Judge Hears But Doesn't Decide Latest Fight in Terri Schiavo Battle
by Steven Ertelt LifeNews.com Editor April 19, 2004
Clearwater, FL (LifeNews.com) -- A local judge held a hearing in the latest battle over Terri's Law, the measure approved by the Florida state legislature that allowed Governor Jeb Bush (R) to ask doctors to reinsert Terri Schiavo's feeding tube.
Circuit Court Judge Douglas Baird reheard a motion from Terri's estranged husband Michael to overturn Terri's Law and prevent Bush from deposing witnesses to defend it. Michael is seeking to remove the tube and end her life.
Bush attorney Ken Connor, former president of the pro-life Family Research Council, says establishing that Terri would not have wanted to be killed is important to defending Terri's Law. Questioning witnesses, including Terri's younger brother Bobby, Michael and the woman with whom Michael is living, could help their case.
Connor told Baird on Monday that, following another judge's determination that Terri would not have wanted to be kept alive artificially, others have come forward saying Terri would have wanted to live.
But George Felos, the assisted suicide advocate who is Michael's attorney, said Baird has all of the information he needs to rule on the constitutionality of the law and that Terri's wishes are not an issue.
Felos, who is getting help from the ACLU in the case, argues that the state's separation of powers should have prevented Bush or the legislature from intervening in a judicial decision.
Pamela Hennessy, a representative of Terri's family, told LifeNews.com she found it "odd that Felos argued a separation of powers issue because Terri's law offers no due process for Terri. Yet, he is asking the judge to issue a summary judgment without giving the Governor the opportunity to discovery or deposition of witnesses."
"That, to me, seems like a complete lack of due process, so Mr. Felos' argument is a double standard at best," Hennessy said.
Michael claimed -- years after Terri's collapse and only after their estate was awarded a $1 million medical malpractice judgment -- that he remembered a supposed conversation where Terri indicated she didn't want extra measures taken to prolong her life.
However, a good friend of Terri's vividly remembers watching a television program with Terri about a woman who was in a coma for years. Terri was upset when she told a joke about the woman and said there was no way doctors or lawyers could know the woman's wishes.
"Where there is life, there is hope," Terri told her friend.
The money was supposed to be used to take care of Terri, but much of it has been used for Michael's legal bills and her parents say Terri has never received appropriate medical care or rehabilitative therapy.
If Baird rules the law unconstitutional, Michael will be able to remove her feeding tube for a third time, possibly causing her death.
According to the Associated Press, Connor told Baird that state legislators, in passing the law, "saw a woman who was unable to speak for herself and whose husband had a clear, admitted conflict of interest."
"Terri Schiavo's wishes are very much at issue. [She] has demonstrated a resolute will to live," Connor said.
Related web sites: Terri Schiavo's family - http://www.terrisfight.org