I've been thinking a lot about this Terri Schiavo case these past few days - it's almost literally impossible to avoid - and here's how I see it.
The whole case boils down to the right to refuse medical care. People who do not believe in the use of modern medicine to prolong life - Jehovah's Witnesses, etc - exercise this right all the time. They get cancer, and instead of being treated, they pray, and they usually die. Their right to do so has never been successfully challenged.
In the Schiavo case, 11 separate courts have decided that the best evidence we have is that Terri communicated to her husband, her best friend, and her brother-in-law that she would not want to be kept alive with "tubes" and would not want to be in a completely dependent state, as she clearly is. In my opinion, that's the end of the argument. There is no compelling evidence that she has changed her wishes, so you have to fall back to what you know.
Sure, it's possible that her husband is lying about her wishes, but why the hell would he do that? No one can come up with a reasonable motive. He stands to gain nothing from her death. The only thing the other side can come up with are wild conspiracies that he's trying to cover something up, they know not what.
The TV is constantly showing video of Terri, and seeing those videos can cloud the issue for the best of us. Seeing her look around and appear to smile, our instinct is to assign all the qualities of human life that we associate with those looks. But that's just us. That's not her. More importantly, though, that's not the point.
Whatever she looks like, whether she appears to be in pain or not, the only information we have points to her indicating she would not want to be kept alive. Our laws are not about keeping alive anyone who makes us feel something or who appears to be free from pain; they are about keeping alive those who wish to be kept alive, and allowing those who do not to die in peace.
At least, those used to be our laws.
Finally, I can't end without quoting the following exchange between Larry King and John MacArthur, pastor of the Grace Community Church, just because it's so mind-blowingly hypocritical.
MACARTHUR: I think, that's a bad promise. You've got to take that one back.
KING: Bad promise.
MACARTHUR: Yes, you've got to take that one back. You can't take a life. The Bible says, God says, I give life, I take life, I am the Lord.
KING: So, therefore, you're against capital punishment?
MACARTHUR: Oh, no.
