Otherwise, in the future, the government will be making such intimate family decisions for us.

"It came down to a family decision," he said in an interview yesterday.

Her case raised questions about the role of government in private family decisions.

"We've had a lot of family decisions to make and this one is tough," Hill said.

"This is a family decision from top to bottom," he said, "not just myself and my wife."

More important, the law has little business getting into these private, and often painful, family decisions.

"You should have your adolescent more involved in important family decisions."

I also think children need to be included in some family financial decisions.

"This ranks up there with a personal family decision," he said.

It was a family decision not to sell Peruvian food.