It will be at least Friday before Florida Judge George Greer decides if Theresa "Terri" Schiavo (41) should be removed from the medical apparatus that has kept her alive for 15 years and that maintains her body although her doctors say - and the court has accepted - that she is in a "persistent vegetative state, meaning she has no awareness and is almost certain not to recover." Her husband says that she told him she would not want to live in this conditions; how many 26 year-olds have thought to develop a living will to assure that their wishes are honored?

Five years ago, Greer directed that her feeding tube be removed; it was reinserted shortly afterward under a court order. After it was removed in October 2003, the Florida Legislature gave the governor authority to have it reinserted. Despite the fact that the Florida State Supreme Court, ruling on that action, said Bush "violated a cornerstone of American democracy," the Governor said Wednesday that "I can assure you I will do whatever I can within the means, within the laws, of our state to protect this woman's life."

The Judge rejected a petition by the Florida Department of Children and Families for intervention based on allegations of abuse.

The case has galvanized right-to-die groups as well as right-to-life groups. Reportedly, Operation Rescue is pressuring the legislature to remove Schiavo as guardian because he "now lives with another woman."

Although the US Supreme Court refused to hear Gov. Bush's appeal of the FSSC decision, it has decided to rule on Oregon's Right to Die statute, which was approved twice in citizen initiatives. The Bush Administration, through the Department of Justice, is challenging its legality, saying it violates federal drug control laws. The Oregon statute is the nation's only right-to-die law.

In November 2001, then-Attorney General Ashcroft said, "I hereby determine that assisting suicide is not a legitimate medical purpose...and that prescribing, dispensing or administering federal controlled substances violates the Controlled Substances Act."

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that because the law was "enacted to control drug abuse" that "[t]he attorney general's unilateral attempt to regulate general medical practices historically entrusted to state lawmakers interferes with the democratic debate about physician-assisted suicide and far exceeds the scope of his authority."

See BBC, CNN, Newsday, Oregonian, Tallahassee .com, Washington Post, Wired