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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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I know more about Terri than I want to know. The two of you know less about this subject than you want to know.
Because Dr. Dean is not just content to tell people how to think and how to live; now he wants to determine who should live and who should die.
No, the government should. Not nature.
Typical Demon Rat thinking.
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Indeed we do. The intensity of emotions in those months leading up to election time would be unbearable were it not for comic relief, and Howard Dean is a one man traveling comedy show.
"We should expect NOmore from a man democRAT aspiring to hold the nation's highest office in the future."
The only thing hooked up to Terri is the feeding tube. She is being supplied food and hydration. She breathes on her own. Obviously, her brain is letting the rest of her vital organs function properly or she would need help from other life supporting machines. I don't care what the circumstances of any situation is, no one should be denying anyone food and water. If that's all it takes to keep one alive, then do so and let God decide when to bring her home.
There needs to be clarity in living wills, which, BTW, Terri doesn't have. The culture of death is trying to alllow starvation as an option. In my opinion, it should not be an option. There should be a clear law that even with living wills, you cannot choose to be allowed to starve to death. It is absolutely too barbaric to even consider.
Terri Schiavo is on a feeding tube. There are thousands and thousands of people in the US who are on feeding tubes for various reasons. I'm sure quite a number of them would love to discuss viability with you.
Terri is dead in all but name only. The room she occupies should go to someone else.
Fair point. I have no personal knowledge about her condition. I am relying on news accounts that she has been in "vegitative state" since about 1991. If those accounts are true -- which I think a judge could verify -- it would seem like it's time to let nature take its course.
But, more than anything, I do not think in matters like this that there can be any "policy level" decision. It is very difficult and very individual.
I know I would not want to be kept alive by artificial means for more than a decade. Nor would I want to do that to someone else. I do not consider that to be humane.
Like Terri, I have not put my wishes down on paper. I should. But, also again, I do not see it as the same as abortion. In one case, the patient is essentially already dead. Her room, her tube, her nurses and physicians should go to someone else. Especially since that is what her next-of-kin has requested. I don't see any other way to decide it.
Let me ask you this:
If you were an emergency dispatcher and you had one ambulace available to dispatch but you got two calls at the same time, one for someone who was probably dead and one for someone who might still be alive, to which call would you dispatch the ambulance?
They have to make these decisions every day. Nobody ever said it was easy.
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