Posted on 05/28/2007 9:33:12 AM PDT by wagglebee
The Christian attorney who fought to keep Terry Schiavo alive says the three leading GOP presidential candidates don't understand the important disability issues involved in the widely publicized 2005 case.
During a recent Republican presidential debate in California, the candidates were asked whether Congress was right to intervene in the Terry Schiavo case by attempting to prevent the state of Florida from removing the disabled woman's feeding tube. The answers varied.
Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, said he thought it "was a mistake" for Congress to get involved and the matter should have been left at the state level. Senator John McCain said Congress "probably acted too hastily." And former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani called the case a "family dispute."
David Gibbs III of the Christian Law Association says the United States gives greater due process to convicted murderers than to innocent disabled people. The former attorney for Schiavo's parents argues that Congress did the right thing when it intervened to provide her those rights.
"Many of the candidates are following the political wind, if you will, instead of showing leadership and saying, 'You know what? That was good public policy back then. We need to stand up for the disabled. We need to stand up for the senior citizens,'" Gibbs says. "We need to have that compassion for vulnerable people as opposed to taking the mindset that those people that just don't matter," he notes.
It is disingenuous, the Christian attorney contends, for candidates to claim they are pro-life but not be willing to grant due process rights to the disabled. "If you're pro-life, you have to be pro-life at every step," he says.
"Please understand: our founding fathers understood that you don't have any liberty, our Constitution doesn't matter, if you don't protect the innocent life of the citizens," Gibbs explains. "That's why they talked about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness -- your free speech, your freedom of religion, your right to own a gun or [receive] due process of law," he says. "If the government can kill you, you have no true liberty."
When Rudy Giuliani visited Florida he initially said he was in favor of assisting Terry Schiavo but later backpedaled from those comments, Gibbs points out. And in the recent GOP presidential debate, he says, only Kansas Senator Sam Brownback and Congressman Duncan Hunter of California got the issue right when they were asked about the Schiavo case.
.
Schiavo timeline troubles governor
Published June 17, 2005
"Bush said he decided to seek the investigation after talking with Dr. Jon Thogmartin, the Pinellas-Pasco medical examiner who spent nearly 11 weeks preparing Schiavo's autopsy report, and learning that the doctor could not determine what led Schiavo to collapse in 1990".....
"What he did say to me that was troubling ... was that there was some doubt about when she collapsed and how long it took for a phone call to be made to 911," Bush said. "I think that is worthy of some investigation."
Jeb Bush asks for investigation after talking with Thogmartin.
=================================================================
Oops!
CREMATION APPROVAL (Florida Statutes 406.11(1)(c))
1. Before authorizing the irretrievable disposal of a body by cremation, the Medical Examiner must be assured that no future question will arise about the cause or circumstances of the death of the individual.
There you are!
Let's also give credit to George Greer for authorizing the cremation; indeed, years in advance -- at Terri's expense! (Another item they raided out of her therapy trust fund.) If I recall, it was a religious sore point, too. As a Catholic, Terri would surely have wished interment rather than cremation.
As I recall, according to Michael, Terri didn't like "bugs". That was the reason to honor her "wishes" to be cremated. Greer agreed and that is why the Schindlers were not successful in their endeavor to have a normal burial.
And despite what I posted about Florida's cremation laws, Thugmartin didn't delay it by one minute.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I suppose that's why he wouldn't let her have religious medallions or cards in her room, and why he wouldn't let her take Holy Communion (2003 murder attempt). Michael was being his usual spiteful self, inflicting as much evil as he could conceive on his victim. Like any sociopath, he blamed her for what he did.
Contrary to Florida statute, the M.E. was by no means "assured that no future question will arise about the cause or circumstances of the death of the individual" when he did it.
I can think of a question or two that either went unanswered or got dubious answers that needed rechecking. I have no doubt that a top pathologist could think of several more very pointed questions.
He's two for two now.
That is sort of stupid, isn't it? He didn't know the answer to his doubts to begin with. Where did you get that quote at, Matt?
For some reason, You sound very out of sorts tonight. Not your usual style. Are you responding to me or someone else?
Goodness, my apologies! I was being scornful of Michael's claim about the "bugs."
From you :-) -- up in #1701. And a nice find it was. Matt probably never heard of that statute.
You have a nice sleep tonight, T’wit. : ) It can get to us, I know.
I was just thinking I'd take a swan dive and hope to hit the bed :-) See ya tomorrow.
Btw, I wonder if the M.E. would be required to save those implants? Looks like there is more to the story than what we are led believe, too.
Not sure what you mean by implants?
The M.E. presumably is saving all tissue samples that were taken, including brain tissues. Whether that could do any good, I don't know. What I think we needed was soft tissue from the neck for doing sophisticated testing that could still reveal strangulation signs, even after all the years. We'll have to get some expert opinion.
The stimulator electrodes that were implanted.
I lifted this whole smear from another website. It also has information on what the FDA warning was on implants and how Nelson misstates what they said. The whole thing is worth the read, but the pertinent part I am referring to is toward the bottom.
=====================================================
.
"Finally, I don’t understand Dr. Nelson’s defense of the decision not to do an MRI. It adds nothing to the findings, is hardly objective and seems to serve only as CYA foliage.
He bases it on potential harm that could have happened to Terri because of the implanted stimulators—but says nothing about whether those stimulators couldn’t have been safely removed. Further, he has a little problem with how he argues that part of his report, calling his objectivity in to question."
"Dr. Boyle of Code Blue Blog disagreed with that assessment and he is a radiologist—the kind of dotor who would actually administer the MRI. He says in the post linked below (again in comments):"
-----------------------------------------------------------
"In addition, it is hard to believe that anyone inserted electrodes, in 1992, that had paramagnetic properties that would preclude an MRI of the brain currently. I doubt that. Most of those devices are titanium or stainless steel, which are unaffected by MRI. Besides, with MRI, in that type of situation, the only reason not to do an MRI is because you are looking for information in the region of the artifact, where there would be distortion of the image.
If the items are not paramagnetic (like iron), there would be no danger and no contraindication to an MRI. Sounds bogus to me."
Probably 'selective' tissue at best. I say that because of what he says in the autopsy report. For example:
"On March 29th 2004, a Hospice nurse noted apparent injection sites on Mrs. Schiavo's arms, and what appeared to be a plastic needle cap was also found in her room. Reportedly, these were discovered by Hospice shortly after a visit by her parents." In response to this, Michael had her examined at the hospital."
Okay, this was meant to explore an attempt on Terri's life, I guess. He also pointed out Nurse Iyer's affidavit with the insulin charge. I just wonder why he didn't mention that Michael actually tried to kill her in 1993 by withholding antibiotics? Does that seem fair and balanced?
It's that white thing in the middle, I believe:
Dr. Boyle's point is interesting. I remember the excuse they used for not doing one, namely, that an MRI would fry the brain area around the implant. It was my understanding that a functional MRI (fMRI) could be done safely, but never was. However, I'm not a medic so would be glad to get professional advice on such questions.
I understand. The only reason I thought it could be plural is because if a bird sits on a high voltage power line, nothing happens. That doesn't mean I am right. Did Dr. Nelson tell us exactly what the situation was?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.