Examination of the case of Teresa Schiavo shows both sides of the bitter medical-political debate on sanctity versus quality of life. Shortly after her marriage in 1990, Ms. Schiavo suffered a cardiac arrest that deprived her brain of oxygen for about eleven minutes, more than five minutes longer than medical experts believe is possible without severe and irreversible brain damage. . She fell into a persistent vegetative state (PVS). Thus began a fifteen-year battle over Mrs. Schiavo's sanctity and quality of life. Schiavo argued that it was Mrs. Schiavo's wish not to be kept alive in a persistent vegetative state. Her parents fought to keep her alive believing that some miracle would take her out of the developing world. Experts from both sides of the debate spoke. Bioethicists, experts in the treatment of terminally and chronically ill patients, overall agree with Mr. Schiavo that prolonging her life would not lead to a productive life because she would never recover. They also discovered that he was acting in her best interests, not for lack of personal gain. Meanwhile, politicians attempted to impose their personal beliefs into the medical decisions that had to be made. They went so far as to enact “Terry's Law” replacing the jurisdiction of state courts with the jurisdiction of federal district court. This law gave Ms. Schiavo's parents a way to circumvent the lower court ruling upholding Mr. Schiavo's rights as her guardian and next of kin. However, this law was later declared unconstitutional. As a result, Mr. Schiavo's medical decisions were ultimately satisfied and Mrs. Schiavo was allowed to die peacefully and naturally. The sanctity of Mrs. Schiavo's life has been preserved by wei... middle of paper... things one intentionally sets out to achieve or obtain. Life is not an ultimate value, but still a fundamental value. The conclusion can therefore be drawn that while life must exist for value to exist, the purpose of life is not the continuation of biological physical mechanisms. The purpose of life then becomes the way in which one lives and realizes one's values. In essence, the purpose of life becomes the pursuit of values. The ultimate value of maximizing the quantity of life should be balanced with maximizing the quality of life. Life, and therefore the sanctity of life, is finite; death is irrefutable. The quality of life is infinite. Every minute of life is an opportunity to learn and experience its full potential. Although subjective, it is arrogant and narcissistic to claim to know which is better, sanctity or quality of life, when examining the lives of others.