Well, folks I am pro-life, more pro-life than many republican advocates (I don't support the death penalty, how is that pro-life, Bush?). However, in my opinion I don't consider Shivo to be "alive" anymore. Life is not merely physical responses but consciousness as well, which she does not have. And this is a matter of quality of life. Sure, we could keep her "alive" for years, but she would never be her old self again. She would never be able to understand what is going on. Maybe she has consciousness somewhere else, but it has detached herself from her brain and body and now she is less conscious than a fish. "Starving" her human body is not killing her, it is allowing the body to go to its natural course. After all, the body is not what's important, it is just a vessel, the soul is the important part, and her soul has probably exited.

Some key points to remember: This is not assisted suicide (which I do not support). This is not a refusal of medicine or taking pills, she can't "kill herself" because she is not conscious to do so. This is not murder, because we are not putting something to hurt her or denying her food (we could hand her food, she won't eat it). What she is on right now is an attempt to keep a corpse animated for a period of time.

Shivo is completely dependent on machinery. Someone made the point that babies are dependent on others in order to survive, which is true, HOWEVER babies are not dependent on machines (just humans) and they will eventually mature into adults. Shivo will not.