Justice Whittemore
Posted on 03/25/2005 4:33:23 AM PST by ex-Texan
Jeb Bush may take Terri Schiavo into state care
The war over the fate of Terri Schiavo was entering its final stages today as her parents clung to two slim hopes of preventing their severely brain-damaged daughter from being allowed to die.
The 41-year-old has been without food or water for almost seven days, after her feeding tube was removed last Friday on the orders of a Florida state judge.
Friends and lawyers say she is showing signs of dehydration - flaky skin, dry tongue and lips, and sunken eyes. Doctors have said she would probably die within a week or two of the tube being removed.
"It's very frustrating. Every minute that goes by is a minute that Terri is being starved and dehydrated to death," said her brother, Bobby Schindler, who said seeing her was like looking at "pictures of prisoners in concentration camps".
But Brian Schiavo, the brother of Mrs Schiavo's husband Michael who has argued for her to be allowed to die with dignity, strongly disagreed, telling CNN that Terri Schiavo "does look a little withdrawn" but insisting she was not in pain. He added that starvation is simply "part of the death process".
One of the final hopes of Mrs Schiavo's parents lies in the federal courts. Last night Bob and Mary Schindler went back before a federal judge in Tampa, filing another emergency request that the feeding tube be reattached while they pursue claims that their daughter's rights are being violated.
District Judge James Whittemore previously rejected an almost identical request on Tuesday. He promised to work through the night to issue his new ruling.
The second and more dramatic hope lies in the hands of Jeb Bush, the Governor of Florida, who was last night considering the politically explosive step of ordering state officials to force their way into the hospice where Mrs Schiavo lies motionless and take her into state custody, in defiance of the US courts.
A Florida judge yesterday rejected a request by Governor Bush to allow the state to take custody of her, but the governor's aides afterwards refused to rule out further action.
The possibility emerged on Wednesday night, when Governor Bush declared that Mrs Schiavo - who court-appointed doctors say has been in persistent vegetative state for 15 years - had been misdiagnosed. He based his assertion on "new information" provided by William Cheshire, a Florida neurologist, who says that she may only be in a "minimally conscious" state.
Although Dr Cheshire, a leading member of the Christian right-to-life movement, did not examine Mrs Schiavo, he observed her for an hour on March 1. Governor Bush maintained that his testimony was compelling enough for the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) to take her into protective custody.
On Wednesday night, amid reports that Florida state officials were "mobilising" outside Mrs Schiavo's hospice, Florida Circuit Judge George Greer issued an emergency restraining order prohibiting DCF agents from seizing her.
Judge Greer then formally rejected Governor Bush's custody request yesterday. Last night he refused to hold a new hearing to assess Dr Cheshire's claims.
He also ordered the local sheriff's department not to allow state officials into Mrs Schiavo's hospice - but, under Florida law, the governor has the power, without court clearance, of taking a citizen into custody for a 24-hour appraisal if it is suspected they are in jeopardy.
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You understand what the Founders intended.
They knew morality couldn't be legislated. It had to come from the hearts of the citizenry. Honor and integrity were prized possesions, and a man's (or woman's) word should be good as gold.
"If my son were to lend himself to this thing, I would not understand. I would be shamed."
George Washington himself would have wholeheartedly supported those thoughts and words, I suspect.
It does my heart good to know that there are still some in this Nation who believe such things. We still have hope, then.
If I were in Florida I would vote for Gov. Bush. He has done all he absolutely can. Why are people advocating he takes this further?
Because he is not beholden to a Tyrannical Judge OR the Courts in this case.
The Judiciary, the Executive branch and the Legislature are EQUAL in the government. The GD Courts do NOT rule anyone and those ba$tards need to be made to realize that.
Site the law that allows state sanctioned murder, please. It can't be based on any American law.
Bttt!
"If I were in Florida I would vote for Gov. Bush. He has done all he absolutely can. Why are people advocating he takes this further?"
I think the judges in America are out of control. Bush has done everything possible under the law. If he does anything else he might be using his power to break the law, but it would be eye opening to see him stand up to these cretins.
The Bush's are not to blame if conservatives want to blame someone they should blame the death culture - death to unwanted babies, death to unwanted prisoners, death to the disabled and death to the elderly. It's a sick country. The only way to stop it is to follow the example Martin Luther King set during the civil rights movement.
Holtz
JeffersonRepublic.com
What I meant in my post, is that the liberal pundits, such as Susan Estridge & Geraldine Ferraro are almost bursting at the seams with glee over the whole thing. The liberals & media are hoping one of the Bushes will break the law so they can have their scandal in Bush's second term & mar his legacy.
Of course they're willing to sacrifice Terri to do it. First they prime the sheeple by having an Oscar winning movie EXPLAIN it all to us so we can see that Right to Die is a beautiful thing. Abortion was their answer for welfare & now Euthanasia is their answer for Social Security.
Those statements I still stand completely behind. Got a problem with that?
I have not seen anyone "bursting with glee" over the suffering of this woman. Disagreeing with a particular point of view does not indicate joyous acceptance of the opposing viewpoint.
Jeb Bush's name will be forever MUD and associated with the murder of an innocent disabled vulnerable woman.
Don't give me that stuff about how he has no power to do anything. He has the power all right. May the Lord have mercy on us all.
Grow up.
yeah right. The police against the police guarding her?
The real key is that the husband's authority needs to be challenged on this as he is no longer really her husband, along with the several other, already mentioned, reasons.
He hasn't alienated this conservative.
So go break it. Don't try to get the governor to do it for you.
**Judge Greer then formally rejected Governor Bush's custody request yesterday. Last night he refused to hold a new hearing to assess Dr Cheshire's claims.
He also ordered the local sheriff's department not to allow state officials into Mrs Schiavo's hospice - but, under Florida law, the governor has the power, without court clearance, of taking a citizen into custody for a 24-hour appraisal if it is suspected they are in jeopardy.**
Greer is a tyrant and deserves to be impeached. (Or put in jail.)
Defeatist? Where have you been for the past three years? Simply because he doesn't want to create a police state in Florida doesn't mean he hasn't worked ceaselessly for this woman. She would have died in 2003 if Jeb had not pushed through Terri's Law.
I can't believe you people are treating Jeb Bush like this! This man bent over backwards for Terri, name any other politician in this country that would have done as much as Jeb has for her and the pro-life movement!
I just want to let you know that you are killing the pro-life movement by treating your friends this way. Don't expect any open doors once everyone understands that if they don't do exactly what the pro-life movement wants, including breaking the law, the constitution and plunging the country into chaos, they will publicly flay you in the most hateful and vile manner!
I'm not sure I quite agree with this assesment. The best evidence I can offer is the early voting rules. No women, and only landowners, those of sufficient means to have a stake in what a legislature was up to. I would not be at all upset to see the same rules re-applied. It would eliminate part of the problem.
Too many voters spoil the soup, and too many voters with an agenda foreign to the cause of liberty, can result in the ultimate destruction of what the founding fathers and mothers, sacrificed their lives and fortunes for, as they pledged to each other their sacred honor. Your paragraph 4 is unarguable, and well stated.
The state cops and Governor's security detail has way more firepower. The local yokel sheriff and Andy and Barney at the police station wouldn't DARE try and stop them.
Might makes right.
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