Truly an AWFUL precedent.
Terrifying. The "Brave New World."
What is SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND?: Protect the innocent, punish the guilty. If the LAW is not doing that, it's time for another revolution (hopefully a peaceful one, although that doesn't seem to be working, the conservative majorities notwithstanding).
Now here's a thought: We've tolerated the unjust death of 45 Million INNOCENT little babies with the full blessing of the law. These numbers have added up gradually, since the late 60's (abortion was legal in a few states pre-Roe v. Wade). NOW: Are we going to tolerate the death of non-terminal Terri Schiavo - with no written directive expressing a wish to die? Will we tolerate the next such person? And the ten after that? The hundred after that, the next thousand, the millions who will be killed?
Will those with a consistent ethic of justice tolerate a broadening of the criteria used to justify Terri's murder to include those very speical, very loving people with an extra chromasome? After all, they cost a lot of money and require great amounts of care; they are a drain on heath care. Who else becomes a candidate for the Terri treatment? What if we decide, for the good of mankind, to accelerate the defeat of recessive genes, for example? Where does this STOP?