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Michael Schiavo has authority to make all decisions for Terri Schindler Schiavo because he is her court-appointed guardian, not because he is her husband.
Michael not only seeks to remove Terri's feeding tube. He also continues to deny consent for Terri to take food by mouth, or even to have a swallowing test.
Dr. Ronald Cranford, who testified on behalf of Michael in the case to remove Terri's food and fluids, said that patients like Terri can take food by mouth.
Cranford has said that he would consider spoon-feeding to be "medical treatment."
Cranford has said that spoon-feeding is denied because it "would be totally inconsistent" with what was wanted (e.g. the patient's death).
For more than three years, Michael has refused to allow Terri to be taken outdoors to feel fresh air, sunshine or a cool breeze.
Michael continues to suppress media access to videotapes that clearly show Terri responding to others.
In 1992, Michael filed and won a malpractice case in which a significant award was made for Terri's rehabilitation and therapy. The award was based, in part, on expert testimony that she would live a normal life span.
During the time he was seeking the malpractice award, Michael never indicated that Terri would want to die if she were severely disabled.
Michael has refused to permit any of the money from the malpractice award to be used for Terri's rehabilitation or therapy. Instead, most of the money was used for lawyers Michael hired to help end Terri's life.
Not long after Terri's injury, Michael melted down her wedding and engagement rings to make a ring for himself.
Michael has moved on with his life. He is in a long term intimate relationship with another woman with whom he has two children.
Terri's family -- her parents, her brother and her sister - has begged Michael to let them care for Terri. He has refused.
Terri's family -- her parents, her brother and her sister - has begged Michael to let Terri have a swallowing test. He has refused.
Terri's family -- her parents, her brother and her sister - has begged Michael to give Terri the opportunity to take food by mouth. He has refused.

This is a sad situation. I guess there hasn't been much coverage here in Canada, because I've only seen a few references and I didn't really know, initially, who Terri Schiavo was.

It's interesting to me how those who don't believe in the death penalty and who believe that physical life for humans at this time is sacrosanct and must be preserved at all costs are often those who don't have much respect for life and who support murderous wars of aggression by their leaders, who claim to be Christian.

I guess it would help any discussion of life and death, also, if folks could explain what they mean by 'life' and 'death'. We don't all mean the same thing.

Personally, I don't believe in suffering. And I don't believe that Go does either. Self identified Christians - which does not automatically make one a true Christian - most often want to believe what leaders in Christendom (which I have no use for) tell them about hell. Why? Is that because those self identified Christians are themselves cruel and it's just easier to justify your behavior if you can believe that God would create a hell?

I do believe in the death penalty, but I am happy to see it not be practiced as long as we continue to get it wrong. It doesn't end with us anyway. God 'will' sort it out. He is our judge and there is no higher authority. I believe in euthanasia, as well, but again, it's got to be done right.

These Bible teachings that I relate here, and my own conclusions about them, are the things that inform my thinking about life and death, just as Paul wrote at 1Thessalonians 4:13, when he stated to believers like me that "...we do not want you to be ignorant concerning those who are sleeping, that you may not grieve the way the nations do who have no hope." I grieve the death of loved ones, but I don't grieve in the same way. And I can let go, because it doesn't necessarily mean that the loved ones I lose, and will lose, are going away from me forever.

In the Christian Bible - and it's important to note that not only Christians believe in hell - at Jeremiah 7:31, God conveys this message through his prophet: "They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, in order to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, a thing that I had not commanded and that had not come up into my heart." And at Ecclesiastes 9:5,6,10, God's inspired message, given through his servant (at this time) King Solomon, was: "For the living are conscious that they will die, But as for the dead, They are conscious of nothing at all."

This is taught by Jehovah's Witnesses, who I was once one of. I don't agree with all that they teach. I believe that there is a soul that survives after death, but not the way that bloody Christendom explains it. The Bible teaches, "For the wages sin pays is death..." -Romans 6:23. But what kind of death? For it is either a special deep sleep, in which, as we've seen, there is no conscious acivity and certainly no suffering, Or it's complete death, body and soul. Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe in a spirit, or insubstantial, soul. I do. Someday we'll know for sure. But I don't see that you can be resurrected if there is no 'you' to be resurrected, and both myself and my former religious associates believe in future resurrection of, as the Bible notes, both the righteous and the (relatively) unrighteous. Some, it seems to me, confuse duplication with resurrection.

I also don't believe that good people who die, at this time, automatically go to heaven - which isn't a problem. When a message was sent by Mary and Martha to Jesus reporting that their brother and Jesus's friend, Lazarus, was sick, Jesus hung back for a few days with his disciples outside of Judea. Finally he told his disciples that Lazarus was resting and he was going there to awake him from his sleep. When his disciples thought that that was strange and said so, Jesus simply stated that Lazarus was dead. When Jesus arrived, Martha expressed disappointment that Jesus didn't arrive sooner, for, she noted, he may have been able to prevent his death. Jesus did in fact tell someone, perhaps the original messenger sent to him by the sisters, in so many words that Lazarus would die and be resurrected. Two things follow here that are instructive. (See John chapter 11)

One, When Jesus responded to Marth with the statement that Lazarus would live again, Martha simply expressed the common belief among Jesus's followers that "I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day." In other words, Jesus's followers didn't expect expect to die and immediately go to heaven. Two, When Lazarus did die, he didn't describe to others, after being resurrected (as an example for all believers and not because it was time for the two types of resurrection to start) being in some place wonderful.

Later...

"Today, I signed into law a bill that will allow federal courts to hear a claim by or on behalf of Terri Schiavo for violation of her rights relating to the withholding or withdrawal of food, fluids, or medical treatment necessary to sustain her life," said Bush's written statement.

Bush had been waiting at the White House to sign the bill, after returning early from a vacation at his Texas ranch.

The House passed the bill by a vote of 203-58, shortly after midnight, after a rare Sunday session that was called at 9pm, after Democrats objected to a call for unanimous consent earlier in the day. Although most members had left for the Easter break, 261 of the 435 House members returned for the vote.

Representatives debated the measure in the House from both sides.

Rep. James Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican, said of previous rulings in Florida that they were, "enforcing a merciless directive to deprive Terri Schiavo of her right to life." He continued that the House should "reinforce the law's commitment to justice and compassion for all Americans, particularly the most vulnerable."

Democrat Robert Wexler of Florida disagreed, saying, "Tonight this Congress is about to commit a travesty. Tonight congressional leaders are poised to appoint this Congress as a judge and a jury."

The US Senate had passed the bill by unanimous consent earlier in the day.

Terri Schiavo has been on life-support for over 15 years, and is currently cared for at a Florida hospice. She is considered by physicians to be in a "permanent vegetative state", while her parents contend that she is not brain damaged, and that there is hope for recovery. Schiavo's feeding tube had been removed on Friday after Florida courts ruled in favor of her husband, Michael Schiavo, who is acting as her legal guardian in the matter. Terri Schiavo's siblings, and her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, are challenging this decision.

If you don't have a living will, get one. Spare a loved one from the torment of having to live with a decision that they will never know 100% whether they got right or not and the torment of having to make the decision in the first place.

Whether or not one agrees with the legal position on this case, the fact remains that a legal position has been arrived upon.  Through rule of law it has been determined that Michael Schiavo has the legal right to allow his wife to die.  Government is now acting to overturn the rule of law in the interest of religion and a nebulous 'public good'.  This is not a good thing.