TERRI SCHIAVO: The Schiavo autopsy is in and all the usual suspects are out in force saying that this proves Michael Schiavo was right all along, his wife was in a persistent vegetative state. Now I am sure that the doctors performing this autopsy were all cognizant of the armies of Monday morning quarterbacks waiting to pick apart their findings just as soon as they could, and so were extra careful to get the facts right in this case. They agree that Terri Schiavo was in a persistent vegetative state and at this juncture I see no reason to disbelieve them. Michael Schiavo was right about his wife’s condition and her parents were wrong.

But really, what difference does this make? The last time I checked my rights to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and the equal protection of the laws were unalienable, mine by virtue of being a human being and an American citizen, and not dependent on the opinions of doctors about my long term prognosis or the quality of life analysis of a spouse with a irreconcilable conflict of interest. That an American citizen, even one as severely brain-damaged as Terri Schiavo, could die of court ordered thirst in this our allegedly enlightened twenty-first century is horrific and that Mr. Schiavo stands to profit from this horror is a moral atrocity of the first order.