Posted on 11/04/2003 3:27:40 AM PST by amdgmary
CLEARWATER - Michael Schiavo is seeking to block a conservative advocacy group from defending the constitutionality of Terri's Law.
Bob and Mary Schindler do not have a legal interest in the controversial measure that allowed Gov. Jeb Bush to order that their daughter be kept alive, Schiavo attorney George Felos said Monday.
Michael Schiavo contends Terri's Law violates his wife's constitutional right to refuse medical treatment. He sued Gov. Jeb Bush and Attorney General Charlie Crist on Oct. 21, the day Terri's Law was passed.
That evening, Bush used the law to order that a feeding tube be reinserted into Terri Schiavo's stomach so she could be provided with liquid nutrition after almost a week without food or water.
The 39-year-old woman's feeding tube had been removed the week before on court orders. Terri's Law in effect granted the governor a one-time pass to ``stay'' the court order that Terri Schiavo be allowed to die.
Michael Schiavo contends that his wife, who has been in what his doctors term a persistent vegetative state since suffering unexplained heart failure in 1990, would not want to be kept alive with no hope of improvement.
The Schindlers say their daughter reacts to them and could improve with therapy. They have fought a 5 1/2-year battle to block their son-in- law's quest for permission to stop feeding his wife.
Last week, the Schindlers asked Circuit Judge Douglas Baird for permission to intervene in their son-in-law's lawsuit to help defend Terri's Law.
If he can block the Schindlers from intervening, Michael Schiavo will also keep the America Center for Law and Justice from entering the case as the newest member of the Schindlers' legal team.
The center, founded by the Rev. Pat Robertson, agreed last week to help represent the Schindlers after the American Civil Liberties Union lent its muscle to Michael Schiavo's legal team.
In an objection to the Schindlers' request filed Monday, Felos said the parents are hoping to use the narrow constitutionality issue to reopen years of litigation over the question of Terri Schiavo's wishes.
A trial court ruled almost four years ago that Terri Schiavo made statements prior to her illness indicating she would not want to be kept alive, Felos wrote. That ruling has been upheld repeatedly through 13 appeals, one as high as the U.S. Supreme Court, Felos wrote.
Terri's Law and ``the governor's actions directly and substantially affect Mrs. Schiavo's constitutional rights. The Schindlers' interest can best be described as an emotional interest, not a legal interest,'' the objection to their involvement states.
Schindler attorney Pat Anderson scoffed at that.
``The Schindlers have a very real interest in protecting their daughter's life,'' Anderson said. ``It is after all Terri's life that is at stake here.''
Felos said the Schindlers are free to file a friend-of-the- court brief outlining their concerns without joining the case as full-fledged litigants.
``What the Schindlers are trying to do ... is try and muck up the case procedurally'' to stall for more time, Felos said.
Thanks for this uplifting story.
The beautiful Maria Tetto better watch her back, since the evil ACLU shysters may try to pull her life support!
Could it be...
The defense knew the company would be shortly defunct, and decided not to try too hard...?
The pictures speak for themselves. You know darn well the photograpers did not have to wait any 4 hours to get their nice photos!
Terri is SO overdue to be sprung from that place and go home with her mom. "From my mouth to God's ears. . . ."
True, but we are not talking about anorexia nervosa here. I have seen lots of normal weight and slightly pudgy women (and a few men) who massively purge. They would be 200 kilos (450 pounds) if they did not purge.
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