It's funny you say that. It reminds me of a conversation I once had in law school with Justice Scalia -- who knows a bit about the Constitution. I asked him if it was not at least a defensible position to say, that the legislative intent of the Constitution was the Declaration of Independence, which declared a "right to life."
Justice Scalia said the following -- which I dutifully ran on the cover of my law school newspaper.
"The Declaration of Independence is a nice puff piece, but it is not the law."
As Scalia pointed out -- the United States Constitution was silent on the issue of abortion -- and therefore it neither prevented or permitted abortion. A position many do not realize Scalia holds. As Scalia properly pointed out, the question of abortion is, by the Constitution, a State question only.
It is an undisputed legal fact, that issues involving medical rights, including medical directives and extraordinary measures, are issues that are the province of the States. In Florida, apparently, in the absence of a medical directive by a patient, the law defaults to permit that decision to be made by the husband.
The Schiavo case shows why that default is probably not the best scenario. In my opinion, and that of an entire body of law, no Federal issue is implicated. Unfortunately, the Florida legislature and many others do not use the default that in the absence of a medical directive, a patient has an absolute right to live by any means available. I suspect that the law will reflect that -- unfortunately -- after Terri is gone.
Not a lawyer here, but wouldn't the civil rights ammendment apply to depriving Terri of her right to live?