Covenant News Wire Service

Schiavo Autopsy Not Husband's Choice, Required by Law

Autopsy Not Husband's Idea

Pinellas Park, Fla. -- The alleged agreement in which Michael Schiavo requested that an autopsy be performed on Terri Schiavo's body "to have the public know the full and massive extent of the damage to Mrs. Schiavo's brain," is meaningless. Because Schiavo plans to have his wife's body cremated, Florida law mandates that an autopsy be performed.

Numerous online, broadcast and print news reports in recent days have highlighted Michael Schiavo's "choice" -- as explained by his attorney, nationally recognized "right-to-die" author and activist George Felos -- to have an autopsy performed.

"We didn't feel it was appropriate to talk about an autopsy prior to Mrs. Schiavo's death," Felos said at a March 28 press conference. "But, again, because claims have been made by ... opponents of carrying out her wishes that there was some motive behind the cremation of Mrs. Schiavo, we felt it was necessary to make that announcement."

But the Pinellas County Medical Examiner's office has disputed Felos' portrayal of the autopsy as Michael Schiavo's choice.

"The medical examiner's investigation into the cause of death is mandated by Florida law," said William Pellan, forensic services director. "And, for no other reason, an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death and family requests are immaterial in that determination."

Felos also claimed that Michael Schiavo was requesting the autopsy because, "He believes it's important to have the public know the full and massive extent of the damage to Mrs. Schiavo's brain that occurred through the cardiac arrest in 1990."

Pellan disputed that claim, as well.

"Pursuant to Florida law, the autopsy report will be public record," Pellan said.

Michael Schiavo's choice to have his wife cremated eliminated any choice he might have had as to whether or not an autopsy will be performed. Florida State Statute 406.11, entitled "Examinations, investigations and autopsies," mandates the circumstances under which an autopsy must be performed.

"In any of the following circumstances involving the death of a human being, the medical examiner of the district in which the death occurred or the body was found shall determine the cause of death and shall, for that purpose, make or have performed such examinations, investigations, and autopsies as he or she shall deem necessary or as shall be requested by the state attorney," the statute states.

The applicable condition bringing the law to bear in the Schiavo case is, "When a body is to be cremated, dissected, or buried at sea."

Robert and Mary Schindler have previously expressed their belief that Michael Schiavo physically assaulted Terri in 1990 resulting in her brain injury. They also accused Schiavo in court documents of neglecting and abusing his wife after her brain injury. Schiavo has denied those allegations.

Dr. Michael Baden, a forensic pathologist who formerly directed the New York City and New York State crime labs, said the autopsy will not prove whether or not Terri was in a Persistent Vegetative State.

"They'll be looking for a number of things, one of which is to identify more clearly what brain damage Terri Schiavo has suffered. [They'll want to] to see whether it was due to a cardiac arrest suffered 15 years ago as was determined in the malpractice litigation, or whether there was any evidence of a brain trauma," Baden told Fox News Channel. "They'll be able to tell that from the brain examination, even 15 years later."

Pellan said the cause of death and autopsy report "may not be available for several weeks," and that his office would make no comment on the investigation while it is in progress. He added that "interested parties" would be notified when the report is completed.


http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=%5
CNation%5Carchive%5C200503%5CNAT20050331j.html

Schiavo autopsy could answer questions

Terri Schiavo's autopsy

Schiavo autopsy could answer questions
Or it could fuel the family feud that started 15 years ago

Terri Schiavo's body arrived at a medical examiner's office within three hours of her death. Dr. William Pellan, Pinellas County's chief of forensic pathology, indicated his main task was not to resolve disputes between her husband and parents.

"An autopsy will be performed to determine cause of death and family requests are immaterial in that determination," he said.

The cause of death is almost certainly a lack of food and water. But Dr. Pellan said there would also be a detailed study of Schiavo's brain by a specialist in neuropathology.

So what might the autopsy reveal?

