I'm sure ya'll have heard the horrible news that Terri Schindler-Schiavo has died, after 13 days of torture.

I'm grieving on so many levels.

I'm grieving for her parents. As a mother, I simply cannot imagine watching my child die from thirst. THIRST!!! Not a disease, not an accident, not old age, but THIRST. And not only that, but her parents and siblings were thrown out of her room shortly before she died. They were not even permitted to say good-bye to her when she died.

I'm grieving because I do not know if she was a believer. I know that she was Catholic, but I do not know if she had trusted Jesus alone for her salvation. I kept praying that if Terri was NOT saved, then please would the Lord keep her here on earth since it would be much better here than hell. So I have no idea, and that makes me sad.

I'm grieving because an innocent woman's murder revealed the corruption involved in Pinellas County, FL. Check out the link. All I have to say is "OH MY WORD." John Grisham, move over.

I'm grieving because of the attitude of the judicial branch of our government. The U.S. Circuit Court used this last appeal by the Schindlers as an opportunity to blast the Congress and President. Methinks they never even intended to hear the case - they were just looking for an opportunity to go off on the other branches of government.(View the March 30 court order here.)

I'm grieving because of the mainstream media's portrayal of this case. (My poor husband usually got an ear full as I watched the news every night!) I watched a segment on how Terri doesn't have a cerebral cortex, therefore she can't feel pain, think, blah blah blah. Then how come she would moan or SAY "pain" every month when she was having menstrual cramps? How come they were giving her morphine as she was dehydrating? Nevermind the whole controversy over the CT scan they showed anyway. (Lots of interesting info. here.)

I watched a segment on how Michael Schiavo has been "villified" (NBC Nightly News' words). Well if the shoe fits....

At first when this was a huge deal on the news, I heard lots about how she was "brain dead." Eventually that changed over to "brain damaged." At least they got that part right. :-P They never explained the "persistent vegetative state" that Terri was in...most likely because Terri didn't actually meet the criteria for diagnosis. But hey, that's what the dr. said (after 45 min. with her), so she's in a PVS, right????? :-(

We heard LOTS about the "relgious" slant to this issue. THIS ISSUE IS NOT ABOUT RELIGION. This issue was about whether a person who has, in effect, divorced a spouse has the legal right to make life or death decisions about his spouse. This is about corruption in government. This is about possible domestic abuse. This is about the fact that convicted murderers have more rights in America than Terri Schindler-Schiavo did. There are LOTS of people on BOTH sides of the fence (Christians, non-Christians, conservatives, liberals, Democrats, Republicans, you name it) that are appalled that Terri was killed in such a way.

I saw lots of segments on "right to die" issues. TERRI WAS NOT DYING. She did not have a terminal illness. This wasn't about "letting her go." This was about a woman whose brain wasn't working properly being starved/deydrated by her husband. This was about a woman who wasn't even permitted to have ice chips for relief. This was about a healthy woman with a brain injury.

I saw NO segments questioning the original diagnosis of a persistent vegetative state. I saw NO segments doing any sort of investigative work (a la "48 Hours Mystery" or something of that nature).

And I'll be honest. I'm grieving because President and Governor Bush didn't do more. There is lots of controversy even on the pro-Terri side of this issue regarding their actions. But I happen to fall on the side that wonders why the President/Governor has the authority to pardon a convicted murderer who has been sentenced to death by court order but NOT a brain-damaged woman who is being dehydrated to death by court order, so that the DCF can properly investigate allegations of abuse????

I no longer can pray that God would save Terri. Now I pray that investigations are done. There are LOTS of people involved. There need to be consequences. A murder has been committed. And America stood by and watched. Some Americans couldn't do anything to stop it. Other Americans WOULDN'T do anything to stop it. And other Americans were giving their approval of the murder.

May God have mercy on our nation.