Our lives are being flooded with pictures and commentary on the very private suffering of Terri Schiavo and her family. Groups for and against removal of her feeding tube are camped outside the hospital where she has been without food or liquid for over five days. So-called experts and doctors who have never examined her are espousing their opinions on whether she is cognizant of any thing or anyone.The argument of "no discernable brain function" is endlessly debated. We are unwilling witnesses to the her crisis and the pain of her parents.

The face of human suffering is never easy to look at. Even in movies we tend to cringe in our seats when a scene showing a character enduring physical pain comes on the screen. But this is no movie and Terri Schiavo is not a fictional character. She is a real person who, fourteen years ago, was a vibrant, beautiful woman with loving parents, a husband, and the possibility of a wonderful life ahead of her.

Life, human life, with all its potential, is beautiful, yet we wouldn’t treat an animal the way Terri Schiavo is being treated. We would not let a beloved pet lie in a bed without food or water for over five days. No matter that we were there to pet, caress and hold them. No matter that they may be brain-dead and we’re told they feel nothing and know nothing, we simply wouldn’t do it. If all were hopeless we would mercifully euthanize them.

Mrs. Schiavo is a human being who has been without food or water for almost a week now. I cannot think that she is not suffering no matter what medical experts say. Who really knows what her body really feels. I have a great problem with this form of “merciful” dying and I have a bigger problem with Mr. Schiavo.

He is the husband of Terri, he took vows that stated for better or for worse and the worst came. When asked by Barbara Walters on ABC morning news why he doesn’t divorce Terri and give guardianship over to her parents, he replied that he takes his vows very seriously, but now needs to get on with his life. Yet his statement needs a closer look.

He has a relationship with another woman by whom he has two children. No one can, or should, fault him for this. His wife has been in a vegetative-type state for fourteen years. He is entitled to a life. I have no problem with that.

My problem is his insistence on being his wife’s guardian and having her feeding tube removed. Passing guardianship to his in-laws would be an acceptable alternative to this slow death by dehydration. He would lose nothing by this act.Then he could truly get on with his life and help her parents to get on with theirs as Terri’s guardians.

There are no winners here. Everyone goes home a loser. But the horror of dying of thirst is unconscionable. Even the mercy of euthanasia would be a kinder ending. It comes from the Greek words “eu”(easy) and “thanatos”(death). That says it all.