Final word on Schiavo

This article says it all. The Schiavo case is NOT about withdrawing care that prolongs dying (something that as a doctor and as a Catholic I have advised families to do many times), despite the "spin" on many TV discussions. It is about the ability to see severely disabled people as our brothers.

At what point would those who determined that Terri Schiavo's life was not worth living be confident in ruling that my daughter's life -- limited as it is to those few, inconsistently performed acts of awareness -- was also not worth living?

This is the question underlying the growing unease with which many disabled people and their loved ones have viewed the Schiavo story, especially since her feeding tube was removed two weeks ago.

How can anyone know what constitutes another being's life-worthiness?

Ah, didn't you know? Bioethicists have devised all sorts of mathematical formulas for both "Quality of life" and for "criteria of personhood"...

Dr. Lifton, call your office...