TOM DELAY; "THEY THUMBED THEIR NOSE"
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,152179,00.html
Friday, April 01, 2005
This is a partial transcript of "Special Report With Brit Hume," March 30, 2005, that has been edited for clarity.
BRIT HUME, HOST: Joining me now from Houston Texas is House majority leader, Tom DeLay who's been a central player in the political side of the Terri Schiavo drama, and who was outspoken on the case today.
Congressman, welcome. Thank you for joining us.
REP. TOM DELAY (R-TX), MAJORITY LEADER: Thank you, Brit.
HUME: You said today that, quote, "The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior, not today." What did you mean by that?
DELAY: Well, there's a lot of questions that need to be answered. We need to look at this case. We need to look at the failure of the judiciary in Florida. We need to look at the failure of the judiciary on the federal level. The United States Congress, with the president's signing, sent a bill - made a law that gave the federal courts jurisdiction to look at this case all anew. And they didn't even follow procedures.
The normal procedure would be to reconnect the feeding tube so that they could hear this case all anew. The Congress, the people's representatives told the judiciary to do that. We need to look at all this.
HUME: Well, to be specific about it, basically what you had - what you did is to authorize the judiciary to look at the matter afresh. Which means presumably with an evidentiary hearing, if the court chose to do that. The courts did not choose to do that.
Is it absolutely clear to you, Congressman, that this was a violation of the law you passed? Or simply the court taking jurisdiction in the matter and deciding to uphold the lower courts?
DELAY: Well, the House of Representatives has taken on judiciary activism for the last two years. I mean we passed six bills limiting their jurisdiction. We've looked at the makeup of their courts. We're taking responsibility for being the checks and balances on an overactive, out-of- control judiciary.
And in this particular case, the judiciary was given an opportunity, the same opportunity that death row inmates have, to have one more court look at this. And rather than to look at process, look at all the evidence anew. They chose not to do that. They thumbed their nose at the Congress and at the Executive Branch. And we need to take a hard look at that
HUME: You said, "We will be looking at arrogant, out of control judiciary that thumbed their nose," as you indicated today. What can you imagine can be done, assuming this for the sake of discussion, that you're right about the judiciary. That it was acting in a way that it is arrogant and out of control, and unaccountable. What is it that you would propose to do?
DELAY: What I would propose to do is ask the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives to take a good, hard, objective look at this, and what occurred. And then make recommendations to the House as to how to proceed
HUME: Now, talk to me about your view on this case in particular. May I take it that your view is that Terri Schiavo should have been allowed to continue to live because she was not dying? Or what?
DELAY: Terri Schiavo was a living human being, an innocent living human being. Brain damaged, yes. Incapacitated, yes. Disabled, yes. But she was a living human being. She was not being sustained on any artificial means - by any artificial means. All she was being done - all that was being done was she was fed through a tube instead of her throat.
This system as failed as it is, this system allowed her to be starved to death. I just feel that that's very barbaric in our society.
HUME: Would you have felt differently about it, and do you think as a matter of law it would have been different had her wishes in this regard been explicit and unmistakable?
DELAY: Oh, it would have been totally different.
HUME: So, in other words, if she had left in writing a statement to the effect that if I ever reach the point where I'm in a vegetative state, unable to think and act on my own, that I don't wish to continue to live. Pulling the feeding tube in that instance with you would have been acceptable?
DELAY: Well, no. Then you have to define what is a vegetative state. And that's one of the problems with this case. As the judge listening to different sides, listening to activists in the euthanasia movement, doctors that are activists in the euthanasia movement, decided on his own. One person decided that she was in a vegetative state, when others refuted that. So that is the question that needs to be answered.
HUME: They refuted it or disputed it?
DELAY: They disputed it
HUME: Right, understood.
DELAY: And that's why the Congress stepped in and said OK, let's have another person take a look at it as a federal judge, and take a look at al the evidence anew. And take a lot of question and new evidence that's been presented. Even if you have a living will, you have to make those kinds of determinations when the family is fighting amongst itself over wanting to take care of this living human being.
HUME: All right. Congressman, thanks very much for joining us.
DELAY: Thank you.
