to have decided that the parents don't have any rights and continue to ignore questions surrounding the husband's intentions. In the meantime because Terri's feeding tube has been removed, she is near death this Easter weekend. It tears my heart out to think of how these parents are suffering. I think I can relate to this terrible situation because of the helplessness these parents must be feeling. They are powerless to change the outcome because the judicial system absolutely refuses to see their side of this. This is THEIR daughter. The husband should not have any say in the outcome of this as he has clearly moved on with his life. The parents are going to be the ones that will have to live the rest of their days in pain because they were denied the opportunity to try and improve their daughter's situation. The husband is (IMHO) so cruel that he is even denying the parents the kind of burial that they want for their daughter for religious reasons. He wants to have her remains cremated and they do not.

I think the American judicial system is out of control. They have way too much to say in our lives and many of their decisions are out of this world bizarre. I won't get into my own experiences with them and my own terrible frustration of helplessly watching them make poor decisions. I will just say I think they are making a terrible mistake not giving Terri's parents the rights that they should clearly have over their dying daughter. My heart goes out to the parents and I am so sorry that they too are victims of a judicial system gone mad. That judge in Florida should be ashamed of himself. What a self-righteous moron. Where there is life there should always be hope. All these pundits that are speaking out in favor of pulling out the woman's feeding tube will move on and never look back . On the other hand the parents will be left to suffer the consequences of the judges' poor decisions. Their case will be forgotten by all the ˜experts'. I am ashamed to belong to a society that would go along with these heartless decisions. Let Terri have a chance to live simply because that is what the people who most care about her want. Her parents. That's really all that should matter.

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You see it doesn't really matter that Terri is probably in a vegetative state. Her parents want to keep her with all her imperfections and THEY have hope things could improve. We can discuss the ethics of this ad nauseum. I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't want to be kept alive like that. The truth is that the courts don't really know what Terri wanted and are just judging this based on hearsay from a person who's motives aren't clear. Assuming that she is essentially brain dead, what harm would it do to allow her parents to care for her? She won't know either way. Maybe they will try further treatment and decide that it is hopeless? But the truth is, as long as they want this, why should other people tell them what to do. Surely nobody really knows what's right. Since when are judges God?

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