Mickey Kaus:

Opposition to the Florida court’s ruling seems like a legitimate protest against what appears to be a disingenuous machinery of euthanasia lawyers are busy establishing under the guise of a “right to die” (a right Terry Schiavo can only be said to be exercising by an extremely suspect chain of reasoning). … Our society is going to have to have this out at some point–why not now? And why isn’t it a perfectly reasonable issue for the national legislature to address?

I need hardly say that I agree.

At the same time, I recognize that it’s a tough issue. I am almost as horrified by the possibility that Terri Schiavo wanted to die and is being kept alive against her will, as I am by the possibility that she wants to live, and probably will be cruelly starved and dehydrated to death.

The main reason that the latter horrifies me more is the undeniable fact that, even if she wanted to die, this is the wrong way for her to go. As long you are not a fanatic, you must understand that she may feel wrenching hunger pangs and longing for liquids. That should horrify you.

If you believe that she wants to die, and that she should be allowed to die, then fight for the right of people in her situation to be killed the way we would kill a beloved pet — or even the way most states would kill a brutal murderer: through a quick and painless lethal injection.

For me, I want something more as well. I want the law to change to give adequate due process protections for people in her position, as I argued here. Life and death decisions like these should not be made by a single judge, based upon the hearsay testimony of a conflicted man like Michael Schiavo, according to a civil standard of proof.

If Terri Schiavo’s wish to die had been determined by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt, and she could die by a quick and painless lethal injection, you wouldn’t see me blogging about this. I wouldn’t be posting at 2:45 a.m. about it. I could go along with a decision like that.

But something like this, I have to fight.

That doesn’t make me a religious fanatic or a grandstander. It makes me a human being.