Is Jeb About to Intervene!?!

AP via Miami Herald ^ | Posted on Wed, Oct. 15, 2003 | MITCH STACY

[oneday]

Posted on Wed, Oct. 15, 2003

Removal of brain-damaged woman's feeding tube to proceed MITCH STACY Associated Press

DOVER, Fla. - Gov. Jeb Bush said Wednesday he has ordered his legal team to try to find a way to intervene in the case of severely disabled woman who is scheduled to have the feeding tube keeping her alive removed.

Bush's comments came after a 20-minute meeting with the family of Terri Schiavo, who faces a 2 p.m. Wednesday deadline in the removal of the tube. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, has been granted permission to remove the tube in a six-year legal battle against her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler.

Bush said his attorneys are looking for legal alternatives to somehow block the removal of the tube, but did not know yet what they might be.

"We are going to seek whatever legal alternatives are available and seek the best minds to find another avenue to submit to the courts to see if there can be a change in this ruling," Bush said at an appearance in Dover dedicating new housing for migrant workers.

"I am not a doctor, I am not a lawyer, But I know that if a person can be able to sustain life without life support, that should be tried," the governor said, adding the "ultimate decision of this is in the courts."

Bob Schindler Jr., Terri Schiavo's brother, said the family was heartened by the governor's last-minute effort. The Schindlers have pleaded with Bush - who in previous legal findings have supported their efforts to obtain therapy for their daughter - to intervene.

"The family has not given up hope on Terri," Bob Schindler Jr. said following the meeting with Bush. "We have spoken to the governor, and he hasn't given up hope either."

Terri Schiavo, 39, is expected to die within two weeks after the tube's removal. She's been in a vegetative state since suffering a heart attack in 1990. Her parents believe she is capable of learning how to eat and drink on her own.

A state appeals court in Lakeland rejected motions by an attorney for the Schindlers and their legal remedies have been exhausted, their lawyer said Tuesday.

Michael Schiavo says he is carrying out his wife's wishes that she not be kept alive artificially. The parents say their daughter has shown signs of trying to communicate and could be rehabilitated.

"In our eyes, it's murder," Bob Schindler said Wednesday on CBS' "Early Show."

George Felos, attorney for Michael Schiavo, said that the Schindlers were "still in denial" over Terri Schiavo's wishes not to be kept alive.

Doctors have testified that the noises and facial expressions Terri Schiavo makes are reflexes and do not indicate that she has enough mental capabilities to communicate with others.

[syriacus]

The whole premise of the judge's ruling is that he has the power to determine which facts are valid in determining whether or not the feeding tube is removed.

This statement from Fahling is especially ironic.

The executive order would ultimately operate only upon the husband’s decision which he is merely permitted to make.  It is interference with private discretion, not with judicial authority.

I think this means that as soon as Mike showed he was going to carry out his decision to starve Terri, Bush gained the right to step in

[Pan_Yans Wife]

BINGO!!!

I agree.

[6323cd]

Seems Gov. Bush is only willing to grant amnesty in more noncontroversial matters: "Florida Gov. Jeb Bush suggested Bartman might want to seek asylum in the state that houses the Marlins..." (from Chicago Tribune today).

[Pan_Yans Wife]

WASN'T THAT A JOKE!?

[GOPyouth]

I haven't had time to run through 400+ posts to see if this has been mentioned, but the title of this article is:

Doctors remove feeding tube keeping disabled woman alive

and not:

Is Jeb About to Intervene!?!

[6323cd]

I'm afraid it wasn't...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0310160286oct16,1,4302046.story
It's about 2/3 of the way down the page.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

"If I had that power within me it might be, for his own safety, it might be good to bring him down," Bush said.

Yeah, right... you believe he meant this? You think he has his legal team searching for a way to make this happen? He said, IF! And I promise you, HE KNOWS he doesn't have that power. There is no basis in law.

[spectre]

"Anyone who has NOT gone to http://terrisfight.org/lead.htm TODAY and read these documents, read them NOW!

Be sure and read the sworn affidavits from the caretakers and RN's. OMG..

sw

[syriacus]

Newsmax take on the story

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2003/10/16/151917.shtml

*****Lawyers to Jeb Bush: You Have the Power to Save Terri Schiavo******

Terri Schiavo's crime? Being an inconvenient woman. Her sentence? Death. The method of execution? Slow, agonizing starvation and dehydration.

But Florida Gov. Jeb Bush can give her a reprieve, activists say.


Responding to his question about whether he has the authority to help save Mrs. Schiavo, now in the second day of being starved to death by court order, four top attorneys say he has all the legal authority he needs to intercede.

Not only does he have the power, wrote Troy Titus, a Chesapeake, Va., attorney but he "has a constitutional duty to prevent any action taken pursuant to [Judge George Greer's order] because such action would violate Ms. Schindler-Schiavo’s constitutionally guaranteed "inalienable right to enjoy and defend life” regardless of her "physical disability” as secured by Article I, Section 2 of Florida's Constitution.

Richard Thomson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas Moore Law Center, echoed Titus. Moreover, Thompson, who has more than two decades of experience in law enforcement, was joined by former federal prosecutors Edward White and Robert Muise in advising the governor that he has "sufficient evidence" to "conduct a formal criminal investigation" into the Schiavo case.

