Posted on 06/17/2005 11:08:07 AM PDT by ClancyJ
TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Jeb Bush asked a prosecutor Friday to investigate why Terri Schiavo collapsed 15 years ago, calling into question a gap in time from when her husband found the woman and called 911. In a letter he faxed to Pinellas-Pasco County State Attorney Bernie McCabe, Bush said Michael Schiavo testified in a 1992 medical malpractice trial that he found his wife collapsed at 5 a.m. and he said in a 2003 television interview that he found her at about 4:30 a.m. He called 911 at about 5:40 a.m.
"Between 40 and 70 minutes elapsed before the call was made, and I am aware of no explanation for the delay,'' Bush said. ""In light of this new information, I urge you to take a fresh look at this case without any preconceptions as to the outcome."
Terri Schiavo died March 31 from dehydration after her feeding tube was disconnected despite unsuccessful efforts by Bush to keep her alive.
The battle between her husband and parents over whether she should be allowed to die also engulfed the courts, Congress, the White House and divided the country. Her autopsy, released earlier this week, showed suffered from severe and irreversible brain-damage.
McCabe was out of state Friday and couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment from The Associated Press. But in comments published Friday by The Miami Herald, he said Terri Schiavo would not have survived if her husband had not immediately called 911.
"It's absolutely preposterous,'' Felos said. "If he had waited 70 minutes she would have been dead.''
Letter To State Attorney From Gov. Jeb Bush
" June 17, 2005 Via Facsimile and U.S. Mail Facsimile The Honorable Bernie McCabe State Attorney for the 6th Judicial Circuit
Dear Mr. McCabe,
Wednesday the Chief Medical Examiner for Pinellas County issued his report on the autopsy of Terri Schiavo. While the report clarifies many questions surrounding the case, it leaves some unanswered.
Of particular interest are the report's findings as to the cause of Mrs. Schiavo's original injuries. The report indicates that there was little evidence of an eating disorder, previously the lead theory of the cause of her injuries. The report also indicates that blood tests conducted on Mrs. Schiavo in 1990 upon her collapse were routine and would not necessarily have detected or ruled out many types of drugs or toxins. The report rules out any overt or blunt trauma, but could not rule out or positively identify other causes. As a result, the cause of her injuries is more in doubt than ever.
Also of interest is the gap in time between Mr. Schiavo's discovery of Mrs. Schiavo's collapse and the 911 call he made to request assistance. According to Mr. Schiavo's testimony in the medical malpractice trial in 1992, he discovered Mrs. Schiavo had collapsed at about 5:00 a.m. According to his comments in a 2003 television interview, he found her at about 4:30 a.m. According to the Chief Medical Examiner's report, Mr. Schiavo placed the 911 call at approximately 5:40 a.m. Between 40 and 70 minutes elapsed before the call was made, and I am aware of no explanation for the delay.
In light of this new information, I urge you to take a fresh look at this case without any preconceptions as to the outcome. I understand that these events took place many years ago, and that you may not be able to collect all the relevant records and physical evidence. However, Mrs. Schiavo's family deserves to know anything that can be done to determine the cause and circumstances of her collapse 15 years ago has been done. The unanswered questions may be unanswerable, but the attempt should be made. Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Sincerely, Jeb Bush "
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She was being kept alive thru artificial means. If there had been no modern technology in 1989, she would have died in 1989 (that was the year right?)
Government has no business intruding into the personal affairs. Terri was not killed by "fiat of the government of Florida"
Terri died because under Florida law, spouse apparently has the power of guardianship, and as guardian, Micheal Schiavo decided to pull life support. (As far as I'm concerned, it was life support, life support is something that keeps you alive when in a natural state, you'd be dead)
It was not Judge Greer, or the 11th Circuit, or any of that other propaganda that was floating around.
In family law, it was a decision made by the guardian, and that's it, the government didn't "put her to death", Micheal Schiavo did.
That's the big issue. Isn't it?
Neither her family, her husband, nor the medical community ever considered her dead before March 31, 2005. Why do you?
Another fair-weather federalist.
The state is the one doing this. This is Jeb Bush, Governor, not Pres. Bush.
I'm afraid that Florida may be rife with powerful influences that "believe" or want the weak done away with. Scientology is headquartered there in Pinnelas County. The euthanasia movement is very strong and involved.
And, it appears law makers may listen to these powerful lobbyists. So, what we are seeing is their march on society.
Sorry but when our country is allowing Euthanasia/legal murder to go on which is against the law, i believe the Federal govt could take this up and put a stop to it all. I don't believe the FEd. govt solves all problems as I don't want them to either, but this does not make me a fair weathered whatever!
It's for people like you that we intend to keep it alive. At least until there's a satisfactory resolution to this case - with Michael Schiavo in jail where he belongs.
So the State ordered Micheal Schiavo to take his wife off of the feeding tube?
Gee, sorry about that - I did a search under the above title.
