Jeb Bush supports therapy for brain-damaged Florida woman; feeding tube removal set Oct. 15

AP Wire (breaking story) | October 7, 2003 | VICKIE CHACHERE

[NYer]

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) _ Gov. Jeb Bush is arguing that a brain-damaged woman should be provided therapy despite a state judge's order to remove the feeding tube that has been keeping her alive.

In documents made public Tuesday, lawyers representing the governor argued that Terri Schiavo is entitled to therapy aimed at helping her swallow to determine if she can eat and drink on her own.

The brief, filed late Monday, argues that state law recognizes the persistent vegetative state Schiavo is in as different from having a terminal illness. ``Terri's right to life is violated by the state when the state, acting as her guardian, assumes that her wish to live without artificial sustenance is the same as her wish not to be fed at all,'' the governor's brief said. ``The fact that she is unable to give herself nourishment is not a symptom of a dying body. It is the result of severe injury and disability.''

The 39-year-old woman has been at the center of a long legal battle between her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, and her husband and legal guardian, Michael Schiavo. She suffered severe brain damage following a heart attack in 1990. The parents want her kept alive; her husband says she never wanted to be kept alive artificially. A hearing is scheduled Friday.

George Felos, a lawyer representing Michael Schiavo, contends there is no provision in the court rules for Bush's brief and said he will file a motion to strike it from the record. ``I think it's a very poor precedent, and it's an unfortunate use of his authority by the governor trying to intervene in this case ... gives the impression that he is trying to put political pressure on the judiciary, and I think that's wrong.''

Pat Anderson, the lawyer representing the Schindlers, declined to comment on the filing. Court-appointed doctors have testified that Terri Schiavo's brain damage is so severe she cannot be rehabilitated. Her feeding tube is set to be removed Oct. 15.

The governor's filing in the Schiavo case is an opinion, not a formal intervention seeking to replace Michael Schiavo as his wife's guardian. Earlier this year, Bush had unsuccessfully tried to intervene in another case, asking an Orlando court to appoint a guardian for the fetus of a disabled rape victim.

On the Net: Terri Schiavo's parents: http://www.terrisfight.org/

AP-ES-10-07-03 1502EDT

[STARWISE]

Other than to be purposely disruptive and argumentative, if you don't care about this issue, why waste time here?

[Hildy]

I don't know...carry on.

[Canadian Outrage]

I printed that out today so I could read it a couple of times. Seems pretty legally comprehensive to me. I work as a paralegal although I was an RN for many years. The citing of numerous statutes that are being violated here is astounding.!! Judge Greer ought to be removed from the bench. He is NOT fit to make judgements, if this is any example of his work. I'm not convinced that Michael Schiavo didn't attempt to kill his wife in the first place but it somehow failed. He has been trying to finish the job for years now.

[MarMema]

Here is a link I like for more of the same.

link, except when you get to Christine Busalacchi, try to keep it together because they dehydrated her to death anyway...

[Ohioan from Florida]

It is pretty comprehensive. I love the part where it talks about how the patient would retain certain rights, that can never be approved or disapproved of by the court. That's one biggie that Greer should have known better, but he chose to overlook. Now someone (Lazzara or others) will get to look at his work under a microscope. How does it feel Greer?

[Ohioan from Florida]

Thanks! I wasn't expecting so many on the list! I've bookmarked it for later referral.

[OldFriend]

How presumptuous of you to know anything about me or my family's regard for me.

[STARWISE]

How presumptuous of you to assume that I was making any connection between my family's regard for me and your family's regard for you.

[phenn]

This is an emotional issue to say the least. On the one hand, you have people who believe Terri Schiavo has been mistreated by both her husband and the courts. She has been denied therapy and a route to recovery. People from all walks of life are fearful - and rightly so - that this could come home to roost one day in their family. This is a legitimate concern.

On the other side, there are those who favor keeping their right to refuse heroic efforts and this is also completely legitimate. Some people see prolonging life as burdensome and I would assess we're almost conditioned to feel that way - with cost of care being what it is.

For both sides of the view, this is what I have to say: there is no compassionate resolution to dehydrating a living body to death. There is no dignity in dying with your body exploited by the sheer suffering starvation causes.

It is my opinion, and only an opinion, that those people who think Terri Schiavo is no longer a viable life are people who have not thoroughly gone through the information about her case. Whether you have done so or not, I would encourage you to go to www.terrisfight.org and read, view, think about it and then consider it a bit longer.

I welcome an opposite point of view and am happy to discuss. Let's keep it in check (not directed at you personally) and talk about this. I think there are a lot of people out there who do not realize what is actually going on in this case. I also think a lot of good can come out of discussing it openly. This is a very important thing that will touch us all at some stage in our lives.

It merits mentioning that when I first heard of Terri's case (in local media), I believed she was in a coma, hopeless, etc. and that her parents were in denial. When I took the time to read up about her *specific* case, I learned that I was mislead.

That bears repeating. I was mislead.

[Canadian Outrage]

I LOVED that sentence too. If you ask me, that was a good smack upside the pinhead Greer.!! Greer not only should know the law, he MUST know the law.!

[WFTR]

Has anyone pinged you over here?

[sfRummygirl]

The 'pro-life people?"
Yeah, I guess you have to be a special type of person to not want to starve a woman to death.
Silly me.
(I smell a poser)

[sfRummygirl]

Have any of you folks seen the videos of her?
Wait a minute, I'm processing with depressed trolls.....why do I do this?

[sfRummygirl]

Oh come on...you post a cold comment, and then demand no one respond? God, what the heck is going on with you....

[PGalt]

Life

[sfRummygirl]

Very well said.

[sfRummygirl]

Does responding to you qualify as 'attacking'?

[sfRummygirl]

Oh, thank you for being honest....You actually don't care. See, that's so much easier than actually arguing with people who are capable of full human compassion.

[sfRummygirl]

Hildy is not dealing with a full range of humanity. She's damaged, and that's why she posted here in the first place. Because she wanted the attention.

[sfRummygirl]

You know, you are so much like me, it is funny. You just posted the almost exact same thing I did to 'hildy'....