Is Terri a person with constitutional rights?

3/23/05 | syriacus

[syriacus]

1. Dr. Cranford said, to Hannity last night, that PVS persons have no constitutional rights.

2. Cranford has said that Terri is PVS

Question:
Does Terri have the constitutional right to ask to be starved to death?

[Netizen]

Terri's rights are being trampled. The courts are accepting hearsay evidence to kill her, so no, she has no constitutional rights.

[Mrs.Nooseman]

She has constitutional rights! What a bunch of BS! BTW,since when is hearsay admissible in a court hearing? MS claim that she uttered she wouldn't want to live on live support is Hearsay and should have never been allowed to be a factor in this case,IMHO!

[syriacus]

I bet that there will be some changes to guardianship laws where unfaithful spouses will not have absolute say in life or death decisions.

I hope so.

Otherwise, a brave new world of intimidation has been entered into.

Think of the unfair leverage that healthy spouses have over their less healthy mates.

I can imagine some bullying husbands, today, saying to their sickly wives, "You'd better do as I say, or someday I'll tell the doctor to starve you."

Nicole Simpson's words to her family, that OJ might kill her, didn't save her and didn't convict him in a court of law. Yet, we are supposed to believe the testimony of Michael's family that Terri asked to be starved.

[texastoo]

In many states adultry is against the law.

[syriacus]

Not only is the testimony of Michael's family hearsay, it's hearsay that Michael, himself, contradicted under oath at the time he was trying to win the malpractice suits.

[Mrs.Nooseman]

I Agree and so does my hubby and kids!

We are all outraged that this is going on and that it took MS to remember 7 years that she said she didn't want to be kept alive!

Hmm....strange if you ask me,I think I would remember something like this the first days after her Collapse and would struggle with the thought to maybe have to go through with it,but I would say to the doctors to try everything they can to save my loved one and give my loved one the best care available.

But then, I am A Christian and don't believe in taking a live!

[syriacus]

It's much easier to bloviate than to actually DO something.

I just did something

I asked these guys to use their powers to stop Terri's starvation.

President Bush – president@whitehouse.gov
Governor Bush – jeb.bush@myflorida.com
Bill Frist - http://frist.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=AboutSenatorFrist.ContactForm

Have there been any new developments since the federal appeals court made its decision?

[Kaslin]

Why is there even such a thing as a Right To Die Society?

[syriacus]

We are all outraged that this is going on and that it took MS to remember 7 years that she said she didn't want to be kept alive!

I am outraged, too.

[Texas Songwriter]

I disagree. I think Greer and Felos will be exalted by the MSM and heralded as forward thinkers. They will be invited on all talk shows and accept only the friendly venues. They will have their 15 minutes of fame, delivered up by the death of Terri Shiavo in the name of the American People.

Loyalty to Law has now forced denial of humanity of the least of us. Terri Shiavo and her condition could not be pigeon-holed into a set of man made codes and so rather than conforming law to human circumstance, we, the American people, are forcing Terri to conform to the writ of Law which is wholly inadequet for this set of circumstances. The law prevails at the expense, not of man, but of humanity. Professing ourselves to be wise, we became fool, vain in our own conceit.

[syriacus]

Why is there even such a thing as a Right To Die Society?

Good question.
And why do folks in Oregon need "physician-assisted suicide" (PAS) if they can skip the medical middleman and save some money by "peacefully" starving themselves to death?

[shezza]

MYTH: Many doctors have said that there is no hope for her.
FACT: Dr. Victor Gambone testified that he visits Terri 3 times a year. His visits last for approximately 10 minutes. He also testified, after viewing the court videotapes at Terri’s recent trial, that he was surprised to see Terri’s level of awareness. This doctor is part of a team hand-picked by her husband, Michael Schiavo, shortly before he filed to have Terri’s feeding removed. Contrary to Schiavo’s team, 14 independent medical professionals (6 of them neurologists) have given either statements or testimony that Terri is NOT in a Persistent Vegetative State. Additionally, there has never been any medical dispute of Terri’s ability to swallow. Even with this compelling evidence, Terri’s husband, Michael Schiavo, has denied any form of therapy for her for over 10 years.

