Posted on 03/19/2005 12:31:03 AM PST by bd476
PINELLAS PARK, Fla. - With a furious legal and political battle raging outside her hospice room, doctors removed Terri Schiavo's feeding tube Friday after a judge rebuffed an unprecedented attempt by Congress to keep the brain-damaged woman alive.
Schiavo, 41, could linger one to two weeks without the tube, provided no one intercedes and gets it reinserted — as happened twice before.
Late Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites), without comment, denied an emergency request from the House committee that issued the subpoenas to reinsert Schiavo's feeding tube while the committee files appeals in the lower courts to have its subpoenas recognized.
Republicans on Capitol Hill used their subpoena power to demand that Schiavo be brought before a congressional hearing, saying removing the tube amounted to "barbarism." The attorney for Schiavo's husband shot back at a news conference, calling the subpoenas "nothing short of thuggery."
"It was odious, it was shocking, it was disgusting, and I think all Americans should be very alarmed about that," George Felos said.
The judge presiding over the case ruled in the husband's favor early Friday afternoon and rejected the request from House attorneys to delay the removal, which he had previously ordered to take place at 1 p.m. EST. Felos said Michael Schiavo was at his wife's side shortly after the tube was disconnected.
Meanwhile, Republican congressional leaders said in a statement that they planned to work through the weekend to try to save Terri Schiavo's life.
The removal of the tube signals that an end may be near in a decade-long family feud between Schiavo's husband and her devoutly Roman Catholic parents, Bob and Mary Schindler. The parents have been trying to oust Michael Schiavo as their daughter's guardian and keep in place the tube that has kept her alive for more than 15 years.
Michael Schiavo says his wife told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially. Her parents dispute that, saying she could get better and that their daughter has laughed, cried, smiled and responded to their voices. Court-appointed physicians testified her brain damage was so severe that there was no hope she would ever have any cognitive abilities.
"This is what Terri wanted. This is her wish," the husband said late Friday, making his first comments after the tube removal on CNN's "Larry King Live." He said he was angry that "government has just trampled all over my personal life."
The family is still hoping for a long-shot legal victory to have the tube re-inserted.
It is unclear how much time the family will have. The effects of such feeding tubes being removed can be seen by the third or fourth day, when the patient's mouth begins to look dry and the eyes appear sunken. From days five to 10, respiration becomes irregular with periods of very fast and then very slow breathing. By the final days, kidney function declines, toxins begin accumulating in the body, and multiple organ systems fail from lack of nutrition.
Court-appointed doctors have said Schiavo will not feel any pain given her state, but her parents' doctors dispute that.
Several right-to-die cases across the nation have been fought in the courts in recent years, but few, if any, have been this drawn-out and bitter.
The case has garnered attention around the world and served as a rallying cry for conservative Christian groups and anti-abortion activists, who flooded members of Congress and Florida legislators with messages seeking to keep Schiavo alive.
Outside Schiavo's hospice, about 30 people keeping vigil dropped to their knees in prayer when word spread of the judge's ruling calling for removal of the tube.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said President Bush (news - web sites) discussed the case with his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and members of the state's congressional delegation during his swing through Florida on Friday to discuss Social Security (news - web sites) reform.
"We're continuing to monitor developments," McClellan said. "The president believes when there are serious questions or doubts in a case like this that the presumption ought to be in favor of life."
Gov. Jeb Bush said the judge's decision "breaks my heart" and noted that it often takes two decades for a death row inmate's appeals to go through the system.
"There's this rush to starve her to death," Bush said.
But Rep. Henry Waxman (news, bio, voting record) of California, senior Democrat on the Government Reform Committee, called the subpoenas a "flagrant abuse of power" and said they amounted to Congress dictating the medical care Terri Schiavo should receive.
"Congress is turning the Schiavo family's personal tragedy into a national political farce," Waxman said.
Schiavo suffered severe brain damage in 1990 when a chemical imbalance apparently brought on by an eating disorder caused her heart to stop beating for a few minutes. She can breathe on her own, but has relied on the feeding and hydration tube to keep her alive.
Both sides accused each other of being motivated by greed over a $1 million medical malpractice award from doctors who failed to diagnose the chemical imbalance.
The Schindlers also said that Michael Schiavo wants their daughter dead so he can marry his longtime girlfriend, with whom he has young children. They have begged him to divorce their daughter, and let them care for her.
The tangled case has encompassed at least 19 judges in at least six different courts.
In 2001, Schiavo went without food and water for two days before a judge ordered the tube reinserted when a new witness surfaced.
When the tube was removed in October 2003, her parents and two siblings frantically sought intervention from Gov Jeb. Bush to stop her slow starvation. The governor pushed through "Terri's Law," and six days later the tube was reinserted.
That set off a new round of legal battles which culminated in September 2004 with the Florida Supreme Court (news - web sites) ruling that Bush had overstepped his authority and declared the law unconstitutional.
On Feb. 25, Circuit Judge George Greer gave Michael Schiavo permission to order the removal of the feeding tube Friday.
"I have had no cogent reason why the (congressional) committee should intervene," Greer told attorneys in a conference call Friday, adding that last-minute action by Congress does not invalidate years of court rulings.
The attorney for the parents said he would likely file a new appeal early next week with a federal appeals court. He also said he hoped lawmakers in Washington or Tallahassee could agree on legislation that would force the tube to be reinserted. Similar efforts have failed in the past.
"I'm hopeful these men and women can get a strategy, get a focus, because we're running out of time," said attorney David Gibbs.
That's exactly my opinion.
I mean if they want to kill couldn't they just give her a lethal injection?
I mean we say murderers can't be hung because of unreasonable cruelty or whatever.
But we'll allow an innocent life to slowly die through starvation.
