TERRI SCHIAVO MARCH 2005 DAILIES Fla's Til of the Hun Sets March Date to Starve Terri

Judge George Greer denied Terri's parents' Motion for a Stay to protect their daughter's life while there are still pending issues in this LIFE AND DEATH MATTER. In addition the Department of Children and Family Services made a surprise visit to the court hearing the other day and asked Judge Greer if they could approach the bench. Judge Greer denied DCF the opportunity to speak. DCF asked for 60 days to conduct a complete investigation of allegations that have surfaced in the form of a Complaint to their agency.

What was set in motion instead? On Friday, February 25th, Judge Greer REFUSED TO issue another Stay because he was "not comfortable" issuing a say to protect a Ward of the State but instead "set a date certain" (on his calendar at least, not on mine) to BEGIN THE BARBARIC, ANTI-AMERICAN, STARVATION-DEHYDRATION SLOW MURDER OF TERRI.

Attorney Gibbs for Terri's parents held a press conference after J. Greer's order that was so tastefully written to indicate that "he was giving the Schindlers until March 18th so they could "prepare for Last Rites." Attorneys Gibbs called this ruling and prior rulings "Hitler-resque". Indeed.

If Judge Greer wasn't LEGALIZING EUTHANASIA in his courtroom, why any need for Last Rites? Greer's urgency to fulfill this killing places urgency on every one of us to lobby Governor Bush, Florida's House and Florida's Senate.

A Judge in America is ordering the manner of someone's death, a disabled woman who is healthy but needs rehabilitation.

Time is short so we don't really have time to get into Greer's mind to see why he is Florida's Til of the Hun.

7. Join the Message Board that freepers started at the Crystal Cathedral/Hour of Power. TELL YOUR CHURCH ABOUT TERRI.

8. Tell your friends that Terri is alert and aware of her surroundings and to visit www.terrisfight.org to see her videos.

9. PETITIONS. We will gather current Petitions here for you. At this time, you can sign a SAVE TERRI PETITION AT www.renewamerica.us. THERE ARE ALSO IMPEACH GREER PETITIONS ABOUT.

Finally, the Pope has no Living Will. He will be SAFE as long as he stays away from George Greer's courtroom. The Pope is in our thoughts and prayers and he knows of Terri. He wants Terri to be freed from oppression and from a painless death by starvation-dehyration.

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO EVERY DAY, THE PAY ISN'T VERY GOOD BUT THE FRINGE BENEFITS ARE THE GREATEST. You are Great Americans and liberty is Terri's and freedom from oppression. Freepers, that is the big payoff if we continue our daunting task.

Terri's family is grateful to you and all of your prayers are being heard by the Giver of Life.

This is Terri's Fight and the battle is enjoined. JOIN US TO SAVE TERRI FROM FORCES THAT HAVE BUT ONE GOAL THAT IS AGAINST EVERYTHING AMERICAN.

GUIDELINES: If you want to start frivolous discussions, please start your own thread in chat.

If you like something from www.theempirejournal.com, please do not post the entire article at Free Republic. Unless I hear otherwise, I believe that we are allowed to post the title and link. TEJ is a great team member of Terri's network. Thanks, TEJ for making a difference and for getting the truth out there.

The Terri Schiavo Case
Bill sets rules for all like Schiavo
The proposed law says the terminally ill must get food and water unless a living will says otherwise.
By STEVE BOUSQUET, Times Staff Writer
Published March 10, 2005

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/03/10/State/Bill_sets_rules_for_a.shtml

TALLAHASSEE - The Legislature's first attempt to keep Terri Schiavo's feeding tube connected was a law tailored to her case, but the Florida Supreme Court struck it down unanimously.

Now, lawmakers are pushing a broader proposal that could affect thousands of Floridians lying incapacitated in hospitals, hospices and nursing homes.

The new bill would require that food and water be given to terminally ill people unless they specified in a living will that they did not want to be kept alive that way. A verbal declaration to relatives or loved ones would not necessarily be recognized.

And the bill says the Legislature, not a judge, has the final say in an end-of-life case. It also would apply retroactively, to cover the Schiavo case.

"I certainly hope that whatever error I make is on the side of allowing someone to live rather than to die," said Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, who sponsored the bill. "I have an intimate respect for human life, for the special gift that it is, and I hope that this is a defining moment for our culture."

