by Matt Barr

At the mercy of others

Where Terri Schiavo is concerned, there is an issue of the federal government mobilizing to insert itself in a process it's not at all clear it belongs or ought to have jurisdiction. If a state is depriving a person of life without due process of law, I guess a federal court should hear it. I'm ambivalent. You can make any issue out to be one of life or death -- we just heard last week that steroids kill our children -- but in this case, death really is on the table, and it's hard to muster vigorous opposition.

Certainly, I doubt if I or my loved ones are ever in a similar situation, the Senate and the President will be on the case. Unless we get good publicity. For a more, um, thorough exploration of this point, see this, on a blog with outstanding taste in blog title inspiration.

The principled, libertarian position here would be, I think, that Schiavo should live. Hearsay about Schiavo's wishes delivered to her husband during a funeral and while watching a movie shouldn't be enough to prove anything under the best of circumstances, let alone when the question is life or death. Can the people of Florida do away with their wills, now, and rely on hearsay from an interested party, or must their wills still be witnessed by three people and notarized?

To me, my liberty doesn't mean I can be sustained or killed based on anything but my express wishes.

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