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My opinion is somewhat different. I don't see it as murder, but as euthanasia. Now I fully realize that many people consider euthanasia to be murder. In fact, it is against the law in most states, even though it occurs daily whenever life-sustaining measures are removed.

It seems to be against the law in Florida for one.

765.309 Mercy killing or euthanasia not authorized; suicide distinguished.--
(1) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to condone, authorize, or approve mercy killing or euthanasia, or to permit any affirmative or deliberate act or omission to end life other than to permit the natural process of dying.
(2) The withholding or withdrawal of life-prolonging procedures from a patient in accordance with any provision of this chapter does not, for any purpose, constitute a suicide.
History.--s. 4, ch. 92-199.

TigersEye, thanks for the reference to Florida law regarding euthanasia.

As I've previously stated, we need to face the truth about euthanasia squarely. What happened in the Schiavo case is not unique. Removal of feeding tubes and other life-sustaining measures is quite common. All of it is euthanasia by omission, even if our lawmakers, judges, and even we, ourselves, do not want to face that truth.

As I also stated in the part of my post you quoted, euthanasia is illegal in most states. If the lawyers for the Schindlers had argued this point -- that removal of Terri's feeding tube was euthanasia, which is illegal under Florida statute -- they would have had a stronger case, in my opinion. In fact, it is at least possible that the U.S. Supreme Court might have heard the case on that basis, depending on how the lower courts ruled.

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Jim, if you would only exercise the leadership necessary to encourage everyone to climb down from the overheated rhetoric being tossed about here lately, perhaps we could all examine the wider issues highlighted by the Schiavo case with cool heads and clear eyes.

The Schindlers' lawyers made a lot of mistakes in their handling of this case. In my opinion, the breathtakingly overheated rhetoric seen here on FR and elsewhere in conservative and religious circles over this case has only compounded their errors.

There is much that can be done to ensure that Terri Schiavo did not die in vain. But we can't do anything positive if we are unnecessarily at each other's throats. Jim, you have an opportunity to step up to the plate here and become not just a nice man who started an interesting website, but a great man who will have done something extraordinary by leading people to examine ALL the lessons of the Schiavo case.