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.

[Frapster]

Thank you for those words this morning.

[GarySpFc]

I would be very careful with your use of Jesus "bending the rules." The reason the ceremonial laws (not the Mosaic) were no longer required is because Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. If anything, when it comes to the Mosaic Law, Jesus strengthened them (see Mt. 5)

He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. The Holy Bible New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Col 2:13-14). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

[cbkaty]

Judge Greer issued an order that once her tube is removed, "I don't want anyone trying to feed that girl!" By his judicial decree, not only is the tube removed, but no liquid or food is to be brought near her lips.

Terri is not his mother, wife, sister, or child....so...no big deal...right? Seems to me this judge deserves to face Texas's own....Judge Roy Bean......

[jwalsh07]

He is an acknowledged quack in his field who is capitalizing on Terri's plight to gain a few minutes of fame.

A lie. He's a board certified neurologist. You should post evidence of the "quackery" or withdraw your statement.

[Let's Roll]

So this is what GWB came back from vacation and Congress worked all night to achieve? Another fiat from a judicial activist. They're like UN resolutions - endless.

I thought whatever Congress came up with would at least put Terri in federal custody. The dims fought this? Only to delay things that much longer.

[mewzilla]

Well, didn't Whittemore, if I understood his ruling correctly, suggest what the Congress did was uncosntitutional? If so, the SCOTUS could review that, couldn't it?

[DCPatriot]

Yes, you're correct. Sorry. ;^(

[Zechariah_8_13]

I hear a lot of arguments, from liberals and so called freepers, that our culture (democracy) demands that the separation of powers be respected here, above Terri's life. "We're opening a can of worms," they say, "a slippery slope. The law is above all, it was written by very wise men."

There was once another culture that had the same battle. But someone came along who seemed to put individual persons above the laws of that culture. Many people say today that the law cannot be 'bent' for one person. This other culture said the same thing. But the person in this other culture did put others above the 'law.' In fact in doing so this person incurred the wrath of the judiciary of that culture. They viewed the law as being above all else. But the person who angered them so said the law was made FOR man, not man for the law. So he broke the rules, went against the culture. He broke a holy tenant of the culture. And the wrath he incurred led to the culture condemning him to death. And the sentence was carried out.

What was the great violation of his culture. He healed a man on the Sabbath.

But the law they said was from God Himself. So when we look at the laws of God, and the laws of democracy we can ask ourselves what this man asked his culture: "Which is lawful: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But those who condemned him remained silent. (From Mark 3:4).

So today we can choose to be like the Pharisees and Sanhedrin, putting the law above man, or we choose to be, well like God would have us be, to do good and save life, not destroy it.

Beautifully stated. Thank you.

[T'wit]

Terri's brain CT scan shows she is not nearly as damaged as claimed

[Mo1]

He is an acknowledged quack in his field who is capitalizing on Terri's plight to gain a few minutes of fame.

Gee .. Michael's brothers were on my local radio show last night calling this dr a quack also .. that and a wacko

[Types_with_Fist]

This judge seems to think he was only supposed to review whether there were procedural steps that were observed.

That's exactly how this appears. I don't believe he's done anything different than the previous judges, who all ruled on the established "facts" of the Greer decision, without putting the case under the scrutiny it seemed de novo called for and that the Congress expected.

The judge has revealed as much by declaring that the case had a "low probability of success." It sure sounds as though he said this based on his view of "proper procedure" from the Greer decision. That's how the case has travelled this far.

These judges sure are odd creatures. They base everything on cut and dried procedure rather than what is right and wrong. So... if someone is able to get tesitmony and facts excluded in the first place, via "proper procedure," every subsequent decision will be based on that alone and evidence can never be seen in a different light.

I understand they rule on law. But this strict process precludes that no mistakes could have been made in the first place.

[benjibrowder]

A father who never knew his kid, nor gave a care about him until he got here, and then the father writes an 8-hour long page claiming he misses the child? Bull crap, at least the family here had actually tried to give him a normal life away from poverty! His father could promise him nothing, they could.

[MEGoody]

"Her parents could've challenged his status as her caregiver in a legal proceeding if they believed neglect had occured."

They have, several times.

" It sure looks like a situation where they just can't ACCEPT their daughter's gone and the stark reality of her condition."

People who are 'gone' are not responsive. Terri is responsive. In fact, she swallows her own saliva, so it is quite possible she could be fed using food (i.e. pureed foods) if her husband would allow them to test her. He won't.

