Terry Schiavo

[Ally_Kat]

I don't know all the facts of the case cuz I have my own thing I'm dealing with here, but I did see a news clip where she was sitting up smiling and looking around the room.

She didn't look too lifeless to me. Hell, she looked better than my father did back in December.

[FORD]

Here's a press release from the same right wing organization earlier this month. Note that they make no claims of her condition being anything other than what is documented in the record

Family Research Council: Future Legislation Aimed at Saving Terri Schiavo
Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) and Rep. David Weldon (R-FL) Introduce Incapacitated Person's Legal Protection Act

To: National Desk

Contact: Amber Hildebrand of the Family Research Council, 202-393-2100

WASHINGTON, March 8 /Christian Wire Service/ -- Today, Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) and Congressman David Weldon (R-FL) introduced legislation that could save the life of Terri Schiavo, who suffered a brain injury 15 years ago. The Incapacitated Person's Legal Protection Act (HR 1151, S 539) will give Terri, and those in similar situations, the same Constitutional protection of due process as death row inmates, common sense legislation. Presently, the law does not explicitly recognize due process for an incapacitated individual and leaves the rights of disabled persons at the mercy of the courts instead of defended by the Constitution.

The Incapacitated Person's Legal Protection Act will not apply to circumstances where an advance medical directive is in effect. The Act simply provides a final avenue of review of the case to insure that a disabled person's Constitutional rights of due process are maintained and that justice is done.

"Dr. Weldon's legislation would allow Terri to have her own counsel that can argue her case, a right given to any criminal in the United States, and Terri not a criminal but a woman truly fighting for her life," says Tony Perkins, President of Family Research Council.

"The disabled deserve due process," continues Perkins. "In the United States we don't execute people without due process and we shouldn't execute the incapacitated by starvation. Beyond being cruel and unusual punishment, this is an opportunity for Congress to finally check the power of runaway courts."

"We commend Senator Martinez and Congressman Weldon for taking the initiative and acknowledging a vital inconsistency in the process by which our courts determine the fate of those who cannot speak for themselves."

Tony Perkins is available for interview. Please contact Amber Hildebrand in the FRC press office 202.393.2100.

If they had any evidence to the contrary that would help Martinez and Weldon make their case, surely they would have produced it at that time.

The Pat Robertson crowd has been whining about "runaway courts" and "judicial activism" for years, but especially since the Texas sodomy law was thrown out and the Massachussettes court legalized gay marriage. All the while ignoring the worst case of judicial activism ever in this country, the one that took place in the Supreme Court on 12/12/2000.

Court after court after court has ruled in this case for the last 15 years, and if there were any real evidence that the poor woman was anything other than a hollow shell, then there has been plenty of opportunity to present that evidence. They have not done so.

Which makes all this last minute flood of questionable "evidence" from sources who are known liars just a little bit hard to take seriously.

[tomballin]

WASHINGTON Mar 21, 2005 — President Bush signed emergency legislation sent to him by Congress early Monday to allow Terri Schiavo's parents ask a federal judge to prolong their daughter's life, capping days of emotional debate over who should decide life and death.

"In cases like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life," Bush said in a statement after signing the bill.

After flying back to Washington from his Texas ranch, Bush had waited at the White House to sign the measure permitting a federal review of the case, which could trigger the reinsertion of feeding tubes needed to keep the brain-damaged Florida woman alive.

The House passed the bill on a 203-58 vote after calling lawmakers back for an emergency Sunday session for debate that stretched past midnight.

The measured was backed by 156 Republicans to 5 who voted against it and 71 who did not vote; 47 Democrats voted in favor, 53 against and 102 did not vote. The lone independent in the 435 member house did not vote.

The Senate approved the bill Sunday by voice vote.

Republican supporters said the "Palm Sunday Compromise" seeks to protect the constitutional rights of a disabled person and rejected suggestions that political motives lay behind the last-minute maneuver.

"When a person's intentions regarding whether to receive lifesaving treatment are unclear, the responsibility of a compassionate nation is to affirm that person's right to life," said House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis. "In our deeds and public actions, we must build a culture of life that welcomes and defends all human life."

[FORD]

What a crock of shit... warmongering hypocrites babbling about "affirming life"

[tomballin]

Comment on new Terri’s Federal Review Law:

This is a horrible test case, than many in the PVS lobby will not touch. But all the PVS lobby wants out of this deal is a Federal protection law, that when you have a situation like this mired down in a State with screwed up protections laws, and in a screwed up Probate Court situation, (if you have ever been involved in a screwed up Probate issue, you know what I am talking about, and remember Probate issues are the most expensive of ALL court litigation), that the case can be appealed in a Federal venue for injunctive relief, and final decision.

Didn’t get it here with this “Terri’s Bill” federal piece of junk law.

The PVS lobby believes that if death row prisoners have this Federal protection “relief valve”, then so should PVS’s and their families in the final life and death decision process.

