BOZEMAN, Mont. This is the phrase running through my head whenever I think of Terri Schiavo: May she rest in peace. When will this become a benediction, rather than a question? Last weekend, we saw bioethics trumped by biopolitics. After 15 years in a persistent vegetative state, after seven years in court, after motions and more motions, appeals and more appeals, Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was again removed. A Congress that rushed to intervene cared less about neurology than electability. Doing the right thing mattered less than appeasing the right wing. By early Monday morning, the president signed a unprecedented law allowing "any parent of Theresa Marie Schiavo" to sue in federal court to keep her alive. It's tempting to say they played politics with this case, but "play" is far too frivolous a word. First, let me exempt Terri's parents from this indictment. As the much- maligned George Greer, the Florida judge who now travels with bodyguards, said in a thoughtful and empathetic opinion: "We understand why a parent who had raised and nurtured a child from conception would hold out hope ... ." Any one of us can imagine the pain behind Terri's mother's denial: "We laugh together, we cry together, we smile together, we talk together." Last Saturday, walking down Main Street here, I passed a picketer carrying a sign that read: "How do you kill a woman who's smiling at you?" Bioethicists who are professionally wary of absolutes will tell you that after a few months, let alone 15 years, there is "virtually no chance" of improvement, no chance of consciousness. But biopoliticians, even those who know better, like Dr. and Sen. Bill Frist, latch onto the "virtually" in trying to legislate miracles. More to the point, bioethicists will also tell you this case is about the right to refuse medical treatment - chemotherapy, blood transfusions or, yes, food and water. Can we make that decision and, if not, who can? Over time, we have established our right to say no, and state legislation has determined that others can act for us. But biopoliticians say this case is about defending "the culture of life." We are learning all about that. The narrative line that connects abortion opponents with end-of-life care is pretty clear. It gives the government, not the individual, the power to make our most critical, intimate decisions. As I write, two federal courts have bucked Congress and refused to reinstate the feeding tube. But whatever happens, I am afraid, this is not the end of it. Indeed, Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, living proof biopolitics can be bipartisan, wants a bill to provide federal review of any similar case. Down here, among the biocitizenry, 78 percent of those surveyed in an ABC poll said they wouldn't want to be kept alive in Terri's condition. About two-thirds of us think a spouse should have the final say, and 70 percent thought Congress should not have gotten involved. Maybe we know something biopoliticians don't know. At one time, nearly every American will face a medical and emotional decision about the people we love. May we all find the peace ... without the politics.