Posted on 04/01/2005 7:11:13 AM PST by Destro
Terri’s Legacy, It Is Time for a Real Culture of Life Bill From Progressive America; Terri's Law
By Anthony Wade
March 31, 2005
www.OpEdNews.com
The circus is finally over, Terri Schiavo has gone home. The side-show has packed up their tents and will head home, learning nothing, and soon forgetting a woman that sparked such outrage. That is unless someone does not let that happen. The GOP will feign indignation and try to use Mrs. Schiavo as a weapon to reign in a judiciary they feel is out of control but all you need to know about the judge in this case is that he was a republican. There is no out of control judiciary. The true sad fact of the Schiavo case is that at every turn when someone could have intervened on behalf of life, it was a GOP decision to allow her death. The primary judge was a conservative from the GOP. The Supreme Court also refused multiple times to intervene and is controlled by the GOP. The speculation about possible executive intervention focused on two men, George and Jeb Bush, both of which stood by and did nothing while Terri died. The GOP will not do anything about this case except try and use it to their political advantage, which is all they have done for the past two weeks. No, the true legacy of Terri Schiavo needs to come from the progressives in this country. It is time to have the GOP put their money where their mouths are and pass a “Culture of Life” bill, honoring Terri Schiavo.
The first tenet of a Culture of Life Bill must demand healthcare for all Americans in this country. I do not want to hear any more of the right-wing talking points about socialism meant only to distract from the pitiful reality that in the richest country in the world, there are 40 million people who do not have healthcare. Because of these shortages in healthcare, there are 18,000 unnecessary deaths per year. That has to be completely unacceptable in a civilized society. Anyone who truly believes in a culture of life has to support a plan that would eliminate 18,000 unnecessary annual deaths. Without healthcare, Terri Schiavo would not have lasted the 15 years that she did and progress to the point that she became the cause celebre of a nation.
A nation that affirms a culture of life insures that everyone has access to healthcare.
The second tenet of any Terri’s Law would have to federally protect Medicaid, Medicare, and State Children’s Health Insurance Program from any federal budget cuts. Sound impossible? No, it is simply a matter of making priorities. The fact of the matter is that balancing the federal budget on the backs of the poorest people in this country is not the kind of philosophy that asserts life. If you hold tax cuts for the rich in one hand and the ensuring of healthcare and continued lives of the elderly and children in this country in the other, I would assume that believing in a culture of life demands that the tax cuts get shelved. Terri received her medications through Medicaid and just the cuts alone that Tom Delay is currently demanding would have jeopardized Terri’s medications.
A nation that affirms a culture of life insures the most vulnerable are always taken care of.
The third tenet of Terri’s Law would need to guarantee to the citizens of this country the ability to seek legal redress when victimized. The tort reform bandwagon is laden with millions of dollars of donations to the GOP from special interests who seek protection from being sued. The truth is that frivolous lawsuits are NOT a factor in increased healthcare costs, as they amount to less than 1% of healthcare costs. Tort reform is simply siding with corporations over people. The truth is that Terri Schiavo would never have had the money to pay for her treatment for fifteen years if Tom Delay and Bill Frist had their way. The hypocrisy from Delay is especially disturbing as his family actually sued and won the exact types of damages he is so bent on eliminating when his father passed away 20 years ago. The Delays won a quarter of a million dollars in pain and suffering and loss of companionship damages. Now, he wants to take away your right to seek the same legal redress. Terri Schiavo won malpractice lawsuits and as a result was awarded the money that was then used to care for her. Any type of Terri’s Law, needs to protect the rights of citizens who are aggrieved.
A nation that affirms a culture of life insures that people can seek recovery when wronged.
The fourth tenet, and most important right now, is that a Culture of Life bill must address state laws which allow corporations to decide the life and death of citizens. In Texas, there is a law that killed a six month old child a few weeks ago. The child was born with a very rare and severe form of dwarfism. The child was six months old when the hospital decided, against the wishes of the mother, to kill the child. The hospital stated it was mercy because the child was non-responsive. The mother emphatically disagreed with the hospital and tried to get media coverage but the hospital refused to allow the media to film the child. The fact of the matter is Sun Hudson is dead today because his mother was poor. So poor, she had no prenatal care, which could have spotted the problems in-utero, yet another argument for mandatory health care. This poor mother was granted ten days to find another treating facility that would take the child, without any money. None agreed and they pulled the respirator. The state of Texas murdered a six month old child while we were all weeping for Terri Schiavo. The person who signed the Texas law was none other than George W. Bush, Mr. Culture of Life himself. The state of Texas is also the home state of the new poster child of hypocrisy, Tom Delay. If Terri Schiavo is to have any legacy at all, it must be to end this practice of corporate-sponsored, state-sanctioned, financially-driven, murder.
