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For days I have avoided this subject not wanting to comment on a hot issue that’s been in the forefront of the national news. Terri Sciavo will die anyday now. God rest her soul. There are hundreds of cases every year of families making life decisions in the United States.

What makes this one special? Families usually are united in making such decisions. In the case of Terri Schiavo, her husband wants her struggle to end, while Terri’s parents want to preserve her life. Then came the courts ordering the feeding tube to be removed.

For days, America have argued and moralized if the decision to remove Terri’s feeding tubes was the right decision. Terri’s parents have run out of legal options to keep her alive. Differing accounts by Terri’s husband and her parents have further complicated the legal mess.

No one will really knows what Terri’s wishes are, since she’s not able to communicate and she does not have a living will.

I am particularly troubled by this because my family can relate to this experience. My dad went into coma for a period of 3 months in the spring of 2001. He eventually came out of it after 3 months. Thank God. My dad is not 100% the same.

He does have the signs of stroke which occured to him while he was in a coma. He’s improved dramatically since then, but obviously is not the same like he was before. He’s lost his short term memory and needs supervision at all times.

While my dad was in a coma, at least 3 doctors approached my family and suggested that we pull the plug. My family was adamant that we’re not going to do that and that we will leave everything to God to either take him out of the coma or take away his life.

I am glad we did that and NOT listened to the advice of doctors. My dad’s recovery was a miracle and we thank God everyday for that. In Terri’s case, her situation is a lot worst than my dad. She can’t talk, she can’t eat by herself, nor can she walk around or have some kind of meaningful life.

Terri Schiavo may never come out her state, a fact that most coma patients chances are diminished after the first 3 months, but there are cases of people who come out of comas after many years.

I’d like to make a correction about Terri’s condition. She is diagnosed in a PVS or persistent vegetative state and not in a coma. My apologies.

What bothers me most is that government’s involvement in a dispute such as this. To send someone to death is particularly wrong when one side of the family is willing to take care of her. As a Christian, is it is difficult for me to grapple with ending a life regardless of condition.

Our government sends a very confusing message. We send Dr. Kevorkian to jail for his mercy killings and rightly so, he deserved it, but it’s perfectly ok to starve or dehydrate someone to a slow death.

Our courts are supposed to interpret the law and uphold our constitution. Everyone should have a right for self-determination. For our courts to be involved such moral morass is a no-win situation. Decisions such as when life begins or when it ends do NOT belong in our courts since our judicial system lack the moral compass to make such a determination.

Where do we base right and wrong? What is the rush to end her life now? What benefit is it to society as a whole?

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