Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Terri Schiavo VII

I thought about writing about something else, but there's nothing more important right now.

As I left for lunch, the latest news I had on Terri was that the 11th Circuit Court three-judge panel (randomly selected: 2 Clinton appointees and 1 Bush appointee) decided 2-1 to refuse ordering Terri's feeding tube to be reinserted. Then the full 11th Circuit Court also refused. They said Terri's parents ''failed to demonstrate a substantial case on the merits of any of their claims.''

Hello???!!! If Terri were a mass murderer, they'd keep her alive and let even the most stupid, pointless case be presented. If she were an endangered insect or rodent or onion, they'd have to protect her life while even the most stupid, pointless case is presented. But because Terri is a harmless, helpless young woman, her parents have to "demonstrate a substantial case" in instantaneous legal filings? What's wrong with these judges?

Her parents are appealing to the US Supreme Court, but at six days into her starvation, Terri doesn't have much, if any, time to spare.

But then I saw the latest, and I have a little more hope. Florida's Department of Children and Families is considering removing Terri by force from the hospice where she has lived. Quoting WorldNetDaily, "Department secretary Lucy Hadi told the Palm Beach Post her staff is relying on a state law giving authority to intervene on behalf of a vulnerable adult 'suffering from abuse or neglect that presents a risk of death or serious physical injury.'"

"We're not compelled to look at prior judicial proceedings," Hadi told the Post. "What we're compelled to look at is the presenting circumstance and any allegation of abuse and neglect that we've received. So we have to deal with those and fulfill our statutory responsibility, notwithstanding anything else that may have gone on before."

Let's pray they get her out in time.

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