"You can really get a good idea in terms of which parts of the brain would still be functioning and what parts of the brain are now so sufficiently damaged that they would no longer be functioning," says Dr. Daniel Perl, the chief of neuropathology at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York.

Perl says the autopsy itself will take an hour or two. But he says a thorough brain exam requires preserving the remains in a solution for a week to 10 days.

Brain scans already have shown that Schiavo's brain shrank considerably, but Perl says the preserved brain tissue gives much more information.

"We can learn the nature of the injury and the extent of the damage," says Perl.

For years it was thought that an eating disorder caused Schiavo's heart to stop. So what about recent allegations, denied by Michael Schiavo, that he caused an injury that stopped her heart? If someone were injured 15 years ago, could you see it on the autopsy?

"[It] depends on the nature of the injury," says Perl. "If it were an actual physical injury, there might be scarring. There may be marks left that are still present. Very often, when it's that many years ago, it can be very difficult.”

So the autopsy, like many other aspects of the case, could remain the focus of intense debate.


http://msnbc.msn
.com/id/7350447/

Terri Schiavo dies 14 days after the state of Florida removed her feeding tube

Terri Schiavo dies

Death comes after courts repeatedly ruled against parents

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- Fourteen days after a court ordered her feeding tube removed, and after multiple attempts by her parents to get the order lifted, Terri Schiavo passed away on Thursday.

The family battle over whether to keep her alive galvanized the nation.

The case had spent seven years winding its way through the courts, with the parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, repeatedly on the losing end.

The nation’s high court on Wednesday declined to intervene for the sixth time. Hours earlier in an 9-2 ruling, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta declined to grant a new hearing in the case — the fourth time since last week that it ruled against the Schindlers.


http://www.msnbc.m
sn.com/id/7293186/

Righteousness or Republicanism

Righteousness or Republicanism

By Kelly McGinley / NewsWithViews.com

This country is in a constitutional and moral crisis and the blind loyalty to the Republican Party has a lot to do with the problem. We have got to stop supporting a candidate just because he or she has an "R" before his or her name. The Republican platform is great, but if the Republicans only give it lip service, what good is it? Truth is the Christians who blindly support Republicanism over righteousness have blood all over their hands.

It is the moral and biblical duty of Christians to choose representatives of great moral character who fear God. It is then our job to support them in prayer and stand with them when they are persecuted. And when they become weak and want to compromise we hold their feet to the fire. If their fruit is different than their talk then we need to fire them and elect a new Christian.

Noah Webster stated "When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers "just men who will rule in the fear of God." The preservation of a republican government depends on the faithful discharge of this duty; If the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made not for the public good so much as for the selfish or local purposes; Corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizens will be violated or disregarded. If a Republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws."

We must put the blame at the feet of Christians for the crisis we find ourselves in today. The Republican Party is not going save America. And our blind loyalty to it is destroying us. The party has been infiltrated with baby killers, sodomites, fornicators promoters, big government socialism, big spending money grubbers, anti gun Marxists just to name a few. This blind loyalty has given the politician a blank check to do what ever he wants. He knows that no one will know or really care because it is all about winning.

To most Christians the elections are just about winning, not truth and righteousness. They have no idea how the candidate stands on the issues. Some are naive enough to think that because they are Republicans that they stand on the Republican platform. There is hardly a Republican out there that will write legislation to end the genocide of Americans let alone to monitor the industry. Most every Republican I have interviewed believes in civil unions with benefits using your money. Not a one I know has tried to impeach a tyrannical judge let alone reign in his jurisdiction, as stated in Article III section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. Matter of fact you can hardly tell the difference between a Democrat or a Republican, except the Bush administration has spent 25% more than the Clinton administration. Mr. Francis, chairman of the Republican Unity Coalition, (a homosexual lobby group) said in an interview with the New York Times, "There is not an anti-gay bone in his body". Talking about the President's body. In an article in Newsweek, December 29, 2003, President Bush was quoted as saying to the Muslim leader "Dr. al-Rubaie, I want you to convey this message to Mr. Sistani. Tell him that I pray to the same god he prays to…Tell Sistani I have nothing but praise for your religion." With all the bad Christian fruit Bush has displayed for the last 3 years, Christians still claim he is a Christian and a great president.

