Whose Death is it, anyway?

As I said, hard cases make bad law:

In an extraordinary legislative maneuver that may pit Congress against the decisions by several courts over the last several years, Bill Frist, Republican of Tennessee and the Senate majority leader, issued a statement saying that the woman, Terri Schiavo, and her husband, Michael, were being invited to testify in a Congressional inquiry into the matter later this month.

The statement pointed out that Federal law protects witnesses called before Congress "from anyone who may obstruct or impede a witness's attendance or testimony."

That, actually, is the Senate's action, which seems almost reasonable next to the reason the House has issued a subpoeana:

Just after midnight today, House leaders said the Government Reform Committee would issue subpoenas that they hope will also halt the removal of the tube."We will issue a subpoena which will require hospice administrators and attending physicians to preserve nutrition and hydration for Terri Schiavo to allow Congress to fully understand the procedures and practices that are currently keeping her alive," said a statement issued at 1 a.m. by the House speaker, J. Dennis Hastert; the majority leader, Tom DeLay of Texas; and the chairman of the Government Reform Committee, Thomas M. Davis III of Virginia.

The fact that it is, literally, too late for Ms. Sciavo to understand anything, is beside the point. Indeed, you can cut the sanctimony with a knife:

[The statement from the House leadership] added: "This inquiry should give hope to Terri, her parents and friends, and the millions of people throughout the world who are praying for her safety. This fight is not over."

The definition of "safety" being used here is not one I am familiar with, and opens a whole new can of worms.

Unfortunately, I don't have time at the moment for the philosophical fishing trip this matter is rapidly turning into.

Pray for Terri Sciavo, and her husband, and her parents. This has become as clear a vision of Hell as any other on our planet.

An addendum, for those interested: this appears to be, at first glance, an excellent site for an overview of this case, start to present: Abstract Appeal.