While we were on Spring Break, unusual and tragic events were unfolding in Florida, where Terri Schiavo, the severely disabled Florida woman who, until a few days ago, was kept alive with a feeding tube, was slowing dehydrating. By the time you read this, there is a good chance that she will already be dead.

            The Schiavo story has been in and out of the news over the years, as her husband has been on a crusade to remove the tube and allow her to die, or kill her, depending on your point of view. He claims she told him that would be her wish if she ever found herself in such a state. Terri’s parents disagree. They want to keep her alive so they can care for her. Michael Schiavo, her husband, will have none of this.

            Mr. Schiavo has consistently been victorious in his legal battles with his wife’s parents, who appear to have finally run out of options. Not even intervention from Congress has been of much help. Unless something happens quickly, such as a new law passed in Florida or Washington (which may not even matter, given that the courts could simply ignore it as they did Congress’ last attempted intervention), or an overruling by the Supreme Court (or even Gov. Bush or President Bush taking Terri into custody), Terri will soon pass on.

            It’s hard to watch a case like this and not have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, who would want to live in the condition Terri is in? It is certainly logical to think that she would rather die. Having said that, since when is hearsay (which is essentially what all rulings in the case have been based on) admissible in court? Not even on “Judge Judy” would that fly! And what gives the judiciary the right to decide who is worthy of living and who is not?

            Recently, serious accusations have been lodged at Michael Schiavo. I don’t know if they are true or not; I wasn’t there. Nor does anyone else. Admittedly, it seems strange they have just now come to light. Yet, given the fact that he has started a new life with a new family, I think it is fair to question his motives. He is so determined to honor a vow he made to her to allow her to die, yet he ignores his wedding vow (which, most would agree, is the most important vow).

            A better man in his situation would have said, “Yes, it may have been Terri’s wish to die years ago. But her parents are so dead set on keeping her alive, and certainly they knew her even better than I did. I will simply sign over custody to them, and trust their judgment.” This, I think, is what most people would do. So reasonable people must begin to wonder why he is so insistent on her dying.

            Terri Shiavo had no living will. No one, other than Michael himself, knows if the alleged conversation ever took place. She is not living on a respirator; all she requires for life is to be fed. She is not being kept alive by a machine in the sense most of us would think from the reports we read. Therefore, I think it inhumane to deny her the feeding tube.

            Deciding what life is not worth preserving is a judgment I am not prepared to make — and anyone who does claim the ability to such a right is gravely mistaken. History is replete with examples of societies who made such judgments, and mass murder has usually resulted. The two most evil ideologies of the twentieth century — Nazism and communism — were based on the belief that certain lives were not worth preserving. We Americans, who sacrificed our fellow citizens to defeat these evils, should realize that this is a road we must not go down.

            Therefore, is it not prudent to err on the side of life, as the cliché goes? We do not know what Terri’s wish would be. And we have no right to deem her life unfit to save. We must mourn for her condition, and we should pray for a miracle.

John Brown (www.johnnorrisbrown.com) is a senior in political science and history at the University of Tennessee @ Knoxville. Contact him at johnnyb325@aol.com. This column originally appeared in the February 1, 2005 edition of The Daily Beacon entitled "Racism plays role in confirmation," available here.