This whole deal is not about logic, science or anything else imo. For many in the PVS lobby it’s a highly emotionally charged pro-choice, and somewhat pro-religion issue.

For many it’s also a pro-life issue, but I don’t agree. There is no reason to keep terminally brain dead people alive for no reason other than a loved one cannot “let go”. There is no reason to try voodoo and junk medical science on PVS’s because a loved on cannot “let go”

Of course, many of these loved ones expect the taxpayers to pay for all this, which also upsets me off. You want to keep your PVS daughter in the bedroom for 10 – 40 years, fine. But get your checkbook out, and be able to financially support your highly personal agenda. Many good family’s of PVS’s work 2, 3, 4 jobs just to pay their medical bills.

The record currently is 44 years that a PVS person has lived, and that person is currently still alive. Pretty wild, imo. The medical establishment thinks there is only 10-20,000 PVS out their. The number is closer to 250,000 – 300,000 because there is no formal accounting for these people, and many dropped out of the medical system’s radar years ago.

Strange, but Terri could actually live longer as a PVS, than in her pre-collaspe life due to her very serious bulimia nervosa disease. Her internal vital functions are good, and she is extremely tough.

I personally do not like the Schindler’s (Terri’s parents, actually her mother and sister are good people, NOT her father), but if it was your daughter and you knew in your heart

1) that her worthless husband abused her,
2) was personally co-responsible for the disease that caused her to become PVS,
3) then hid behind screwed up State Laws, in a court situation where he has sealed all the records, so you cannot even get at the real facts, in a bid to end her life……..

if you were a good parent, you would be fighting to get your daughter back, just like in this situation. If I am Terri’s parent, if anyone is going to make the decision to let her go, it’s going to be me, not this maggot husband she unfortunately got mixed up with that has significant contributing liability for her demise.

Frankly, it’s all that simple, and why this issue will not go away after all these years.

Roth On

[Warham]

The measured was backed by 156 Republicans to 5 who voted against it and 71 who did not vote; 47 Democrats voted in favor, 53 against and 102 did not vote. The lone independent in the 435 member house did not vote.

[BigBadBrian]

Originally posted by FORD
As I said yesterday, what this is really about is the neocon shitbags establishing the horrible, unconstitutional precedent of overthrowing a legitimate court ruling any time they please. They know the courts know law, but they don't give a shit. Because the almighty BCE/PNAC is above all laws of God AND Man.

....or at least they seem to think so.

Gee...


A court legislating from the bench...but not from the liberal agenda. How horrible.

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by BigBadBrian
Gee...


A court legislating from the bench...but not from the liberal agenda. How horrible.

I didn't know Congress was in the judicial branch. It was already decided in court, the FLORIDA STATE Courts! What is the Federal Gov't now going to waste time on every right-to-die case.


BTW, I hope Congress and the Bush Administration don't limit their medical malpractice damage awards, after all, money is what this is really about!

[tomballin]

Originally posted by FORD
As I said yesterday, what this is really about is the neocon shitbags establishing the horrible, unconstitutional precedent of overthrowing a legitimate court ruling any time they please. They know the courts know law, but they don't give a shit. Because the almighty BCE/PNAC is above all laws of God AND Man.

....or at least they seem to think so.

Anyone that thinks a federal law does not need to exist, to allow a federal court’s review in matters like this, I have ZERO respect for as a human being.

Florida's legal system totally failed in protecting Terri Schiavo’s rights as a totally disabled person, and to protect her life. It’s interesting how we always have problems like this in Florida. This situation could not have happened in most other states in this fine country.

We'd have more sympathy for this argument if the same liberals who are complaining about the federal courts reviewing Terri’s case felt as strongly about restraining the federal judiciary when it comes to abortion, homosexuality, and other social issues they don't want to trust to local communities.

In any event, these critics betray their lack of understanding of the meaning of federalism. It is not simply about "states' rights." Conservatives support states' rights in areas that are not delegated to the federal government but they also support federal power in areas that are delegated.

Think of an analogy to the writ of habeas corpus. "We have federal court review of state court judgments all the time in the criminal law context." The bill signed by President Bush essentially treats the Florida judgment as a death sentence, warranting federal habeas review.

I believe that is quite simple to understand, without all the unintelligent fanfare, in this situation.

The "right to die" has become another liberal cause, part of the "privacy" canon that extends through Roe (abortion) and Lawrence (homosexuality) and the Ninth Circuit's views on assisted suicide that the Supreme Court is taking up this year.

Of course, it gets a little messy when someone is actually being killed, and a husband with a conflict of interest is the one who claims she wanted to kill herself, but the liberals apparently believes these are mere details that shouldn't interfere with the broader cause. Thus their cry of federalism.

I have said this over a hundred times in this case. If Terri Schiavo actually made the statement Michael Schaivo alleges, why did he NEVER make this allegation in the physicians’ malpractice trial, when he was under oath, and under discovery.

