In her letter, Natalie Bonsell, a woman born with Spina Bifida, proclaims that she would rather die than live in Terri Schiavo's condition ("Living as 'vegetable' not truly state of life," March 14).

In speaking about Terri, Natalie makes her own arbitrary decision as to what makes a life worth living by claiming that "those who are in a vegetative state aren't the same [as her]," and that, rather than grieve over Ms. Schiavo (news flash: Terri's not dead yet!), we should "fight for those who still have a chance to live."

First of all, it has been well documented that Terri is able to respond purposefully with her environment, including reacting to the voices of her family members; don't believe the myth that Terri is a "vegetable."

Second, Natalie, of all people, should sympathize with someone who suffers with a disability; however, her letter demonstrates, rather cruelly, her belief that Terri Schiavo should be starved to death because Terri's standard of living is different from her own.

Natalie, what if your parents had decided when you were young to save you the trouble of living with Spina Bifida by speeding up your "death process"?