Appeals court ruling favors Terri Schiavo's parents

Boston Glob ^ | 1/13/04 | staff

[CFW]

Appeals court ruling favors Terri Schiavo's parents

The Associated Press Published on: 02/13/04

TAMPA, Fla. -- Gov. Jeb Bush and the parents of a severely brain-damaged woman won two appellate court victories Friday in their quest to keep her alive against her husband's wishes.

The 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled that Bush's attorneys will be allowed to question witnesses in the court battle over a law that gave the governor authority to reinsert Terri Schiavo's feeding tube after her husband had it removed in October.

The appeals court also ruled that Pinellas Circuit Court Judge W. Douglas Baird did not follow judicial rules when he denied her parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, the ability to intervene in the constitutional challenge to the law.

The appeals court ordered Baird to hold further proceedings on the issue.

Schiavo's husband, Michael, has been battling the Schindlers in court for years to remove Terri's feeding tube so she can die. He says she would not have wanted to be kept alive artificially.

The Schindlers doubt their 40-year-old daughter, who lives in a Clearwater nursing home, had any such end-of-life wishes and believe her condition could improve with therapy. Their daughter has been in a persistent vegetative state for more than 13 years after collapsing from a chemical imbalance.

[summer]

Gov Bush and his legal team raised very important issues here and made some great points, such as the right and need to depose witnesses. I am glad that he and Terri's parents finally won one (or two!).

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Good news for a change. Thanks!

[CounterCounterCulture]

PING

[Terriergal]

WOOOHOOOOO!!!

[FR_addict]

Ping

[codyjacksmom]

Ok, I know I will get nailed for this but I have some questions regarding this decision, so, please be kind in responses because I am very curious about the thoughts in this thread and am willing be be open minded about this. I don't understand how it would be murder if the woman has been in a coma for 14 years and is only being kept alive by medical intervention. Also, isn't it interfering in God's ultimate plan, to artificially keep someone alive like this? Doesn't the husband have the right to move on with his life after all this time has passed? What value/quality of life is there for Terri like this? How is this life, when God would have taken her, and will still take her if the tubes are removed?
AGAIN, I'm not looking for a debate but some thoughtful explanations regarding the thoughts and ideas in this thread. Maybe I'm missing something, because everyone in this thread, seems to be in agreement.

[FR_addict]

She's not in a coma. She has brain damage, but responds to her surroundings, especially to her mother. She smiles, she laughs, she looks at people and reacts. Don't believe Felos and Michael. There have been doctors that have will attest to Terri's condition, but they have not been listened to by the courts.

The only artificial means is a feeding tube, which was placed in Terri for convenience of the nursing staff. Michael has refused to let anyone feed her by mouth. She swallows her own saliva,which indicates she can be feed orally. There's a lot to this case in the older threads.

[ruoflaw]

Finally, some good news!

[Mr. Silverback]

ProLife Ping!

If anyone wants on or off my ProLife Ping List, please notify me here or by freepmail.

[wisconsinconservative]

You genuinely seem to be trying to understand Terri's plight so I won't jump down your throat but you really need to do more reading than what the mainstream press reports.

Terri is NOT PVS, in a coma or hooked up to machines. The "life support" she receives is the same thing giving "life support" to you and I. Food and water. God would take us too if we stopped eating.

Her husband (in name only) sued for malpractice and won a great deal of money to care for her for the rest of her life. He then proceded to issue a DNR order on her and refuse to allow her to be treated for an infection.

You are correct in saying that he has a right to move on. Terri has a family whose only wish is to be able to take care of her and get her the rehab she deserve and has every right to expect.

Whose decision should it be to decide who is "too disabled" to live? Yours? Mine? a Judges? When is someone too disabled? George Felos seems to think it's when you cannot ask for and eat a ham sandwich.

I think it is a decision best left to God.

I urge you to check out the multitude of Terri threads here on FR & Terri's Fight http://www.terrisfight.org/ and I think you will agree.

[codyjacksmom]

Thank you and the others that responded either by thread or personal message. I will definitely be doing some research on this. Thanks again!
C.J.'s Mom

[ruoflaw]

We don't have the right to murder someone by starving them or letting them dehydrate. Terri Schiavo is not in a coma. Terry Schiavo did not leave a living will saying that she would want to be starved to death. Michael Schaivo moved on with his life after Terri was granted all that money by a court for her care and rehabilitation. Michael Schiavo stopped all rehabilitation for his wife after the money was granted to her....he testified that she was his life and he would care for her until he died...at the time he testified, he already had a girlfriend. You may think this woman is a burden but you are wrong. She was cheated of the chance for rehabilitation for the chance to eat and drink on her own. So she is feed though a tube...does that mean she is not worthy? As for what God wants...I don't believe that God wants us to kill people because they are unable to care for themselves..Thou Shall Not Kill

[ruoflaw]

sorry!, that should read fed not feed

[lakey]

This is great news! Thanks for the ping.

[Pegita]

Heavenly Father, we return to give You thanks that You have given this mother's child that one judge for whom we have long prayed ... that one judge who would render justice. Thank You that Terri's tireless attorneys and those appointed by Governor Bush can now proceed to bring forth the shadowy details of Terri's condition. Continue to protect her where she is, O God, for the enemy is not pleased. Let no harm come near her, or her beloved family, but strengthen them, physically and spiritually, for there are those who would end her life at any given moment. Let the news of this ruling travel far and wide ... may the people rejoice with Terri and her family, for our God has looked with favor upon the prayers of His children for this beloved daughter.

Gracious Lord, I continue to pray that the souls of the merchants of death would come under the redeeming blood of Christ, that they would become Ambassadors of Life. Let Terri speak clearly through the courts, by means of her counsel and witnesses, and may the hearts of Florida, and the nation, be quickened to understand the sanctity of life. Bring to all the absolute conviction that in Your hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind. Work in Michael and Jody's hearts, Creator God, and turn them aside from his desire to end Terri's life, lest their children come into the knowledge that their father seeks the life of his wife. May they shun the light of exposure ... may he relent and release Terri into the loving care of her family.

We bow before You, Sovereign God, for You, and You alone can change the hearts of mankind. We pray that You would do a mighty work in the State of Florida, for so many of our elderly and infirm and disabled have chosen this state in the sunset of their years. Disable an industry devoted to their early death, that each might reach the fullness of days, determined by You and not by man. In the Name of Jesus, we give You the glory and the praise, Amen ...

[lonevoice]

Thanks so much for the ping. This is just the BEST news!! I can understand why Pam Anderson (attorney for Terri's parents) says she was shocked by the decision. I'm praying that this is only the beginning of long overdue good news for Terri. Justice delayed is justice denied, and Terri's justice has been delayed for 13 years!

[wisconsinconservative]

....he testified that she was his life and he would care for her until he died...

Actually, I think he said for the rest of her life. If he had gotten his way, that would have been the amount of time it took to deposit the million dollar malpractice check.

[TaxRelief]

This is such a big step toward securing Terri's freedom from that penitentiary in which she has been illegally kept prisoner.

We now need to pray for that the depositions of the witnesses will reveal the truth. They should subpoena Greta Van Sustern and Larry King.

[floriduh voter]

You are late to the party. Terri can communicate, can see, can sit up, and even understand jokes. Did Atty Felos send you to disrupt our glee that Terri is finally getting justice?

[floriduh voter]

Joined Free Republic in end of Jan. 2004.

NEWBIE POSSIBLE TROLL ALERT IN THIS AISLE.