Dr. Melvin Greer, appointed by Schiavo, testified that a doctor need not examine a patient to know the appropriate medical treatment. He spent approximately 45 minutes with Terri. Dr. Peter Bambakidis, appointed by Judge Greer, spent approximately 30 minutes with Terri. Dr. Ronald Cranford, also appointed by Schiavo and who has publicly labeled himself “Dr. Death”, spent less than 45 minutes examining and interacting with Terri.

Greer has allowed the testimony of the 4 Felos-picked doctors, one of whom is a PhD, not an MD, to be the sole source of testimony about Terri's condition. All other professional opinions as offered by the Schindlers have been rejected or deemed "not credible" by Judge Greer.

Oh, a little more about "Dr. Death":
According to the staff directory for the University of Minnesota Medical School, "Dr. Cranford has specialized in the field of clinical ethics since the early 1970s. During this time, he served as a consultant to several national commissions on right-to-die issues." Dr. Cranford is a familiar face at right-to-die trials across the country. He authored a portion of a book entailed "Intended Death: The Ethics of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia." His section deals with the "physician's role in killing and the intentional withdrawal of treatment."

[Mrs.Nooseman]

I know most people here are outraged about this!

I know a young man ,that was in a similar situation and the doctors told his parents ,that he most likely would never be able to function normally.
His parents struggled with this and first thought that maybe they should remove the live support and feeding tube ,to let him die,but they couldn't go through with it.
He is one of my coworkers and he proofed the doctors wrong.

Terri could have been just like him ,if MS would have allowed Therapy in all those years.
My coworker was in this state for 6 month and it took him another 6 month of therapy to relearn how to speak and walk.

I am aware that Terri might not ever walk again,but she may have been able to learn how to speak again.

Should the feeding tubes have been removed from Christopher Reeves(spelling?)before he died a natural death?

[syriacus]

I'm glad you shared that story with the happy ending.

Thank you.

[Mrs.Nooseman]

You are welcome!

I shared it ,because it shows that anything can happen even to somebody in Terri's position!

Praying for Terri with all my heart!

[workerbee]

I wonder what would have happened if Terri's mother or sister or friend "suddenly remembered" that Terri had mentioned "I want to divorce Michael." I wonder if such hearsay would have been granted as much weight as the supposed statement she made to Michael about wanting him to starve her death, esp. if they only remembered it a few years into this mess, as he did.

[syriacus]

Thanks for the important information on Michael's expert witnesses.

I'm especially glad you included the name of Melvin Greer. I remembered yesterday that a Doctor Greer had supported Michael. And I remembered his testimony was taken apart. But I couldn't remember his first name. Now I can post more information on Melvin Greer. Thanks for making that possible.

[workerbee]

Mark my words, this case will be cited in the very near future when someone decides they should be allowed to end some Alzheimer's victim's life by overdose. "I don't want them to suffer as Terri did; isn't it the humane thing to just put them to sleep?"

This is the Death Cult's big test case, and it's going splendidly for them. I've seen the comments along those lines on this very forum.

[syriacus]

from http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1367576/posts

Dr. Melvin Greer, chairman of the University of Florida's College of Medicine in Gainsville, was one of two physicians chosen by Felos to examine her.

When questioned by Anderson, Dr. Greer admitted he had not read a certain, major article in a British medical journal reporting a 43 percent error rate in PVS diagnoses over a five-year period.

[syriacus]

This is the Death Cult's big test case

If Cranford has his way, PVS patients will be declared non-persons.

Written directives requesting nourishment
and loving families
will not be able to save PVS non-persons from being denied ordinary care.