Terri Schiavo's Parents Seek Divorce on Her Behalf

[lookout123]

and pundits start acting as if it is some sort of barbaric execution that judges have sentenced her to.

a large part of this, i think, is that many people who are pushing an agenda aren't completely stupid. they know they need the perfect case to further their cause. in this one they have a man who they can cast in an unfavorable light (new family, etc.) and a set of parents who will get in front of cameras and draw sympathy.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

Jeb Bush

Bingo!

[warch]

I think Michael Schiavo's actions are downright heroic. Delay, yet again, reveals himself to be the slime of the earth.

[mrnoodle]

I'm too busy at the moment to read all the posts in this thread, so this may have been addressed already. Political persuasion, congress getting involved with uncongressional things, and armchair neurology aside, what's the problem with continuing to feed the woman?

We don't know her wishes, and Michael Schiavo's assertion (seven years too late) that she wants to die rings false to my ears. If her parents and supporters want to feed her, let em. MS can be free of the worry by divorcing her, and delusional or not, her parents have invested far more in her well-being than he has. I think he abdicated his spousal rights when he established a common-law marriage with his current partner.

[Happy Monkey]

Seven years too late for what?

[mrnoodle]

to suddenly remember, "oh yeah, by the way, she wanted to be taken off life-support."

[Clodfobble]

No no, he's been fighting this in court for the full seven years, ever since it happened. He has maintained from the beginning that she told him she would never want to be kept alive artificially, and he feels he should honor that wish.

[Happy Monkey]

Did he say that she wouldn't want to be on life support ever, or that she wouldn't want to have her body kept alive after all hope of recovery was lost? Because the two dates are considerably different, and most people wouldn't want to end life support while hope for a cure remains. But at some point you have to face facts, and Michael has done so long before her parents.

And Michael is the one whose decision it is, no matter how many ghouls want to armchair quarterback, and judge his life, or advance their political agendas. The parents are to be pitied, and it is too bad they couldn't come to an agreement with their daughter's husband, but it's not their call, no matter how many more morality points they have than him. I don't care whether they keep Terri's body alive, and I don't think Terri currently cares either, but Michael does, and it's not my call. It's his.

[Undertoad]

Apparently the dark areas are where spinal fluid has replaced brain matter.

[Radar]

Undertoad,

Where did you get that pic of Terri's brain?

[Catwoman]

Mmm, this is the problem. How do we know she is brain-dead. She might be able to understand everything around her - and more - and is it really right to end her life for her? I think that film would describe my greatest fear.

[lizthefiz]

Originally Posted by Catwoman

Mmm, this is the problem. How do we know she is brain-dead. She might be able to understand everything around her - and more - and is it really right to end her life for her? I think that film would describe my greatest fear.

All my life, whenever I have asked a doctor what causes a medical condition or to explain in detail its progress etc. The stock answer is "we don't really know". Yet, they really are sure about Terri's condition. Somethings not right with the medical profession period.

[mrnoodle]

like, for example, when someone is under anaesthesia and the "make-you-unconscious" component wears off before the paralyzing component. I think they now add a shot of something that takes away your memory, just in case.

but anyway. there's obviously no clean answer to this question. it would be a blessing for everyone involved if she died of a heart attack today and rendered the whole argument moot.

[Kitsune]

How do we know she is brain-dead. She might be able to understand everything around her - and more - and is it really right to end her life for her?

She has no cerebral cortex at all -- the only thing left of her brain is the brain stem. The cerebral cortex died of oxygen starvation, was replaced by fluid, and the remaining parts of her brain were smashed against her skull by the pressure buildup. When they place electrodes on her head to measure brain activity the graph is nothing but flat lines. She is, without a doubt, brain dead.

[mrnoodle]

My new favorite conservative blogger, Hugh Hewitt, wrote this today:

Will Justice Kennedy Cite the Gronigen Protocol?

With the astonishing decision of the 11th Circuit to deny injunctive relief to Terri Schiavo's parents during the course of these appeals, the urgent matter moves first to a petition for en banc review and then to Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, only recently in the headlines for relying in part on foreign law in his ruling against the death penalty for juveniles. It is a false hope to believe that Justice Kennedy will act to stay Terri's death, or that there are five members of the Court willing to do so, despite the clear intent of Congress that hydration and nutrition be resumed until a de novo trial was held, and appeals from that trial exhausted.

Judge Charles Wilson "strongly dissented" from the decision of his two colleagues, and I have not been able to access online the opinion of the majority. Yesterday's District Court decision was silent on the intent of Congress regarding interim relief, as it had to be as there is no approaching the subject without running headlong into the clearly communicated intent of the Congress that the relief be granted pending trial on the merits. Howard Bashman suggests the deletion of Section 5 from the legislation gave the courts the authority to deny interim relief. That is simply wrong. Section 5 of the Senate Bill was deleted because it contained the word "may," and as Majority Leader DeLay communicated in the Sunday press conference, the Congress did not intend to leave discretion on the subject of interim relief with the courts, and thus the phrase was eliminated.

Here is what DeLay said on Sunday as he and other Congressmen outlined the bill, its meaning, and the procedures that would be followed to see it enacted: "We are confident this compromise will restore nutrition and hydration to Mrs. Schiavo as long as that appeal endures. Obviously, the judge will have to put the feeding tube back in or she could die before the case is heard."

Judicial contempt for the coordinate branches on this scale is simply staggering. Anyone defending this morning's majority or yesterday's ruling has to defend this disregard of Congressional action. Had either court ruled that the law was unconstitutional, that would have at least clothed the Pontius Pilate approach with some legal cover. But reciting irrelevant standards for granting injunctive relief in advance of trial in a case where Congress intended the injunction to issue is simple sophistry. As I wrote yesterday, there are many different standards governing the issuance of injunctive relief, and when Congress intends great caution --as with imminent harm to endangered plants and animals-- the trigger for injunctive relief is very sensitive. The 11th Circuit has now ruled that the Congress intended a higher standard of review in Terri's case than in the routine case of imminent harm to, say, Munz's Onion or the snail darter. Absurd, and obviously so.

I can only hope that four justices oblige the Supreme Court to take up the matter so we can at least get some opinions on this subject of Congressional intent from the dissenters, or at least an honest rejection of the right to Congress to act. At this point we have a robed charade: Two courts pretending that Congress had the power to order what it ordered, but ignoring the law that was passed.

Much of the rhetoric from the left on this matter has been angry and callous, especially towards Terri and those who are defending the dignity of her life even in her present condition. C.S. Lewis wrote, in The Weight of Glory, some lines that those commentators might want to consider as this drama seems to move towards Terri's death:

"There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations -- these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit --immortal horrors or everlasting splendors."

I have no legal expertise, so I don't know whether or not Hewitt is blowing smoke out his ass. But I do know that injunctive relief has been granted in the context of the Endangered Species Act -- why should Terri Schiavo be any different?