Jewish law and Terri Schiavo

In the press, those supporting Terri Schiavo's right to live have been advocating from a Christian perspective. As Rabbi Aryeh Spero makes plain here, Jewish law holds the same position. And, to make it a bit easier for the fence sitters troubled by the fact that assisted suicide so often calls for us to determine where Nature's or God's hold on life ends and the hold of pure science begins, Rabbi Spero has this to say:

Long ago Jewish law made a distinction between withholding medication and special treatments from a patient as opposed to withholding food and water. Whereas there comes a time when we are no longer required to proactively employ 'heroic' medicines and treatments to keep a non-functioning body operating, it is always necessary to continue feeding a patient.

I urge you to read the whole article; it's a good one.