Terri Schiavo was an energetic, beautiful woman who was full of life and vigor -- but that Terry died many years ago.

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 flesh from decomposing.

Her husband, her friends and everybody else who has a reverence for life, mourns the Terri that died long ago.

We are outraged that her husk has been kept functioning for more than a decade by a feeding tube that supplies nourishment.

The body that lies in a hospice bed is not a sentient being, it's like a plant that requires nourishment to be kept alive.

Born-again Christians who reverence a fetus that is nothing but a clump of cells have taken up the cause of keeping this shell of a human being from expiring.

Need I point out the irony of these pro-lifers who champion faux life forms, but look askance at helping real human beings who need welfare and affordable medical insurance?

After a Florida judge rejected attempts by leaders of Congress to intervene in the long-running case of Terri Schiavo, the feeding tube that sustains the brain-damaged body was removed on March 18.

Without a feeding tube, Schiavo is expected to linger on for one or two weeks. The creature that was Terri Schiavo has survived two earlier episodes in which the tube was removed and then reinserted.

Need I point out the irony of conservative politicians who endlessly repeat the mantra of "less government", interfering in what is a family matter?

It should be up to Terri's husband, Michael Schiavo, and nobody else to determine if the plug is to pulled. And Michael has always stated that it was Terri's wish not to be kept alive by artificial means.

It's time that this crime against decency, morality and humanity come to an end.  For God's sake let's hope that Ms Schiavo's spirit will finally be allowed to escape her shriveled brain-dead body.

Robert Paul Reyes