The story of Terri Schiavo, to the contrary, has been intensely public. It has sadly evolved from a family fight spanning more than a decade to a heated legal war and now has become a battle of political will.

Congress, in an unseemly political show Sunday, made a mockery of the judicial process and set precisely the wrong precedent in this case regarding medical care for those who are unable to make their own decisions.

Now, this deeply personal family decision, which had been upheld by the court, has been overtaken by Washington to the detriment of all Americans.

President Bush was right yesterday in describing it as a complex case with serious issues. But he was wrong — as was Congress — to interject himself in the case.

Terri Schiavo has been in what doctors call a persistent vegetative state for 15 years.

Her husband, Michael Schiavo, and her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, have been locked in a bitter fight for the past several years over whether a feeding tube that helps keep Terri alive should be removed. Doctors have testified, and courts have agreed, there is no reasonable medical hope Terri Schiavo will improve. Her parents disagree.

Last month, a Florida judge gave permission for Terri Schiavo's feeding tube to be removed, as it was on Friday.

Over the weekend, Congress stepped in, passing a bill that allows federal courts to intervene. Bush flew back to Washington to sign it into law.

Clearly this falls outside of Congress' purview. This is not a constitutional issue, but a narrow, individual end-of-life case. End-of-life decisions are covered by state laws and should be family and medical matters. If disputes cannot be resolved, the judiciary should be the final arbiter.