A nation that affirms a culture of life does not allow money to dictate who lives and who dies.
The fifth tenet of a Terri’s Law would have to be allowing independent oversight of all environmental laws to ensure the safety and continued lives of the citizens of this planet. You cannot pretend to care about life, and pass laws that uniformly damage the health of people around this world. As I have reported before the Bush administration has passed a most ridiculous system that actually encourages companies to not clean up their mercury pollution. Most of the environmental changes made by Bush were only designed to benefit corporations, at the expense of the health of all Americans. Destroying the environment is not supportive of a culture of life. If Terri’s life could have this kind of long-reaching impact, that would be truly amazing.
A nation that affirms a culture of life protects the environment, and thus extends the life of its citizens.
Lastly, any Terri’s Law needs to set up a nation wide system of mandatory living wills. Without these documents there can be no guarantee that the Tom Delay traveling circus does not end up on your lawn one day. When we turn 18 we mandate signing up for the selective service. When drivers licenses are granted, people need to chose to be an organ donor or not. A similar mandate can be demanded from people, to make their choices in unambiguous terms. Terri’s life and now her death seem to cry out for this measure.
Terri Schiavo has passed and her legacy, if any, will take shape over the next year. If we allow the GOP to shape that legacy, you will hear about Schiavo this summer when Bush tries to fill a Supreme Court vacancy. You will hear about judicial tyranny and how Bush needs his nominees approved to reign in the judiciary. Don’t let them fool you. The judge in this case was a conservative republican. Of the 19 judges that reviewed the Schiavo case, many more were republican. The conservative, GOP-controlled Supreme Court was asked five times to intervene, and they refused. Just like there is no social security crisis, there is no out-of-control judiciary. What we had, was one of the most vetted and debated court cases in this country’s history that has reached its end today.
Legacy though still awaits Terri Schiavo. The GOP used her to bring to the forefront the issue of life and how they claim to be the party of life. The term we heard repeatedly was that they believed in a “culture of life”. Now is the time to hold them to their words. If you believe, truly believe in a culture of life, then you must support that which supports life. The core of that culture of life must include:
1. Mandatory health care for all
2. The elderly and children are always taken care of.
3. People can always seek legal redress when harmed.
4. Equal protection for life, regardless of money.
5. Environmental protections to increase life spans.
6. Mandatory living wills.
This is not socialism, it is common sense. It is time to put up or shut up. A smart progressive needs to craft this legislation and let the representatives vote what they truly believe in. It is time to line up on what side you actually are on. It is time to see if there is any real action behind the empty rhetoric we have heard so much about.
A culture of life does not allow 40 million people to have no healthcare, killing 18,000 people unnecessarily per year. It does not allow the raping of the environment, corporate protections at the cost of legal redress, and balancing the budget by cutting healthcare to the elderly and children, while handing millions to the richest with your other hand. A culture of life does more than talk about life. It does more then show up on the lawn of Terri Schiavo for a two week period in the lifetime of America. It does more than provide photo-ops and snazzy catch-lines. It says that if you believe in life than you must care equally for the six month old black child in Texas then you did for the 41 year old white woman in Florida. It says ALL life, regardless of age, ethnicity, medical state, or financial circumstances get treated with the same reverence.
If you cannot do that, then the culture of life are just words without meaning. They are just a phrase you like to say but do not really believe in. They were just two weeks of your life, pretending to care about a woman you never met, and one day will forget. The culture of life cannot be just a passing snapshot in the photo album of this country. Terri deserves better than that. She deserves her law, to truly care about a culture of all life, not just the lives of the politically expedient.
Anthony Wade, a contributing writer to opednews.com, is dedicated to educating the populace to the lies and abuses of the government. He is a 37-year-old independent writer from New York with political commentary articles seen on multiple websites. A Christian progressive and professional Rehabilitation Counselor working with the poor and disabled, Mr. Wade believes that you can have faith and hold elected officials accountable for lies and excess.
Anthony Wade’s Archive:
http://www.opednews.com/archiveswadeanthony.htm
Email Anthony: takebacktheus@yahoo.com
Intellectually dishonest either/or argument, premised on the absurd fallacy that the only way to be "genuinely" pro-life is to create a larger, more swollen federal teat for the masses to suckle from.
Illogical and unsupported assertion. No sale.
