26 February 2005
Judge: Three Weeks Before Schiavo Murder Is Legal
Nuremburg Precedents to be Overturned in Florida Courts?
The case of Terri Schiavo continues to astound, both in its circumstances, and in some people's reaction to it.
While there has been a lot of concern expressed about the attempt to kill (via denial of water and food) a disabled patient, there are also a lot of people who think that this is all OK. The Chief finds the whole case not all that complicated IF common sense is applied to the objective circumstances.
Florida law defines the type of circumstance that comprises a "persistant vegetative state"
which legally justifies removing all life support, including food and water. Florida statute 765.101 states: "a persistent vegetative state," is "a permanent and irreversible condition of unconsciousness in which there is: (a) The absence of voluntary action or cognitive behavior of any kind. (b) An inability to communicate or interact purposefully with the environment."
I have seen televised videotapes of Terri Schiavo exhibiting voluntary action, cognitive behavior, and at least some attempt to communicate and respond to specific communication. BASED ON THIS ALONE, THE ATTEMPT TO KILL TERRI SCHIAVO HAS NO LEGAL JUSTIFICATION!!!
I won;t even bother to go into the whole deal on her "husband" being in line to receive the remaining cash settlement granted in Terri's behalf - after she is gone. Also, might a reasonable person think that the fact that he is living with another woman, and has two children by her just MIGHT give him some additional motivation to get rid of Terri as an inconvenient encumbrance to his new life? Just MAYBE? Just maybe, it's time to call a spade a spade here for a change.
Finally, ther was a precedent where disabled and handicapped people were judicially and legally ordered killed by the state, based on (a) their lack of social utility, and (b) their inferior quality of life. Of course the state that did this was Nazi Germany, and after the war the perpetrators of these policies and actions were held accountable for their acts. Is this really the precedent we want to establish as the law of OUR land? God help us if we do, for we will be on the slide downward further into what Pope John Paul has so aptly described as "the culture of death". (note: I am Mormon, NOT Catholic - but truth is truth - from whatever source it comes!)
The case of Terri Schiavo continues to astound, both in its circumstances, and in some people's reaction to it.
While there has been a lot of concern expressed about the attempt to kill (via denial of water and food) a disabled patient, there are also a lot of people who think that this is all OK. The Chief finds the whole case not all that complicated IF common sense is applied to the objective circumstances.
Florida law defines the type of circumstance that comprises a "persistant vegetative state"
which legally justifies removing all life support, including food and water. Florida statute 765.101 states: "a persistent vegetative state," is "a permanent and irreversible condition of unconsciousness in which there is: (a) The absence of voluntary action or cognitive behavior of any kind. (b) An inability to communicate or interact purposefully with the environment."
I have seen televised videotapes of Terri Schiavo exhibiting voluntary action, cognitive behavior, and at least some attempt to communicate and respond to specific communication. BASED ON THIS ALONE, THE ATTEMPT TO KILL TERRI SCHIAVO HAS NO LEGAL JUSTIFICATION!!!
I won;t even bother to go into the whole deal on her "husband" being in line to receive the remaining cash settlement granted in Terri's behalf - after she is gone. Also, might a reasonable person think that the fact that he is living with another woman, and has two children by her just MIGHT give him some additional motivation to get rid of Terri as an inconvenient encumbrance to his new life? Just MAYBE? Just maybe, it's time to call a spade a spade here for a change.
Finally, ther was a precedent where disabled and handicapped people were judicially and legally ordered killed by the state, based on (a) their lack of social utility, and (b) their inferior quality of life. Of course the state that did this was Nazi Germany, and after the war the perpetrators of these policies and actions were held accountable for their acts. Is this really the precedent we want to establish as the law of OUR land? God help us if we do, for we will be on the slide downward further into what Pope John Paul has so aptly described as "the culture of death". (note: I am Mormon, NOT Catholic - but truth is truth - from whatever source it comes!)
