Terri Schiavo’s case has become almost as much of a media circus as Michael Jackson’s.

For the few who don’t know about the situation, Terri Schiavo is a 41-year-old woman who, up until March 18, was being kept alive by a feeding tube administered through her stomach. She suffered heart failure in 1990, probably due to bulimia. Since then, she has been in a persistent vegetative state – a type of coma. Doctors say this means that while she is alive and can breathe on her own, she is unconscious, unaware of her surroundings and cannot feel pain.

The conflict in this case is between Terri’s parents, Mary and Bob Schindler, and her husband, Michael Schiavo. Her husband says she would not want to live in a vegetative state. Her parents say there is still hope for her recovery.

By Florida law, Michael Schiavo is responsible for her life. But the Schindlers have been fighting Michael Schiavo for more than a decade. Fighting to keep your child alive is not an absurd concept. Nor is fighting to honor your wife’s wishes.

What is absurd and embarrassing is the conduct of the government, politicians, protesters and the media.

People have traveled to Terri’s hospice in Pinellas Park, Fla., to show their support for the Schiavo family. These protesters, most of whom claim to be devout Christians, have signs comparing President Bush and Florida Governor Jeb Bush to Pontius Pilate, among other psychotic claims. The general notion of the crowd is that those who are allowing Schiavo to die are murderers, which includes the entire U.S. judicial branch and apparently the rest of America.

The media have reacted to this case like a 5-year-old who has just been given a lollipop, or maybe a whole truckload of lollipops.

It seems that they delight in showing the crying Schindlers and the many photographs and shrines to Jesus that have popped up around the hospice.

The government has begun to act like the Schiavo case is the most important case ever to be heard in the U.S. Both the president and Congress cut short Easter holidays to hurriedly sign a bill allowing the case to be heard by a federal judge. If only they cared this much about hurriedly resolving issues that affect all of us on a daily basis – health care, the economy, foreign affairs, etc.

Also involved are the obligatory publicity hounds. Various government officials and activists have joined the “Don’t Kill Schiavo” bandwagon. Randall Terry, a prominent anti-abortion activist, has attached himself to the family as its “spokesperson.” The Rev. Jesse Jackson saw his chance to be on TV and jumped right into the fray. Do these people care about this woman? Or are they using her as a means to showcase their newfound moral values?

What is going on right now cannot be easy for either side, and we are sure these are trying times for all who are involved in Schiavo’s life. But this is a private matter, and it should have stayed private. It is unfortunate that because of her frantic parents, the media’s sensationalism and conservative fanaticism, Terri Schiavo’s approaching death has turned into a dramatic television show. Shame on all of you.