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Here is the letter I sent.

I would like to remind Ed Beck (Opinion, Monday 2/21) of the fact that the gods of Medicine and Science were incorrect in their decision that the cerebral cortex of Karen Quinlan had been destroyed.

Some ten or more years after the autopsy it was finally revealed that in fact, her cerebral cortex was in quite good shape after all. And yet, Karen Quinlan exhibited what I would consider to be far less ability than that clearly shown in the online videos of Terri Schiavo.

It's wonderful that Ed Beck can be so sure that Terri is in a state of PVS, and that she will not suffer from the horrors of death by dehydration. I recall, however, that in the 1970's or so we were doing surgery on newborns with no anesthesia, because we believed that they could feel no pain.

I find it horrifying to read how closely Ed echoes those from a not-so-long-ago time, in his assurance that PVS is a reason to dehydrate someone to death. A living person who smiles, breathes, and laughs, who has not even been given the chance to feed or hydrate herself, is dehumanized to the status of useless eater in the space of a few paragraphs.

I have little doubt that Terri will join her predecessors, Hugh Finn, Christine Busalacchi, Nancy Cruzan, Marjorie Nighbert, and the hundreds like them who never made the news.

Ed is in the right business for our time, that of making people die before God or their bodies do it first. And he seems to be in the right state to run a booming hospice business, as well.

It is not the Schindlers for whom I feel "heartbroken", however. Hope, love, and the willingness to care for someone in a time of need were once considered honorable traits in our society. Whatever happens, the Schindlers can always be assured that they chose the path of honor and nobility in their actions.

The state of Florida now bears a new stigma, which is not being missed by those of us living elsewhere. Destin will not see my face or those of my family again.