Jeb Bush Not Likely to Ride to Rescue [Terri Schindler-Schiavo]

WorldNetDaily ^ | 2005-03-25 01:00 EST | Staff

[Messianic Jews Net]

STARVATION: DAY 8

Jeb Bush not likely to ride to rescue

Florida governor indicates he won't defy court order

Posted: March 25, 2005

1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

Those hoping Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will step forward to save Terri Schiavo from imminent, court-ordered starvation death are likely to be disappointed, based on his comments to a group of reporters following county court Judge George Greer's ruling against the state's effort to take custody of the brain-injured woman at the center of a worldwide euthanasia controversy.

While Bush reiterated his motivation to save Schiavo, based on new evidence that she is not in a persistent vegetative state and is, to some degree, conscious of her surroundings, the governor said "it isn't possible to remove her" from the hospice.

Earlier in the week, there were hints from the Bush administration that the Department of Children and Families might use force, if necessary, to stabilize Terri Schiavo and remove her from the facility.

"The judge is so focused on carrying out whatever decision he made years ago, that I guess the additional information he just rejected out of hand, and rejected the ability of the department to go in and stabilize her," he said. "It isn't possible right now to remove her. ... Given the fact that she's being starved to death it would be difficult to move her."

Bush downplayed the earlier reports about the possibility of action by the DCF.

"We never said that unilaterally we would do something that's against the court," he said. "I've been asked to do it by a lot of people – a lot of the advice I'm getting over the Internet and over television and the like. I know that there were lots of rumors of things that aren't accurate. I have a duty to uphold the law and I have been very consistent about that. It seemed like a big story that never was confirmed because it wasn't true. If we had that ability to do it, if there wasn't an injunction, we would do it right now. We would stabilize her by giving her hydration. We couldn't put a feeding tube in. There was already a court order in place. The opportunity we had was appealing his decision."

A prominent evangelical Christian leader yesterday urged Bush to disobey the judge's order barring the Florida governor from intervening to save the life of Terri Schiavo. In a statement shortly after Judge George Greer's decision, Rev. D. James Kennedy pointed to Bush "as the only legal authority who can save the life of Terri Schiavo."

Kennedy, president of Coral Ridge Ministries, said Bush "must act and he must act immediately on her behalf."

"He must disregard the order of Judge Greer," Kennedy said. "He has both the authority and the duty to do so under the state constitution."

Greer rejected Bush's request to grant the governor protective custody. On Wednesday he barred the Department of Children & Families from taking custody. Also yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request from Terri Schiavo's parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, for an emergency order allowing her feeding tube to be reinserted.

As WorldNetDaily reported, Bush appeared to be clearing the way for the possibility unilateral action when he appeared at a news conference Wednesday to confirm the DCF, under his authority, has the legal right to remove Terri Schiavo, by force if necessary, from the hospice where she has lived the past five years.

Bush said new information had come to light warranting intervention, including a review of Terri Schiavo's condition by neurologist Dr. William Cheshire, who claims she may have been misdiagnosed. Cheshire believes Schiavo to be in a "minimally conscious state," not a "persistent vegetative state" as Greer has determined.

"It is imperative that she be stabilized so the DCF team can fulfill their statute to review the facts surrounding the case," Bush said.

Kennedy said Bush should be commended for his efforts over the past two years – which include the state legislature's passage of "Terri's Law" – but he noted those efforts "thus far has proven fruitless." The law later was declared unconstitutional.

"Neither the state legislature nor the courts, state or federal, have been willing to act on behalf of this helpless woman who is now within hours of death," Kennedy said.

Kennedy points out the Florida Constitution states in Article I, Section 2, that "[a]ll natural persons, female and male alike, are equal before the law, and have inalienable rights, among which are the right to enjoy and defend life ... ." According to the Constitution, "no person shall be deprived of any right [including the right to enjoy life] because of ... physical disability."

Similar arguments were brought to Florida's capital this morning by former Judicial Watch Chairman Larry Klayman and former presidential candidate Alan Keyes. Keyes wrote a column published yesterday by WorldNetDaily, arguing for Bush to step in and save Schiavo amid judicial abuse of the separation of powers.

