According to The Guardian, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, always on the lookout for ways to offend and horrify people, has declared, after a consultation with the Vatican, "that food and water cannot be suspended for any patient depending upon them," an emergency decree that reverses an early Italian Supreme Court ruling allowing Englaro's father, Beppino, to remove his daughter's feeding tubes, something he has been fighting for for nearly a decade. Beppino says that his daughter would have wanted the tubes removed: "If she couldn't be what she was (before the accident in 1992) then she would not have wanted to live," he says.

Berlusconi and the Vatican, however, apparently don't care about those wishes: "This is murder. I would be failing to rescue her. I'm not a Pontius Pilate," Berlusconi noted, adding that Eluana was still "in the condition to have babies" as a justification for keeping her on life support, even though she's been in a coma for 17 years. Doctors have ignored Berlusconi's decree and are continuing to follow the original ruling, gradually reducing Eluana's food intake and increasing her medication as a means to induce a peaceful end.

The case, The Guardian notes, "has deeply divided Italian society and raised concerns over the influence of the Vatican," and it's not hard to see shades of Terri Schiavo and the battles between family wishes, government influences, and religious groups taking place here. Though the Vatican and Berlusconi continue to insist that allowing Eluana to die would be "murder," her anaesthetist, Professor Antonio de Monte, puts it this way: "Eluana died 17 years ago."

The most frightening aspect of this is the fact that Berlusconi and the Vatican are overruling Italy's own court system: after a decade of fighting for his daughter's wishes, Beppino's rights were still denied due to Catholic influence, essentially canceling out the judicial process. And much like the Schiavo case, it has become something beyond life and death- Eluana, her life, death, and family have now become pawns in a political game, a symbol for a religious ideal; for all of those people claiming to have a great deal of respect for her life, they certainly don't seem to have any respect for the way she and her family wished to end it.

Italy Faces Constitutional Crisis Over Coma Woman [The Guardian]

• Wow, "Keith" must be working some serious overtime! Southwest Airlines gave another woman hell for wearing "revealing" clothing, just a week after a woman was nearly booted off a flight for wearing a mini-skirt. Setara Qassim was forced to wear a blanket by a flight attendant because she thought Setara's top was too low cut. Dude, is it just us, or does Southwest seriously have a problem with girls with ample breasts? [NBC6.net]
  
• Eating right, staying active, and watching your weight during pregnancy furthers the chances that your unborn baby will grow into a healthy adult. Memo to Nicole Richie: Eating right, staying active, and watching your weight ups your chances of being a healthy adult too! [Newsweek]
  
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• "Is football too dangerous?" asks Time Magazine. If we say yes, will our boyfriend stop dominating the television Saturday through Monday for four months out of the fucking year? [Time Magazine]
• Seventy-five percent of moms have major nightmares about something horrible happening to their children. See, women carry the bulk of the parenting load, even in their dreams! [MSNBC]
• Children who are exposed to high levels of testosterone in the womb may see symptoms of autism later in life, further evidence that links the male hormone to the disorder. [MSNBC.com]
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• An 80-year old Iowa woman had "Do Not Resuscitate" tattooed on her body, but doctors are still keeping her on life support because they say the tattoo is not enough proof of her wishes. Do they think "Do Not Resuscitate" is the name of a heavy metal band or something? [Crooks And Liars]
• A woman who is the victim of an alleged rape has sued the judge in the case because he has barred the use of the words rape, victim, and assailant from the courtroom during the trial. The woman was barred from using the words during her testimony, which lasted 13 hours, a clear violation of her first amendment rights. [Law.com]
• A lawsuit against the University of Colorado was reinstated after being dismissed in 2005. The original case stemmed from the gang rape of two women in 2001 by the school's football players and recruits. The suit alleges that CU officials failed to respond adequately to a long history of sexual harassment and assault by school football players and were therefore liable for the environment that allowed the rapes to occur. [Ms.]
• A Vitamin-D deficiency during pregnancy increases the risk of getting pre-eclampsia, the leading cause of premature birth. Trista Sutter — you know, the OG Bachelorette — talks about her personal experience in this week's US Weekly! [Science Daily]