Critics, including doctors and lawyers who deal with terminally ill patients, called the bill "antifamily" and say it would allow the state to step in and override the wishes of relatives and loved ones.

"This is one of the most antifamily bills that I've ever seen come across this Legislature," said Larry Spalding of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. "The key unit of society is the family, and you're taking away the rights of the family."

After two hours of emotional debate and much critical testimony, a House committee approved the bill Wednesday 7-4. It was a party-line vote with Republicans voting in favor of the bill (HB 701) and Democrats voting against.

Republican Reps. Gus Bilirakis of Palm Harbor and Ed Homan of Tampa voted yes. Democrat Bob Henriquez of Tampa voted no.

"We're passing a bill that is based on one terrible, tragic situation," said Henriquez, one of the few Democrats who voted for the initial Schiavo bill.

Baxley told reporters that while his bill was motivated by the Schiavo case, it is designed for all people in end-of-life situations. He said his goal was to prevent any guardian from deciding for someone without that person's permission.

But despite the determination of Baxley and others, the legislation may not take effect in time to impact Schiavo.

A judge has ordered the severely brain-damaged woman's feeding tube removed by March 18, in accordance with what her husband, Michael, has said was her wish not to be kept alive by artificial means. Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, insist their daughter is not in a permanent vegetative state.

Legislative leaders, stung by criticism of last year's hastily passed law, are moving a lot slower.

"I just don't think we're doing a service to Terri by ginning up a bill and getting it out quickly in helter-skelter fashion. That doesn't work," House Speaker Allan Bense, R-Panama City, said Wednesday.

Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon, said his goal was to be "fair to all the people who have feelings about end-of-life issues."

Dr. Howard Tuch of Hospice of Southwest Florida in Sarasota, a member of a state commission on end-of-life care, warned that the bill would force thousands of patients in nursing homes and assisted living centers to have feeding tubes surgically attached.

Those patients may not have wanted to be kept alive artificially, Tuch said, but they did not write it down in advance. He cited the case of his mother, who's dying of Alzheimer's disease.

Tuch has authority to make end-of-life decisions on her behalf.

"Are you going to force her to have a feeding tube?" Tuch asked legislators. "Who is going to provide consent for that medical procedure? I'm not."

Lawyer Twyla Sketchley predicted a "gold mine" for lawyers who would tell clients to rewrite their living wills. She called it "extremely disheartening" that Baxley crafted his bill without seeking input from medical experts.

In his closing statement to the committee, Baxley's voice trembled as he spoke of how it's a crime to starve a dog to death.

"We treat an animal in our society with at least the respect that you get food and water," Baxley said. "Let it be that we let somebody live."

Published Thursday, March 10, 2005

Forced Feeding Bill OK'd In Panel
Proposed law would be retroactive to apply in the case of Terri Schiavo.

By Joe Follick
Tallahassee Bureau

TALLAHASSEE -- With eight days remaining until Terri Schiavo's feeding tube can be legally removed, Florida lawmakers approved a bill Wednesday that would require "nutrition and hydration" for all incapacitated individuals unless they've previously, explicitly refused.

The next week seems certain to be a reprise of a heated special session in 2003 when lawmakers hastily passed "Terri's Law" to reinsert her feeding tube after courts ruled her husband said she expressed a wish to die if she reached a vegetative state.

This time, Republican legislators are avoiding personalizing their bills to specifically mention the Schiavo case. In fact, bill sponsors almost denied it was intended for her at all, mindful of the 2004 Florida Supreme Court decision that found "Terri's Law" illegal, in part because of its focus on one person.

But lawmakers inserted at least three amendments Tuesday that made it clear the law would apply retroactively, and keep Schiavo's tube in, regardless of previous court decisions.

"If somebody is alive when this bill passes, they should benefit from that," said Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, the sponsor of House Bill 701. The bill was approved by the House Health Care Regulation Committee on Wednesday with a 7-4 vote.

If passed, both sides predicted yet more legal battles in a litigious saga that has drawn international attention.

For 14 years, Schiavo has been in a persistent vegetative state after suffering heart failure from a potassium imbalance. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, said his wife had told him she did not wish to be kept alive artificially and courts have largely agreed.

Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, have argued that she could improve and is responsive. But Pinellas Circuit Court Judge George Greer ruled that Schiavo will have her feeding tube removed March 18.

Detractors said the bill would require thousands of Floridians near the end of their lives to have surgical feeding tubes inserted if they hadn't explicitly stated they didn't want them.

"That's thousands of people you can't kill now," said Baxley, dismissing the criticism.

"(The bill) makes the assumption that guardians or proxies are cold-hearted individuals with nothing more in their vision than to terminate the life of the individual," said Twila Sketchley, a Tallahassee lawyer. "I assure you that's absolutely false in every sense of the way."

Beyond the constitutionality of making such changes retroactive, detractors ripped a portion of the bill that would require anyone charged with the "end of life" decisions for another person to spend at least two hours per week over a 12-week period with that person or an average of 10 hours each month over a threemonth period.

"If you are going to withdraw hydration or starve them to death," said Rep. John Stargel, RLakeland, "you should spend some time with them."

Requiring that much time could be torture for someone suffering, said Scott Solkoff, chair of the elder law section of the Florida Bar.

"Twelve weeks (in near-death and pain) is an extremely cruel punishment," he said.

Many lawmakers and witnesses talked about their own dealings with the death of loved ones.

Larry Spalding of the ACLU of Florida said he'd never seen his father cry until a feeding tube was inserted in him against his will.

"Larry, Larry. Please don't let them do that to me," Spalding said his father told him. Spalding said the bill would put the Legislature's intent in place of family's decision-making. "I think this is one of the most anti-family bills I've ever see," he said.

Baxley disagreed.

"If I'm doing something wrong . . . I certainly hope that whatever error I make is on the side of allowing someone to live," he said. "I hope this is a defining moment in our culture."

Michael Schiavo's lawyer, George Felos, called the bill "the worst spectacle of political grandstanding" and said its aim at overriding families' wishes meant that "no one's rights are protected."

Rex Sparklin, a lawyer for the Schindler family, said the "the very nature of the horror of the nightmare for both families on both sides" pointed to the need for the bill. He said it was constitutional and would save Schiavo's life.

House Speaker Allan Bense, RPanama City, said he hoped to get the bill passed by the March 18 deadline, but only if it was legally sound.

"I just don't think we're doing a service to Terri by ginning up a bill and getting it out quickly in a helter-skelter fashion," Bense said.
On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon and U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, both Republicans from Florida, introduced legislation in Washington that could give the Schindlers access to federal courts in the effort to save their daughter's life.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this article.

Congressional Republicans Fight for Terri's Life
By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Morning Editor

http://www.cnsnews.com//ViewPolitics.asp?Page=\Politics\archive\200503\POL20050310a.html
March 10, 2005

(CNSNews.com) - Terri Schindler Schiavo deserves the same rights as serial killers and convicts, a U.S. congressman says.

Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) says because the Florida courts have sentenced Terri to death by starvation and dehydration, he is lending his support to a bill that might save Terri and others like her by bringing their cases before federal courts.

At a Thursday morning press conference, Pitts and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) were expressing their support for the "Incapacitated Persons Legal Protection Act."

The bill would protect the due process and equal-protection rights of people who have had their life-sustaining treatment withdrawn by court order. Essentially, the bill would give federal courts the right to review state court decisions in cases involving incapacitated persons.

The same type of "habeas corpus" review is given to death row inmates, Pitts noted.

"The Incapacitated Persons Legal Protection Act," was introduced this week by Sen. Mel Martinez and Rep. Dave Weldon (both Florida Republicans).

Right hook
About that right to life
By Michael Lafferty

http://www.newsreview.com/issues/reno/2005-03-10/hook.asp

Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you.--Pericles, 430 B.C.

http://www.terrisfight.org/
http://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-449.html#NRS449Sec830

Witness one Terri Schiavo, a Florida woman who collapsed in 1990 when a chemical imbalance due to an eating disorder caused her heart to stop beating, leaving her paralyzed. The courts have ruled that she is in a persistent vegetative state. Yet, Terri is not brain-dead and requires no extraordinary means to be kept alive. She breathes without assistance, and her heart and organs all function. All she needs is food and water.

