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.
But you supported the right of the state to deny Terri Communion?
When it ocurred I was outside talking with one of the monks, Brother Hilary, who was supporting the Schindler family. Suddenly an excited guy burst out of the hospice went straight for us and exclaimed that Terri just shrieked, as he understood it moments before, “I want to live!” He was thrilled that it had been witnessed by a cop and couldn’t be denied. A short while later, Attorney Waller made a statement to the press that it was said, approximately “I waaaaa...” Terri’s intent was clear to those who had ears. The press by none of our surprise smirked off the incident. Meanwhile, the cop underwent a sudden amnesia. What I witnessed was a first reaction by somebody there.
Ah yes... the "nurses" who weren't really nurses, but were just assistants. And then there's Carla Sauer Iyer, who was an LPN ("just a little dab [of therapy] 'll do ya") who claims to know more than the doctors and RNs who examined Mrs. Schiavo.
And let's not forget the investigations that found these claims groundless.
And let's not forget that getting terminated for stealing from a nursing home can make a person's later testimony a bit questionable.
And let's not forget that this nurse didn't document things when they supposedly happened--or even report the alleged mistreatment of Mrs. Schiavo--but then later made claims. Do you trust a nurse who wouldn't report a patient's abuse at the time?
You are absolutely correct and Congress was ignored when they tried to protect Terri's rights that Greer illegally infringed.
No, I think God alone should decide when and how we die.
If God tries to take your life by possessing a deer to run out in front of you, do you not swerve?
I sure understand it but you have not shown you understand the meaning of a right-to-die kill.
Of course, we have God-given instincts, just like we eat when hungry, etc.
You really need to open a new bag of mantras. These are indeed not very fresh and attract bugs.
By those standards, since oxygen in the air is keeping you alive as well, anyone on a ventilator is not on artificial life support, and should never be disconnected. Air, food and water are not artifical life support, but the mechanism of delivery may be.
The autopsy report does not support your assertions.
According to the Guardian ad Litem's report, she had three swallowing studies, all of which showed she couldn't swallow. The autopsy report confirmed that she would not have been able to swallow safely.
No, sorry. The videos were short bits edited out of many hours of random motions. You could do the same for many patients that were PVS. And no, the dehydration wouldn't keep the neuropathologist from accurately assessing the brain.
The law says otherwise. Don't like it? Then change the law to remove the right of spouses to determine an incapacitated person's fate. Don't like that either? Then make sure people have living wills. We are a nation of laws, not emotions.
As was Nazi Germany, that doesn't make all laws morally right.
Godwin!
It sure doesn’t. The autopsy report doesn’t change reality at all so far as that goes. During those last days I was with Monsignor Malanowski each day right after his visits and he gave us progress reports on how Terri was reacting. Do I believe him or do I believe an autopsy report based on a brain starved for hydration for thirteen days, on whether she was aware surroundings?
I guess you are an MD. I do have twenty six years experience with our son who was worse off in that department than Terri and he was very much aware of his surroundings, and similar in many ways. During those twenty six years we received much solemn evaluation from MD’s who gave us gloom and doom about his life span and he proved them all wrong.
I am a conservative Catholic and Monsignor is a fine priest. Who do I believe?
Oh, my son was worse off than Terri for swallowing, too. He could swallow. Terri would have swallowed, too, if they would have let her. As an MD you must know, swallowing is fairly basic even to one whose brain had received the insult s Terri’s received.
BUMP
You seem to know about certain parts of Terri’s situation, yet spill out the standard line of Terri’s adversaries. Perhaps you can enlighten us on your perspective. Do you know any of the players in this travesty?
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.