Posted on 02/23/2005 10:33:58 PM PST by florida one
CLEARWATER, Fla., Feb. 23 - As a judge delayed the removal of a brain-damaged woman's feeding tube for two more days, Gov. Jeb Bush's administration stepped back into the heated case Wednesday with the state's protective services agency seeking to intervene.
A stay barring the removal the feeding tube was to expire Wednesday afternoon, but a judge extended it until Friday to consider new motions from the parents of the woman, Terri Schiavo. The parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, are fighting Ms. Schiavo's husband, Michael Schiavo, to keep her alive.
Their lawyer asked the judge, George Greer of Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court, to allow time for new medical tests, citing a recent study that suggested that some brain-damaged people who appear unaware might register what is going on around them.
Neither the governor's office nor the protective services agency, the Department of Children and Family Services, would discuss the state's petition, filed just before a hearing before Judge Greer. But lawyers for both sides said the agency wanted to further postpone the tube's removal so it could investigate accusations that Ms. Schiavo had been abused.
David Gibbs, the Schindlers' lawyer, told reporters that someone had complained on a state hot line that Ms. Schiavo had been abused, and so the state was required to investigate. Mr. Schiavo's lawyer, George Felos, said that the state had received many such complaints in the past, and that all were politically motivated and false.
"It reeks of political arm-twisting," Mr. Felos said. "Lo and behold, all of a sudden after 6½ years D.C.F. radically changes its position."
Mr. Bush's press secretary, Jacob DiPietre, would not say whether the agency's petition had come at the direction of Mr. Bush.
In Tallahassee, Mr. Bush and Republican legislative leaders said they were looking for ways to stop Ms. Schiavo's death, though they seemed more cautious than in the past. A series of courts rebuked the Legislature after it passed "Terri's Law" in 2003, which authorized the governor to order Ms. Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted six days after it was removed.
"I am not going to grandstand," Mr. Bush told reporters at the Capitol. "I am not going to do something that would be completely inappropriate and disrespectful of the laws of the State of Florida."
Still, Mr. Bush said he had not ruled out calling a special legislative session so lawmakers could try to prolong Ms. Schiavo's life.
Senator Tom Lee, Republican of Brandon and the Senate president, emphasized that any legislative proposal would need to be broad. Mr. Lee said he agreed with court decisions to declare Terri's Law unconstitutional, partly because it applied only to Ms. Schiavo.
Ms. Schiavo, 41, suffered severe brain damage when her heart briefly stopped in 1990. Though she left no written will, the courts accepted her husband's testimony that she told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially. Her parents maintain that Mr. Schiavo wants her dead so he can marry another woman with whom he has two children. The Schindlers are urging the Legislature to amend state law so a spouse cannot serve as a guardian if he is living with someone else.
Mr. Lee hinted that such a change might be the most feasible action the Legislature could take.
"We have a guardian who essentially has moved on and is living another life but retains the responsibilities and obligations of guardianship," he said. "I think that is unique in this situation."
Christine Jordan Sexton contributed reporting from Tallahassee, Fla., for this article.
Shame on those who doubted Governor Bush's resolve in this case.
Again, my respect will be earned or lost depending if Terri lives or dies.
I pray they will write legislation that will stop her husband from murdering her.
Best line in the post so far. Almost worth opening some champagne.
Speaking of seven years.....enjoy!
That should not be the test. The Governor must remain within the limits of the law. Within those limits it is fair to judge him based on his actions, but he cannot go beyond them. I find it odd that some conservatives want to hold him to such an impossible standard. We don't judge President Bush based on whether he stops every single abortion, but rather based on what he does to build a culture of life. Here, Jeb Bush is honoring a culture of life in Florida to an unprecedented extent. For that he deserves our praise.
This is definitely worth a 'way past my bedtime' ping!
Terri ping! If anyone would like to be added to or removed from my Terri ping list, please let me know by FReepmail!