For the past seven years, her parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, have been locked in a legal battle with Terri's husband, Michael. Michael is perhaps the lowest form of New Jersey pond scum on the planet. He wants to starve his wife to death.

Claiming that Terri wouldn't have wanted to live in her present condition, he has been attempting to get court approval to murder his wife by removing the feeding tube that keeps her alive. This, despite the fact Terri had no written advance health care directive specifically stating she'd prefer death to her current condition.

An advance health care directive is a written statement that specifies how you want medical decisions made. The two most common forms are a "living will" and a "durable power of attorney for health care."

The Schindlers have offered to care for Terri if Michael would simply divorce her. Michael has moved on with his life. He is currently engaged to another woman with whom he now has two children. Yet, there is the matter of the $1 million-plus personal-injury award to cover Terri's care. (What would Claus von Bulow do?)

According to the New York Times, it wasn't until after the money was paid that Michael recalled Terri's "clearly stated desire" to be removed from life support--assuming a feeding tube could be classified as such.

Yet, in his most recent order, Pinellas Circuit Court Judge George Greer writes: "Five years have passed since the issuance of the February 2000 order authorizing the removal of Theresa's Schiavo's nutrition and hydration, and there appears to be no finality in sight to this process."

You may note that five years of litigation is not nearly enough to bring "finality to the process" and end the lives of murderers squatting on death row. Experts predict that convicted murderer Scott Peterson has a good 20 years of appeals before his appointment with a needle. Yet, the same people who want to kill Terri believe that death-row cases are never final, no matter how many courts have ruled, but a helpless woman on a feeding tube is another matter.

The judge then proceeded not only to set the date but actually ordered the tube pulled. "Therefore, it is ... ordered and adjudged that absent a stay from the appellate courts, the guardian, Michael Schiavo, shall cause the removal of nutrition and hydration from the ward, Theresa Schiavo" [emphasis added].

In the absence of an advance health-care directive, you might think the courts would err on the side of life, which Americans have a constitutional right to, except, apparently, in Florida.

On Dec. 8, 2004, deputies from the Washoe County Sheriff's Office booked one Kristine Fosdal on a number of charges, the most serious being 10 counts of starving an animal (specifically, dogs). Bail was set at $20,620.

On March 18, at roughly 1 p.m. EST, Terri Schiavo will begin court-ordered starvation. No bail required.

For more information, visit www.terrisfight.org.

For information on advance health-care directives in Nevada, visit www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-449.html#NRS449Sec830.

The life you save may be your own.

Lawmakers wade into Schiavo case again
Support for a House bill is aimed at her situation and broader end-of-life issues.

By Maya Bell | Miami Bureau
Posted March 10, 2005

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-locschiavo10031005mar10,1,5094651.story?coll=orl-home-headlines&ctrack=2&cset=true

TALLAHASSEE -- Florida lawmakers re-entered the debate about Terri Schiavo's fate Wednesday, as a key House committee approved a bill aimed at restricting a guardian's ability to cut off food and water to an incapacitated person.

But unlike the last time they passed a law to prevent the badly brain-damaged woman from dying, legislators aren't in nearly as much of a hurry, even though Terri Schiavo's tube is due to be removed in just eight days.

"If we just turn out a bill just to turn out a bill that's not well-thought-out, we're not going to get anywhere," House Speaker Allan Bense said Wednesday. "I don't think we're doing a service to Terri by ginning it quickly and getting it out of here in a helter-skelter fashion."

Lawmakers said they were looking for a solution that would pass legal muster and deal not just with Schiavo, but with broader end-of-life issues raised by her plight, particularly whether medically supplied food and water should be defined as medical treatment, as it has long been.

One possible course of action was the bill approved by the House Health Care Regulation Committee on Wednesday. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, would prevent a guardian from withholding food and water from an incompetent person unless the person spelled out that he or she didn't want to be tube-fed.

Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband, is her guardian. He says he is trying to honor his wife's wishes not to be kept alive artificially, but her parents contend their daughter never had such wishes and could improve with rehabilitation.

Baxley said it was unclear whether this broader law, which contains a provision making it retroactive, could or would be applied to Terri Schiavo's case. But he said that was his hope.

"When did we ever decide that it's OK in this society to starve someone to death?" Baxley said. "If I have it my way, we'll get it done by March 18."

