The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has denied yet again the appeal by Bob and Mary Schindler to reconsider the Florida ruling that permitted Michael Schiavo to withdraw a feeding tube from his brain-damaged wife, Terri.
In a strongly worded concurrence, Judge Stanley Birch said Congress overstepped its bounds in passing a law last week calling for the federal court to look at the case. He said the judges did not want to be "activist judges" by overturning Florida state law.With Terri Schiavo entering her 13th day without food or water, this apparently was the last possible courtroom appeal."Congress chose to to overstep Constitutional boundaries into the province of the judiciary," Birch wrote. "Such an act cannot be countenanced."
He said it was duty of the court to "conscientiously guard the independence of our judiciary and safeguard the Constitution, even in the face of the unfathomable human tragedy that has befallen Mrs. Schiavo and her family and the recent events related to her plight which have troubled the consciences of man."
"But when the fervor of political passions moves the Executive and the Legislative branches to act in ways inimical to basic constitutional principles, it is the duty of the judiciary to intervene," Birch wrote.
Two judges, Gerald Tjoflat and Charles Wilson, dissented. They wrote that Schiavo's parents brought a "plausible claim" that the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires "clear and convincing evidence of an individual's wishes before a state court may order withdrawal of life sustaining nutrition, hydration or other medical attention."
Doctors have insisted that she would die roughly two weeks after having her feeding tube withdrawn; her husband has insisted that he was complying with her wishes in doing so, much to the anger of many protestors in Florida and across the nation.
This has all got to stop. All has gone to far. May God forgive Micheal and his followers.
May God grant peace to Terri's Mom, Dad and siblings.
We as a nation need to reconsider what is right and what is wrong. As a nation we feel that it is wrong to starve an animal to death but not a person. As a nation we feel that it is wrong to kill an eagle and can be fined $50,000 but not for killing a baby in the process of being born (partial birth abortions) or in the mother's womb. Death row inmates gets years of appeals but not one handicapped woman. We have laws saying that it is wrong to discriminate against the handicapped but the courts are in the process of murdering Terri. Is this murder? Yes, she is not on life support. The last time I looked, all of us need food and water to sustain life. May God forgive us for murdering Terri. May God forgive us for placing so little value on human life. And my thanks goes out to the President, Congress, Govenor Bush for standing up for Terri's life. At least I know that someone in this country will stand up for a person's right to life.
MC
Posted by: mc at March 30, 2005 08:58 PMHow can a man just stand by and watch as his WIFE is being starved to death. Maybe it would be different if he could not get any money from all of this. He is trying to play GOD and he is more like the DEVIL. Like the old saying goes, what goes around comes around, and his time will come. Why is he not being tried for adultry? His girl friend should be really watching him, as he will probably try to get rid of her too just for money.
Posted by: Marlene Spradlin at March 30, 2005 09:01 PMI just can't stop wondering why Michael Shivo insists his wife die? Her parents are wiling to care for her, people have offered him millions to just go away, but yet he persists him and his Kevorkian Lawyer. Even insisting she be cremated. I think we have us an episode of CSI in the making. Now I truly know the meaning of the Florida Tag on FARK.
Posted by: Sgt Fluffy at March 30, 2005 11:10 PM