EDITORIAL
Schiavo case shows value of living will

Anyone who has been following the story of a 39-year-old Florida woman named Terri Schiavo knows the heartbreak involved.

Schiavo is not comatose; since 1990, she has been what is termed a "persistent vegetative state," kept alive through a feeding tube that pumps nutrients into her stomach.

She is also the subject of a legal battle between her husband,who wants her feeding tube removed, and her parents, who want it maintained.

When the courts said Terri's husband had the legal right to have the tube removed, the Florida Legislature stepped in and changed state law so that Gov. Jeb Bush could order it reinserted.

It's impossible to take sides in this terrible dispute. The issue is complicated because Schiavo's husband has already moved on to another woman with whom he is about to have a baby.

It is also complicated by money. The husband has received a substantial malpractice settlement that was supposed to go toward Schiavo's rehabilitation.

Still, the bottom line is these are terrible, emotional, personal decisions that should rest with Schiavo's family.

What can be said is that the Florida Legislature's action is an insult to the balance of powers and a political intrusion into what should be a personal matter.

After all, this is not an issue of physician-assisted suicide, a far trickier ethical issue that has tied many legislatures in knots.

What is left for the rest of us is a message about the importance of drafting and maintaining a living will. Terri Schiavo did not have such a document, which is one of the reasons this case is so complicated.

If you don't want your fate to be left to the hands of courts and politicians, create a living will that explicitly states your wishes.