it seems to be a half-baked attempt by the republicans to pander to the religious right. their efforts will not work, but they can say "at least we tried". if it was me, i definately would not want to live my life like that. she has been like this for 15 years! shes not comming back. the doctors have said she has no chance of comming back. she will not walk, talk or survive on her own ever again. however, why cant sciavo hand her over to her parents/get a divorce/ect and let them do what they want with her? http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110006442 this article is the biggest piece of foolery i have read in recent memory. "Just so. Life is full of surprise and lightning-like lurches. The person in a coma today wakes up tomorrow and says, "Is that you, mom?" Life is unknowable. Always give it a chance to shake your soul and upend reality". "Oddly enough anyone who sees the film and tape of her can see that her brain tells her lungs to breathe, that she can open her eyes, that she seems to respond at times and to some degree to her family. She can laugh. (I heard it this morning on the news. It's a childlike chuckle.) In the language of computers she appears not to be a broken hard drive but a computer in deep hibernation. She looks like one of those coma cases that wind up in the news because the patient, for no clear reason, snaps to and returns to life and says, "Is it 1983? Is there still McDonald's? Can I have a burger?" Again, life is mysterious. Medicine is full of happenings and events that leave brilliant doctors scratching their heads." the author's comments give the impression that terri has a chance of recovery, which she doesnt. i know the religious right doesnt like to deal with such trivial matters as "science" and "facts" but come on!
If I was ever brain damaged to this degree I would hope that my family would put aside their religious beliefs and allow me to die with dignity. The fact that they are parading a poor brain damaged woman around as the symbol of the right-to-life movement is just another reason why politicians make me want to vomit in my mouth.
Update. Congress Intervenes to Keep Florida Woman Alive Sat Mar 19, 8:51 PM ET By Chris Baltimore WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In an effort to keep alive a severely brain-damaged Florida woman, federal lawmakers worked out a bill on Saturday aimed at restoring her feeding tube and pushing the right-to-die case back into court. The deal for the bill, which could be approved in the next two days, was reached 24 hours after doctors -- acting on a Florida court order -- removed the feeding tube that has kept Terri Schiavo alive for the past 15 years. The White House said late on Saturday President Bush (news - web sites) was cutting short a vacation in Texas to return to Washington in hopes of signing the bill. The bill, which will be discussed by the U.S. House of Representatives in a special session on Sunday, would ask a federal judge to review the case from scratch. Its supporters believe that given the time needed to do that, a judge would ask for the feeding tube to be reinserted so Schiavo did not die before it was complete. "I think it would be irresponsible (for the judge reviewing the case) not to begin by preserving the individual about whom the case is to be about," Sen. Mel Martinez, Republican of Florida, told a news conference of the latest congressional plan to keep Schiavo alive. Schiavo, now 41, has been fed through a stomach tube since a heart attack starved her brain of oxygen in 1990, leaving her in what the courts declared was a persistent vegetative state. The tube feeding has twice been halted and resumed in the past amid legal wrangles and she was expected to survive for one to two weeks without the feeding tube. Until now, federal courts have turned the case back to state courts during a bitter seven-year legal battle over Schiavo's fate. "This is not interfering with the judicial function, but it's asking a review by the federal court, much as we would do in a death penalty case," Martinez said. Schiavo's husband and legal guardian, Michael Schiavo, has long argued, and has been supported by courts, that his wife would not have wanted to live in such a condition. Her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, have persistently appealed, believing their daughter responds to them and could improve with treatment. Saturday's moves followed last-minute efforts earlier this week led by Republicans in Congress to stop the removal of the feeding tube. Michael Schiavo assailed such moves. "They should be ashamed of themselves," he said in an interview with the CBS "Early Show" before the news of the congressional deal. "Leave my wife alone. Leave me alone." Underscoring the family dispute that widened into a highly public right-to-die case that galvanized activists on both all sides of the dispute, Schiavo's mother urged politicians in Florida and Washington, including Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and his brother President Bush to help keep her daughter alive. "My daughter is in the building behind me starving to death. We laugh together, we cry together, we smile together, we talk together. She is my life," Mary Schindler said before visiting her daughter on Saturday. Critics of the congressional intervention have included the New York Times, which published a scathing editorial on Saturday