clamping my hand over my mouth ... almost

I have watched the rising furior over the Terri Schiavo case in Florida and kept my mouth shut.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (March 21) - A federal judge weighed the fate of a brain-damaged Florida woman on Monday, acting hours after the U.S. Congress and President Bush intervened to push the highly charged right-to-die case back into court.
U.S. District Judge James Whittemore issued no decision yet after holding a two-hour hearing to consider a request from Terri Schiavo's parents to reinstate tube feeding for their 41-year-old daughter that was halted three days ago.

I was online earlier, checking mail, and checking the news, when I came upon some pictures of protestors holding signs concerning this much publicized debate. One sign said, "She is disabled, not dead yet," and another said "Don't let the judges murder Terri." As near as I could tell, these protestors have never met Terri Schiavo personally. They have no family interest, nor will their lives be changed in any way by the passing of Mrs. Schiavo. Their interest is in furthering the power of their political might.

If you haven't been following the story, it goes like this. Her husband wants to remove the feeding tube and allow Terri to live or die of her own volition. Terri's parents claim that she is sometimes responsive and could recover. They have gone to court to stop the tube removal. Now, the tube has been removed. It will take one to two weeks for Terri to die without the tube. She is brain dead. She will not suffer. Michael, the husband, claims that he has Terri's best interest at heart. He says that she would not want to be alive like this. Whether that is the case or not, I do not know. Whether she is responsive or not, I do not know.

I do know this much. This issue is a family issue. It is not a congressional issue. It is not a presidential issue. It is not a moral majority issue. It is not a Christian Conservative issue. all these sides that want to be involved have forgotten who is going to suffer from all this. When this is over, they will all go their way. Somewhere, in some archive, this story will be buried. Terri Schiavo will be forgotten. Her accomplishments as a person will be forgotten. Her impact on the lives of her family and friends will be forgotten by these political groups. The rift between the husband and the family will never heal, but will not even be a footnote in these archives.

Too many have lost sight of the issue, and the issue is not the issue, the issue is one woman. It is about one person. It is about a husbands right to act in the best interest of his wife.

My opinion in this is irrelavant, except to me and my wife. What I think should have no bearing on the outcome of this personal matter. That is my take.

Everyone needs to step back and let it be decided by those that will miss her when she is gone. Everyone else, back off !