Judge Refuses to have feeding tube reinserted in Terri Schiavo (FOX NEWS ALERT)

Fox News | 03/22/05

[tsmith130]

Just heard on Fox....so sad.

[Jeff Head]

Amen Joanie. I pray we find a true statesman who has the will and moral clarity to find the legal instrumentation to take Terri into protective custody unti the merits of the very things you describe can be fully investigated...and damn the legaleze, poitical ambition, and constituional firestorm that results. At least while that goes on and gets resolved, the innocent (in this case Terri) is vouchsafed.

Failing this, I wish to God and pray that there are ten thousand good men and women in the area who would do the same for Terri...I feel a case like this (like Klamath) is that important.

[Iwo Jima]

It's been 90+ hours since the tube was removed.

I'm sure that it's been MUCH longer than that since Terri was given food or water. Michael and Felos know that Terri has far less time to live than others assume that she does.

[Polybius]

Polybius, I hope you don't mind but I think your comments are most instructive to the layman. I work in the diagnostic imaging field and had not seen her CT before. My impressions from reading about it were that it was much worse than this image implies, though she obviously has major loss. But at this level, wouldn't PET and MRI be indicated before making life and death decisions? Thanks for a good post.

Those of us in the diagnostic imaging field know what the cerebral cortex looks like after it is lost from infarct.

CT scan showing a massive infarct within the brain territory supplied by the right middle cerebral artery. (The "Right" on an X-Ray is on the left-hand side as if you are facing the patient.)

There has been much simplification of this case in the news media and from politicians who have no clue as to what they are talking about.

I have no idea what her actual condition is. All I know is that you can't make a rational clinical decision on an incomplete medical workup and on medical data that is a decade old.

In the absence of cortical destruction as seen in the above CT, no single radiologic test will be the final say in this case. A neurologist would be better able to say which battery of tests would give the most accurate assessment. However, it needs to be a neutral neurologist and, preferably, a team of neurologists, without a dog in this fight who would treat Terri as he would treat any other brand new patient under their care.

What you have to realize about legal medical opinions is there are "Doctor Whores" who will, for an appropriate fee, testify for or against whatever medical opinion you want to hear.

[betty boop]

The Terri Schiavo case painfully illustrates the fact that the ‘rule of law’ in our republic has found itself surreptitiously transformed into a spiderweb of irrational ‘legalities’ that no longer have any foundation in ‘justice’.

Beautiful essay, joanie-f. We are reaping the whirlwind....

[ohioWfan]

So, let me get this straight.

You are saying that being a man of principle is a bad thing? That the President's not being willing to break the law is a bad thing?

(Keep in mind, please, that I am ardently pro-life).

[Modernman]

Whatever happened to the militia/patriot movement in this country?

Thankfully, it seems to have withered away as people realized it was full of disgruntled losers.

Peaceful means are not working; only force can save Terri now!

You first.

[Tarantulas]

Is there anyone out there with half a brain who doesn’t know where the truth lies, and what justice would entail in this case?

The answer is Yes. There are a ton of people who are forgetting the basics of this case. Justice lies with honoring the wishes of Terri Schiavo regarding the disposition of her own body.

So what is standing in the way of justice being done here?

The Schiavo family. And, unfortunately, the US Congress.

When did common sense cease to play a role in our legal/judicial system?

I think it was probably when the liberals started making things much more complicated than they should be. This is a simple case, really, until people start making it complicated. Observe:

1. If Terri Schiavo had had a living will that said she didn't want to be kept on life support in a persistent vegetative state, none of this court action would be necessary and she would have been let go several years ago.
2. Since she had no living will, her husband, after years of fruitless therapy and learning that she had no chance of recovering from her PVS, decided to honor her wishes.
3. Because her family decided to contest the husband's decision, the husband turned the matter over to the Florida court.
4. The court, as they have done several times before, heard all the evidence and ruled that Terri's wishes, as she had stated them to several people, should be honored.

