Posted on 03/19/2005 8:00:19 AM PST by beyond the sea
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Friday that subpoenas issued by Sen. Mike Enzi compelling Terri Schiavo to appear at a March 28 congressional hearing made it a crime to disconnect her feeding tube - and threatened anyone who interfered with her testimony with jail.
In a statement issued by the majority leader's office, Frist said:
"Federal criminal law protects witnesses called before official Congressional committee proceedings from anyone who may obstruct or impede a witness’ attendance or testimony."
"More specifically," said the Senate's top Republican, "the law protects a witness from anyone who - by threats, force, or by any threatening letter or communication - influences, obstructs, or impedes an inquiry or investigation by Congress.
"Anyone who violates this law is subject to criminal fines and imprisonment," Frist said.
His comments appeared to be directed at Florida state judge George Greer, who brazenly defied the Enzi subpoena on Friday and ordered Schiavo's starvation to commence.
Frist's statement echoed comments by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who said late Friday that he intended to charge Greer with contempt of Congress.
"No little judge sitting in a state district court in Florida is going to usurp the authority of Congress," he complained.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
Wonder why this important question is going unanswered?
And why are these metal stimulators still in her brain? They should have been removed. Another instance (one of dozens) of neglect on the part of the guardian.
How about the feds that were sent in to the South on civil rights issues?
Maybe the suggestion of "happiness" refers to the ending of several years of being imprisoned in a virtually nonfunctional body. Everyone dies. Some die quickly, with little suffering and some don't. Being trapped in a totally dependent state, requiring others to perform normal life functions for a period of several years is severe torture at best. It seems morbid to require this to continue on the slight chance the condition might change.
As you pointed out, there are many other deaths which we would do well to help prevent.
I suspect that these drugs and this protocol are standard hospice operating procedures for dehydrating patients.
Greer is not legally blind. He has poor eyesight. The "legally blind" thing started as a joke about his rulings regarding Terri. It just shows how fiction gets treated as fact.
I think doctors (and nurses) treating her are going to be VERY careful about what they do, because of the huge visibility the case is now getting. The evil ones work best in the dark.
The judge is doing his job by upholding the laws of the state of Florida.
The Constitution of the State of Florida, Article I, Section 23 states: "Every natural person has the right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into his private life except as otherwise provided herein." The Florida courts have interpreted this provision to place the burden of justification on the state government when it attempts to interfere in matters of an extremely personal nature. In a 1990 decision, In Re Guardianship of Browning, the Florida Supreme Court expressly found as a matter of state constitutional law that the state may not override the clearly expressed wishes of a patient to be allowed to die. That particular case also involved the removal of a feeding tube.
The law makes it clear that only the patient can make the decision because it makes a clear distinction between doctor-assisted suicide and a patient's right to die. The question then becomes, how does a patient clearly express their wishes on this subject? In the Browning case, the court found that the right attaches, so long as "the patient has expressed his or her desires in a 'living will,' through oral declarations, or by the written designation of a proxy to make all health care decisions in these circumstances." Terri Schiavo left no living will. Her injuries make her incapable of expressing her desires through oral declarations. Thus the decision is left to her proxy, which in Florida is the nearest surviving next of kin. Legally that is her husband. And it has been his testimony that she would not want to live this way. Absent any evidence to the contrary, the court has to consider his arguements and trust that he is acting in the best interests of his wife.
The U.S. Supreme Court is not going to step into this because the right of a patient to choose to die has been established in a dozen cases. And besides, this is clearly a state issue and not one for the federal government.
So the long and the short of it is that any beef you may have should not be directed at Judge Greer. He is upholding the law of the state. Your beef is with Schiavo's husband. He is the guardian, he is the one who had said she would prefer to die over living like this.
The evil ones work best in the dark.
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My thoughts exactly.
I think you've got me mistaken for someone else. I just asked if congress has the authority to order the US Marshals to enforce their subpoena.
I suspect that these drugs and this protocol are standard hospice operating procedures for dehydrating patients.
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You may be correct about this, but I think you are saying that since morphine isn't on the list, it isn't given and I doubt that is true.
I have seen two of these "death by dehydration" things go down in a hospital, and both involved morphine every one to two hours around the clock. It's my understanding that this is rather standard. It relaxes the patient, prevents pain/discomfort, and depresses respiration, which typically, as a side effect, hastens death.
We did administer other meds, such as motrin, tylenol, etc for fevers (because the patient often spikes a temp. as the dehydration progresses), or other things as needed for comfort.
I was reporting based on a court stenographer from that Florida district court who called the Michael Savage show, yesterday. She said his vision was so bad he could not read at all. That was the first I'd heard of it.
Like?
Quit talking and send down the troups. Janet RENO did it to snatch away the little Gonzalez boy. She did it again in TEXAS with the help of mortars and a TANK to invade a religious community. Don't the tanks belong to the US NOW?
Come on you're the one who wants to talk down to us. Show us all how smart you really are.
Would you people stop it with this crap!
Greer is violating several Florida statues. He is in direct violation Florida law that says he may not be a guardian of a person who's case he will decide. PERIOD! He is did not uphold the Florida law that said said the scumbag husband MUST provide guardian reports every year and the care/treatment/financial aspects of the person they are guardian of. THERE ARE MANY MORE VIOLATIONS!!!
You're the one who accused me of bias. Show us all how smart you really are and point it out.
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