On Thursday, much to the dismay of her parents and their supporters, though probably to the relief of the rest of the world who was sick of hearing about her, Terri Schiavo passed away. Cause of death: court ordered starvation and dehydration, as requested by her husband on the insistence that "she wouldn't want to live that way".
On Friday, beloved Pope John Paul II, the very embodiment in recent years of suffering as virtue, decided not to return to the hospital, preferring to spend his remaining hours in God's hands, in his apartment surrounded by friends. Cause of death: septic shock and cardiocirculatory collapse.
On Saturday, for reasons known only to himself, a father made a decision too, and left three confused, grieving daughters behind to pick up the pieces, to torture themselves with the whys and what ifs that no one can answer. Cause of death: self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.
Right to die?