Testimony in Round 2 of a comatose woman's right-to-die case ended without any opposition to letting her die. Her doctor and her state-appointed guardian agreed with family members and friends of 33-year-old Nancy Cruzan, who has been in an irreversible coma since 1983. Dr. James C. Davis, who opposed removing a feeding tube when the family first sought court permission to let her die three years ago, changed his mind. He said during a Circuit Court hearing Thursday he favored the mercy death because he was convinced there was no hope for any improvement. He said living for years in a coma, without feeling or thought, was a terrifying prospect. ``I think it would be personally a living hell,'' Davis said. Asked if he would want someone to end his life if he were in her place, Davis replied: ``I think anyone would choose that if they had observed that condition.'' The U.S. Supreme Court, in its first right-to-die decision, last summer rejected a request by Ms. Cruzan's parents to end her life, ruling the state could bar such moves if victims had not made their desires known. Ms. Cruzan left no written instructions about what she would want done under such circumstances. The family went back to court, saying they had new witnesses who could support their claims that she would want to die. Judge Charles E. Teel, who ruled in the parents' favor before he was overruled, said he would rule on the new petition by Jan. 1. Joe Cruzan testified he knew his daughter would rather die than spend the rest of her life as a ``vegetable.'' ``My God, I wouldn't be here today if I thought there was any question,'' he said, his voice cracking. Two former co-workers and a former employer also said Ms. Cruzan told them she would not want to live if she ever suffered permanent brain damage. She went into a coma after a 1983 car crash. Doctors say she will never recover but could remain alive for 30 years or more in her currentcondition. Ms. Cruzan's state-appointed guardian said he agreed with the Cruzans and her personal physician that the feeding tube should be removed. ``I think it clearly is not in her best interest to go on this way,'' said the guardian, Thad McCanse. ``I'm convinced Nancy would not want to live like she is now.'' Debi Havner, who now lives in Enid, Okla., and Marianne Smith of Joplin, testified that while working with in 1978 at a school for severely handicapped children in Joplin, the three once agreed none of them would not want to be kept alive artificially. Tom Turner, the former owner of an Oklahoma office products store where Ms. Cruzan worked briefly in 1981, said in videotaped testimony that she also discussed her opposition to certain life-sustaining measures with him. ``She said such things as `Vegetables can't hug their nieces,''' Turner said. ``Her family was a major portion of her life, and if she couldn't have them, she didn't want to live.''
