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.
"...some liberal judge will call it unconstitutional." The SC of FL did that to get us where we are today and NY will not be far behind.
Ironically, though George W. Greer calls himself a "conservative Republican" who is "only" following "what the law says." As long as he has the "R" label, some Republicans will give him a pass.
Exactly. There is a dirty feel to this. Why does Terri need killing?
As I said on another thread yesterday, beat up a bunch of IRS dogs until they spit at you, then release them to dig up dirt on the husbands' and judge's family and "friends".
If 100% of their time is invested in protecting themselves, they are inert!
"Have you seen the March 5, 1991 bone scan report?"
The full testimony is here. It includes cross-exam and by including it you wouldn't look so onesided and biased.
http://www.hospicepatients.org/dr-walker-t-schiavo-bone-scan-deposition.txt
Here's a few tidbits...
Q I think you mentioned that you had no
2 personal recollection of dictating this particular
3 report. Is that right?
4 A That's correct.
5 Q And you didn't sign the report?
6 A ***** I don't see my signature on this copy,
7 no.
"not dead, she can't. "pursuit" is relative."
Then so is life. Medical technology can do all kinds of things.
"I want the "doctors", nurses and everyone involved to be NAMED. They will no longer be invisible."
I can't think of an instance when someone being sued isn't named?
I really appreciate your updates. I have been a silent warrier, praying from lurkdom for Terri, and educating anyone I run into who is ignorant of the true facts in this case.
It is going to be a long weekend waiting for the good guys to get this done. Your updates will help carry me through. At least I know that some of our congresscritters understand what is at stake here and are willing to do what is needed for good to triumph over evil.
"One of our very own RINO's with just as much Democrat money and backing as Republican."
Is he against the death penalty?
This is an outraeous argument. It was impossible to raise the issue because Felos had concealed the bone scan. The issue was raised as soon as the Schindlers' attorneys found out about it. Since you repeat just about everything Felos says, why don't you tell us WHY he withheld the bone scan from the Schindlers, the public and the court? As an officer of the court himself, he has the duty to be truthful and open about material evidence. Why does he continue to withhold medical and financial records? Something to hide, perhaps? A lot to hide, yes?
Yes. The scan is scientific evidence establishing a high probability that Terri was violently assaulted and smothered.
You're are correct. This is unbelievable.
Moreover, Thomas Jefferson wrote into the Declaration of Independence,
"We hold these truths to be self-evident,that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,
--That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
This is in the public sphere now. The turds will surface:)
Thank you. Let's keep praying.
I saw Randall Terry this morning. I think F&F gave him a pretty fair hearing.
The point he made about her saying ANYTHING was a good one, although, whether she can speak or is totally unconscious doesn't matter....she's a living person.
Fetch the rope. Nobody will mind if we hang one of our own.
I will do a CNN debate tonight
Things have improved and I see a path for her. "
The fact is, you and others like you don't like the evidence because you've already made up your mind in favor of Michael. Terri could describe the Pythagorean Theorem and you would find a way to explain that away and maintain she is PVS.
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