"I'm sorry Terri's body's resisted giving up all these years because she surely deserves to finally rest in peace."

Let's see how peaceful her death is going to be. Don't eat or drink for two weeks, then get back to us.

[ContraryMary]

A lie. He's a board certified neurologist. You should post evidence of the "quackery" or withdraw your statement.

Okay. Check him out on www.quackwatch.org.

I do not withdraw my statement. Hammesfahr is a quack.

[SendShaqtoIraq]

"I fail to understand why the legal team is not mounting a more vigorous attempt to have a family member appointed as guardian."

They tried. Greer refused.

"an action to appoint a guardian ad lietum"

Had one. Greer fired him when he stood up for Terri.

[Dave S]

Let the backlash begin!

YOu do realize any backlash will be against Terri supporters. More than two thirds of Americans disagree with reinsertion of the feeding tube and even more believe that the husband should have the final determination. At least four different polls have all indicated same thing. I'm fearful that this is going to cause backlash such that the Republicans in the Senate will not go forward with the Nuclear option or the public will blame the Republicans (i.e. will believe that Bush is nominating kooks).

[TheForceOfOne]

Marriage between a man and a woman is one of the key building blocks of our society, and it should be respected by those who enter into it and those who observe it. When we make the promise of "In sickness or health, for better or worse" it represents the willingness to endure the trials and tribulations we face as couples to preserve the marriage and the love that bonds it, hopefully for life. Marriage is no guarantee this will happen, only a promise, no more so than two people who choose to share their lives together without the bond of marriage. It is the commitment to each other that sets apart those who succeed in a fulfilling life together, the act of marriage is a ceremony to honor this commitment and a legal bond to each other in the process. The legal bond that a marriage certifies gives the couple a the right to make decisions such as the one in question. The problem that occurs is given the notion the marriage is being honored at all times and the spouse has the partners best interests at heart at all times and that is not alway the case. The bond between a man and a woman can be broken with a legal action of divorce which releases the couple of their commitment from each other. The sanctity of life or death goes beyond the bounds of marriage, it cannot break the ties to the parents who gave the marriage partner life to begin with to make the marriage possible. Whether it is the parents complete right to make the decision of life or death or a joint decision to do so with the spouse of the child of the parents. It should not be the soul decision of a person whose legal right can be broken by a divorce. In the absence of a living parent, a sister, bother, etc. should inherit that right. In the event the spouse and the parents do not agree, the decision should be life. The only overriding factor to either the parents or the spouses legal rights should be the actual wishes of the person in question by the legal documentation of a will by the person in question. I would advise everyone to have one. My worst fear is this would happen to me and I would be laying there in a hospital bed trap inside a failing body unable to speak yet conscious of what was being said in front of me or on my behalf and watching it rip people and families apart. This is just my opinion.

[Jennifer in Florida]

I hate to sit by and watch this all happen! I wish there was something we could do. It disgusts me.

[olde north church]

Heaven forfend I possess the temerity to disagree with Rush or any other of the great minds on the panel but here is my story. Not as a family member who was faced with the horrible decision to use mechanical life support or to let nature take it's own course but as a person who was the patient. This was my response to someone trying to use the no-MRI humbug currently used in full force:
Well, considering the numerous MRI's, CAT scans, and angiograms I have undergone since I was diagnosed with an Arterio-venous malformation in 1988, coincidentally(?) 29 days after my 27th birthday (hmmm, 27th birthday, huh?) I think I know a think or 6 about these tests. They confirm the presence of abnormalities, not how they affect a state of consciousness. That is the realm of PET scan. It shows which parts of the brain are active in relation to a given stimuli/response cascade. Now, back to me, I had just recently turned 27 when I suffered a grand mal seizure as a symptom of the AVM. An AVM is sort of a reverse aneurysm, it's located in a vein, rather than an artery. Anyway, it shunts blood away from other parts of the brain CAUSING A LACK OF OXYGEN, then a seizure. Actually, I was pretty fortunate, more often than not, it's a cerebral hemorrhage that occurs and kills rather than a seizure. That leads to a whole lot of change in the way you look at life. 27 years old is not a nice time to have to face your own mortality [ed. note]. That's my reason for being a bit hesitant to tear into her husband, know one knows what happened although conjecture and juicy gossip is so much more delightful and quite CHRISTIAN, NOT!!! It's like any other form of speculation, we get to pretend how we think we could act in the same situation.

[ContraryMary]

Check out www.quackwatch.org if you want to learn about Hammesfahr.