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Defense of marriage backers mum

March 25, 2005

AS I WATCH the Terri Schiavo case play out in Washington, I can't help but wonder where the ''defense of marriage" proponents have gone? The decision about life support was left in the hands of Terri Schiavo's husband, which is where the decision belongs. When Terri married, her husband became her next of kin, and she became his. Will no one defend this marriage?

I don't know what Terri would have wanted, but I was in a similar situation when my uncle suffered a massive stroke last summer. What I learned is that close members of my family differ significantly on what we would want for ourselves and our loved ones. But we all agreed on one thing -- my uncle's wife was the one he wanted to make the decisions.

We may be left-wing liberals from Massachusetts, but we apparently have more regard for the meaning of marriage than this Republican Congress does.

ANNIE MCQUILKEN
Lexington

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