There people are just animals.
March 19, 2005
Latest Update From Bobby Schindler in Washington: "Keep Frying the Phones"
As extremist as it makes me sound, I believe that this entire matter has turned into a battle between those that value the mystery of life, and those that don't. George Felos, the euthanasia-advocate attorney of Michael Schiavo, is on television calling for the death advocates to call their senators and representatives. We have to make sure that we generate a tsunami of callers and emailers to combat any such action on the part of those that wish to cheapen life itself.
- via telephone call at 09:53 ET
Bobby Schindler is still in Washington, fighting for his sister's life. He said to "please have the blogs keep up the pressure all weekend, my sister's life depends on them getting the word out for people to keep calling their senators and representatives!"
Bobby said that his mother is having a terrible time with this, is very distraught, but she and the entire Schindler family are going to continue to fight for Terri and that they pray that the bloggers will keep fighting for Terri. The family feels that the blogs are perhaps Terri's best chance of getting the volume of calls needed to convince the right people to make the right decision.
PLEASE REPOST THE URGENT ACTION ALERT SEVERAL TIMES A DAY, ALL WEEKEND LONG. ALSO, CALL AND EMAIL YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES, AND URGE YOUR READERS AND FELLOW BLOGGERS TO DO THE SAME.
x-rays - "a bone scan was taken in 1991 and that the doctor who read it saw on it evidence of past trauma at various places on Terri's body. Some consider that evidence of a severe beating by her husband, others consider it evidence consistent with bulimia, a fall, and CPR by paramedics. Whether trauma really happened, or what kind, or when, are all unclear.
"why Terri came to her present state - dismissing it it as "interesting [but having] nothing to do with Theresa Marie Schiavo in 2002""
That is not what the court said.
*******The bone scan was not raised in the original trial regarding Terri's wishes.******* The issue was raised by the Schindlers in a November 2002 emergency motion. Judge Greer rejected the matter as being irrelevant to the issue of Terri's wishes. See the order linked in the timeline above.
Doctors -
The trial court heard testimony from five experts: two selected by Michael, two selected by the Schindlers, and one independent expert selected by the trial court. The two experts selected by Michael and the independent expert agreed that Terri was in a persistent vegetative state and that her actions were limited to mere reflexes. The two experts chosen by the Schindlers disagreed, but the trial court found their positions not credible. For instance, the trial court explained:
At first blush, the video of Terry Schiavo appearing to smile and look lovingly at her mother seemed to represent cognition. This was also true for how she followed the Mickey Mouse balloon held by her father. The court has carefully viewed the videotapes as requested by counsel and does find that these actions were neither consistent nor reproducible. For instance, Terry Schiavo appeared to have the same look on her face when Dr. Cranford rubbed her neck. Dr. Greer testified she had a smile during his (non-videoed) examination. Also, Mr. Schindler tried several more times to have her eyes follow the Mickey Mouse balloon but without success. Also, she clearly does not consistently respond to her mother. The court finds that based on the credible evidence, cognitive function would manifest itself in a constant response to stimuli.
The experts also disagreed about whether any treatment could improve Terri's condition. The two experts selected by the Schindlers each proposed a potential therapy method, but the trial court rejected both of them based on "the total absence of supporting case studies or medical literature."
Affirming those decisions, the Second District explained that it, too, reviewed the videotapes of Terri in their entirety as well as Terri's brain scans. The appellate court explained that it not only affirmed the decision but that, were it to review the evidence and make its own decision, the court would reach the same result reached by the trial court.
Your post is very disengenuous and don't help her, in my opinion.
"No state has the right to execute someone for commiting the crime of being inconvenient."
Is there a reasonable time for the continued feeding?
"I can't come to grips with the logic of those who allow this to happen."
There's quite a bit of information here:
http://abstractappeal.com/schiavo/infopage.html#timeline
March 19, 2005
Terri's Mom to Address the Press
For the first time since the removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube, her mother Mary Schindler, will address the press. Mary Schindler and Randall Terry will hold the noon press conference --- in front of the Woodside Hospice, where Terri lives.
You nailed it.
"Michael Schiavo, meanwhile, will face no reprisal and no investigation for his role in causing Terri's condition."
Ever wonder why the Doctors didn't raise that question while defending themselves?
Why would he be concerned about nausea? Wouldn't that just hasten the dehydration and shorten her time? I would think he would be in favor of that.
I just said a Prayer to Jesus while in tears. This is not different than 2000 years ago when He was ordered to be crucified by the powers at that time.
No kidding! There is more concern over wether or not McGwire bulked up on steroids than concern over Greer's order to slowly starve and murder Terri.
Disgusting.
I want the "doctors", nurses and everyone involved to be NAMED. They will no longer be invisible.
But I think physically removing her from the room is ALL that will save her at this point. I am unsurprised that she is being tortured in these "United States." She should have been taken into protective custody years ago.
Better to shoot, shovel, and shut up.
"Impeach Judge George W. Greer of Florida's Sixth Judicial Circuit"
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/ijg520/
You have nailed it. So far they have been operating behind the scenes, but with Teddy K's statement, it looks like they are going to come out-in-front and fight. The only thing left out of all this is our very own RINO's who side with Teddy and the boys on this. Unfortunately, this has been spun by the press as a bunch of religious nazis who want to force feed this lady so she can continue to suffer, etc. The polls are AWFUL on this and if somebody named Bush (Jeb or W) doesn't take action to do the right thing, not only is this woman dead, but a lot of other people are going to be killed in this country because they cost $ and are inconvenient to have around and look at. The disabled know what is coming with Terri's death.
an "AMEN!" btt
One of our very own RINO's with just as much Democrat money and backing as Republican.
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