Schiavo's Parents Find Options Dwindling After Failed Federal Appeal
by Jenni Parker
March 23, 2005
(AgapePress) - Early on Wednesday Terri Schiavo's parents suffered another setback in their bid to save their daughter's life when a federal court panel issued a 2-1 ruling against them. On the brain-damaged woman's fifth day without a feeding tube, Bob and Mary Schindler and Terri's brother Bobby Schindler are vowing they will take their fight to the U.S. Supreme Court and the Florida legislature.In the latest ruling, a panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta upheld the earlier decision by a judge in Tampa, claiming Bob and Mary Schindler had "failed to demonstrate a substantial case on the merits of any of their claims." Therefore, the court ruled, Terri Schiavo's feeding and hydration tube is not to be reconnected.
Judge Charles Wilson offered a dissenting opinion, noting that denying the Schindlers' request for an injunction frustrates the intent of Congress, which is to keep Terri alive until the federal courts have "a new and adequate opportunity to consider the constitutional issues raised by Plaintiffs." Wilson, a Clinton appointee, said he failed to see the harm in reinstating Terri's feeding tube.
On the other hand, the dissenting judge pointed out that the harm if the tube is not reconnected is both imminent and ultimate. If steps are not taken to prevent Terri's impending death by starvation and dehydration, Wilson noted, her imminent demise "effectively ends the litigation without a fair opportunity to fully consider the merits of Plaintiff's constitutional claims."
According to Cybercast News, Bob and Mary Schindler said yesterday that Terri is fading fast as the effects of being denied fluid and nourishment take their toll. Attorneys for the family say the Schindlers will be appealing this latest federal court ruling. However, their appeals process is nearly exhausted and, twice now, the Supreme Court of the United states has refused to intervene in the case.
Bringing Pro-life Pressure to Bear on the Powers That Be
Terri's parents are also looking to the Florida Senate in hopes that the lawmakers will act on a bill passed by the state House that prohibits the withholding of food or water from a person in a persistent vegetative state. Mary Schiavo made a heartfelt appeal to the state senators yesterday, saying, "For the love of God, I'm begging you, don't let my daughter die of thirst." Media reports say the senators may take up the legislation as early as Wednesday.
However, some members of the Florida Senate are expressing resentment over the pressure being placed on them in this extremely volatile and controversial matter. According to one Associated Press report, State Senator Larcenia Bullard was considering changing her vote to support a bill that could keep Terri Schiavo alive. But after being shouted at, insulted, and told to envision her own daughter in a coma, the senator says she changed her mind.
Bullard says she would like to ask some of these aggressive protesters whether they are serving the same God she serves. Meanwhile, another state senator told AP she questions the Christianity of protestors who wish an agonizing death on lawmakers who refused to support the legislation that might have saved Terri's life.
Emotions continue to run high as friends and supporters of the Schindler family, pro-family leaders and politicians, and pro-life and disability concerns advocates all weigh in on the complexities of a dramatic debate centering on the endangered life of one brain-injured Florida woman. One voice of concern comes from a woman who takes Terri's battle very much to heart, both for her own sake and the sake of the disabled community.
Joni Eareckson Tada is a Christian artist, author, and activist-spokesperson for the disabled who became a quadriplegic as a result of a 1967 diving accident. In a recent AP interview, she noted that she finds the latest events in the Schiavo case alarming -- especially since she herself was dependent on others for food and water not long ago while she was in the hospital undergoing treatment for pneumonia.
According to Tada, who now heads the "Joni and Friends" ministry, her own recent vulnerability makes the withdrawal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube all the more frightening for her. She says the wish that Michael Schiavo claims his wife expressed years ago -- that she would not want to live if she were severely disabled -- should not determine what happens to the Florida woman now. Tada says she would have said the same thing herself before she broke her neck, but she has since become convinced that all life is precious.
Another voice issuing passionate pleas on Terri's behalf comes from actress Patricia Heaton, the honorary chair of Feminists for Life of America. FFL is against the deliberate destruction of human life and strongly opposes the killing of a disabled woman under the rubric of a so-called "right" to die.
Appearing last night on the TV show Entertainment Tonight, Heaton voiced concern for Terri and all vulnerable people. "I think we've gotten to the point in society where you kind of have to prove your value. We're getting to the point where it's being said that it's okay to dispose of you," the actress said.
Heaton went on to explain that Terri has committed no crime and has done nothing wrong, other than being unable to speak for herself. Her family is speaking for her, Heaton said, and she hopes the courts will listen because, she added, "We don't have that much time left."
A Challenge to the Brothers Bush
Michael Peroutka, last year's Constitution Party presidential candidate, is calling for emergency action from two pertinent state and federal leaders to save Terri's life. The conservative third party pundit has sent an open letter to President George W. Bush and Florida's Governor Jeb Bush, insisting that it is their sworn duty to use their power and authority to save the brain-injured woman from judicially mandated death by starvation and dehydration.
Judges represent only one branch of American government, Peroutka points out, and elected leaders likewise take an oath to uphold the Constitution and protect citizens' God-given right to life. In his open letter, the Constitution Party spokesman urges the president or the Florida governor to order the relevant law enforcement personnel to either guard or take Terri Schiavo into protective custody; to order her feeding tube reinserted; and to "arrest anyone who attempts to murder her" by removing the tube.
Peroutka says all those who support Terri Schiavo's right to live want to see action taken, but all do not have it within their power and ability to rescue her or "to stop her from being murdered in cold blood." However, the former presidential candidate asserts, the executive leaders of the U.S. and of Florida do have that power and ability, and he is urging them to exercise it to save the disabled woman from court-ordered death.
Governor Jeb Bush has renewed his own call for the Florida legislature to step in and "spare Terri's life." Meanwhile, AP reports that ten demonstrators outside Schiavo's hospice were arrested trying to bring her water -- one of them a ten-year-old boy. Physicians say the 41-year-old patient could survive one to two weeks without water and nutrients.
