The Right To Die [Say Anything]

The Supreme Court will not get involved with the Terry Schiavo case.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court refused to get involved Monday in the case of Terri Schiavo, clearing the way for the husband of the severely brain-damaged Florida woman to have her feeding tube unhooked by a state court order.

Barring an unlikely change of heart by Florida judges, Schiavo, now 41, could die soon in a nursing home — nearly 15 years after she lapsed into a vegetative state.

"It's judicial homicide. They want to murder her," Robert Schindler, Schiavo's father, told reporters Monday. "I have no idea what the next step will be. We are going to fight for her as much as we can fight for her. She deserves a chance."

The justices dismissed without comment Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's claim that he had the power and responsibility to keep Schiavo alive after a state judge authorized removal of the tube through which she received food and water.

The governor was appealing a September decision by Florida's Supreme Court that found "Terri's Law" — a measure passed by the state Legislature that gave Bush the one-time power to order the tube reinstated — violated the separation of powers.

What an ugly situation. I'll not get into the details of this particular case as I haven't really been following it closely enough, but since I do know that the situation became complicated because no one knew (for sure) what Mrs. Schiavo's opinion on the matter is I will ask this question: Has the time come for the government to begin requiring the creation of wills on behalf of its citizens?

A lot of judicial time is used up by court cases involving the last wishes of deceased people. A lot of that time and energy could be saved if citizens were required to keep on file at the local court house a copy of their will. We could also require that they address situations like Schiavo's in the will, choosing the conditions under which they'd like to be kept alive or allowed to die.

Wouldn't that save everybody a lot of headaches and heart aches?

[Cross-posted at Say Anything]

posted by Ace at 10:00 AM

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