Actually, 1.5 million American families face these kinds of end-of-life deceisions every year. This story has been elevated to national attention because the mullahs of the Christian right, people like Randall Terry, have an effective propaganda machine and willing media partners with the likes of Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh a Bill O'Reilly.

I should note that this case was actually before the U.S. Supreme Court several years ago (they dismissed it then as well) and it didn't command much attention back then. That was before Christian right-to-life and anti-abortion groups chose to take it on as their cause celebre. Their involvement really has less to do with Terri Schiavo than it does to do with political power and influence.