FR. FRANK PAVONE; TERRI PRAYED TILL THE END
Catholic Priest: Terri Schiavo Responsive Til Death, Prayed With Family
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor http://www.lifenews.com/bio881.html
March 31, 2005
Pinellas Park, FL (LifeNews.com) -- A leading Catholic priest who visited Terri Schiavo on two separate occasions in the hours before her death says Terri was in a weakened medical condition from 13 days of starvation but was responsive until her death. The disabled woman even prayed with her family.
"Last night, I spent about two hours with her until past midnight, together with Bobby Schindler and Suzanne, and then again this morning for about an hour and a half, and then right up until about ten minutes before she died," Father Frank Pavone said.
Pavone, the director of Priests for Life, said most of the time was spent in prayer with and for Terri and telling her that people across the country supported her.
When he prayed, Pavone said "She was very responsive -- closing her eyes when I said, 'Let's pray together, Terri,' opening them up after the prayer."
Pavone made the remarks in an interview with Renew America, a grassroots organization headed by former presidential candidate Alan Keyes.
He indicated Terri was smiling and "returning the kiss of her father" as well as "turning her eyes to me when I spoke to her."
"In many other ways, as well, responsive," Pavone added.
"Even today, although, of course, with the effects of the dehydration, her response was much less," Pavone told Renew America. "Nevertheless, her eyes were open, her eyes were moving, and as I prayed with her."
Pavone talked about how Terri Schiavo's plight and the national debate surrounding her life and death will continue as the nation grapples with end of life issues.
"Terri didn't die today from anything except the fact that her food and water were withheld for the last two weeks," he said. "She had no other underlying illness whatsoever. This is a case of throwing away a disabled person
"And we have to ask ourselves, has our nation now begun to go down the road of killing those who are disabled, simply because somebody says that they want to be killed," Pavone concluded.
Churchgoers contemplate deaths of Terri Schiavo, pope
Associated Press 04/04/05
http://www.tampabaylive.com/stories/2005/04/050404church.shtml
GULFPORT - On the first Sunday after Terri Schiavo's death, the pastor at her parents' church said her passing -- brought about after endless court battles that threatened to divide the nation -- should be regarded as a lesson.
And with the death of Pope John Paul II also weighing on the minds of parishioners, many churchgoers connected the two.
"Every life has dignity," said the Rev. Bill Swengros, of Most Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church. "It doesn't matter if you're young or old, whether you're able-bodied or infirm, male or female, whether you're religious or nonreligious, American or non-American.
"Every human being has dignity in life, and every breath is precious."
Schiavo, 41, became the center of right-to-die issues in America, as her husband and parents waged a lengthy legal war over whether she would have wanted to be kept alive after suffering a devastating brain injury 15 years ago.
She died Thursday, 13 days after her feeding tube was removed at the request of her husband. Michael Schiavo said he was fulfilling her wishes to not be kept alive artificially.
Bob and Mary Schindler, whose fight to keep their daughter alive ultimately proved futile, saw parallels between two people who were physically disabled and fed through tubes, Swengros said.
Swengros spoke with Mary Schindler on Saturday, and noted her positive attitude.
"With many of us, we'd be angry or bitter," Swengros said. "There's none of that; she feels at peace that her daughter is with the Lord."
Most Holy Name of Jesus will host a service for Schiavo on Tuesday.
Michael Schiavo plans to bury his wife's ashes in his family plot near Philadelphia. Bobby Schindler, Terri Schiavo's brother, said Michael Schiavo still has not offered the Schindler side any specific details for any planned services in Pennsylvania, or the burial.
"They've been pretty rotten to our family throughout this whole ordeal," Bobby Schindler said Sunday night.
By court order, Michael Schiavo must disclose the location of the burial site to the Schindlers and inform them of any memorial service he plans. A call placed to the office of George Felos, Michael Schiavo's attorney, was unanswered Sunday night.
At churches across the state, the debate over Schiavo's fate continued.
At Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater -- the former church of Pinellas Circuit Judge George Greer, who ruled many times against the Schindlers -- the Schiavo case wasn't directly mentioned in the service.
"I think it's very sad they starved someone to death," said Sherry Pantelides, 38, a member of Calvary Baptist. "At what point do you decide somebody's life is not valuable?
"It's an arrogance of man to think we get to decide who lives and who dies."
Mass at Tallahassee's Blessed Sacrament Church only included a brief mention of Schiavo, but parishioners said her death had touched them.
"I'm saddened that in an open society, in a Christian-based society, we could witness institutionalized starvation," said Kenol Saint-Fort, a 44-year-old accountant.