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Feeding tube ordered back inside vegetative Florida woman
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| DaveSaenz |
| quote: | TALLAHASSEE -- Lawmakers sent Gov. Jeb Bush a bill Tuesday that will give him the power to order a feeding tube reinserted into a brain-damaged woman who is at the center of one of the nation's longest and most bitter right-to-die battles.
Bush said he will immediately sign the legislation _ a victory for Terri Schiavo's parents, who have been fighting for several years to keep her alive. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, says she would rather die.
Schiavo's feeding tube was removed last Wednesday after a court ruling in Schiavo's favor. Doctors have said the 39-year-old woman will die within a week to 10 days without food and water.
Lawmakers were already called to the Capitol for a special session on economic development when they decided to intervene in the case.
Bush said he did not think lawmakers were motivated by politics.
``This is a response to a tragic situation.'' Bush said. ``People are responding to cries for help and I think it's legitimate.'' Sen. Tom Lee said Schiavo would ``essentially starve ... to death'' without intervention from lawmakers and the governor. ``It's a pretty awful way to go,'' said Lee, a Republican.
Opponents said government was stepping in where it had no business being.
``I do not believe the governor of Florida should be making a decision of life and death rather than the next of kin,'' said Sen. Steven Geller, a Democrat.
The House approved the bill 73-24 after the Senate passed it 23-15.
George Felos, a lawyer for the woman's husband, asked a judge to stop Bush even before he received the bill. A hearing was scheduled for Tuesday.
Earlier in Tampa, U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday denied a request by an advocacy group that Schiavo be kept alive so it could investigate whether removal of the tube was abusive.
Merryday wrote that federal courts _ other than the U.S. Supreme Court _ are forbidden from interjecting themselves into matters already decided by state courts. He also said the group failed to provide enough evidence to support its request. The bill sent to Bush was designed to be as narrow as possible. It is limited to cases in which the patient left no living will, is in a persistent vegetative state, has had nutrition and hydration tubes removed and where a family member has challenged the removal.
Court-appointed doctors have described Schiavo as being in a vegetative state, caused when her heart stopped in 1990 from a suspected chemical imbalance.
Bush last week promised the woman's parents that he would help them if he could find a way.
The Florida Supreme Court has twice refused to hear the case, and it also has been rejected for review by the U.S. Supreme Court. Last week, a Florida appeals court again refused to block removal of the tube.
Felos said he thinks the legislation would be unconstitutional. It is Terri Schiavo's right under the Florida Constitution to not be kept alive artificially, and the courts have affirmed that, he said.
Pat Anderson, the attorney for the parents, said she was ``dumbfounded'' by the Legislature's action, although the family had hoped for such help in the wake of continued court defeats.
During a two-hour debate in the House, several Democrats argued that the Constitution does not let the Legislature give the governor the power to overrule the courts.
``This bill so oversteps our role it ... turns democracy on its head,'' said Rep. Dan Gelber, a Democrat.
But many Republicans and some Democrats said they need to be involved in dire cases where judges might be wrong.
``The Constitution is supposed to protect the people of this state,'' said Rep. Sandy Murman, a Republican from Tampa. ``Who is protecting this girl?'' |
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| occrider |
I've been following this story somewhat, and with respects to this issue, I side with the parents and Jeb Bush. Michael Schiavo is nothing but a money grubbing greedy s.o.b. trying to collect money from a malpractice suit intended for the care of his wife. Give me a break ... he has a a girlfriend with a kid from that gf and another kid on the way. What a tool ... just divorce her and let her parents care of her.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/p...6/APN/310161106
AND
http://www.worldrtd.org/Floridawoman3.html
A key line:
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A jury awarded the Schiavos more than $1 million after Michael Schiavo testified that he intended to care for his wife until she dies.
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Oh right, I like how he failed to tell the jury how his wife WANTED to die :rolleyes:. in retard can't keep his story straight ...
... oh btw, this comes from a right to die website no less. |
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| occrider |
Please ... it's not like this girl is in a coma and incapable of any emotions/feelings:
 With her mom ... and the courts want to STARVE her to death?????
