In the latest move of a cynical power struggle between Florida's renegade courts and the other branches of government, a Pinellas County Circuit Judge is about to decide if coma victim Terry Schiavo can be killed by her husband over her parent's objections.

That's a fairly bald statement, and deserves some elaboration. Gnomon recognizes that this is not a simple issue, that it is not an easy thing to decide between a woman's right to live and her right not to suffer. Frankly, we can see the weight of both sides.

But the salient fact here is that she is living on her own. No tubes or respirators are keeping her alive, there is no machine to "unplug."

For her to die, she must be killed.

Is it ever right for an innocent to be killed? Particularly if there is no expressed desire for this fate on record? If, in fact, her Roman Catholic religious beliefs argue against there being any such desire?

Can it be considered right to actually starve such a person to death?

The answer is, "No."