http://www.theempirejournal.com/0311051_schiavo_attorney_felos_n.htm
Posted on 03/11/2005 4:25:34 PM PST by gopwinsin04
With avenues to keep Terri Schiavo alive closing in the state of Florida, they were opening in the nation's capital Thursday . The tide turned decidedly in favor of the parents who want to prolong their brain-damaged daughters life.
Just a scant eight days before the court ordered deadline to remove her feeding tube, Republicans on Capitol Hill rallied around the case that has become a 'cause celebre' of conservative and religious groups.
Florida Sen. Mel Martinez and Rep. Dave Weldon's bill to require the incapacitated without living wills to be appointed attorneys before life support is terminated, introduced on Tuesday had 103 sponsors in the House and seven sponsors in the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a surgeon, is trying to get it to the Senate floor without it being heard in committte. House Majority Leader Tom Delay is working to get the bill in front of the Judiciary committee by Wednesday.
It was unclear whether US Congressional Democrats would try and stop the bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he prefers for it to be heard in committee.
Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican, said he hopes for full Democratic support and has heard no direct oppositon.
George Felos, attorney for Michael Schiavo, sounded resigned to the fact that politics in the nations capital would delay the removal of Schiavo's feeding tube the way it did in 2003, when Florida's governor and legislature stepped in.
'It is certainly disheartening to see them falling all over themselves to pander to these groups,' Felos said. 'It's a massive campaign of fear and misinformation. It's a repeat of Terri's law'
The attorney for the Schiavo parents had the opposite view. 'We are very encouraged by what is happening in Congress right now, said David Gibbs.
'The family is profoundly grateful'
(Excerpt) Read more at sptimes.com ...
"Unfortunately I don't think this will make much of a difference."
You're probably right. (sigh)
Fine. I don't know every law firm in this country, and nobody does. So please don't diss me for not knowing them and that fact somehow reflecting on my knowledge of the law.
That's a total disconnect. If you want to make more of an issue of this, let me know.
How many court fact-finders have determined her wishes?
How many court fact-finders have determined her condition?
As I said you are just as entitled to your personal opinions as anyone else, but there has been a great deal of work done on this case that even seemingly conservative people in their right minds are not paying attention to.
Terri is being denied equal protection under law on account of her incapacity, in violation of Amendment XVI.
Section 1. ...nor shall any State ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Section 5: The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
So it would seem Congress does have the authority.
I believe I've consistently said here all along that my interest in this case is because I find the legal issues compelling.
I'm not at all convinced that Terri should have the tube removed. I want more tests done to see if she's really inside. On the other hand, if the tests show she's not, I'd let the body go.
But my main point on this thread is that the Florida legislature can make my opinion irrelevant, simply by passing an uncomplicated bill. Almost nobody seems to care or notice. They'd rather argue about it than do anything.
The thing is she is physically healthy. She's not dying. Would you want to be starved and dehydrated to death while still physically healthy?
I will tell you what it is a horrible horrible thing. I had a cousin who suffered a stroke at a young age and she was brain damaged. She was in a similar state as Terri, except she was a petite thing. Her husband found him a new honey and decided it was time to let her go. It took her over 3 weeks to die and she looked like a skeleton with skin on. Her hands were like claws.
It was very disturbing to say the least. Her brother knows that it was wrong to starve her to death. He is haunted with what happened. Her husband remarried within a month and now the grandparents are watching the same bastard and the witch abuse the kids. They are going for custody.
When a person is truly terminally ill their body naturally refuses food. The organs are shutting down and death is imminent anyway. In cases like Terri and my cousin death is not imminent unless it is at the hands of someone else.
Equal protection under that definition means no more states. Think about it.
IIRC, the SCoFla has already ruled that to be unconstitutional (in the Browning decision, iirc), which is part of what led to the legislature changing the law to conform to the SCoFla's edict.
It is a matter for familes. HINO, Felos, and Greer should butt out (a married man who has moved in with another woman, sired two kids be her, and pledged to marry her, is hardly "family" to the estranged wife).
You are exactly right BykrBarb. Stick with it.
Listening to the radio this afternoon, specifically the sit-in for Michael Savege. Did a good job. But he didn't make the point that Terri is not, I repeat, NOT on life support. She is in fact phycically in good health. we don't know if she can swallow or not. He made the point that starvation and dehydration is not compassionate, but in fact painful and prolonged. He made a good case for all the other points in Terri's favor.
Wow, I find that hard to believe. Anything is possible of course. I've never heard of the Browning case, but I can't imagine that the Florida Supreme Court would rule that the legislature couldn't amend its own laws. They're nuts, but they're not that nuts.
Maybe;)
So Michael Schiavo's refusal to accept the $1million means that there is more than $1million in the Medical malpractice Award fund.
That may be true, but I think he refused the one million because he is afraid that if Terri gets some rehab she just might start communicating! I believe if Terri gets to speak or communicate in some way, Michael will go up for attempted murder!
It is illogical to think that the constitution protects the life of death row criminals exclusively. These provisions protecting due process in taking the life of criminals are provisions that present the extreme case. If the extreme case gets these protections, then certainly innocent citizens are guaranteed these rights as well. Otherwise, the constitution is a preposterous document.
And, if the constitution is protecting the death row criminal with this blanket statement and does not say specifically that it is an issue delegated to the states, then it is an issue enforceable on a national level.
IMHO, one of the biggest points that needs to be hammered home is that despite the existence of affidavits claiming that Terri used to take food by mouth (after her 'collapse'), Michael forbids such and such prohibition will remain in effect if gastrostomic feeding is discontinued.
If the parents were allowed to make bona fide efforts to feed Terri by mouth (and have her tested for sedatives or other drugs), with the consequence that if they succeeded she'd live and if they failed she'd die, I wouldn see that as vaguely acceptable (probably because I have faith that if God wants Terri to live, she'll be able to take food by mouth). But any person, no matter how healthy, will die if they are prevented from receiving any food or water.
Many people don't realize that the primary reason Terri needs "life support" is that Michael won't let her be fed any other way. I think if they realized that, they'd find his actions entirely repulsive.
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