RIP Schiavo...and RIP states' rights

RIP to Terry Schiavo and condolences to her family. This is the day that should have come a long time ago. Not to be crass, but her husband, her legal guardian, has stated time and again that her request was to not live in the vegetative state she's been in for the past however so many years. While it's easily understandable that the Schindlers did not want to let go of their daughter, it's turned into a political ploy from, if not the Schindlers themselves, people in the immediate inner-circle of the Schindlers. In recent days, stories have emerged regarding the sale of contributor information to the Schindlers' cause. The lists are being sold to right-wing groups (anti-abortion, etc.) without the contributors acknowledgement. Aside from privacy violations, it's simply a sad state of affairs that something like this would occur. Granted, this issue has clearly become something larger than just Teri Schiavo, but the transparently political-ness of the situation is both sad and sickening. Memos from Republicans saying that this would rally their base and make the re-election campaign of Florida Senator Bill Nelson swing their way show the right wing's lack of integrity.

As a sidenote, what happened to the states' rights tenets of republicans and conservatives? Suddenly we have the federal government involving itself in these traditional states' rights issues, from NCLB to something like this. Instead of focusing on Teri Schiavo and passing legislation in the middle of the night that affects one person, why not work on fixing the health care system at large? Encourage living wills. Strengthen the qualifications of the doctors that work on people such as Teri Schiavo, so accidents like the one that occurred to her don't transpire as often.