accusing Republicans lawmakers of "theatrical efforts." However, Martinez rejected criticism in the media that lawmakers were grandstanding over the issue. "Nothing could be further from the truth. This is a difficult, gut wrenching issue," he said. Senate Majority leader Bill Frist, Republican of Tennessee, said the bill would give a last chance at life to Schiavo. "The United States Congress has been working nonstop over the last three days to do its part to uphold human dignity and affirm a culture of life," he said on Saturday evening when adjourning the Senate so the House can take up the bill. Schiavo's feeding tube was removed on Friday afternoon after another congressional tactic stalled in court. Republican congressional leaders sought to block the court order to have the tube removed and keep the tube in place by subpoenaing Terri Schiavo to appear before hearings and committees this month. The move would have granted her protection as a witness in a congressional inquiry. But the Florida state judge in the case, Circuit Judge George Greer, rebuffed the effort and said his order for the tube to be removed should go ahead. Dozens of people protested outside the Pinellas Park, Florida hospice where Schiavo has lived in recent years. At least two were arrested on Saturday when they tried to cross a police line with a symbolic offering of food and water for her. (Additional reporting by Tom Doggett in Washington and Robert Green in Pinellas Park)
If the guy was the jerk as the pro-life side try to make him out to be why wouldn't he have divorced her or taken the money that's been offered to him? Certainly that would be much easier than what he's had to go through. I heard on a talk radio show the other day a caller who called in claiming that Mike Schiavo wants her dead so he can collect insurance money. That makes no sense at all when he's already turned down money offered to him to surrender her and has spent more money on legal fees and medical expense when he could've just dropped the case and turned control over to her parents. The most that I can figure is that he really believes he's doing the right thing in accordance with her wishes. As for him dating someone and having children seriously consider yourself how long would you stay faithful and celebate when your spouse is in that condition and practically every doctor has told you they won't recover? Yeah right, "Till death do us part, for better or worse and etc.." those vows have so much force that only half of marriages end up in divorce and the vast majority of those don't involve a medical issue. While ideally this guy should be a saint and stay true but then again so should we all... but we're only human. As for the situation in general my two cents are that what the politicians, both US and FLA, have done are wrong for a lot of reasons. For the US they're overstepping the bounds of federalism by interfering within a state issue. Further they are doing it for only one person and not in the cause of a party of people. This from a party that claims to champion states rights and is also against crafting laws to provide protections to classes of people let alone an individual. They are violating the seperation of powers. On the federal level the USSC has refused to review the case because there is no federal issue. This is a case of the legislature deciding it doesn't like a decision of the judiciary. If something like this is to be accepted then we won't even have the illusion of an independent judiciary. Any ruling even if it was derived with the strictest interpretation of law could be overturned simply because a majority of legislators don't like it. This case is sad and ugly and has brought the worst out in politics and the self-righteosness of this society. The courts and especially elected politicians should've never gotten involved with this and its a sad commentary on this society that they did and that the family couldn't resolve this themselves.
I found this tidbit on the net : In 1999 then governor Bush signed a law which allowed hospitals to withdraw life support from patients, over the objections of the family, if they consider the treatment to be nonbeneficial Curious if true.
So ... if you need to drink from a straw when your broken jaw is wired shut .. would you starve to death to avoid 'man playing god'?
Would be more curious if he signs any contradictory law into effect. (Normally, a Pres would just let a law like this sit on his desk unsigned for 10 days to become law, but that's not an option here)
Re-read what I said, I don't know what to think of him. He certainly isn't a great guy since he has taken on a girlfriend and a new family. Like I said I don't know. I don't know why he didn't file for a divorce, perhaps he wanted to carry out his wifes wishes, perhaps he hoped part of the $1M settlement would be there, perhaps he wanted to be the one calling the shots, perhaps he knew he would look like a complete @ss if he took $1M and walked away. I dunno. Maybe he is doing the noble thing. I again think she should have the right to die. But her husband maybe shouldn't be the one deciding that. He's moved onto another relationship. Her parents and siblings should be making that decision. This is why it is important to have a living will.
Sorry about that 4chuckie. I was using your post as a general take off point. I understand you're still trying to form your own opinion.
