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Whether Teri Schiavio lives or dies is none of my business, and not having reviewed her medical records, I can't comment on how halacha might approach the problem. Besides, my views on halacha are about as interesting as Gil's views on politics. My comments on the case, therefore, are as follows:

1 - Tom Delay is a snake. Why is a sitting member of Congress attacking the character of a private citizen and who has not been accused or convicted of any crime? And why is the media piling on?

2 - President Flight Suit is fooling no one. He's every bit the vote-whoring panderer that Bubba was. If he cared about human life, he wouldn't have let Texas fry so many people, and he would have thought twice before going to war on bogus information.

3 - I am offended that Congress can convene itself on a weekend to interfere with a judicial matter, but can't ever find time to do it's own damn job.

4 - Let's sum this up: (a) A case has been litigated fully and completely by a court with competent jurisdiction. (b)Congress now has said that the game must be re-done with new rules that heavily favor one side over the other.

Writes CBS: The implications of this are astonishing. Just think about it. Anytime Congress doesn't like the result in a particular case, it could swoop in and call a "do-over." If this law is declared valid, no decision in any state court in the country will be immune from Congressional second-guessing. It would throw out of whack the entire concept of separation of powers. It truly will be fascinating to see how federal court judges react to this-- whether they simply bow down to this end-run or whether they back up their state-court colleagues.

PS - Having said all this, let me add that if, god forbid, I was in Michael Schivio's shoes, I certainly would not be pulling anyone's feeding tube.

UPDATED JANUARY 11, 2007