There is nothing that President Bush could have done to save Terri because of the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution. Only the courts had the power to order or not order the reconnection of Terri's life support system. The case was judicial, not executive. If Terri were confined in a hospital where Bush had definite influence, then it would be a different story. The hospital would simply ignore the court order saying it violated their rights and duty to prolong the life of the severely incapacitated. Then the courts will have to decide a different matter. It will be the courts against the hospital taking care of the severely ill. But the hospital simply obeyed the court order and not contested it.
Thank you for your opinion, but I think that we all and of course myself included, miss the point of what is happening or how dangerous a situation really can be, to all Americans.
Basically the judge ordered the death of an American Citizen for one reason only. He deemed her life not worthy to live in our society. Further, he included in his order to not feed her by mouth? It does not take a neuro surgeon to realize that Judge Greer openly admits that Terri is awake and aware and not in PVS. One must be awake and aware to accept food by mouth and someone who wants to die would refuse the act of feeding. Even though a swallow test was not allowed, Judge Greer must have believed that she could swallow food or there is no logical reason to include that in his order. Someone in PVS cannot be fed by mouth, because they are not conscious or aware.
To say that President Bush could not act to save Terri's life, because of the Constitution does not ring true. It is his sworn duty to protect every American Citizen from crimes against them. He is the highest law official in the country. If he truly believed that what was happening to Terri was wrong, it is his duty to act and prevent it and we all know he and the governor failed to do so. As much as I would like to believe that he could not act to save an innocent woman from an incredibly cruel death, my intellect tells me differently, because it flies in the face of reason.
This case can and most likely will be used as precedence to decide other cases, on the quality of life. It really is no different than Roe vs. Wade. One court decision based on the ending of one human life. The result is 30 million abortions. Roe vs. Wade is not law, but a court decision about one case. Now the "law" allows that abortion may be done up to normal delivery. All because our politicians failed to act.
Failure to act, to prevent, to protect and to serve is the easiest way in our political system for not taking responsibility of a crime against God, against nature, against the Constitution and finally against humanity. When history is written, as is the case during and before Hitler’s reign of power, failure to act is a crime. The circumstances of Terri's case are too similar to ignore.