I was looking through the news on my home page like I usually do and this article caught my eyes:

Brain-Damaged Woman's Feeding Tube Removed

Brain-Damaged Woman's Feeding Tube Removed
Fri Mar 18, 4:04 PM

John Centonze, brother of Michael Schiavo's girlfriend Jody, carries roses left behind by protestors outside Michael Schiavo's house, Friday, March 18, 2005, in Clearwater, Fla. The presiding judge in the case of Terri Schiavo (Michael Schiavo's wife) ruled Friday that the feeding tube keeping the brain-damaged woman alive must be removed despite efforts by congressional Republicans to have her appear at hearings. (AP Photo/Paul Kizzle)

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. - Doctors removed Terri Schiavo's feeding tube Friday despite an extraordinary, last-minute push by Republicans on Capitol Hill to use the subpoena powers of Congress to save the severely brain-damaged woman.

Schiavo's family issued a statement on their Web site confirming that the tube had been disconnected. It is expected that it will take one to two weeks for Schiavo to die, provided no one intercedes and gets the tube reinserted.

The removal came amid a flurry of maneuvering by Schiavo's parents, state lawmakers and Congress to keep her alive. Committees in the Republican-controlled Congress issued subpoenas for Schiavo, her husband, and her caregivers demanding that they appear at hearings in the coming weeks.

But the judge presiding over the case later refused a request from House attorneys to delay the removal, which he had previously ordered to take place at 1 p.m. EST.

"I have had no cogent reason why the (congressional) committee should intervene," Circuit Judge George Greer told attorneys in a conference call, adding that last-minute action by Congress does not invalidate years of court rulings.
Senator Mel Martinez, R-Fla., right, and U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., left, field questions regarding the brain damaged Terri Sciavo prior to a speech by President Bush at the YMCA and Family Center in Orlando, Fla. Friday, March 18, 2005.(AP Photo/Peter Cosgrove)

The tube's removal signals that an end may be near in a decade-long family feud between Schiavo's husband and her devoutly Roman Catholic parents, Bob and Mary Schindler. The parents have been trying to oust Michael Schiavo as their daughter's guardian and keep in place the tube that has kept her alive for more than 15 years.

The tube has twice been removed in the past, but was re-inserted within days in both cases.

Michael Schiavo says his wife told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially. Her parents dispute that, saying she could get better and that their daughter has laughed, cried, smiled and responded to their voices. Court-appointed physicians testified her brain damage was so severe that there was no hope she would ever have any cognitive abilities.

Several right-to-die cases across the nation have been fought in the courts in recent years, but few, if any, have been this drawn-out and bitter.

The case has garnered attention around the world and served as a rallying cry for conservative Christian groups and anti-abortion activists, who flooded members of Congress and Florida legislators with messages seeking to keep Schiavo alive.
Rev. Patrick Mohoney, left, leads protestors in prayer outside the Woodside Hospice, where Terri Schiavo is a patient, Friday March 18, 2005 in Pinellas Park, Fla. Terri Schiavo has been in a coma-like state for 15-years and Judge George Greer has set March 18, 2005 as the date her husband Michael Schiavo can have her feeding tube removed. (AP Photo/Paul Kizzle)

Outside Schiavo's hospice, about 30 people keeping vigil dropped to their knees in prayer when word spread of the judge's ruling calling for removal of the tube.

"What can wash away our sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus," they sang. Messages on protest signs included "Impeach Greer.com," a reference to the judge, and "Execution - It's Not Just for the Guilty Anymore."

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, told reporters in Washington earlier Friday that removal of the tube amounted to "barbarism."

But Rep. Henry Waxman of California, senior Democrat on the Government Reform Committee, called the subpoenas a "flagrant abuse of power" and amounted to Congress dictating the medical care Terri Schiavo should receive.

"Congress is turning the Schiavo family's personal tragedy into a national political farce," Waxman said.

Schiavo suffered severe brain damage in 1990 when a chemical imbalance apparently brought on by an eating disorder caused her heart to stop beating for a few minutes. She can breathe on her own, but has relied on the feeding and hydration tube to keep her alive.
Protestors pray outside Michael Schiavo's house, Friday, March 18, 2005, in Clearwater, Fla. The presiding judge in the case of Terri Schiavo ruled Friday that the feeding tube keeping the brain damaged woman alive must be removed despite efforts by congressional Republicans to have her appear at hearings. (AP Photo/Paul Kizzle)

Both sides accused each other of being motivated by greed over a $1 million medical malpractice award from doctors who failed to diagnose the chemical imbalance.

The Schindlers also said that Michael Schiavo wants their daughter dead so he can marry his longtime girlfriend, with whom he has young children. They have begged him to divorce their daughter, and let them care for her.

The tangled case has encompassed at least 19 judges in at least six different courts.

In 2001, Schiavo went without food and water for two days before a judge ordered the tube reinserted when a new witness surfaced.

When the tube was removed in October 2003, her parents and two siblings frantically sought intervention from Gov Jeb. Bush to stop her slow starvation. The governor pushed through "Terri's Law," and six days later the tube was reinserted.

That set off a new round of legal battles which culminated in September 2004 with the Florida Supreme Court ruling that Bush had overstepped his authority and declared the law unconstitutional.

The U.S. Supreme Court has been unwilling to hear arguments in the case.

On Feb. 25, Greer gave Michael Schiavo permission to order the removal of the feeding tube at 1 p.m. Friday.

The family and lawmakers continued with their fight in recent weeks.

In Tallahassee, the Florida House on Thursday passed a bill to block the withholding of food and water from patients in a persistent vegetative state who did not leave specific instructions on their care. Hours later, however, the Senate defeated a different measure 21-16.
That's really sad. It's a shame when those type of things happen. The person who goes through that isn't even living, she's just alive. I think there is a difference between the two. To be live is to feel, to love, to laugh, and to cry. To be alive is simply to be functioning.

So, I have a question... what would you do in that situation? To make this interesting, let's make two scenarios. What would you want to happen to you if you found you that you would be severely-brain damaged and vegetive in the future? What would you do if your lover was in that situation?