DEEPER INTO THE DARKNESS OF "PRIVACY".(Terri Schiavo)

Discussions following release of the Terri Schiavo autopsy report have been thoughtful, caring and deep, from people on all sides of the issue. That she was irreversibly brain dead and blind, in a "persistent vegetative state," is now beyond dispute. But, still, what is the meaning of "life" in such a case?...

The issue in the Schiavo case was simpler: privacy. -- That is precisely what happens many thousands of times, each year, out of the limelight: Families in all corners of this country, confronting the unsought requirement to make difficult end-of-life choices, do so reverently, privately and honorably. --editorial ("Revisiting Schiavo--The only issue was privacy") in the Minneapolis Star Tribune (6/17/2005)

Schiavo died of dehydration, said Dr. Jon R. Thogmartin, chief medical examiner for Pinellas and Pasco counties... .

Thogmartin also said that if her feeding tube had remained intact, and ailments common to bed-ridden patients had been properly tended to, Schiavo might have lived another 10 years. The finding that she had been under no threat of imminent demise was seized upon by advocates for her parents as proof that her death was unnecessary, as well as immoral. --Los Angeles Times wire story by John-Thor Dahlburg & Karen Kaplan in the same issue of the Minneapolis Star Tribune (6/17/2005)

Ms. Schiavo was not starved to death. She died of dehydration after her feeding tube was removed in March. ...

In short, the medical experts who testified that Ms. Schiavo was beyond recovery were right. So too were the 19 judges who reviewed the case and, based on medical evidence and the law, determined that her husband, Michael Schiavo, legally spoke for Terri.

We are a nation of laws, and the law in this case was clear. Ms. Schiavo did not have a living will or other written notice of how she wished to be treated if incapacitated. Mr. Schiavo said that his wife didn't want to be kept alive through extraordinary measures. We hope overreaching lawmakers learned a lesson here, although most appeared unapologetic this week. --editorial in the Miami Herald (6/17/2005)