Life support, and lack thereof

I had told myself that I wasn't going to comment on the Terry Schaivo(sic?) case, that it didn't concern me, that I should just blank it out. I was wrong. It concerns everyone. It is not our concern in that it should be a desicions made by her family, and that if parents and spouse disagree, i feel it should be the spouses choice. It concerns us because the laws they are trying to make once again affect all of our bodies and lives.
Just over ten years ago(ten years, two months, three weeks and four days, not that i'm counting) there was a fire that destroyed my grandmothers house. This is the house that my dad grew up in, that my grandfather died in, that my aunts and uncles all lived in at one time or another taking care of granma. My aunt made it out with nothing other than mild frostbite, and major psychological trauma, to this day, she still can't make toast, due to the smell. My Granma, on the other hand, had a large room in the middleof the house, the Firefighters got to her only after they had the fire subdued. She was asleep at the time of the fire, my aunt tried to get her, but couldn't see thru the smoke. Once granma was out of the fire, she was rushed to the hospital. She had burns on over 89% of her body, the doctors had to ask if anyone new wether or not she slept in the nude, since she was so charred they couldn't tell if she was wearing clothing. Thank whatever gods she believed in, she was in a coma, and probably didnot feel anypain as they tended to her burns. If you do not know how they deal with very severe burns, burns that charred bone in some places, be very thankful. I will not go into the details of that here. For two weeks, she "lived", having machines feed her, help her breathe, pump her full of morphine to dull any pain she might be able to feel. I was 16, and I was ill(pnumonia we later found out) But I thru enough of a fit that they let me see her. To this day i swear it was not my granma I saw, but merely a husk that housed her soul, spirit, and self. The doctors assured us thet she inhaled enough smoke to not feel any pain, this also meant she inhaled enough smoke to kill of any higher brain functioning. They informed us that they were fairly certain she would never regain conciousness, and if she did, she would not be able to move or speak due to her injuries, she would require around the clock care, and have the mental accumen of a stupid 2 year old. We all talked after this, Defunct-Dad, aunt number one, aunt number two(who was in the house during the fire) and drunken uncle all deliberated amopngst themselves, then they all talked to me, one on one to get my imput. I later learned that the reason they all talked to me one on one was because when speaking as a group they decided to respect my choices, thereby making it my decision. I would have done the same thing, even if I knew, but I feel the way they went about it was highly unfair and cheap) We removed her feeding tube, and upped the morphine. The shell that was granma died peacefully, and we mourned, nut for her death, but for how she died.
Had the gov't interfered the way they are now with Schaivo, a woman who would never have any quality of life would have been kept alive thru false means at a monetary expense none could afford, and a moral expens none wanted. It is not a case of morals or ethics, if after fifteen years, she ain't coming back. Terry Schaivo has already left this world, now they must let go of her body, and say goodbye. That's what we did, it hurt like hell, but was for the best.