For the last week, the news media, the Government and the entire nation have all been focused on the fate of one woman who, due to her vegetative state – has no idea that she is the center of this country’s attention – Terri Schiavo.

On February 25, 1990, 26-year-old Terri Schiavo collapsed in her home when her heart suddenly stopped beating. Between the time her heart stopped and the time she was revived, her brain did not receive any oxygen – and immediately began to deteriorate. As a result, she has been severely brain damaged and has remained in a vegetative state for the past 15 years. During that time, an extremely bitter feud has evolved between Terri’s husband Michael and Terri’s parents, Mary and Bob Schindler – over whether she should be kept alive or put to death. Terri’s husband claims that she told him that if she ever wound up in the state that she is currently in – she would want to be put to death. Terri’s parents claim that despite her current state – their daughter would want to live no matter what state she was in.

This debate, while sporadically mentioned by the media over these last 15 years – has somehow become the only topic of conversation among news channels, politicians, and Americans in general. For the last week, everyone from the Governor of Florida, to the U.S. Supreme Court – to the President of the United States has been involving themselves in the future of Terri Schiavo. Both her parents and her husband have been relentlessly exercising every legal means to gain control of her fate – but in the end – the final decision was made by the U.S. Supreme Court that Terri’s feeding tube, which was removed on March 18th – will not be reinserted – and that she will be allowed to die as her husband says she wanted to.

Besides the fact that this case has become a media circus, society’s vultures and leeches have already crawled out of the woodwork to prey on Terri Schiavo. As of right now, she is the most popular person researched on both Yahoo and Google, her picture is on almost every news website in the country – and www.terrischiavo.com, which has sold over 5,000 Living Will Kits this week alone – will be put up for Internet Public Auction later this evening. In addition, there is currently a vigil outside of Hospice Woodside in Pinellas Park, Florida where Terri is currently starving to death, and despite the court order, her parents are not giving up hope – and people have actually been getting arrested trying to sneak Terri food and water.

Personally, I think this case is a very tragic one. Terri was a beautiful woman with a wonderful family who suddenly wound up trapped in a shell that she has been imprisoned in for the last decade and a half. And due to the fact that she cannot communicate in any form – her fate is in the hands of three people who love her very much – but have two completely different views on whether or not she should be kept alive. All I know is that if I ever wound up in the situation that Terri is in right now – I would want nothing more than to be put to death. But while that is my view, I know for a fact that my mother would never give the order to have me removed from life support no matter what my Living Will said. I also know that if Terri was my wife, part of me would want nothing more than for her to go to Heaven and be free of the prison she is living in – but would never be able to actually carry out that decision.

As all of this is going on, I can’t help but think of Terri herself as she lies there in that hospital bed, which is her entire world – starving to death while the world watches her die. I can’t help but wonder what, if anything, is going through her mind. I understand that, according to her doctors, she is brain dead – but how do we know that she does not have some inkling that she has been bedridden for the last 15 years, that she is unable to feed, clean, bathe, dress or wipe herself, that she is unable to tell her mother, father or husband that she loves them – or that she is currently dying of starvation and can’t do a thing about it.

No matter what the outcome of this case and the ultimate fate of Terri Schiavo is, I pray that she either is fed again and lives as painless and happy as she can – or that she goes to God and rests in peace. I also pray that those who love her, support her and are currently camped outside her hospice have God’s strength to get them through this ordeal no matter what the outcome. And I pray that our world’s vultures and leeches that are making a profit off of this woman’s silent suffering one day realize that they are heartless criminals who have less of a soul inside of them then the woman they are sinking their rotten teeth into – because they wouldn’t like it if Terri was their daughter or wife, would they?

My prayers are with you Terri, no matter your fate.