Jeb Bush seeks custody of Terri Schiavo
March 24, 2005 - 10:40AM
The parents of Amerian woman Terri Schiavo saw their options vanish one by one today as a federal appeals court refused to re-insert her feeding tube and the Florida Legislature decided not to intervene in the epic struggle.
Refusing to give up, Florida Governor Jeb Bush sought court permission to take custody of Schiavo.
The desperate flurry of activity came as President George W Bush suggested Congress and the White House had done all they could to keep the severely brain-damaged woman alive.
As of this afternoon, Schiavo had gone five full days without food or water; doctors have said she could survive one to two weeks.
Ten protesters were arrested outside her hospice for trying to bring her water.
"When I close my eyes at night, all I can see is Terri's face in front of me, dying, starving to death," Mary Schindler said outside the Pinellas Park hospice. "Please, someone out there, stop this cruelty. Stop the insanity. Please let my daughter live."
The Schindlers have vowed to take their fight to the US Supreme Court, which refused to get involved previously.
Schiavo's tube was pulled on Friday afternoon with a Florida judge's approval. By late yesterday, her eyes were sunken and her skin, lips and tongue were parched, said Barbara Weller, a lawyer for the Schindlers.
Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly from a chemical imbalance believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder. Court-appointed doctors say she is in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery.
Her parents argue that she could get better and that she would never have wanted to be cut off from food and water. Schiavo's husband, Michael Schiavo, has argued that his wife told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially, and a state judge has repeatedly ruled in his favour.
The battle played out on several fronts today.
A three-judge panel from the Atlanta-based 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the family early today, and hours later the full court refused to reconsider in a 10-2 vote.
Governor Jeb Bush and the state's social services agency filed a petition in state court to take custody of Schiavo and, presumably, reconnect her feeding tube. It cites new allegations of neglect and challenges Schiavo's diagnosis as being in a persistent vegetative state. The request is based on the opinion of a neurologist working for the state who observed Schiavo at her bedside but did not conduct an examination of her.
The Florida Legislature also jumped back into the fray, but senators rejected a bill that would have prohibited patients like Schiavo from being denied food and water if they did not express their wishes in writing. The measure was rejected 21-18.
The Legislature stepped in before, in 2003, and Schiavo's feeding tube was reinserted. But "Terri's Law" was later struck down by the state Supreme Court as an unconstitutional attempt to interfere in the courts.
The Senate vote today came after a bitter debate, with Terri Schiavo's brother, Bobby Schindler, watching from the gallery above the floor.
Senate Democratic Leader Les Miller warned: "By the time the ink is dry on the governor's signature, it will be declared unconstitutional, just like it was before."
A lawyer for Michael Schiavo said he was pleased by what happened in the appeals court. But he was bothered that the governor was attempting to intervene again.
"They have no more power than you or I or a person walking down the street to say we have the right to take Terri Schiavo," lawyer George Felos said.
Meanwhile, President Bush suggested that he and Congress had done their best to help the parents prolong Schiavo's life, and the White House said it had no further legal options.
AP
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/03/24/1111525261678.html
March 24, 2005 - 10:40AM
The parents of Amerian woman Terri Schiavo saw their options vanish one by one today as a federal appeals court refused to re-insert her feeding tube and the Florida Legislature decided not to intervene in the epic struggle.
Refusing to give up, Florida Governor Jeb Bush sought court permission to take custody of Schiavo.
The desperate flurry of activity came as President George W Bush suggested Congress and the White House had done all they could to keep the severely brain-damaged woman alive.
As of this afternoon, Schiavo had gone five full days without food or water; doctors have said she could survive one to two weeks.
Ten protesters were arrested outside her hospice for trying to bring her water.
"When I close my eyes at night, all I can see is Terri's face in front of me, dying, starving to death," Mary Schindler said outside the Pinellas Park hospice. "Please, someone out there, stop this cruelty. Stop the insanity. Please let my daughter live."
The Schindlers have vowed to take their fight to the US Supreme Court, which refused to get involved previously.
Schiavo's tube was pulled on Friday afternoon with a Florida judge's approval. By late yesterday, her eyes were sunken and her skin, lips and tongue were parched, said Barbara Weller, a lawyer for the Schindlers.
Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly from a chemical imbalance believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder. Court-appointed doctors say she is in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery.
Her parents argue that she could get better and that she would never have wanted to be cut off from food and water. Schiavo's husband, Michael Schiavo, has argued that his wife told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially, and a state judge has repeatedly ruled in his favour.
The battle played out on several fronts today.
A three-judge panel from the Atlanta-based 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the family early today, and hours later the full court refused to reconsider in a 10-2 vote.
Governor Jeb Bush and the state's social services agency filed a petition in state court to take custody of Schiavo and, presumably, reconnect her feeding tube. It cites new allegations of neglect and challenges Schiavo's diagnosis as being in a persistent vegetative state. The request is based on the opinion of a neurologist working for the state who observed Schiavo at her bedside but did not conduct an examination of her.
The Florida Legislature also jumped back into the fray, but senators rejected a bill that would have prohibited patients like Schiavo from being denied food and water if they did not express their wishes in writing. The measure was rejected 21-18.
The Legislature stepped in before, in 2003, and Schiavo's feeding tube was reinserted. But "Terri's Law" was later struck down by the state Supreme Court as an unconstitutional attempt to interfere in the courts.
The Senate vote today came after a bitter debate, with Terri Schiavo's brother, Bobby Schindler, watching from the gallery above the floor.
Senate Democratic Leader Les Miller warned: "By the time the ink is dry on the governor's signature, it will be declared unconstitutional, just like it was before."
A lawyer for Michael Schiavo said he was pleased by what happened in the appeals court. But he was bothered that the governor was attempting to intervene again.
"They have no more power than you or I or a person walking down the street to say we have the right to take Terri Schiavo," lawyer George Felos said.
Meanwhile, President Bush suggested that he and Congress had done their best to help the parents prolong Schiavo's life, and the White House said it had no further legal options.
AP
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/03/24/1111525261678.html
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 11:58 PM
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