Can the husband challenge this "law"? It seems unconstitutional. The husband's personal business is irrelevant. The husband and the wife's family battled in state court for 7 years. He won. End of story. There are no winners. For the GOP to step in (for political gain and intimidate the weak Democrats) and overrule state court decisions is unbelievable. Didn't the U.S. Supreme Court turn down the family on Friday?
"The White House said late on Saturday President Bush was cutting short a vacation in Texas to return to Washington in hopes of signing the bill." _________________ This must be huge.
Yes, it is a rather large grandstand to be able to hold Dubya and all those Senators and Congressmen.
The bill has been signed. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/topstory/3094629 CONGRESS PASSES SCHIAVO MEASURE Bush signs bill seeking to prolong the life of patient WASHINGTON - Terri Schiavo's parents won the chance to plead for their daughter's life in federal court with an extraordinary law passed in an emergency session of Congress that saw lawmakers choosing sides in an emotional family battle. President Bush signed the bill almost immediately after its passage early today, vowing in a statement to "stand on the side of those defending life for all Americans, including those with disabilities." "In cases like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life," he said. The law gave Schiavo's parents the right to file suit in federal court over the withdrawal of nourishment and medical treatment needed to sustain their daughter, who suffered severe brain damage 15 years ago. A lawyer for the parents arrived at federal district court in Tampa, Fla., not long after Bush signed the bill and filed a request for an emergency injunction to keep Schiavo fed. Her husband says Schiavo told him that she wouldn't want to be kept alive in a vegetative state. Her parents, and many of the lawmakers backing their effort to restore her feeding tubes, say she needs treatment and another opportunity for life. "Tonight we have given Terri Schiavo all we could — a chance to live," said House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas. "After four days of words, the best of them uttered in prayer, Congress has acted and a life may have been saved." The bill passed the House early today after an often wrenching debate that stretched past midnight. It won the backing of virtually all the Republicans and almost half the Democrats who sprinted back to the Capitol for the debate, while 174 of the House's 435 elected members did not vote. House Republicans scrambled to yank lawmakers back from a two-week Easter recess and amass the 218 votes necessary to bring the bill to a vote. The Senate approved the measure on Sunday by voice vote in a nearly empty chamber. Several lawmakers recounted their families' struggles with decisions about caring for incapacitated relatives in an often emotional debate over who should decide life and death. Many Republicans said Terri Schiavo isn't in the hopeless state that her husband portrays. "We have heard very moving accounts of people close to Terri that she is, indeed, very much alive," said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. "She laughs, she cries and she smiles with those around her." Some Democrats countered that elected lawmakers weren't qualified to make a medical diagnosis or second-guess the decisions made by Florida courts. "I don't know who's right and who's wrong, but that's the point. Neither do my colleagues," said Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va. A few Republicans questioned the motives of Terri Schiavo's husband, Michael, suggesting he doesn't have his wife's best interest at heart. "Now, he has had her feeding tube removed and sentenced her to a most excruciating death, citing Terri's own wishes as the rationale ..." said Rep. Jim Ryun, R-Kan. "Michael did not remember this supposed request until years after Terri's initial injuries when a cash settlement was awarded to her, a settlement he would stand to inherit." And a few Democrats lobbed accusations at Republicans that political motives drove their passion for Schiavo and her parents. "If you don't want a decision to be made politically, why in the world do you ask 535 politicians to make it? Does anyone think that this decision will be made without consideration of electoral support or party or ideology? Of course not," said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass. Republican supporters said the "Palm Sunday Compromise" seeks to protect the rights of a disabled person. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said the law would not affect state assisted suicide laws nor serve as a precedent for future legislation. It gives Schiavo's parents the right to ask a federal court to review the case and says the court, after determining the merits of the suit, "shall issue such declaratory and injunctive relief as may be necessary to protect the rights" of the woman. Injunctive relief, in this case, could mean the reinsertion of feeding tubes. Schiavo's feeding tubes were removed Friday at the request of her husband. Congress last week tried to block the removal of the feeding tubes by issuing subpoenas that would have forced health care workers to provide continued treatment, but the move was rejected by a Florida court.
It's nice to see the party of personal responsibility and self determination trampling all over themselves to placate their religious zealots. Whatever happened to "Keep the government out of my personal life"? Whatever happened to States Rights?