Both parties are taking us to a New World Order at mach speed while the see no evil, hear no evil Christians do nothing. This Blind Loyalty has gone to such an extreme that if anyone mentions something negative about a Republican politician, the Christians attack the messenger. They have forgotten that God says to stand for righteousness not Republicanism. Or maybe their preachers have never bothered to mention it.

If Christians are not salt and light, they are good for nothing. Every Christian will give an account on how he governed in this constitutional republic. What will the Lord Jesus Christ say, "Well done my good and faithful servant" or "their blood will I require at your hands"?

It is well past time to be loyal to Christ instead of the Republican Party. Time to stand for righteousness. It is time for a third party; the Constitution Party is the one I have in mind. Visit their website at www.constitutionparty.com. Check out their party platform and their candidates and you will see a big difference. Maybe if we practice tough love the Republican Party would repent and come back to its platform. But if not, duty is duty. Let righteousness ring!


http://www.newswithview
s.com/McGinley/kelly.htm

Supreme Court Denies Parents' Plea

Supreme Court Deny Parents

The U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday night refused to reinsert Terri Schiavo's feeding tube, just hours after a federal appeals court declined to hold another hearing on the issue. The brain-damaged woman has been without nutrients or water for nearly two weeks.

The decision was the sixth time since 2000 that the Supreme Court declined to intervene in the case. Justices did not explain their decision and there was no indication how they voted.

It was also the second time in a week that the high court refused to reinsert her tube.

The latest emergency request argued that the federal courts didn't consider whether there was enough "clear and convincing" evidence that Schiavo would have chosen to die in her current condition.

A court ruling had allowed her husband and legal guardian, Michael Schiavo, to order the tube that had kept her alive for 15 years removed.

Appearing with the woman's family earlier on Wednesday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said as long as it was possible to restore food and water, Schiavo's loved ones should not give up hope.

"We ask God to sustain this family as they go through this gut-wrenching ordeal," Jackson said, surrounded by Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, and her brother and sister. "We know that the innocent do suffer and that you need not be guilty to be crucified."

Jackson was with the Schindler family for a second day on Wednesday. The onetime Democratic presidential contender broke with many fellow liberals in pressing for the reinsertion of Schiavo's feeding tube.

Less than a day after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the Schindlers to file the latest of several emergency appeals to reverse the feeding tube decision, the court again rejected the possibility of a hearing.

"While the members of her family and the members of Congress have acted in a way that is both fervent and sincere, the time has come for dispassionate discharge of duty," Judge Stanley F. Birch Jr. wrote for the majority.

For the appeal to be granted, the parents' request would have needed the support of seven of the court's 12 judges. Judge William H. Pryor Jr. was recovering from surgery and did not participate, and Judges Charles R. Wilson and Gerald Bard Tjoflat dissented.

Birch also addressed the "activist judges" label, which has been tossed at all the jurists involved in the case, using the term's definition in his criticism of President Bush and Congress.

"Despite sincere and altruistic motivations, the legislative and executive branches of our government have acted in a manner demonstrably at odds with our Founding Fathers' blueprint for the governance of a free people — our Constitution," he wrote.

Since Schiavo's feeding tube was removed on March 18, mostly Republican lawmakers and the president have taken extraordinary and unprecedented steps to nullify prior court decisions. State and federal court rulings have consistently sided with Michael Schiavo, who has successfully argued that his wife did not want to be kept alive artificially.

Birch scolded the "legislative and executive branches of our government" for muddying the separation of powers.

FOX News' Senior Judicial Analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano said Wednesday's rejection spelled the end of the road for their legal battle.

"The [Schindlers'] grounds were the same grounds as last week — their view that last week's congressional legislation required a federal judge to look at the same evidence the state judge looked at," he said. "This is the second time the appeals court said they wouldn't do it; the court decided there was nothing wrong with the state courts' rulings."

