The Schiavo case; separation of church-state abuse

so I take noone really minds the political circus being made out of this cause you all think the ploticos are really just interested in Terri's well civil rights?

Trying to figure out the motivations of our representatives in congresss is an OXYMORON.

Brandon,
Its called MARRIAGE law. They are husband and wife. It makes the spouse the legal guardian when one of them becomes incapacitated. There are also centuries of guardian law. You have to provide evidence before you can take away those rights of guardianship.

You keep coming up with the same assumptions but aren't providing any facts. The courts will always assume that the spouse knows the wishes better than anyone else based on their unique relationship. You have to PROVE that he is lying. You can't just ASSUME he is.

It is a circus for sure. The Florida courts ruled on this one based on Florida constitution. The Fed courts refused to take it because it was a state issue. No amount of Federal legislation is going to overturn the Florida constitution. Florida is free to interpret their constitution any way they want to under US constitution. As long as the Florida constitution doesn't conflict with US constitution, states rights will win on this one. Congress is wasting their time and our money on this one. It is nothing but a political grandstand.

parados, This isn't the only topic on which our congress wastes our money. The list is too long to post here, but I'm sure most people with some common sense can understand.

Do you have a list where state and federal constitutions conflict? That would be interesting.

That's not the issue here; it's the right of a spouse to make the decision with consultation with his doctors.

it's also a question of florida state law being unconstitutionally over-ridden by the Congress and will not stand review by the court. quite possible the worst act of grandstanding yet by either party.

a spouse having an affair with another woman - pretty righteous

it has nothing to do with "rightous." It's the state law.

Agree, Dys.

Another thing just came to mind. With the religious right / conservatives stepping in on this as they have... What happened to "The wife shall leave her mother and father and cleave to her husband...?"

I think seven Florida judges have supported his decision.

Social conservatives flex political muscle in Schiavo case
Posted on Sun, Mar. 20, 2005
Social conservatives flex political muscle in Schiavo case
By Steven Thomma
Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - The extraordinary response by the federal government to try to save the life of Terri Schiavo is a testament to the political passion and influence of social conservatives.

Once the feeding tube was removed from Schiavo on Friday, outraged conservatives rose up to demand action from a government they helped put in power.

The response was immediate. In a matter of hours, Republicans brushed aside questions about intruding in traditionally local affairs, settled a squabble between the House and Senate, and summoned members back to Washington from their Easter recess for a remarkable Palm Sunday session to begin enacting legislation unheard of a week before.

President Bush raced back from his Texas ranch to be ready to sign it.

Keith Appell, a veteran political strategist, worked with social conservative groups on the Schiavo case.

"They've played a major role," he said. "There's been an enormous amount of pressure brought to bear on conservative members of Congress to get involved."

Social conservatives - represented by such groups as Focus on the Family and the Christian Coalition - are a major part of the coalition that has twice elected George Bush president and kept Republicans in control of Congress. Yet until now they have not had as much influence in the Republican-controlled government as they would like.

They could not get approval of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. And they have not been able to overturn the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortions.

Still, Bush and many Republican members of Congress are eager to please them. Primarily, they tend to agree with social conservatives on cultural and moral issues. Politically, they are also mindful that Christian and social conservatives are an organized voting bloc.

Conservative Peggy Noonan warned Republicans controlling the federal government they risked a significant backlash if they failed to take action to save Schiavo.

"The Republican Party controls the Senate, the House and the White House. The Republicans are in charge. They have the power. If they can't save this woman's life, they will face a reckoning from a sizable portion of their own base. And they will of course deserve it," she wrote in the Wall Street Journal Friday.

At the same time, an unsigned memo circulated among Senate Republicans noted the potential political fallout from the Schiavo case.

"This is an important moral issue and the pro life base will be excited," said the memo, leaked to several news organizations.

The memo said the case could be particularly effective in Florida, where Schiavo lives and where the state's Democratic senator is up for re-election next year.

"This is a great political issue because Sen. Nelson of Florida has already refused to become a co-sponsor and this is a tough issue for Democrats," the memo said.

As Schiavo's feeding tube was disconnected Friday, some tried to turn the blame on liberals. Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh said, "the problem we face in the country here, folks, is that the left and the courts have created a culture of death."

The Christian Coalition blamed Democrats when Republicans could not agree on legislation Friday. The group said "the party of death" blocked a quick vote in the Senate.

Others worked to keep the pressure on the Republicans in charge. Groups like the Concerned Women for America and Focus on the Family urged members to flood Congress with calls and e-mail.

Radio talk show host Sean Hannity got House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., to explain why he couldn't reach agreement with Senate Republicans and then pressured Sensenbrenner to negotiate on the air with Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.

