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http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/johansen200503160848.asp
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TALLAHASSEE -- With less than three days to go before Terri Schiavo's feeding tube is removed, the Florida Senate on Tuesday significantly changed the legislation designed to forestall her death.
Earlier this week, key lawmakers in the House and Senate reached a tentative agreement on a bill to block the court-ordered removal of the severely brain-damaged woman's feeding tube at 1 p.m. Friday.
But that deal seemed to fall apart Tuesday, at least in the short term, when the final committees hearing the legislation in both the House and Senate approved competing versions. Members of both chambers planned to renew discussions today and said they were "optimistic" they could reach a new consensus before the deadline.
"We've got time to get it done . . . I'm hopeful to sign something Friday. That's the plan," Gov. Jeb Bush said.
And Michael Schiavo Appeared on ABC's Nightline -
Michael Schiavo, making his first public comments Tuesday since late 2003 to ABC News Nightline, lashed out at Bush and the Legislature.
"It's really uncomprehensible . . . for a governor to come into this without any education on the subject and push his personal views into this and have his Republican [Legislature] pass laws so that this doesn't happen," Schiavo said, according to a transcript released by ABC. "Are they going to start pushing legislation for removing ventilators? Are they going to start forcing people to take chemo against their wishes? What they're doing is, they're making the decisions for us."
Added his attorney, George Felos: "Jeb Bush in Florida is determined to become the George Wallace of his generation, standing on the courthouse steps saying, 'We're not going to obey a court order that carries out a patient's constitutional rights.' "
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prying1 sez
Pinellas Circuit Judge George Greer, The judge that ordered the feeding tube removed is the one name I hope the people of Florida remember. If his name ever comes up on a ballot that is the time to remove him from his position.
I hope that this time she will be allowed to die. The FL (my state) legislature is putting every married couple in our state who does not have a living will or advanced care directives at risk by trying to substitute its judgement for the judgement of her husband. The right of spouses to make these judgemnts is older than our nation and should not be tampered with. Anybody who whines loud enough and long enough and can get some media coverage can tie up a person's business for years on end, which is unfair to Terri Schaivo or her husband. Long after the camers are gone and the bloggers have stopped commenting on it, the citizens fo FL will have to deal with whatever legisl;ative solution is crafted to try to get between her and her husband--which is in essence foisting a partial divorce on him against his and his wife's wishes. As a pastor, I have seen this kind of thing unfold in hospitals many times--the doctors come in and say there is nothing that can be done to save a person but one family member still holds out hope and balks. Right now the next of kin decides, usually the spouse, but if the legislature creates a special window to try to keep Terri Schaivo alive, that same window will be pried open by anybody who doesn't agree, whether they have standing as next of kin or whether they have the medical evidence on their side or not.
ReplyDeleteTen different courts have looked at this issue and all have found in favor of the husband. Her court appointed doctors say she has no cerebral cortex--it has long since turned to fluid, so Terri isn't even there. Respiration, heartbeat and reflexes are not mind, will, personality, etc.
I sure am glad you are not my pastor because I would have to be looking for a new church.
ReplyDeleteCheck this article out.
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/johansen200503160848.asp
Quote from article:
In the course of my conversation with Dr. Morin, he made reference to the standard use of MRI and PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scans to diagnose the extent of brain injuries. He seemed to assume that these had been done for Terri. I stopped him and told him that these tests have never been done for her; that Michael had refused them.
There was a moment of dead silence.
"That?s criminal," he said, and then asked, in a tone of utter incredulity: "How can he continue as guardian? People are deliberating over this woman?s life and death and there?s been no MRI or PET?" He drew a reasonable conclusion: "These people [Michael Schiavo, George Felos, and Judge Greer] don?t want the information." -End Quote
I really do not think you care anything for the truth Public Theologian. After all, You are willing to vote for Hillary instead of seeking and demanding someone with ethics. But then again, is there anyone on the left with ethics???
Yes me!!! I would have you in my Church anytime! Great post Pete and thank you for keeping this in the public eye! God bless you!
ReplyDeletePS. Is there much difference between a public theologian and a Pharisee?
Sorry, typo! Should have read Paul... who's Pete? :-)
ReplyDeletePaul--
ReplyDeleteYou might want me as your pastor if I was the only one to defend you and your wife from an angry mob.
Terri Schaivo has court appointed doctors who can order whatever test are necessary to determine whether she is in a pvs or not. It is those independent voices who have caused Michael Schaivo to win at every judicial level--because she does not have a cortex. Michael Schaivo brought her brain scans to CNN the other night when when he was on Larry King. The NY Times had a neurologist look at them and he concluded the same thing. This is a slam dunk case as far as the evidence and the law are concerned and it has only been kept going so long because the right wing has turned this into installment number 235 of the culture wars and has been pouring unlimited amounts of money into fighting her husband, while his lawyers have not been paid for years and are working this case now for nothing.
I have a mentally disabled child myself and would be the first one to protest if Terri Schaivo was in any kind of distress. But she isn't. Terri is dead. Her body is alive, which according to her husband, is against her wishes. It is the worst kind of state intrusion to tell a spouse that the state knows better than he does what she would have wanted.
Public Theologian
Once again it comes down to which news articles and blogs to believe. I do not see any reason to rush pulling the tubes out. (I know it has been a long time so what is another week or two?) - At this point the side in favor of pulling the tube says she is brain dead. The side in favor of life say the MRI has never been used on her. - I say lets use the MRI with several doctors attending.
ReplyDeleteQuestions have been raised by both sides. Lets get answers and then pull the feeding tube if indeed she is brain dead. -
I also have to believe that you as a pastor must believe in Divine intervention.
If legislation in FL does change it should be simple enough for even the poorest of the poor to find a scrap of paper and a bit of ink to write out their wishes.
Paul--
ReplyDeleteI do believe in divine intervention but I also know from expereicne that one one has to deal with reality. For a long time after my daughter was born I hoped that I would wake and and find that she had 46 chromosomes instead of 47 in every cell of her body. But I could either live in a fantasy world or deal with the real one. It didn't do it with any joy, as I am sure Mr. and Mrs Schindler do not, but refusal to face the facts do not change them. The Schindlers unfortunately have been turned into professional victims by folks in the anti-abortion movement who wish to use this case to whip up public sympathy for their cause.
There is no need for an MRI because the lesser expensive tests have already found all there is to know about what's left inside her skull, which is fluid. When my son broke his arm he could have gotten an MRI but a $90 x-ray showed the doctor all that was needed to diagnose his condition. If her court-appointed doctors needed better data they could order an MRI in a second, but they have all the data that they need. Besides, Terri is on Medicaid and this unnecessary test designed only to satisfy the curiousity of some pundits would be billed to the taxpayers of Florida. But she does not need one any more than my son did because of the adequacy of the other diagnostic tools. You of all people who are concerned about wasteful government spending aren't advocating that we start doing expensive tests that have no medical justification are you?
Again, this case has been reviewed all the way to teh Supreme Court and every judge who has looked at this has sided with the husband. The right wong blogosphere keeps saying that "there are so many unanswered questions" but that simply isn't true. The questions have all been answered in years of litigation, always in favor of the husbamd. The reason for that is simple: she is already dead and no judge in his or her right mind can argue otherwise with the medical evidence. The problem is that for many people, there is no evidence that would counter what they already believe, and it is that which is keeping her feeding tube from being removed.
Public Theologian
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