Posted on 11/03/2003 6:08:39 PM PST by sweetliberty
CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) - Attorneys for the husband seeking to carry out what he says is his wife's end-of-life wishes said in court papers Monday her parents shouldn't be allowed to enter the constitutional fight over the new law which is prolonging her life. Attorneys for Michael Schiavo, whose wife Terri is at the center of the massive legal battle over whether she lives or dies, responded to legal filings seeking a judge's permission to allow Bob and Mary Schindler to become parties in the challenge of the new law.
The law allowed Gov. Jeb Bush last month to order Terri Schiavo's feeding tube - which has kept her alive for more than a decade - be reinserted six days after her husband ordered it removed.
Michael Schiavo's attorneys said that while the Schindlers arguably had a stake in the legal battle on whether their daughter's wishes should be carried out, the legal challenge of what's been dubbed "Terri's Law" is between her husband and the governor's attorneys.
"The rights at stake in this litigation are uniquely those of Mrs. Schiavo and it is those rights that are directly affected by the challenged legislation and Governor's actions," said the legal response filed in Florida circuit Court. "The Schindlers' interest in continuing to pursue their belief that the prior litigation was wrongly decided simply does not meet the requisite legal standard for intervention."
Doctors and a judge have ruled that Terri Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state with no hope for recovery. She suffered severe brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped beating - cutting off oxygen to her brain - because of a chemical imbalance.
The conservative law firm founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson asked last week to be allowed to intervene in the case on behalf of Schindlers. Circuit Court Judge W. Douglas Baird would have to grant permission for the Schindlers to enter the lawsuit.
The couple have said their daughter had no end-of-life wishes and believe she could be rehabilitated. They also dispute that she is in a vegetative state and believe she has enough mental abilities to respond to them.
The American Center for Law & Justice said in its filing that it believes lawmakers and the governor were within their authority to intervene in the case. Her parents are seeking to be appointed their daughter's guardians and to exclude them from the case would "violate their constitutional rights to be heart," the law firm said in its filing.
My mother had been diagnosed as incurable, with cancer. She had
been told she had three to six months to live. She lived for 13 more
years, in spite of that prognosis. She continued to smoke her three
to four packs a day, even with one half lung. My father [who also
smoked all his life and inhaled her second hand smoke, never had
a lung problem of any kind]
Yes, doctors can be wrong and it's always good to have hope.
But that is not the case with Terri. Terri has had 13 years of nothing
but a vegetative state. Scans indicated [and clear enough for the
court to understand] that Terri has lost her cerebral cortex.
The cerebral cortex does not grow back. It can not be restored.
Without the cerebral cortex, there can be no voluntary actions.
Terri has shown to have absolutely no voluntary actions. There
has never been any indication otherwise, that could possibly
be proven to any physician, court, or intermediary.
There is no possible manner in which an institution can prevent
proper care from being given to a patient, nor is there any manner
that a guardian can prevent proper care to be given to a patient when
there is the involvement of a court action.
Terri's condition has not changed since it's onset. Her brain has
shrunk. The shrinkage is not due to "inactivity" as some posters
have suggested. The shrinkage is due to the fluid that is taking
place of tissue. Spinal fluid is destructive,
Terri's soul can be considered locked in a coffin, as long as her
body is being kept alive by artificial means.
Those are the facts.
No, I was having a BAD night last night. I was mostly on a generalized rant. LOL! Sorry for the misunderstanding.
I don't. Maybe Mo can help. Or you can try this link:
What Did God Know, and When Did He Know It?
This column is not particularly religious, but we have to laugh at the irreligious left's hysterical fear of Christianity, which was evident a few weeks back in some of the reader responses to Daniel Henninger's column on the subject.
For an even more hilarious example, check out Paul Harris's article in yesterday's London Observer, about Stephen Mansfield's "The Faith of George W. Bush," a new book that, the Observer proclaims portentously, "reveals how President's religious and political beliefs are entwined." The author uncovers a "scandal" that touches Britain:
Among Mansfield's revelations is his insistence that Bush and Tony Blair have prayed together at a private meeting at Camp David. Blair has previously denied this.
Mansfield, however, says that, while there were no witnesses, aides were left in little doubt as to what had happened. He told The Observer: "There is no question they have shared scripture and prayed together."
Well, the coalition that prays together, stays together. But seriously, why does it seem that the irreligious left is more horrified by a pair of Christians who lead democracies praying together in private than by radical Islamic mullahs openly praying for the deaths of Jews and Americans?
Perhaps the answer is religion is so alien to those on the irreligious left that they have no way to view it other than through the lens of left-wing ideology. Thus Bush's praying is horrifying because he represents the "religious right" that opposes abortion, gay rights and other things the domestic left holds dear, while the Mullahs are "anticolonialist" Third Worlders whose enemies (America, Israel and for that matter Christians) are the same as the irreligious left's.
Hee, hee...
It's nice to have an expert on souls on board. Tell us, what keeps that eternal soul locked in the body? Furthermore, if the soul is eternal how can locking it up temporarily in a body harm it?
I AM RESPONDING: "his 500K? That was Terri's $500K for REHAB THERAPY!
MORE PROOF!...
Doctors are NOT GODS!!!
Doctors DO NOT KNOW EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!
MORE PROOF!...
Doctors are NOT GODS!!!
Doctors DO NOT KNOW EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!
Truly - this matters.
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