I agree. I thought what he did last time was outstanding. Just incredible. I remember emailing a prominent anti-euthanasia activist and asking how best to spend my time and the reply was to stay on Jeb. I felt guilty putting the whole thing on Jeb.
Suppose, hypothetically, that a doctor testified that Michael Schiavo suffered from a severe medical disorder called concience-deficit, that could only be cured by an injection of KCN, which would then make Michael a better and healthier person. Suppose that Judge Greer were to order that such an injection be administered. Would it be proper for Jeb Bush to allow that?
At some point, non-factual judicial findings need to be called out for what they are. At minimum, a governor should be willing to use his bully pulpit to state unequivocally that a judge's findings of fact are just plain wrong.
Of course, it may be that what's happening behind the scenes is even better.
More like 6.5 years of stonewalling, and FINALLY doing the right thing!
The ONLY acceptable outcome for this case is for Michael to LOSE his guardianship status for DOZENS of diferent reasons.
A jury should decide if Michael meets the statute requirements for a guardian, including no conflicts of interest.
theempirejournal.com seems to have one of the best compilations of allegations of abuse and neglect.
The timing for DCF announcing their involvement is also FORTUNATE! Friday is the exact 15 year anniversary since Terri's ''ACCIDENT''. Hopefully some of the news media will get curious about all the conflicting stories, and conflicting testimony of what REALLY happened that night, and the day before.
Excerpts from last weekend's "The World Over Live" - Interview with Bob Schindler...
Arroyo: "Did you see black and blue marks on Terri? I've read that in several reports."
Schindler: "Yes, prior to her incident, yes."
.
.
.
Bob S: "A radiologist says that she had broken bones throughout her body,
and he kind of pinpointed to that timeframe in which she had the incident,
and either she was beaten up badly, or hit by a truck. We saw her
the night before she collapsed, and she was fine."
.
.
.
Arroyo: "Now once Terri was in this condition, there- I read elsewhere where he
attacked- Michael may have attacked your daughter Suzanne. Is that correct?"
Bob S: "He had a tendency to become very violent, yes, and he tried to attack
my daughter Suzanne. We had to really step in and protect her, and she used
to go to bed at night and lock her doors and keep a hammer under her bed. That
she was that frightened."
.
.
.
.
Arroyo: Jackie from Washington, you're on The World Over Live, what's your question Jackie?
Jackie: I want to know if anybody has considered having a criminal investigation
of her husband. It seems to me that, if for no other reason, because she was
bruised, and other things that happened? The current wife is in danger, if
this man is bent on this type of thing.
Arroyo: There is also a girlfriend who accused him of stalking in 2001,
correct? either David [Gibbs] or mister Schindler?
Bob.S: Yea, I can answer that... He was... Mr.Gibbs mentioned about this malpractice suit
when Michael Schiavo was asking, actually for 20 million dollars, and recited
his wedding vows to the malpractice jury, and at the same time, he was having
an intimate affair with this girl, her name is Cindy, who surfaced later
and that said Michael Schiavo was stalking her, actually had run her off the
road with her car. And she was afraid to testify in the courts for fear that,
she had since been married, that he would kill her children, quote unquote.
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yessssssss!!! Finally, the "abuse" word is mentioned!
God Bless Terri, her family and her legal warriors in this fight for life.
Thanks for the ping.
Hey! Guess what? After 4 years of being a nasty SOB, I found out tonight that I'm a 'do gooder.' It's amazing how I can reinvent myself here so often. LOL
"If the courts permit that to happen, then why should that permission apply only in Terri's case? There would be no way to limit it to her case alone. Countless others would follow, and their deaths would be described as "letting them die" instead of "killing them." Where, indeed, does the state get the authority to starve people? Court decisions permitting this lack all authority, as Pope John Paul II teaches in "The Gospel of Life" (section 72). These decisions cannot be obeyed, because they are not binding on the conscience and are in fact acts of violence."
Prays for Terri!! Dear Lord, continue to bathe Terri in your mercy and love.
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