Now that is a rational point. Thank you.
Mind explaining how that is relevant, though, to denying a woman's right to refuse nutrition/hydration? To me, it simply highlights that a person who wanted not to respire couldn't do so willingly...however, hunger strikes are possible, and there's no way to know whether Mrs. Schiavo would eat or not...except via a legal mechanism called the courts. Who's to say that force-feeding her is not a terrible denial of her rights?
Well, you're talking about two different issues here. One is whether or not we have a right to suicide. The other is what it takes to establish with certainty that one is taking that option. The first point is legitimately debatable, but IMO the second one is not. There is no way that Terri Schiavo has made her wishes clear here. It's one thing to say it, and it's another thing to draw it up legally and have it signed and notarized. She failed to do that.
What is more I am of the opinion that even if one draws up a living will, one should also give a loved one a durable power of attorney that allows them to override that will if they so choose. There really is no way to anticipate every possible scenario or every possible future medical advance in a living will. So someone who is of sound mind needs to be able to make decisions in the moment. Thus the living will does not become a do-not-resuscitate order but rather a do-not-resuscitate permission slip.
Yes, I know that this increases the chance that said loved one will continue treatment past where you would have chosen it yourself. But it is also quite possible that you would have made the decision to live as well---and if you pick your guardian well, he/she may understand you well enough to know. If by God's good fortune you come out of your coma/PVS/whatever, you will thank them for being there to make that decision. And if you don't, well, you won't know the difference, frankly.
Overall however I think that any legal structure that we put in place must favor life when the question is ambiguous as it is in Terri's case.