By Sunday, there were disputes over the wisdom of planned legislation.

"The most disturbing feature about the Terri Schiavo case is the intrusion of political forces into the process of family decision-making at the most vulnerable of times in the life of a family and person," said Richard Payne, director of the Institute on Care at the End of Life at Duke University Divinity School in North Carolina.

Appell, the strategist, noted that Congress decided to take action only grudgingly.

"Being conservative, there is a natural reluctance to get involved in something that is local," he said. "But they stayed out of this as long they could."

Also the partisan effects were not at all clear. Many Democrats were involved in the negotiations, including Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa and Rep. James Oberstar of Minnesota.

But there was no doubt that social conservatives had made themselves heard in Washington.

"You've had a rare moment where the traditional Christian conservatives and the social conservatives have come together with people representing the disabled community," Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., said on the "Fox News Sunday" program. "Those two forces have coalesced to do something good."

The power of religion in government is disturbing. With the republicans thru their religious constituency holding two branches of government captive and dangerously close to capturing the third how soon will it be before religion will govern the politics of this nation?

GOP using Schiavo and a political tactic
Saturday, March 19, 2005

Republican officials declared, in a memo that was supposed to be seen only by senators, that they believe their attention to the issue could pay dividends with Christian conservatives, whose support is essential in midterm elections such as those coming up in 2006.

A one-page memo, distributed to Republican senators by party leaders, called the debate over Schiavo legislation "a great political issue" that would appeal to the party's base, or core, supporters. The memo singled out Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), who is up for reelection next year and is potentially vulnerable in a state President Bush won last year.

"This is an important moral issue and the pro-life base will be excited that the Senate is debating this important issue," said the memo, which was reported by ABC News and later given to The Washington Post. "This is a great political issue, because Senator Nelson of Florida has already refused to become a cosponsor and this is a tough issue for Democrats."
Republicans acknowledged that the intervention was a departure from their usual support for states' rights. But they said their views about the sanctity life trumped their views about federalism.

Outside Schiavo's hospice in Florida, tension and anxiety rose among the demonstrators who have turned the roadside into a small tent city. At least three protesters were arrested early today, including a man who said he is a priest and who walked toward the hospice demanding to administer Holy Communion to Schiavo.

Search AP Story Archive Mar 21, 8:23 AM EST
Schiavo Case Sparks Push for Living Wills

By VICKIE CHACHERE
Associated Press Writer

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Terri Schiavo didn't have a living will. But because of her, thousands of other Americans won't make that same mistake. Attorneys and organizations that promote the importance of living wills and advance directives say the bitter legal battle over the severely brain damaged woman has led many people to put their end-of-life wishes in writing.

At attorney Christopher Likens' office in Sarasota, clients invariably bring up Terri Schiavo as they put their affairs in order.

"Almost universally, it's `That poor girl. I don't ever want that to happen to me,'" Likens said. "People are much more informed about the issue."

Most American adults - estimates are as high as 75 percent - do not have written directives for their families to follow.

Schiavo did not, and her fate has been debated in court for years as she lies in her hospice bed. Her feeding tube was removed Friday, but Congress worked through the weekend on a compromise to reinsert it, as has been done twice before.

"I think everyone can agree this is not the way the decision should be made," said Paul Malley, president of Aging with Dignity, a Tallahassee-based agency that created the living will known as "Five Wishes."

Orders for the will have been pouring in as the Schiavo case again grabs headlines worldwide. The group is sending out more than 2,000 living wills a day, with many people requesting multiple copies to distribute to family members.

Aging with Dignity estimates requests for its advanced directives are up tenfold because of the Schiavo case. In October 2003, when the case became an international sensation, on some days orders for living wills were pouring in at a rate of 200 an hour. The group has distributed 1 million copies of its living will since then.


http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BRAIN_DAMAGED_WOMAN_LIVING_WILLS?SITE=1010WINS&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


I wonder how many of us were we in that unfortunate womens place would if we could:
A] Opt to be kept alive
B] Choose to be allowed to die

It seems from the surge in interest in living wills millions would choose

I recently signed as a witness on about 8 living wills, it took me by surprise - being asked to witness - cause they didn't give me any advance notice and they are not related.

I wonder how many of the clowns in congress who voted to keep the human tragedy ongoing have living wills. I wouldn't be at all surprised if to a man the gutless ones have them.

au- Great cartoon, but very sad. No matter what the personal and emotional issues are, they pale in comparison with what Congress, and the President, is doing to the Constitution.

For all you folks who are so concerned about personal privacy, the Schiavo law is overturning over 200 years of checks and balances. The Homeland Security Law did not scare me, but this does!