By your own shrill definition, Ronald Wilson Reagan wasn't "conservative," either: adamantly pro-life, and yet steadfast in his opposition to the federalization of health care in this country. That's all the "rebuttal" needed against such a cockeyed assertion, right there.
I understand - but I see no judicial activisim - the court followed the law Jeb and his legilature passed to the letter. Sadly, the Schindler's relied on bad lawyers and medical quacks for their cases. The police found no evicence of abuse/battery and these allegations only came out during eh custody battle - reminded me too much how women claim the husband was abusive in custody cases.
I see. The gang responsible for un-fettered abortion at every stage, euthanasia by starvation of the disabled and inform, AIDS-creating rampant homosexuality, "gay" "marriage", unrestricted human cloning and biological experimentation, UN fetishism, the elimination of God from the public square, legalized racism through "affirmative action", fiscal bankruptcy through socialistic government, judicial tyranny, virulent anti-American treason, and other liberty and freedom destroying atrocites too numerous to mention, is now going to codify the "Culture of Life". Yeah, right.
Pro-life - keep the baby alive in the womb and get it the health care it needs to stay alive......how will culture of life conservatives react to that argument??
You are still not able to answer.
"Sadly, the Schindler's relied on bad lawyers and medical quacks for their cases. The police found no evicence of abuse/battery and these allegations only came out during eh custody battle - reminded me too much how women claim the husband was abusive in custody cases."
Exactly, the lawyering was crap. Did you hear one of them on Hannity yesterday? She was blaming everyone but herself. She said she couldn't even get the malpractice attorney to use the bone scan in his defense. What a crock.
The patient has multiple fractures, the husband sues her doctor for not diagnosing anorexia and her high potassium that called her arrest.
We don't know for sure if that happened.
I am still very optimistic that this will pull people from all sides together and it will be for the better. I keep saying this, but this lady gave her life for a better life for all of us.
nick
And they will respond (Devil's advocate talking) - you are pro-life until you have to pay for the thing and then suddenly you don't care? You will do anything to save a fetus and Terri's life but God forbid you Conservatives have to pay for their upkeep!! Hypocrites! (Again Devil's advocate talking) Response would be?
bump for views.
I say, what we should do to build a culture of life is increase our most precious commodity: children.
So you are for universal ("free") federal health care from conception till age 18 and the taxes needed to pay for that?
Do you also see the developing situation like I have outlined?
Yes, universal health care is unstoppable now.
I don't understand what you're talking about.
Why don't you? I am sorry I will try better if you let me know where I failed to be clear. Thanks.
Exactly, I see it that way as well - culture of life will now be the rallying cry for the left for helath care costs. Terri is in fact a perfect poster child for the Left in a way - her health care was supported by Medicaid and from a malpractice award - both things Republicans cut. Also the law taht allowed Terri's life support to be pulled was passed by a Republican legislature and gov. - not a Democrat one.
Got that right!
I couldn't finish the piece because I wanted to keep my lunch down.
This theme is going to get louder - this is the new DEM talking points. They are going to use Terri's plight for their own gain and agenda. Not that we should be surprised.
there were plenty of judges on both sides of the political isle - Whittemore, that refused to comply with the de nolo order from the Government -was a Clintoon appointee. That de nolo review would've put the tube back in on the 3 or 4th day! And then all the crapolla that's been going on would've been finally looked at - and Terri would've been able to go home with her parents.
But you will never hear this brought up -
and it's too late to try to convince us there is no problem, ie, "WHAT activist judiciary?" Cat's out of the bag to the general public now - but we have to strike before the public shrugs and goes about it's way. WE have to hound our reps, both state and Federal - get this changed - stop the judges from usurping the legislative=law making branch of gov't - back to their only prerogative = enforcing the law. Else, we are lost.
Oh, and reinstate 'actual', rather than revised, American History and study of the Constitution in our schools. Most people are now ignorant of where the "equal but separate powers" are.
all we have to remember is to take ANYthing the libs say and turn it backwards...and know that is what THEY are doing
"Universal" health care means paying also for millionaires bills - and senators and congressmen - not just those who aren't wealthy.
So yeah, 'guess I'm against it on those terms. But don't try to make me believe that that makes me not "pro-life." (I never even got ON the turnip truck, let alone fell off it)
Baloney. Michael spent most of the money on himself. The hospice care was financed through Medicare fraud--i.e., Terri was put in a hospice when she was not terminally ill. She was put in that hospice in order to place her within Greer's jurisdiction, so that the hospice, to which Felos and Greer had longstanding connections, could murder her.
If you're talking about health care for welfare babies, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about real, honest-to-God families; married couples having more children as long as they are still able to. I see nothing wrong with that.
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