I have also said over a hundred times in this case, Terri has been totally denied due process in this matter. Unseal the court records, move the case out of Florida’s worthless and totally corrupt Probate Court System, and let her legal team do proper due diligence and discovery. Murderers and everyone else get this right before the Bar, should people like Terri be exempt?

Let the public understand all the true facts, before we put her to death, and Michael Schiavo has her body cremated.

[tomballin]

>>She will never get any better, let her go.

There are 100’s of thousands of totally disabled people in this fine Country, that will never get any better, and never provide any real productive value to the Country.

For a Probate judge to effectively rule, well if she cannot get any better, kill her, is beyond absurd.

This would effectively say we should round up all the 100’s of thousands of totally disabled in this great Country and kill them because they provide no value, and never will.

Does the world really want a resurgence of State directed Nazism, in our own backyard?

[academic punk]

Let me just say for the record, if I so much as stub my toe, please kill me.

[FORD]

Originally posted by tomballin


There are 100’s of thousands of totally disabled people in this fine Country, that will never get any better, and never provide any real productive value to the Country.

There's a difference between "disabled" and "brain dead". Stephen Hawking's body is mostly useless, but there's no question that the rest of his brain functions perfectly well. Terry Schiavo's cerebal cortex is GONE. She has nothing left but the most basic brain stem functions. The condition is not reversible, brains do not grow back.


Does the world really want a resurgence of State directed Nazism, in our own backyard?

Does the world want it? No. But apparenly 50.8% of the American voters didn't have a problem with it

[tomballin]

Originally posted by FORD
Does the world want it? No. But apparenly 50.8% of the American voters didn't have a problem with it

48.2% of them don't understand this extremely complex issue.

But, rest easy Ford, the Florida Federal Judge over the case is a 1999 Clinton appointee.

Roth On


============

T. Schiavo Update: Three New Lawsuits Filed

1. The Bush administration formally entered the legal fray, as Justice Department lawyers filed court documents in U.S. District Court in support of legal efforts to keep Schiavo alive, a senior Justice Department official.

2. Based on the new law signed by President Bush, the parents of Terri Schiavo asked a judge to reinsert the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube Monday. An attorney for Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, arrived at federal district court in Tampa and filed a request for an emergency injunction to keep their daughter fed.

3. Their attorney, Mr. Gibbs also filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court in Tampa as allowed under the new law. He said the suit names Michael Schiavo as a defendant. Also listed as defendants are George Greer, the circuit judge who presides over the case, and Hospice Woodside, where Terri Schiavo lives.

Note: #3 was Michael Schiavo's worst nightmare. ALL the records will get opened up, and nothing done at the State level can be relied on. It's a whole new trial, and in Federal Civil Court, not that totally screwed up and corrupt Florida Probate Court.

MS is on Larry King Live tonight for anyone interested.

[Guitar Shark]

Originally posted by BigBadBrian
Gee...


A court legislating from the bench...but not from the liberal agenda. How horrible.

Courts are SUPPOSED to decide Constitutional issues like this (i.e., the right to die), NOT the legislature. That is what is so offensive about Congress's latest action.

In addition to the obvious pandering to the religious right, Congress is also irked at the suggestion that it doesn't have the power to control the outcome. When the Florida judge rejected Congress's first attempt to run the show, they got pissed and decided it was time for all out war. This is also why some Democrats joined the fight. It's a separation of powers issue. Congress thinks it knows better than the courts what the Constitution permits.

This whole thing is just disgraceful. We are living in a theocracy, and it sucks. Also, the fact that this story about ONE WOMAN can dominate the news headlines for DAYS, when we have so many other important issues to attend to, is disgusting.

[FORD]

Nah, this ain't a political issue


Senator James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) (L) and Terri Schiavo's brother, Bobby Schindler


House Majority Leader Tom Delay, R-Texas, left, and Bobby Schindler, the brother of Terri Schiavo, pose for pictures outside the House Chamber, Monday, March 21, 2005, in Washington. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)

• SCHINDLER, ROBERT
  RUSKIN, FL 33570
  QUICKKURB INC
  THUNE, JOHN (R)
  Senate - SD
  JOHN THUNE FOR US SENATE $250
  general 10/27/04
  
  Schindler, Robert J.
  Ruskin, FL 33570
  Qwick Kurb Inc./president
  HARRIS, KATHERINE (R)
  House (FL 13)
  FRIENDS OF KATHERINE HARRIS $500
  general 10/06/04
  
  SCHINDLER, ROBERT J MR.
  ANNA MARIA, FL 34216
  QWICK KURB INC./PRESIDENT BUSH, GEORGE W (R)
  President
  BUSH-CHENEY '04 (PRIMARY) INC $200
  primary 08/13/04
  
  Schindler, Robert J.
  Ruskin, FL 33570
  Qwick Kurb Inc./president
  HARRIS, KATHERINE (R)
  House (FL 13)
  FRIENDS OF KATHERINE HARRIS $1,200
  primary 08/04/04

Nope, no politics to see here.....