Posted on 09/24/2004 4:01:38 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Note: The following is a statement from Terri Schiavo's family following the Florida Supreme Court's decision Thursday to overturn Terri's Law. The measure allowed Florida Governor Jeb Bush to ask doctors to prevent Terri from being starved to death.
Clearwater, FL (LifeNews.com) -- For years now, lawyers and judges -– all of them total strangers -- have besieged our family stating in courtrooms and the media that our severely disabled daughter, Terri, must be starved to death. We have been told that she must die in order to protect her right of privacy.
And now the Florida Supreme Court tells us that a law crafted to save Terri's life is unconstitutional when it is applied to her.
None of this makes any sense to us.
The ruling by the Florida Supreme Court today was not unexpected; nevertheless the family is disappointed at the outcome.
We would like everyone to understand the reason the Florida legislature and Governor Bush interceded in Terri's case was to protect Terri from a serious miscarriage of justice.
The Governor specifically wanted answers to the following questions, all of which are extremely troubling:
(1) Why Terri's purported desire to die was hidden from the jury in the 1992 medical malpractice case, during which Michael Schiavo testified that Terri would need compensation to live out her life;
(2) What did Michael Schiavo mean when he purportedly said at Palm Gardens Nursing Home such things as “When is she going to die?” “Has she died yet?” “When is that bitch going to die?” “Can't you do anything to accelerate her death?"
(3) What Michael Schiavo knows about the multiple traumatic injuries of relatively recent origin that were found to be present in a bone scan conducted on Terri by Dr. Campbell Walker in March of 1991?
(4) Why were nurses’ notes which documented Terri's rehabilitation potential deleted from her chart at Palm Gardens?
(5) Why were observations of the nursing assistants regarding Terri's level of function and responsiveness deleted from her chart? and
(6) What would Terri's desires be regarding who should make end-of-life decisions for her if she knew that Michael Schiavo was living with another woman who has borne two children by him?
The family knows that Terri never expressed a desire to be starved to death, and the Legislature and Governor thought the case troubling enough to get involved directly.
We profoundly regret that the Florida Supreme Court felt compelled to ignore these questions and opted instead to issue a technical legal decision that doesn't protect Terri from the cadre of crusaders who are so desperate for our daughter be starved to death.
The family knew that this outcome was probable and so we are pursuing other legal avenues, which we hope will save Terri's life. Contributions and/or help in this fight may be made at http://www.Terrisfight.org.
The family appreciates all those who have supported their fight to save Terri, and again express to them our sincere gratitude. The family also will forever be grateful to Governor Bush and his legal team for their devotion to saving Terri's life.
Terri ping
As I said on different threads yesterday, I only hope something can be done to find out whose medical experts are correct in this case so that the proper decisions can be made for this woman and her family.
If I were governor of Florida I'd drop Michael Schiavo into the Atlantic about 50 miles out in a bid to stop the hurricanes. (Could work: he sucks, they blow) No downside.
Terri BUMP - we are coming down to the wire. This is not just aboutTerri - it's about whether or not the disabled have a right to live.
Pray. Listen. Do.
Certainly makes a good case for the use of advance directives,does it not? Think of all the assorted 'professionals' making money off this unfortunate event. On the upside, at least her husband didn't use her for sea bass flakes or toss her into a landfill!
Giggle, giggle, huh???? Sorry, we're talking about killing human beings here, and it's sick and evil that one branch of our government can't seem to get enough of it.
FLORIDA LEGISLATORS CAN STILL ACT TO SAVE TERRI SCHINDLER-SCHIAVO
http://www.nrlc.org/euthanasia/ShiavoAlert092304.html
Today’s Florida Supreme Court decision striking down “Terri’s Law” under which Governor Jeb Bush had ordered that she not be starved and dehydrated to death is not necessarily the last word. Although the court struck the protective law down because it overruled the judiciary in one particular case, the way is still open to pass a law that would be generally applicable to people with disabilities, including Terri Schindler-Schiavo.
Currently, the state requires that someone present Florida courts with “clear and convincing evidence” showing that the patient wanted to be denied food and fluids. In the Schiavo case, Terri went six days without food and fluids because the judge ruled that an alleged casual comment fulfilled the clear and convincing evidence standard. A bill introduced earlier this year, the Florida Starvation and Dehydration of Persons with Disabilities Act, would mandate that a decision to put someone to death by starvation or dehydration could only occur if the patient had made the statement under express and informed consent. It is carefully written to be “constitutional” under prior decisions of the Florida Supreme Court.
Concerned Florida citizens are urged to click on http://www.capwiz.com/nrlc/officials/state/?state=FL&lvl=L to contact Florida representatives and senators to urge them to commit to support, in a special session if necessary, enactment of the Florida Starvation and Dehydration of Persons with Disabilities Prevention Act, similar to last year’s S.B. 692, to save Terri Schindler-Schiavo and others like her.
IF YOU ARE NOT A FLORIDA RESIDENT, you may wish to contact:
Senate President James King, Jr.
9485 Regency Square Blvd., Suite 108
Jacksonville, FL 32225-8145
Email: king.james.web@leg.state.fl.us
(904) 727-3600
Fax: (904) 727-3603
This statement may be attributed to Burke J. Balch, J.D., Director of National Right to Life Committee’s Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics.
See Questions and Answers on Florida Starvation and Dehydration of Persons with Disabilities Act
See text of Florida Starvation and Dehydration of Persons with Disabilities Act
See Wesley Smith column on why informed consent to denial of nutrition and hydration should be required: The Consequences of Casual Conversations
Florida Supreme Court opinion striking down "Terri's Law"
If Terri had expressed a desire not to be kept alive by artificial means, her frame of reference is Karen Ann Quinlan, kept alive on a respirator. Feeding tubes were not considered artificial means at that particular time. Therefore, Terri cannot be condemned by withdrawal of food and hydration because it was not an artifical means during a time she would have made such a statement ... if in fact, she ever did.
I understand that advance directives in FloriDUH aren't binding on the proxy. So you can not "Living Will" against your being killed in a Terriesque fashion.
It could possibly save those after Terri, and that is a very worthwhile thing, but something tells me the FLufflaws will stick in the mud on the Terri case saying something like her rights were cast in stone forever.
Evolving definitions. Lovely ain't they.
M. Schiavo should be ... nevermind. PTL, PTL, PTL, PTL, PTL, PTL, PTL, PTL, PTL, PTL...ahh, better.
As the mother of a severely mentally and physically disabled 20 year old who neither walks nor talks nor feeds herself, and must wear diapers (and who used to have a feeding tube and be on a ventilator for 3 years), I say that you are EXACTLY CORRECT!!!
Terri is being discriminated against---solely because of her disability!!! That violates the ADA!!!!!
It gets better. When Ms. Quinlan's respirator was finally disconnected, she started breathing on her own. So if her case is to be cited as a frame of reference, that would suggest that Terri should be given therapy to take food by mouth.
Progress.
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/larry.king.live/
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