Another Terri Schiavo?

It's happening again here in Florida. Another case is pitting a husband against a parent over the fate of an unconscious, brain-damaged woman on life support. (By "brain-damaged," I don't mean Katherine Harris ... at least not this time.)

Karen Weber's descent into limbo began on Florida's Turnpike in November. She and her husband of 34 years, Raymond, had driven to Orlando International Airport to pick up her mother.

On the way home to Okeechobee, happy talk about Gracie, the new baby in the family, ended suddenly when Karen had a seizure. Her husband drove quickly to a hospital.

That seizure and a second one led to a paralyzing stroke and now, seven months later, Karen, 57, lies in a nursing home as family members battle over whether to remove the feeding tube that keeps her alive, a circumstance similar to the Terri Schiavo case of 2005.

Weber is paralyzed on her left side and cannot speak, but she breathes on her own.

Raymond Weber believes she is in a vegetative state and wants the feeding tube removed and his wife transferred to hospice care, where she probably would die.

But her mother, Martha Tatro, and other family members say she is alert and responsive.

An Okeechobee County circuit judge has issued an injunction, which husband and mother agreed to, blocking removal of the tube until he decides whether she is capable of deciding herself.

The judge also appointed a guardian for her and a committee of two psychologists and a neurologist to give their opinions. Karen had no living will or other health-care directive.

First things first, folks: if you don't have a living will or similar document, get one. Now. Today. Or as soon as possible.

As for this case, I'm not sure why it's not as high-profile as the Schiavo case. I mean, it is an election year, after all. You'd think the batshit crazy fundie Republicans would be all over this one. Are you listening, Ronda Storms? Hell, Bill Frist hasn't even made his diagnosis yet.

Of course, it's probably only a matter of time. The media will get a hold of this, and so will the crazies, and it's gonna be another cause celebre. The family's (not the husband's) website, prayforkaren.com, almost guarantees it. Once the MSM finishes with the Russert hagiography and when there's a lull in Nancy Grace's missing white women, look for the Karen Weber story all over the place.

So stay tuned. The crazy season is just beginning.