Florida Governor Asks Judge to Delay Removal of Woman's Feeding Tube

[Judi Lynn]

Florida Governor Asks Judge to Delay Removal of Woman's Feeding Tube
By Mitch Stacy Associated Press Writer
Published: Aug 26, 2003


CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) - Gov. Jeb Bush asked a judge Tuesday to delay setting a date for removal of a brain-damaged woman's feeding tube so that a guardian for her can be appointed.

In a letter to state Circuit Judge George W. Greer, Bush asked that Terri Schiavo be kept alive until a court-appointed guardian can "independently investigate the circumstances of this case and provide the court with an unbiased view that considers the best interests of Mrs. Schiavo."

Schiavo has been in what doctors call a persistent vegetative state since collapsing in 1990. Her heart stopped from what doctors believe was a potassium imbalance. Since Sunday, she has been hospitalized with pneumonia and other problems.

The 39-year-old woman has been at the center of a long legal battle between her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, and her husband and legal guardian, Michael Schiavo. The parents want her kept alive; her husband says she never wanted to be kept alive artificially.
(snip/...)

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAR6HLSUJD.html

:silly: :crazy: :dunce:

This approaches the Solomon-like wisdom of Jeb Bush's decision to appoint a guardian for the fetus of a severely retarded woman who had been raped.

[Judi Lynn]

1. Jeb Bush loves to rescue people, even if they don't know it!

Let's face it, he's just a loving man.

[veganwitch]

2. from what i heard...

jebby-boy wasnt going to do anything about it. i wonder what caused the change in heart.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Just found an up-date

(snip) Posted on Wed, Aug. 27, 2003

Gov. Bush seeks delay in coma case
Judge to set date for woman's tube removal
BY MITCH STACY
Associated Press

CLEARWATER - A judge said Tuesday he is bound by court rulings and likely won't delay the removal of a brain-damaged woman's feeding tube, despite a plea from Gov. Jeb Bush.

In a letter Tuesday, Bush asked Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge George W. Greer to put off setting a date for removal of the feeding tube keeping Terri Schiavo alive and appoint a guardian to investigate the case, sparked by a battle between her parents and husband over whether she should be allowed to die.

Bush, whose office received 27,000 e-mails asking him to intervene, asked Greer to preserve Schiavo's life until a court-appointed guardian can ``independently investigate the circumstances of this case and provide the court with an unbiased view that considers the best interests of Mrs. Schiavo.''

But Greer said Tuesday he must abide by court rulings instructing him to set a date for removal of the tube and is ''not inclined'' to appoint a guardian. (snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/6624652.htm

It's about time some of the "Keep Gummint Outta Our Lives" Republicans started practicing what they preach, wouldn't you say?

[Tansy_Gold]

4. The man is positively obsessive about saving lives. . . . .

. .. .of "persons" who can't make their own choices and probably would not make the choices he wants them to make, but he seems to have no feelings whatsoever about those who can make choices but can't implement them: funding education for children, child welfare, health insurance for the poor, voting rights, saving the Everglades, etc.

What an asshole.

[noonwitch]

5. Jeb is right on this one

The woman in this case is brain damaged, not brain dead. She is awake at times and breathes on her own, without a respirator. Disconnecting her feeding tube would be starving her to death. The husband wants the insurance money and wants her dead so he can collect it. He has allegedly denied treatment to her at times and has limited her parents' visits with her. She had no living will. Jeb is right to ask the judge to appoint a guardian ad litem to assess the situation.
The freepers have been very active on this case and as scary as this sounds, I think they did a good thing lobbying for this woman and her family.

I live in Michigan and voted for an assisted suicide bill a few years ago, even though the proposal lost. The people that Dr. Kervorkian helped die made their choice clearly. This is a far different situation, and she is unable to make her wishes clear.

[veganwitch]

9. exactly

the details are very sketchy on this case. its not like shes completely non-responsive. she would definately show signs of pain from starvation.

also, and this might just be a rumour or something i mis-read, but do we know the circumstances of her injury? has spousal abuse been looked at?

[KamaAina]

10. Spousal abuse has indeed been looked at

http://wtsp.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=522

An attorney for the family of Terri Schiavo said Friday a medical test taken more than a decade ago raises questions over whether the woman - who has been in a comalike state for past 12 years -was abused by her husband....

A judge was set to make a decision next week, but in an emergency motion filed Tuesday, attorney Pat Anderson says she recently came across a 1991 bone scan showing that Schiavo had several bone fractures. She believes they might be signs of abuse.

A good reason to appoint a guardian ad litem if ever there was one. Too bad Jeb! had to wait until his right-wing buddies deluged his office with e-mail in order to get off his upholstered butt and do the right thing for once in his life.

It really browns me off that the religious right has made Terri into a cause celebre, just to bolster their arguments against abortion. Once again, it puts the disability rights movement in danger of being co-opted by the right (one group is actually in favor of Black Box Voting, for instance, on the grounds of accessibility!). I strongly suspect that if Bush* appointed Roy Moore or whoever to the Extreme Court tomorrow, and Roe v. Wade disappeared, that all these opportunists would walk away from Terri like she was an obnoxious bill collector, leaving only her family and the disability advocates.

The supreme irony is that Terri could soon be in danger, not from a judge's ruling regarding the feeding tube, but from the very Medicaid cuts that the right wing is backing.

[Atlant]

6. Maybe he knows she likes "Skee-Ball"? (NT)

[Braden]

7. Hey Jeb

Why dont you act as your own daughter's guardian to determine what is best for her.

you F******* hypocrite.

[sujan]

8. compassionate conservativm