I spit on bipartisanship, politically motivated actions as evidenced by these democrats who are arguing on the basis of "technicalities" ...
| quote: |
During a two-hour debate in the House, several Democrats argued that the Constitution does not let the Legislature give the governor the power to overrule the courts |
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| DaveSaenz |
Don't assume that I'm so partisan that I'd disagree with anything done by the Bushes.
/Continue |
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| occrider |
| quote: | Originally posted by DaveSaenz
Don't assume that I'm so partisan that I'd disagree with anything done by the Bushes.
/Continue |
Lol I didn't. I figured you were posting the story for discussion since you didn't post your viewpoint ;)
My comments were commentary rather than criticism (against you). |
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| Arbiter |
| She has been a vegetable since 1990. What possible justification is there for keeping her alive? I can't disagree that her husband's motives are suspect, but I have seen few examples which better illustrate the perversity of the "life at any cost" mentality perpetuated by the Christian population. |
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| occrider |
| quote: | Originally posted by Arbiter
She has been a vegetable since 1990. What possible justification is there for keeping her alive? I can't disagree that her husband's motives are suspect, but I have seen few examples which better illustrate the perversity of the "life at any cost" mentality perpetuated by the Christian population. |
Ummm perhaps HER desire to be kept alive? It's her husband's word against her parent's and clearly her husband is less than objective. Furthermore, there's indications that the husband LIED about her telling him that she wanted to die in such a state as evidenced by his former girlfriend's testimony. As for possible justification for keeping her alive ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3052433.stm |
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| Arbiter |
| quote: | Originally posted by occrider
Ummm perhaps HER desire to be kept alive? It's her husband's word against her parent's and clearly her husband is less than objective. Furthermore, there's indications that the husband LIED about her telling him that she wanted to die in such a state as evidenced by his former girlfriend's testimony. As for possible justification for keeping her alive ...
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We can't confirm that she has any desire to be kept alive, or that she's even capable of understanding her situation. Such a justification would be purely conjecture.
Nothing's impossible, but realistically her chances of even so much as speaking again are microscopic. It seems to me that her parents are in denial of the fact that she is already for all practical purposes, dead, and are clinging to the unrealistic hope that she will somehow spontaneously recover. In my opinion, they are just using her so that they do not have to face the reality of her passing. No one should be forced to undergo such indignity. |
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| occrider |
| quote: | Originally posted by Arbiter
We can't confirm that she has any desire to be kept alive, or that she's even capable of understanding her situation. Such a justification would be purely conjecture.
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Nor is there any confirmation that she had any desire to die. If she put a clause in her will saying she would like to die in such a situation, then I would be the first to sign on board. However, she did no such thing and we should not ASSume that she wished to be 'mercifully' put down. Why not make similar assumptions for all the loonies in mental institutions and all the retards incapable of thought? |
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| DrUg_Tit0 |
| quote: | Originally posted by occrider
Nor is there any confirmation that she had any desire to die. If she put a clause in her will saying she would like to die in such a situation, then I would be the first to sign on board. However, she did no such thing and we should not ASSume that she wished to be 'mercifully' put down. Why not make similar assumptions for all the loonies in mental institutions and all the retards incapable of thought? |
Now that you mention it... :p |
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| Renegade |
I don't know the specifics of this case - so perhaps I'm not in any position to comment - but, for me, the answer is simple: if the woman has said she wants to die, she should be allowed to. If she hasn't said that she wants to die, then it is not for her husband or Right to Die advocates to make the decision for her.
There is still something perverse about all this though: would Jeb Bush be pushing his "right to life" stance so hard if it were, say, a JW refusing a life-saving blood transfusion? Would he argue that it is in the best interests of a patient to stay alive when the issue ceases to be a "moral" issue and becomes instead an issue of deeply felt religious - particularly Christian - beliefs? |
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| rizen |
heh first the government is controlling if you get to give birth or not, now they get to decide weather or not to keep you alive. seriously where are those people who always bitch about the government getting into your personal affiars, I guess it only applies if its a sin, like gays :rolleyes:
anyway a simple solution for this is to have sticker on your drivers license or ID that states weather you want to kept alive if you end up in a coma where doctors believe you'll never get out or have some serious injuries that what make living a hell, kinda like the organ donor thing. I would actually be the first to use this option, I'm sorry but I dont to be paying an arm and leg monthly just to have my idle body alive. |
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