It’s not the federal government’s job to intervene in the Terri Schiavo case.

Schiavo, a severely brain-damaged woman in Florida, has been at the center of a legal and moral controversy since 1990, when she collapsed from a chemical imbalance that cut off oxygen to her brain.

Her husband Michael said Terri Schiavo did not wish to be kept alive by artificial means. Her parents claim Michael Schiavo is not a fit guardian, although a court dismissed a petition to that effect.

Florida courts have found that it was Schiavo’s wish not to be kept alive artificially. But President Bush and GOP members of Congress have continued to push for her life support. Various appeal courts have produced different verdicts on the matter.

The U.S. Senate passed a bill Sunday to prolong her life, and the House voted the same way early today. Democrats said Republicans were trying to ram through constitutionally questionable legislation to push a conservative agenda, according to an Associated Press article.

The decision of whether to remove a feeding tube is an extremely difficult one. It is a decision often full of much grief or worry. People in a persistent vegetative state have – in very rare circumstances – been known to at least partially recover. Dr. Michael Keane, from the UCLA Medical Center, told the the Los Angeles Times the longer the vegetative state remains, the less likely it is the patient can come out of it.

This only makes the decision that much harder. But hard as it may be, this is not a decision for the U.S. Congress or for President Bush.

If Terri Schiavo’s husband is still regarded as a worthy guardian, then state law says he should be the one with the final say about her.

No one wants her to die, but the federal government should keep out of it. Schiavo should not become a political pawn in a media circus.

It’s extremely likely she wouldn’t have wanted that.