WorldNetDaily: Politicians still wrong on Terri's case

re: Bobby Schindler writes, "...Romney's comments and similar remarks made by other politicians about Terri's situation have, in my opinion, been prejudiced by a media that have oversimplified what Congress did by spinning it as "meddling in a private family affair." /In reality, Congress enacted a law to afford my sister's constitutional and statutory civil rights claims to be heard in federal court. This law already exists for every convicted murderer on death row. /If monsters like Ted Bundy or Scott Peterson are afforded this right after their cases have gone through the state court system, why shouldn't an innocent disabled woman be given that same chance before she is cruelly starved and dehydrated to death? Congress was not only justified in getting involved, I believe it was their duty. /Moreover, the whole notion purported by Michael Schiavo and echoed by the media that Terri's case was a "private family matter" is ludicrous. /Starving and dehydrating someone to death is never a "private family matter," any more than abusing a child or a spouse is a "private family matter." /Laws rightly move such decisions out of the family setting and into a domain where government, if doing its job, can protect the lives of victims. Calling the right to abuse or even kill someone a "private family matter" protects only the abuser...[snip...]...Finally, it is still grossly underreported that Michael began a new "family" by living with another woman for a decade, admittedly asking her to marry him in 1994 and fathering two children with her while still married to and making life and death decisions for Terri. /The truth is Terri's real family asked Congress to get involved. Congress didn't wake up one morning and arbitrarily decide to weigh in. An enormous groundswell of support caused tens of thousands of constituents to contact their senators and congressmen, which resulted in the congressional effort to give Terri a fair hearing. This was exactly how our system of government was supposed to work. /It would behoove politicians like Romney to research the facts of Terri's case as well as the public response to it before cavalierly dismissing it as a matter for the courts. Just two days after my sister's death, a Zogby poll asked a question accurately reflecting Terri's circumstances: /If a disabled person is not terminally ill, not in a coma, and not being kept alive on life support, and they have no written directive, should or should they not be denied food and water? / Completely ignored by our "fair and balanced" media, 79 percent of respondents agreed with keeping Terri alive while only 9 percent believed she should be killed..."...