The Sun Journal editorial regarding the Terri Schiavo case (March 22) fails to consider the larger battle being fought: What is the value of a life? Does life have intrinsic value in each and every stage, even those stages that are unpleasant, inconvenient and tragic? Will we be compassionate and “err on the side of life”? Or will we arrogantly set universal parameters by which to judge the worth of a life? Any life that fails to meet our “standards” can be destroyed, even by starvation, if need be.

Terri’s loving and faithful parents have stood by and fought for the life of their daughter for 15 years, and are prepared to shoulder all the burdens of her care. But the court of the politically correct has passed judgment and decided that Terri’s life is not one worth living. Morally and ethically, this is dangerous thinking. Any one of us may one day face the same court. Don’t be ignorant – the court has not allowed the removal of Terri’s feeding tube, it has ordered it.

Meanwhile, Terri Schiavo languishes, surrounded by caretakers forbidden to place an ice chip on her tongue to ease her suffering. Chalk up another casualty of the assault on the right to life of all Americans, one that begins with the unborn and may now extend to the burdensome.

May God have mercy on this nation.

Lori Malone, Lewiston