Posted on 05/28/2007 9:33:12 AM PDT by wagglebee
The Christian attorney who fought to keep Terry Schiavo alive says the three leading GOP presidential candidates don't understand the important disability issues involved in the widely publicized 2005 case.
During a recent Republican presidential debate in California, the candidates were asked whether Congress was right to intervene in the Terry Schiavo case by attempting to prevent the state of Florida from removing the disabled woman's feeding tube. The answers varied.
Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, said he thought it "was a mistake" for Congress to get involved and the matter should have been left at the state level. Senator John McCain said Congress "probably acted too hastily." And former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani called the case a "family dispute."
David Gibbs III of the Christian Law Association says the United States gives greater due process to convicted murderers than to innocent disabled people. The former attorney for Schiavo's parents argues that Congress did the right thing when it intervened to provide her those rights.
"Many of the candidates are following the political wind, if you will, instead of showing leadership and saying, 'You know what? That was good public policy back then. We need to stand up for the disabled. We need to stand up for the senior citizens,'" Gibbs says. "We need to have that compassion for vulnerable people as opposed to taking the mindset that those people that just don't matter," he notes.
It is disingenuous, the Christian attorney contends, for candidates to claim they are pro-life but not be willing to grant due process rights to the disabled. "If you're pro-life, you have to be pro-life at every step," he says.
"Please understand: our founding fathers understood that you don't have any liberty, our Constitution doesn't matter, if you don't protect the innocent life of the citizens," Gibbs explains. "That's why they talked about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness -- your free speech, your freedom of religion, your right to own a gun or [receive] due process of law," he says. "If the government can kill you, you have no true liberty."
When Rudy Giuliani visited Florida he initially said he was in favor of assisting Terry Schiavo but later backpedaled from those comments, Gibbs points out. And in the recent GOP presidential debate, he says, only Kansas Senator Sam Brownback and Congressman Duncan Hunter of California got the issue right when they were asked about the Schiavo case.
Two or three months later, he tried to kill her by ordering her facility not to give her antibiotics for a UTI.
Also Michael was very revengeful and took it out on Terri.
He wouldn’t allow her to have therapy to talk (she could say a few words), he wouldn’t allow her to have therapy to swallow better (she COULD swallow soft foods), he turned her family’s pictures around in her room, wouldn’t allow her to go outside for some fresh air, wouldn’t allow sunlight in her room, wouldn’t allow her see the cute little dogs that are brought around to cheer patients, wouldn’t allow her teeth to be brushed, etc.
He was a sadist who euthanized Terri’s two cats, and worse, admitted on the Larry King show that he had his parents starved to death when they were sick with cancer, etc., and abused Terri before the collapse, and continued to abuse her.
Yes. Her use of the word "stop!" shows up on her med charts and she could say a few other words. The nurses reported on that. But in Michael's long regime of denying her therapy or even stimulation, Terri stopped verbalizing. I gather that she did make expressive sounds, but no longer tried words. Pat Anderson (the attorney) speaks movingly of her husband's effort, years later, to correct that and get Terri verbalizing again. He taught her to the equivalent of "yes" and "no," at least with some success. He took it especially hard when Terri was put to death not long afterward. They both did. I, for one, wish Pat Anderson were still speaking about the case. She is an encyclopedia about Terri's story and the law.
Thank you!
Heeehee,Your not a Doctor.God bless you,Fatima
Ummm ... what do you suppose the "MD" stands for? (Hint: it ain't "Maryland" ...)
Funny thing about this. I can't find Jackie Rhoades testimony from a 1996 hearing. All I can find is her testimony from a 1/26/2000 hearing. And nowhere in that testimony does she mention signs of physical injury, such as bruises.
Is she the person who said one thing in her deposition and another at trial? I vaguely remember reading something like that in the past, but don't recall details. I'm wondering if the discrepancy you found is the difference between the deposition and the trial testimony.
I don't know, but I heard he was appointed right after he voiced his public support for the results of Lori Klausutis' autopsy.
That's strange. I see 3 or 4 articles on different dates on the same webpage. Maybe some others would like you check your version of the truth out.
~~~~
"... Meanwhile, the final report has been issued that Lori died as a result of a blow to the head because an undiagnosed heart condition caused her to collapse and fall, hitting her head on the desk.
"The initial reports from the Medical Examiner's office denied any trauma to the body that would indicate cause of death. But Berkland [the M.E.] acknowledged on Monday, August 6th, that Lori had sustained a "scratch and a bruise" on her head and that his original denials were to prevent undue speculation about the cause of death. "The last thing we wanted was 40 questions about a head injury", he said.
"And so, what we have here is the death of a healthy young woman who died of a blow to the head and a lie from the Medical Director's office about this blow which was quite obvious to the naked eye. They then had to go search for some reason why she might have "fallen" and hit her head. And they have found an "undiagnosed cardiac arrhythmia". But a number of questions remain to be answered, and we have requested opinions from Dr. Nelson, the Chairman of the Medical Examiners Commission...." source
~~~~
It's amazing how often undiagnosed cardiac arrhythmia kills off healthy young Florida women. ... The above item from a politically unfriendly source. I hope they were similiarly suspicious about Terri Schiavo supposedly keeling over with undiagnosed cardiac arrhythmia -- and right in the middle of a domestic fight.
"The attending medical examiner, Dr. Michael Berkland, stated in his report that she had fainted and fallen, hitting her head on a desk. This, he said, broke her skull in a 7-inch transverse fracture running from right temple to left, pulverized a region of bone the size of a small marble inside the skull behind the right ear and caused a fist-sized hematoma, or effusion of blood, gathering below the dura mater of the left side of the skull. There was also a contusion, or bruise, on the back of the head. Bloody foam, signifying a death of slow asphyxiation, bubbled up from her lungs into her mouth. Just for good measure, Dr. Berkland claimed that Lori's heart had also failed."
More from the same source. Did I say unfriendly? They even taunt Freepers! :-)
Let me guess. You believe Michael Schiavo's trusted testimony, the person who put Terri to death.
“But individual states have traditionally dealt with this issue.”
The government (including unelected jurists, state, local or federal), is not allowed to end the life of an innocent and disabled human being. That goes for Terri, unborn children or the elderly.
If you think otherwise, there’s a place for you in China, Russia, Iran, Syria, North Korea, etc.
Lots of family diputes end in murder but this one was state sponsored. That’s why Jeb is out of the limelight. He knows what went down...
In bjs1779 post # 1181
Nelson is employed by Thogmartin. Or should I say that he should say what Thogmartin wants him to say if he wants his job?The original exchange was between me and bjs1779. You jumped into it, and then claimed not to know about the original statement. I posted it again for you in post #1285. You obviously saw that post, because you answered it and continued to claim that Thogmartin employed Nelson.
If you don't want to be rebutted, don't claim things that aren't so.
Please read what I've actually said, not what you think or want to believe I've said.
Calm down, it's better for your blood pressure. If you read my post, I said quite clearly that I read her testimony from the 2000 trial. And nowhere in that testimony does she mention bruises, or any physical injury. If there is more medical testimony on this, link to it. However the University of Miami's Terri Schiavo timeline doesn't even show a 1996 Guardianship hearing. Maybe that's why I didn't find it?
If you think it exists, link to it.
I'm always glad to look at medical information on this. Please link to the right testimony.
Good question! A google search turns up that she spoke about bruises on a TV interview, in 2005. One wonders why she wouldn't say the same under oath five years earlier, presumably when it mattered more.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.