IMO Gov. Bush is as upset with this as we are. And, I would not be surprised if he knows a lot more about it than we do because he is in the politics of that state.
But, he comes from the same family as "W" and I would not count him out yet. He is probably a good poker player also.
Just very sad that the whole Terri situation had to come up because a man just could not turn her over to loving parents and go on with his life.
Those loving parents would have judged her quality of life and if she was indeed suffering, they would do the best for her. But, they did not get that chance because one man fought 15 years in order to kill.
If it weren't for Democrats like Dick Durbin, the GOP would implode over the continuation of this BS.
You need to go back and read the history, George Felos even announced on TV that the court issued the order and it did not matter who the guardian was the order had to be carried out.
The court ordered that "no one would feed that girl".
The state is making laws that "allow" the killing - therefore, the state is killing non-dying people.
Remember that someday when it is your daughter they determine to kill.
What is the carry through? There was a murder. Normally hustice is not measured by desired outcome. Here that is not the case. There was a murder, the murderers -- for the sake of justice -- should be brought to account.
No. 1990.
Government has no business intruding into the personal affairs.
Tell that to MS. He went to GOVERNMENT courts in order to dehydrate his wife to death.
Terri died because under Florida law
Florida law was changed in 1999 in order to include people like Terri.
(As far as I'm concerned, it was life support, life support is something that keeps you alive when in a natural state, you'd be dead)
You mean like a pacemaker? A colostomy? Oxygen tanks? Like heart bypass surgery? Cancer treatments? Anti-seizure medication?
You might read The Case of Theresa Schiavo By Joan Didion
Nevertheless, there are lots of things in the Terri Schiavo case that need to be fixed. Someone with as massive a conflict of interest as Michael Schiavo should have been removed as her guardian right from the start. There should be mandatory investigations when someone collapses. There need to be better criteria for determining "death." In Florida in particular, the law defining food and water as "extraordinary means" should be repealed. Hydration and nutrition, even through a feeding tube, are "ordinary" means, and should be continued until the body can no longer digest the food. (My first wife was on a feeding tube and on a ventilator when she died. The first constitutes "ordinary" care; the second constitutes "extraordinary" care and might legitimately have been stopped.)
Definition of "death" is tricky. Beware of so-called "brain death." Different hospitals have different definitions. Moreover, none of the definitions have any empirical or scientific basis. They were invented to allow hospitals to cut you apart for "spare parts" while you are still living. If they wait until your brain waves stop completely, it's too late to "harvest" usable organs, except for the corneas. See the paper by Dr. Paul Byrne at http://www.prolifetechnology.org.
Also, beware of "living wills." The one provided by NOLO (a self-help legal advice firm) is totally biased in the direction of asking to be killed. If you sign it, you are saying you don't want anything done to keep you alive. There are undoubtedly people who want such a living will, such as members of the Hemlock Society. Most of us, however, would rather have doctors use "ordinary means" to keep us alive until they no longer work. Various organizations provide "wills to live" and other forms of "advanced directive" or "medical power of attorney" that are more life-oriented.
Great points.
It is the mind which makes you- you. It's what your whole human concious is. The body is just a collection of organs which serves the mind. It's clear beyond any doubt now that Terri was taken by God for whatever reason in 1990. I don't worry about the organs. What I worry about is how it's determined. What this case amplifies is that all steps weren't taken to ensure that indeed Terri was long dead. It was determined she was AFTER the decision was made, not before. We have the ability to keep bodies 'Alive' long after the mind and spirit has long departed. Do we want to be warehousing bodies?
Re the "wills" - they work fine until the law has been progressively altered to circumvent them. This is why we need clarification of who is changing these laws and by what authority to make decisions about our life and death.
I think this will prove to be the dirty underbelly of government or the euthanasia movement.
And, we will have to fight it.
So it's a "quality of life" issue? And who decides? What's the criteria of life? This plays into the abortion debate. When is it a child or when does life start? Who has the right to judge?
Florida State Law gives the guardian the right to decide in this case.
It wasn't the mandate of Florida to do this, they weren't dancing at glee to do this, but in this country, we have a rule of law, and I expect the rule of law to be followed, as that law was duly constituted by the Florida Legislature, duly signed by a Florida governor, and never ruled to be unconstitutional by a Florida state court
And if the parents had really had such a problem with Micheal, they should have started challenging him a hell of a lot earlier than when they did. If I remember right, one of the parents was a character witness for dear Micheal during his
What the court ordered was, Micheal Schiavo has discretion, it will be his directive what we do, it was not "By Order of the State of Florida, independent of Schiavo, we order this woman taken off the feeding tube" Now, if this had been done against the wishes of both the husband and parents (which wouldn't have happened), you'd have an argument, but the fact is, Schiavo was legal custodian, and he was acting in full accordance with his rights under Florida law.
The Schindlers should have tried to do a custody suit a long time ago, instead of turning this into a Randall Terry type issue.
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