Has the Law Failed Terri Schiavo?

Charles Krauthammer has up an interesting analysis of whether the law has failed Terri Schiavo, or if the results we are seeing now are inevitable given our best attempts to deal with the unknowns of death and dying.

No living will, no advance directives, no durable power of attorney...What do you do when you have nothing to go on? You try to intuit her will, using loved ones as surrogates...In this case, the loved ones disagree. The husband wants Terri to die; the parents do not. The Florida court gave the surrogacy to her husband, under the generally useful rule that your spouse is the most reliable diviner of your wishes: You pick your spouse and not your parents, and you have spent most of your recent years with your spouse and not your parents...The problem is that although your spouse likely knows you best, there is no guarantee he will not confuse his wishes with yours.

The piece is a reminder that the Law is the best we can do to reflect proper morality in a world soaked in sin and self-interested behavior. As you read, keep in mind that Krauthammer himself was in an accident which caused significant paralysis and is also a licensed physician. So his family actually had to think these same issues through, before they knew he would wake up and be able to enunciate his own wishes.