Terri Schiavo

Not too many days ago My Wife, an Aunt and I stood in the hallway of a local hospital just outside the room where my Mother lay in a coma. Mom's Doctor had called us out to tell us that no more could be done and it would be best if we let Mom "Go on". The Doctor assured us that everything possible would be done to keep her as comfortable as possible.
I knew Mom would not be fed or given drink but I insisted that the fluid drip being administered be maintained to impede dehydration.
Mom had suffered an enormous brain bleed and her entire brain cavity was filled. She still managed to open her eyes on two occasions and occasionally tears would fall from her eyes. Her mouth was open and very dry.
At times my daughter or I would take a popsickle sponge and dip it in cold water and swab it around in Mom's mouth. She would clamp down on the sponge very hard as if she was starving for a drink. The medical staff seemed to think this was just a "reflex".
Mom passed on in a few days. She stayed heavily medicated and never came out of her coma. However she responded every time we put the cool water in her mouth even to within a few minutes of her last breath. I believe Mom was aware of some sound and stimuli.
My experience was not unique but, very difficult.
The experience lets me fully sympathize with the family of Terri Shiavo who is not in a coma, who responds to certain stimuli and lives on the food supplied through her feeding tube. Her parents and brother want her to live and have expressed many times their willingness to care for her. The expressions I have observed in her eyes were not the expressions I observed in Mom's eyes which were closed except for a few brief moments.
Terri knows she is loved and being cared for. She exudes the appearance of want.
If the feeding tube is removed it cannot be replaced and Terri will experience what our great courts and societal bleeding hearts term Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
Whoaaaa! A sadistic murderer who has killed, mutilated, maimed, tortured and placed untold grief on families is afforded thousands and sometimes millions(courts don't work cheap) of dollars for upkeep and trial and is spared from that tortuous gallows, gas chamber or the "sparky hot seat" because the manners of execution may maim, torture or mutilate. So let the poor things get "needled". Execution witnesses want to keep it "R" rated.
Terri has committed no crime, however, a ludicrous scenerio has developed and seems to dictate her fate. The husband wants to let his wife die(no living will) and the court says O.K. Hmmmn! Will Mother's in Law be next? If YOU read this please pray for Terri Schiavo and please become a voice in future elections if not already. And say a prayer for the souls of the husband and Judge who purport to do God's work for him.