October 17, 2003
Jeb plan: impregnate Schiavo, get court order to save fetus?
Jeb Bush is looking for ways to interfere with a patient’s stated wish to die. Terry Schiavo is finally getting her wish. She has been in a coma for years, and lawyers have been getting rich during the protracted court fights between her husband, who wants to honor her wish not to be artificially kept alive, and her parents, who want to hire a nurse to work Terry’s jaws and force food down her throat:
After Lazzara's ruling, Michael Schiavo smiled and hugged one of his attorneys, Deborah Bushnell, as members of the Schindler family left court through a back door. Michael Schiavo declined to talk with reporters.Another of Mr. Schiavo's attorneys, George Felos, told reporters, "I think this is a big step, a very big step."
The Schindlers had filed the federal lawsuit against Michael Schiavo last month alleging a conspiracy between him and Greer to end Mrs. Schiavo's life.
The Schindlers contend their daughter can survive the removal of the feeding tube if she undergoes therapy that they argue would allow her to regain the ability to take in food and water orally.
Felos said that's impossible, and Greer had earlier ruled against allowing such therapy.
"An injunction that says don't remove the tube until she can eat on her own is like saying don't remove the tube until she can walk around the block," Felos said. "It's never going to happen."
Mrs. Schiavo, 39, has been in a persistent vegetative state for 13 years after her heart stopped from what her doctors believe was a potassium imbalance.
Friday's hearing was viewed with great optimism by some of the Schindlers' supporters, especially after Gov. Jeb Bush filed a friend of the court brief opposing the removal of the feeding tube.
Jeb, or OFFaL (Our Feckless FloridA Leader), just can’t keep his government from groping people’s bodies. He’s searching high and low right now for a way to extend the family’s suffering to cynically soothe some sorry slobs salivating over the slim chance of setting a precedent that might someday be used to further erode a woman’s right to an abortion.
Terri Schiavo's weary parents kept vigil by their oldest child Thursday as they awaited word from the governor on a strategy to save her.Activists pressuring Gov. Jeb Bush to intervene submitted to the governor's office several legal opinions from lawyers telling Bush he has the constitutional right to force doctors to resume feeding Mrs. Schiavo.
Late in the day, Bush told reporters that his lawyers were still working on a solution. But he admitted they have found nothing.
......Legal experts, meanwhile, expressed doubt that Bush has any option to force doctors to reinsert the feeding tube removed from Mrs. Schiavo's stomach at 2 p.m. on Wednesday.
"In a nutshell, it really isn't the governor's official business," said University of Florida law professor Joseph W. Little. "There is absolutely nothing in the state constitution that gives him authority in this matter or a duty to do anything about it."
Professor Mike Allen, who teaches constitutional law at the Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, said a separation of powers prevents the governor's intervention.
"Maybe my view is a bit jaded," Allen said. "But I suspect a good portion of this is a public relations effort by the governor."
A little Jeb history:
BlogWood: Norwood's Fair and Balanced Nattering: Jeb does his part to strip women of rights
BlogWood: Norwood's Fair and Balanced Nattering: MJ Melone Gets it
The Florida legislature and governeor acted on pressure of hundreds of thousands of emails, phone calls and letters from concerned, informed citizens. The big story is that these people are informed despite the lack of coverage by major media.
Terri Schiavo is a severely disabled woman who has consistently been denied access to treatment and therapy available by Florida statutes to every severely disabled individual. For the last three years, she has been inappropriately placed in hospice despite a lack of terminal illness. She was awarded over a million dollars for treatment and therapy. Instead, that money has been used to litigate her death by starvation.
You have a great Bush Bash but you are uninformed and useless.
Posted by: K at January 21, 2004 03:02 PM