"I have talked to a whole lot of people that I respect, not just now but the first time when Terri's law was passed, to make the determination of what my powers are and they are not as expansive as people would want them to be," Bush said yesterday. "And I understand, they're acting on their heart and I fully appreciate their sentiments and the emotions that go with this, but .... I've consistently said that I can't go beyond what my powers are and I'm not going to do it. There are 90,000 abortions that take place in this state every year. That troubles me more than I can ever describe, but that doesn't mean that I have some secret powers to stop that. There are a lot of things that go on in society that trouble me and this is certainly one of them. To have someone starve to death troubles me greatly and we have done everything we can and we will continue to do so within the powers that I have."

Editor's note: WorldNetDaily has been reporting on the Terri Schiavo story since 2002 – far longer than any other national news organization – and exposing the many troubling, scandalous, and possibly criminal, aspects of the case that to this day rarely surface in news reports. Read WorldNetDaily's unparalleled, in-depth coverage of the life-and-death fight over Terri Schiavo, including over 150 original stories and columns.

[Aussie Dasher]

That being the case, it just might be about time 49 states reviewed their statutes.

[noah]

This was Jeb Bush's OPPORTUNITY. I know he didn't think of it this way, but it was. If the court grants relief it will take the opportunity away and we'll NEVER KNOW whether he had the GUTTTTSSS to ignore the judiciary and DO THE RIGHT THING. That's what we want in a PRESIDENT.

[Big Guy and Rusty 99]

ask yourself, who benefits most from her death?

[MSCASEY]

I agree! But now we need to begin to mobilize and TAKE AMERICA BACK. We need to start a campaign NEVER FORGET TERRI.
We need our judicial system overhauled. The police need to loose their jobs. The doctors license need to be revoked. The judges need to never be on bench. The hospice needs to be closed. And we need to get out of the UN. America needs to be what so many fought and died for years ago.

[PJBlogger]

The blame does not belong on Jeb Bush. He has done as much as he can and showed great moral courage .

The Schindlers have had lousy lawyering from the git go. They should have retained a top flight Constitutional lawyer like Alan Dershowitz or Davis Boise instead of a political idealogue .

[dalebert]

He still has to follow the law.

[dalebert]

If Jeb could do anything I am sure he would. This case was messed up from the beginning due to bad lawyers.

[sakic]

So, is it your contention that the husband committed conscious bodily harm to her. If so, based on what?

[Scholastic]

We (pro-lifers and conservatives)have learned a lesson indeed. "Keep out the Bushes" as Jesse Jackson would say.

[TheThinkingMan]

Your line of thinking about the role of government is called fundamentalism and is the same logic that Iranians (amongst others) use to justify their code of law. This is obviously a sad and tragic situation and I'm conflicted as to what the "right" thing to do is. Just because we have right to do something doesn't make it the right thing to do. What's "right" or "moral" is a personal decision that we all have to make, what we have a right to do is based on our law, which is voted on by a legislature, who were elected by the people, and which is upheld by the courts ... its called democracy. It's important that you voice your beliefs through your words, your vote, etc, but not everybody shares your beliefs, so in the end, if we want to live in a democratic society, the law must be obeyed. You can have strong faith and still submit to being part of a democratic society filled with beautifully diverse people and opinions. Bush understands this, even though the outcome saddens him.

gentlestrength wrote:
I wrote Gov. Bush after seeing him claim he's not going to go beyond the law and told him he HAS authority by God to love. Love is above the law.

I was so shocked to see him so weak in his faith, while trying to seem so noble when it comes to the law. It doesn't matter if we keep the law perfectly, go through all the 'right' avenues, but if a person dies, we are no better than the Pharisees.

[gentlestrength]

"Your line of thinking about the role of government is called fundamentalism ....but not everybody shares your beliefs,"

Terri Schiavo was murdered by her own countrymen. Her government did not place her right to life as a fundamental. Her Judges did not choose to realize that life is more important than laws being fulfilled. What good is a fulfilled law if in doing so, they murder her?
Life is not a wrong basic, not a wrong "fundamental."

Terri couldn't speak well, so now anyone with verbal difficulties are no longer safe in this country.

Murders like this happen often in this country. Notice the care given you when you're older, and they automatically just don't view you as important. We need to stop this. We need to realize life is a gift from God. Each person is in His image and has value. Each baby in the womb and older person losing skills still is in the image of God and worth our respect and efforts.