Simple, no? All the other claptrap about her possible injuries at his hands, and where he is residing these days, and whether every judge and court who ruled against the Schiavo family is a worthless scumbag deserving of slow and painful death, does not really apply here. It's nothing more than radar chaff to obscure the simplicity of the matter and make it more complicated.

[PigRigger]

"when there is so much we do not know and when there are varying opinions on her condition... I am just not to the point where I believe Terri is brain dead and beyond help"

This to disturbs me as well.

"Why can't we let Terri's family (not her so-called husband) decide what is best for Terri?...."

Because as her husband he deserves that right until proven otherwise.

I would hope that I would be the one to make that decision for my wife rather than her family. In most cases the spouse would most likely know what her wishes were.

Again, I am discounting whether her husband really cares; that should have been determined long before the arrival of this moment.

At this point, her husbands motives are not on trial; that is not what make or break this decision. Pursuing that avenue would be hopelessly futile.

"I believe many who are so quick to support removing her feeding tube do not know all the facts of this case..."

I could not agree more, thus my original comments regarding the opinion polls.

"When we as a society accept partial birth abortion..."

Not true, most Americans are overwhelming against this practice. Support for abortion itself, excluding partial birth, is right around 50%. It is far from overwhelming. Don't mix up court rulings with public support. Our courts are becoming more radical; not at all reflecting mainstream America. This is a severe problem.

"we have to take a long look at who we are as a people and where we are headed because we are becoming a society that increasingly devalues human life - and I am worried..."

Again, I agree completely. Especially if Terri is cognizant of her surroundings and plight she is facing.

[lysie]

Thank you your post.

[ohioWfan]

"Your side" (i.e. to you, the wrong side) includes the President, the majority of Congress, Michael Savage, Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, Shawn Hannity, David Limbaugh, James Dobson, the Pope, at least 75% of all freepers..........shall I go on??

We are ALL misguided, and YOU, are not? ROFLOL!

[DarthVader]

God will judge the bad parts of it. Sort of the way a surgeon removes a cancer or diseased limb/organ from a patient.

[lysie]

Thank you your post.=Thank you your for your post.

[GarySpFc]

Answer me this. If we knew for a fact that Terri was in a persistent vegetative state and that she would not want to be kept alive in such a state, would you then allow nutrition to be withheld? I doubt it. So this has nothing to do with facts, it has only to do with what this woman sympbolises in terms of Pro-live Movement.

WRONG! If there was NO DOUBT that her condition was a persistant vegetative state, then I suspect many of us would not have a problem with the decision. That said, there is far too much doubt about her state, and the judge in this case ignored too many issues. The judge is a snake.

[GarySpFc]

But has Dr. Hammesfahr's approach ever helped anyone in persistent vegetative state? I thought not.

Cut the crap! Dr. Hammesfahr has clearly stated Terri is not in a persistent vegtative state.

[Travis McGee]

We are now living under the tyranny of King Court, primarily due to the cowardice of our elected representatives.

[SiliconValleyGuy]

An EXCELLENT summation of the foolishness of all of this, Joanie. Unfortunately I don't think justice is going to be served and Terri will pay the price, and we'll all pay the price by diminishing the value of life even farther than we have already.

[Nowhere Man]

Jeb Bush is a spineless coward. He didn't call out the Fl. National Guard during the Elian crisis 5 years ago, and he won't do it now. Whatever happened to the militia/patriot movement in this country? Peaceful means are not working; only force can save Terri now!

Well, there might be a time when force will be the only resort. I hate to say it, but when the rule of law fails, nature abhores a vacuum so the rule of force will move in. Heck, I'm the one who said President Bush should send in the 82nd Airborne jumping from C-130's, well if I was President, that's what I would do.

[Modernman]

Why aren't you on DU where you belong?

Is that all you've got, Newbie? You'll find little support at FR for the drunken idiots of the militia movement.

I'm not in Florida. There is not much I, personally, can do. I could help finance such an effort, maybe give some tactical advice, that's about it.

So, basically, you're happy to mouth off from behind the safety of a computer screen while calling for others to break the law and engage in violence.