TROLL ALERT!!!!!
Posted on 11/07/2003 2:31:27 AM PST by kattracks
Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) - Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean, who begins his campaign website greeting with the phrase, "As a medical doctor...," claims Florida Republicans should be "embarrassed" for intervening to save the life of Terri Schindler Schiavo last month. Earlier in the year, Dean publicly expressed his support for physician-assisted suicide.
Dean accused Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Republican state lawmakers of interfering in a "private matter" when they passed "Terri's Law," which allowed Bush to have the 39-year-old disabled woman's feeding tube reconnected after it was removed under court order at her husband's request. The former Vermont governor said he was "appalled" by Bush's intervention.
Terri suffered a brain injury in 1990 under questionable circumstances that left her severely disabled. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, his brother and another brother's wife claim Terri verbally expressed her desire not to be kept alive "artificially" should she ever require life support. Terri's parents and siblings, along with her former co-workers, friends, priests and fellow church members dispute that claim.
"I'm tired of people in the legislature thinking that they have an M.D. when what they really have is a B.S.," the Miami Herald quoted Dean as telling about 200 business and community leaders at the Capital Tiger Bay Club in Tallahassee Tuesday.
Bush spokesman Jacob DiPietre said the governor found Dean's remarks "shameful."
"Gov. Bush," DiPietre said, "doesn't think that it's appropriate for a presidential candidate to be so flip about a serious issue that involves not only protecting the rights of the disabled, but also the fundamental right to life that is guaranteed in the Florida Constitution."
Pamela Hennessy - spokeswoman for Terri's parents, Robert and Mary Schindler - called Dean's comments "a monumental display of bad taste in every way imaginable.
"Obviously, he doesn't know every aspect of the case," Hennessy said, "and I think he's using it as platform just to take a swing, verbally, at Gov. Bush."
Hennessy said she is not surprised, however, at Dean's lack of compassion for Terri.
"Mr. Dean is on record as being in favor of physician-assisted suicide," Hennessy explained.
During an Aug. 20 appearance on Oregon Public Radio, interviewer Colin Fogarty asked Dean, "In general, where do you stand on physician-assisted suicide and Oregon's vote on that issue?" Dean said the question posed "a very difficult moral problem," which he believes should be decided by the states.
"I as a physician would not be comfortable administering lethal drugs," Dean explained, "but I think this a very private, personal decision, and I think individual physicians and patients have the right to make that private decision."
By contrast, Hennessy praised Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), who is competing with Dean for the Democratic nomination and who also commented on Terri's case.
"He [Lieberman] was smart enough and man enough to see that not everything that happens in life is a question of politics," Hennessy said. "He recognized that, and he didn't turn it into a political fight."
Lieberman, who drew criticism during his 2000 vice presidential bid for waffling on pro-life issues, told the Associated Press in October that he supports Terri's Law.
"I feel very strongly that we ought to honor life, and we ought not to create a system where people are being deprived of nutrition or hydration in a way that ends their lives," Lieberman said.
Hennessy noted that, in advocating for, signing and implementing Terri's Law, Gov. Bush did something she is not accustomed to seeing politicians do.
"When [Jeb Bush] campaigned for governor the first time, he told the people of Florida that he wanted to be a champion for the disabled," Hennessy said. "I think he kept his promise."
To view CNSNews.com's long-term coverage of the Terri Schindler Schiavo case click here.
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For all that feel they support that order, repeat jwalsh07's statement as necessary until you finally realize that you are a statist.
My kudo's again to you.
You have shown in this controversy, wherein lies the problem.
Ah yes, I remember the night when my daughter, not quite 2 then, locked herself in the bathroom and we had to take the door off to get her out.
"Dr. Kevorkian! Dr. Kevorkian! You have an urgent call on Line 2!!"
He's also a far Left Demoncrat.
That figures.
Secondly, with regard to the media, they've been reporting her as "comatose" religiously. Her husband's doctors don't even go that far. I invite you to read this article for perspective.
Third, why do you think her "next-of-kin" only remembered her wishes years after her collapse, a few short weeks after she was awarded close to a million dollars in a malpractice suit? Any idea why he spoke under oath of his desire to take care of her for the rest of her life, never once mentioning to the court that she would in fact rather die?
In addition, her "husband" has a live-in fiance and 2 children by her. Can you honestly say that you see no conflict there? If Terri could speak, do you really think she would want her "husband" to continue making decisions on her behalf?
And lastly, Terri has survived infections, pneumonia, a decade of no therapy, drastically restricted visitors, an intentionally cheerless room, and a total of ten days without a feeding tube. At what point do we decide that maybe she might be displaying a pretty strong will to live?
Or phrased another way, Why is it that they only want you to die and never them?
Well said. This also applies to the over-population fanatics. If they were sincere in their conviction that the planet has way too many people, none of them would have even one child (many of them are indeed childless, but not all) and if they were really the benefactors they imagine themselves to be, they would be starving themelves to death as we speak.
But they really think there's just too many "other people".
Being aware of surroundings and communicating are two different things. You must have either read practically nothing about Terri Schindler and this case, or you have personally tested her and determined through much testing that she has no awareness (thus contradicting many other physicians, relatives and so on).
Even people in comas have come out of them and said that they heard what was going on while in an apparently unconscious state. What makes you so all-knowing that you can say with assurance that Terri has no awareness?
Sometimes this boils down to the fact that some people see the purpose of life solely as the untrammeled ability to enjoy the senses, work and make money, be a solid citizen and so on. While these are worthy acts, the lack of ability to do these does not abrogate one's right to breathe air. Other people see the purpose of life as something deeper, that can be fulfilled or served even while lying in bed unable to care for oneself.
She is not in a hospital room, but a hospice room (and she isn't eligible for that; hospices are supposed to be for people who are judged to have less than 6 months to live, and no special care is given). She is not on a respirator for God's sake! You must have read zero about this case if you think she is on a respirator. Why don't you inform yourself?
Additionally, her parents and siblings want to care for her themselves.
This pisses me off more than any other subject I have ever encountered.
So why do you want her dead? It sounds as though you have some unresolved issues about your father that are leaking into Terri's situation. I humbly suggest you look into your own heart and straighten your own issues out.
The government's job is to protect the life and liberty of its citizens. Bush and the FL Legistlature is trying to do that for Terri.
Dean's point was that the government should not intrude into such things.
No, Dean's point is that he loves death, like other pro-abortion and pro-"assisted suicide" (aka as euthanasia) leftists. He's perfectly fine with all kinds of government intrusion.
By "such things" do you mean that government shouldn't intrude in saving the life of someone while someone else is trying to murder that person? That's "intrusion"?
He's right.
No, he's just choosing the side of the people who want to kill her - a so-called husband who wants her dead for his own personal reasons, and Felos-the-lawyer who is also in love with death and dying.
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