While protestors pray and the news media ponder the fate of Terri Schiavo, it is important to keep in mind that what is at stake is a family decision that should not be made in a court of law or in the halls of Congress.

For those cave-dwelling members of the readership who have tuned out the Schiavo case:

Schiavo was put on a feeding tube after the higher functions of her brain shut down. Her heart stopped for several minutes because of a nutritional deficiency believed to have been caused by an eating disorder. Schiavo — who is incapable of feeding herself — has subsisted on the feeding tube for 15 years.

Her husband, Michael Schiavo, claims that Schiavo would not have wanted to live this way and attempted to have doctors remove the feeding tube, succeeding March 18 after numerous attempts.

Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, contend that Michael Schiavo is not acting in the best interests of their daughter but in his own interest (Schiavo has fathered two children in a relationship with another woman since his wife's hospitalization in 1990).

Michael Schiavo is protected in some measure by the law because he is exercising his wife's power of attorney. The Schindlers have repeatedly sought to have the feeding tube reinserted, and they had succeeded in stalling the process with the support of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, President George W. Bush and U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Tom Delay.

The Supreme Court has repeatedly refused to hear the Schindler's case, and the 11th U.S. Circuit court in Atlanta, rejected the latest plea yesterday.

In the media furor over the Schiavo case, the essence of the decision to sustain or end Terri Schiavo's life has been pushed to the center of a national stage.

The Tribune's position is clear; as a news media outlet we don't feel we are entitled to side with either the Schindlers or the Schiavos.

This decision is not one that should be made on a national stage, on an editorial page or in a court. Given the extreme circumstances present in the Schiavo case, the decision would ideally be made by a consensus between the Schindlers and Michael Schiavo.

Because of the involvement of the courts and the national media outlets, this is increasingly unlikely — particularly because Schiavo is currently passing her 14th day since the feeding tube was removed.

This case should be viewed privately; this should not be a political or legal battle for the woman's life. If Terri Schiavo lives or dies, it is a victory not for the political forces massing to try and save her (including the protestors arrested for trying to bring water to Terri), nor for Michael Schiavo nor for the Schindlers.

This is the story of a family's failure to reach a consensus on the fate of a daughter and wife. This is not a battle to protect or eliminate a woman's life, but rather the tragic imminent death of a woman.

Unfortunately, the potential of human beings to overreach the bounds of privacy in the interests of launching a national spectacle persists, even in a case that should remain within the family.

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on March 31 2005.