Coral Gables, Fla., lawyer John B. Thompson told the governor "you have the power, by the mere stroke of a pen, to prohibit what is, in every sense, the execution of Terri Schiavo by a means that is both cruel and unusual in violation of Article I, Section 17 of the Florida Constitution and the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution."

Finally, lawyer Brian Fahling wrote: "The brief filed by the Governor in the Middle District of Florida sets forth significant reasons to believe that Section 782.02 is being violated because Terri’s right to life is violated by the state when the state, acting as her guardian, assumes that her wish to live without artificial sustenance is the same as a wish not to be fed at all. The state has an ‘unqualified’ interest in life.” Moreover, Terri is being denied oral sustenance, which creates "an unnecessary conflict with Florida Statutory law by implying that physicians may cooperate with a person’s alleged express wish not to feed herself ....” A denial of Terri’s right to life under these circumstances, it appears, results in a violation of Section 782.08. All the documents can be accessed at www.terrisfight.org.

"Legal experts from around the country agree that Governor Bush has the authority to save Terri Schindler-Schiavo's life. We know he has the power, the question is: Does he have the political will?" said Randall Terry, president of the Society for Truth and Justice.

Gov. Bush said Wednesday that he was instructing his legal staff to find a way to block the court order allowing Mrs. Schiavo to be starved.

Mrs. Schiavo's parents and other supporters continued to hold a vigil today outside Woodside Hospice, 6774 102nd Avenue N., Pinellas Park.

[Outlaw76]

State the law he would be upholding.
I'm guessing you can't. Explain how he can countermand the judiciary in his state. I'd be willing to guess he'd like your expert opinion.

Don't assume I don't, and didn't care about this person until the '12th hour'.

Nuremburg - nice touch, call the people you disagree with Nazi’s.

What would you have done in Germany in the late 30's and early 40's? Nothing, just like your doing now.

"It's been quite a while since I've seen an agent provocateur on FreeRepublic"
I'm sorry for calling your bluff. You seam to think someone else should do your dirty work for you - and YES it may just be dirty, you have yet to explain how it would be legal (chapter and verse my friend, I don't have time to look up vague statements.) for Jeb to stop this. You might not be able to conceive this, but governors are not superheroes. You talk like something should be done. What have you done? Anything? Written to the one guy who can't do it all on his own?

I expect you to do something simply because of the passion you express in trying to get someone else to do something for you. Prove you’re full of more than hot air. If you get the legislature of the state screaming about this and get say 20,000 people to stand outside the hospice in question - things might just change. Work to change the laws, but please be real careful. Unintended consequences of such an act can be worse than what's going on now. Please understand that whatever course of action you think someone should take might just have been looked into – and found wanting. Understand that what you think is right may well turn out to be unconstitutional, illegal, and set a dangerous president.

I have read more than a thousand from people wishing Jeb would do something and read precious little in the way of people taking action of any kind. ‘Call Jeb!’ they say. ‘Write Jeb’ they say. The only useful thing I’ve read was ‘Pray’

I believe that one person can make a difference. Are you that person? Or do just expect someone else to do the job?

[Salvation]

Continuing to pray for Terri and her life!

[Salvation]

Prayer Ping!

Please notify me via Freepmail if you would like to be added to or removed from the Prayer Ping list.

[MHGinTN]

But will the governor of Florida actually do somethhing to save her life? ... I'm waiting

[UCANSEE2]

Just wondering where you were, and if you had any thoughts on this?

[conservonator]

In my prayers bump.

[Theodore R.]

John B. Thompson document

I've never heard of this Thompson, but I read on earlier posts that he is not believable on anything.

[tiki]

Prayer bump.

[Theodore R.]

No one will explain, MHG, why Bush does not want to intervene. What is he fearful about? Losing the votes of euthanasia advocates in 2008 or what? We know that he is probably thinking about the IA cauci and NH primary of 2008. I believe that he could lose the GOP nomination in 2008 if he does NOT rescue Terri. Of course, if none of his primary opponents bring up Terri, I guess she will have long become an asterisk in the Bush story by then.

If he saves Terri, he will go a long way toward cementing the "conservative" base of the GOP and win the 2008 nomination. He will even help his brother in next year's election by rescuing Terri.

So what is the downside by not acting? He has the state police, for gooodness sakes. He should act this afternoon too! Time is of the essence.

[pollywog]

I've never heard of this Thompson, but I read on earlier posts that he is not believable on anything.

Not so. Sean Hannity said he had great confidence in the law firm.

[Theodore R.]

If Thompson then is fully credible, this makes it all the more essential that Bush intervene NOW. Every hour wasted is outrageous. Bush will become the "Hamlet of the GOP." And with results like "Macbeth"

People say why do you keep bringing up politics at a time like this. Well, in the USA today, it's all about "D"s" and "R"s, let's face it. They may be two sides of the same "coin, yes, but they want our votes too.

How could any conservative give allegiance to the GOP again if it allows this innocent person to die needlessly. A "conservative" who voted for a politician who permitted this outrage is obviously no "conservative."