Terri Schiavo's Father Calls Husband's Decision to Exit Lawsuit a Ploy

Clearwater, FL (LifeNews.com) -- Terri Schiavo's father has his doubts about recent comments from the lead attorney for her estranged husband Michael who says he is vacating the ongoing legal battle over whether starving Terri to death violates her religious liberties.

In an interview this week, Michael Schiavo's lead attorney George Felos, a euthanasia advocate, confirmed speculation that has existed for two months that Michael will drop out of that case.

"There is no prospect of finality,'' Felos told the Associated Press on Tuesday.

"They (the appeals court) allow the Schindlers to attack the judgment no matter how frivolous," Felos told AP. "The only way the case can end is if the Schindlers stop attacking the final judgment or the court says no more stays. Until then we are just going to be on this revolving door.''

But, Terri's father Bob Schindler tells LifeNews.com the comments are nothing more than a "deceptive strategy."

"Everything Felos says or does is to reinforce his efforts to kill Terri Schiavo and further the cause of his euthanasia agenda," Schindler said.

Felos has informed the 2nd District Court of Appeal that he is not responding to the motion the Schindlers filed appealing a judge's decision throwing out their religious liberties argument.

While he is saying Michael will no longer oppose the motion, Schindler tells LifeNews.com that Felos is using the media to further their attempts to take Terri's life.

"Make no mistake, Felos is using the media to send a message to the Appellate Courts in an attempt to gain their empathy in his personal pursuit of ending Terri’s life," Schindler explained.

Bob and Mary Schindler are asking the courts to declare that removing Terri's feeding tube and causing her death would be a violation of her First Amendment religious liberties.

The Schindlers say such an action would contravene Terri's Catholic faith and that recent statements by Pope John Paul II confirm the church's strong opposition to euthanasia.

American Center for Law and Justice is appealing to the US Supreme Court. ACLJ Asks Supreme Court to Take Terri Schiavo Case - Files Amicus Brief on Behalf of Terri's Parents

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20041229005160&newsLang=en

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 29, 2004--The American Center for Law and Justice, which represents the parents of Terri Schiavo in a legal battle to keep their daughter alive, today asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take the Florida case in which the Florida Supreme Court declared unconstitutional "Terri's Law" - a state law enabling Florida Governor Jeb Bush to save Terri from starvation and dehydration. The ACLJ today filed an amicus brief with the high court on behalf of Mary and Robert Schindler - Terri's parents - in support of a petition filed by Governor Bush asking the high court to take the case.

"This is a case that certainly deserves consideration by the Supreme Court and we are supporting the Governor's office in its effort to have the high court take this critically important case," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ, which is representing the Schindlers in their efforts to defend the emergency Florida legislation that saved their daughter's life. "At the center of this life and death struggle is Terri Schiavo - a woman who has received a death sentence from the Florida courts. The Governor and legislature acted properly and constitutionally in passing 'Terri's Law.' We are asking the high court to take this case to protect the life of Terri Schiavo by upholding the constitutionality of Florida's decision to enact life-saving legislation - the measure that saved Terri's life."

The brief

(http://www.aclj.org/media/pdf/AmicusBriefinSupportofPetitioner2.pdf)

said the decision by the Florida Supreme Court is an "astonishing and unprecedented ruling" and encouraged the high court to send the case back to the Florida Supreme Court for further clarification prior to accepting the case.

The brief argues that the Florida Supreme Court acted unconstitutionally in its decision when it determined that once any court has issued a decree regarding the care and treatment of an incompetent person, neither the legislature nor the executive branch can take independent steps on behalf of the incompetent person's welfare. The brief states that "the state supreme court's construction of the Florida Constitution to produce such a ruling renders that state constitution, as applied, unconstitutional under the federal constitution ..."

The brief also asserts that Terri Schiavo, a disabled woman whose husband wants her life to end, is not in a persistent vegetative state, as alleged by her husband, that her condition is not terminal and untreatable, and that she is aware of her surroundings and does not want to die - especially by starvation and dehydration.

Governor Bush acting under "Terri's Law," ordered feeding and hydration tubes to be restored to Terri after a Florida trial court had ordered them removed. On behalf of the Schindlers, the ACLJ urged the state's highest court in Bush v. Schiavo to reverse a lower court ruling that struck down "Terri's Law" as unconstitutional. In September 2004, the Florida Supreme Court upheld the lower court decision.

The American Center for Law and Justice, which specializes in constitutional law and the protection of human life, is based in Washington, D.C. and its website address is www.aclj.org.

FV SAYS: Thank you, ACLJ.

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