That's the date Pinellas Circuit Judge George Greer has set for the removal of the tube.

On Tuesday, Terri Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, were dealt another loss in the long-running legal battle when Greer denied two more of their motions, including one that asked for new medical tests to determine if the 41-year-old woman has more brain activity than previously thought.

The Department of Children & Families, meanwhile, also argued before Greer that the agency should be allowed to intervene to investigate allegations of abuse, but the judge did not rule on that issue.

In Tallahassee, Bense and Senate President Tom Lee both said this week they were exploring what they characterized as limited legal options.

The last measure, called "Terri's Law," which allowed Gov. Jeb Bush to bypass a court ruling and restore her feeding tube in October 2003, was declared unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court.

Lawmakers approved it in less than 24 hours.

At the time, Schiavo's feeding tube had been removed for six days, making the matter much more urgent for some lawmakers. With Schiavo still on the feeding tube at this point, the Legislature is moving much more slowly, at least for now.

Two more committees must hear Baxley's bill (HB 701) before it will reach the House floor, something that lawmakers said is unlikely to happen until the middle of next week.

A similar bill has been filed in the Senate but has not been scheduled for any committee hearings.

Mike Allen, a constitutional-law professor at Stetson University Law School, said Baxley's bill could not be legally applied to Schiavo's case. The reason: In striking down Terri's Law, Allen said, the Florida Supreme Court found that the trial-court order directing the withdrawal of her artificial nutrition and hydration was a final order.

"The Florida Supreme Court's decision on Terri's Law was so clear that this was the final determination of the judicial branch and, short of the judicial branch changing its mind, that decision forecloses any legislation," Allen said. "Once we have a final court order, we're done."

But Rex Sparklin, a lawyer who is working with legislators on behalf of Schiavo's parents, predicted the bill would pass legal scrutiny.

"The family certainly hopes the bill will pass and is grateful to the Florida Legislature for being courageous in looking at protections for the disabled citizens of Florida, including Terri Schiavo," Sparklin said.

Mark Hollis of the Tallahassee

bureau contributed to this report.

Sean Mussenden can be reached

at smussenden@orlandosentinel.com

or 850-222-5564. Maya Bell can be

reached at 305-810-5003 or

mbell@orlandosentinel.com.

This morning's email from Cheryl Ford at Fight4Terri@aol.com ...

Comments By Ford:

The Man who thinks he is GOD! Greer can turn this around for Terri. There is enough evidence to prove the crimes that were committed against Terri Schiavo. Instead, he opts to kill her. He knew what he was going to do when he set the date to murder Terri last week. He used this week to PRETEND to hear what everyone wanted to say, knowing he was going to reject everything said. The Black Robe Executor rides again.

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/03/09/Tampabay/Schiavo_case_again_in.shtml

Tampabay: Schiavo case again in court

CLEARWATER -- Pinellas-Pasco Circuit George Greer on Wednesday rejected two motions seeking to extend Terri Schiavo's life and told lawyers abuse complaints received by state officials concerning Schiavo are nothing new.

By Times Staff
Published March 9, 2005

----------

Greer heard testimony from a supervisor for the state Department of Children and Families detailing abuse complaints the agency has received about Schiavo. The supervisor testified about complaints ranging from improper dental care to the failure to treat infections.

After hearing the testimony, Greer said, "All of the things (the witness) ticked off ... were all issues that have been in open court in front of the media and in the court files which the media has access to."

Greer is expected to decide today whether to grant a motion by DCF to intervene in the case. The agency wants Greer to extend the March 18 date for pulling Schiavo's feeding tube to investigate the complaints.

DCF asked that the testimony be closed to the media. Greer ordered the courtroom cleared, then released the transcript because he said he heard nothing not already public.

Also Wednesday, Greer:

-- Rejected a motion by attorneys for Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, to allow new medical testing of Schiavo to determine whether she is in a vegetative state or is minimally conscious. Greer noted doctors and the court have already determined Schiavo's condition.

-- Rejected a motion by the Schindlers asking for a new trial because of an error Greer made about the Karen Ann Quinlan in his 2000 order that said Schiavo would not have wanted to live by artificial means.

[Last modified March 9, 2005, 18:58:20]

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