Posted on 03/27/2005 1:17:33 PM PST by Theodore R.
THE TERRI SCHIAVO CASE DeLay's Own Tragic Crossroads Family of the lawmaker involved in the Schiavo case decided in '88 to let his comatose father die.
By Walter F. Roche Jr. and Sam Howe Verhovek, Times Staff Writers
CANYON LAKE, Texas — A family tragedy that unfolded in a Texas hospital during the fall of 1988 was a private ordeal — without judges, emergency sessions of Congress or the debate raging outside Terri Schiavo's Florida hospice.
The patient then was a 65-year-old drilling contractor, badly injured in a freak accident at his home. Among the family members keeping vigil at Brooke Army Medical Center was a grieving junior congressman — Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas).
More than 16 years ago, far from the political passions that have defined the Schiavo controversy, the DeLay family endured its own wrenching end-of-life crisis. The man in a coma, kept alive by intravenous lines and oxygen equipment, was DeLay's father, Charles Ray DeLay.
Then, freshly reelected to a third term in the House, the 41-year-old DeLay waited, all but helpless, for the verdict of doctors.
Today, as House Majority Leader, DeLay has teamed with his Senate counterpart, Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), to champion political intervention in the Schiavo case. They pushed emergency legislation through Congress to shift the legal case from Florida state courts to the federal judiciary.
And DeLay is among the strongest advocates of keeping the woman, who doctors say has been in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years, connected to her feeding tube. DeLay has denounced Schiavo's husband, as well as judges, for committing what he calls "an act of barbarism" in removing the tube.
In 1988, however, there was no such fiery rhetoric as the congressman quietly joined the sad family consensus to let his father die.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
This is horseshit. Someone being maintained on a ventilator, in kidney failure needing dialysis is NOT equivalent to simple provision of food and water.
Correct me if i'm wrong....but Terri wasn't on oxygen, was she?
Ofcourse not. He was on a respirator, kidneys failing, which meant it was a mater of hours (or minutes) until the other organs began to fail. He didn't even have time to get a feeding tube inserted. How dumb the Times is!!!!!
The author of this hit piece cannot possibly be so clueless so as not to understand the distinction. No wait, this is the L.A. Times. Never mind.
The LA Times understands perfectly well.
They understand their mission is to undermine Tom Delay in any and all ways they can.
I don't think the Times is this dumb. What they are counting on is for their readers being dumb enough to equate the two cases.
Remember, most people will not read the story, they will see the headline and read the first few paragraphs. That is what they count on.
No, she isn't/wasn't. Terri was also eating before hino decided without consulting the court to put in a feeding tube for convenience purposes only.
It was only time before the media got hold of this and tried to spin it. There's a reason I suspect Jeb failed to act too. In '99 there was a change in the hospice ruling that he voted for that stated feeding tubes could be pulled. Imagine if he had stepped up to the plate to save Terri and the media claimed he was going against his own ruling?!?!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1371700/posts
Additional comments at the above link if anyone is interested.....
True, but the caliber of some "Journalist" these days makes you wonder about these stories.
No, it's not the same. Probably no two cases are exactly the same. There are superficial similarities, and so many have gone through a similar experience that many are naturally involved on a gut level. p>
I wish Carville would update his slogan.
Ok. You are wrong. The only thing she needed was food and water via a feeding tube. No ivs, no breathing machines, nothing.
Re-read my post....
Yes, Terri was on a respirator. She was in a prolonged coma. And she never was eating foods. She got the feeding tube before she ever left the hospital or she would have starved. Link to her medical dicharge summary on my freeper page.
Pretty sad day when Free Republic has become such a major disseminator of disinformation instead of the source for truth and integrity.
(PS. LA Times is comparing apples to oranges. The poor man was dying. Terri isn't.
And before anyone else calls me a death eater - I wish Greer had said he believed the atty who said Terri tried to say she wanted to live and replaced the tube. I'm just sick to death of having the quack/fraud Hammesfahr leading this site to the pits of idiocy.)
See above.
Maybe if more people start correcting all the disinformation flying around here, this site will be spared the humiliation it will deserve otherwise.
Oh, goodness! My apologies!
I think two facts that are as important in distinguishing these cases, if not more, are that in DeLay's case all of the family members agreed as to the father's wishes and there were no facts indicating a possible conflict of interest between DeLay's father and the family making the decision.
Absolutely.
I apologized to the person. I see no humiliation here. Are you so perfect you never make mistakes? Or are you one of those who, when you do, don't admit your imperfections?
What an insane article.
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