Napolitano added that while it was unfortunate that the court's decision was written in cold legalese, he could detect some amount of exasperation among the judges.

"The court is really saying to Congress, 'Don't tell the courts what to do,' and to the Schindlers, 'You've been here twice now, don't come back,'" he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Schindlers and their friends and relatives said Terri looked well enough to be saved.

"Terri is still with us. ... She is weak from the lack of food and hydration but her skin tone is fine. I think it's breaking down. I know some of her organs are still functioning," Bob Schindler said from outside his daughter's hospice.

"I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw and encouraged. She's still fighting and we're going to fight for her. It's not too late," he said, presumably directing his comments to the judges.

It was not clear what, if any, effect reinserting the tube would have on Schiavo.

Dr. Alexander Mauskop, a neurologist and director of the New York Headache Center, said the chances are "close to zero" that Schiavo will survive, even if the tube is reattached.

Mauskop said that Schiavo's kidneys have probably failed, a condition that could not be reversed even if water supply to the body was resumed. And despite the Schindlers' claims, Mauskop said, Schiavo could not be conscious with such a severely eroded cerebral cortex.

"She's not suffering at all," he told FOX News, adding, "Maybe it would not be bad to let the parents have their child, even if it's just the body ... maybe they should have the right to come and watch her and think she's alive."

Schindler family spokesman Randall Terry angrily dismissed that assessment, calling Mauskop "Dr. Frankenstein."

"We have a moral obligation to continue to fight, even if it's all hope against hope," he told FOX News.

Differences of Opinion Turn Ugly

As Schiavo's life continues to slip away, some who believe she should be kept alive have resorted to extreme measures.

Florida Circuit Court Judge George W. Greer, who has consistently ruled in Michael Schiavo's favor, has found himself the target of a "sea of death threats," according to a report in the Washington Times.

Greer has received hate mail and threatening phone calls and has been personally harassed by angry protesters at his home and office. The judge is being guarded by sheriff's deputies, the Times said.

Florida lawmakers who believe the courts have proved Schiavo did not want to be kept alive while in a persistent vegetative state have also been harassed and threatened.

State Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, told "FOX & Friends" that in a legislative session last Thursday, "some of the female senators were crying on the floor, saying that they had been threatened with their lives because of this issue."

And the divide between Michael Schiavo's camp and the Schindlers' has turned even more venomous, with some accusing Schiavo of spousal abuse and blaming him for his wife's condition.

Terri Schiavo suffered catastrophic brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped for several minutes because of a potassium imbalance, which is commonly associated with bulimia. Schiavo was overweight as a teen and lost a dramatic amount of weight when she entered adulthood. Her husband maintains she had an eating disorder.

But charges from Terri's former nurse that she was abused by her husband have inflamed those who don't believe she is actually in a vegetative state. The nurse alleges that Michael Schiavo aggravated his wife's condition shortly after she was initially hospitalized because he wanted to be free of her — invoking parallels to Scott Peterson, the California man convicted of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci.

Michael Schiavo's lawyer said Monday that an autopsy was planned to show the extent of his wife's brain damage.

Doctors have said Schiavo, 41, would probably die within two weeks after the tube was removed.

Protesters have not left the grounds of the Pinellas Park, Fla., hospice where Terri Schiavo lies. But as her death approaches, sheriffs are locking down the perimeter following threats to the building, including one from a person who said he would bomb the hospice if Schiavo died.

Three protesters were arrested Wednesday, including one who was arrested when he tried to take a plastic cup of water into the hospice. Officers stopped him at the gate as he shouted: "You don't know God from Godzilla!"

Sheriffs are also searching cars that approach the hospice, and are checking the grounds for suspicious packages.


http://www.foxnews.com/printer_fri
endly_story/0,3566,151889,00.html

Federal Court Again Rejects Schiavo Appeal

Court Rejects Terri Appeal

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- With time running out for Terri Schiavo, a federal appeals court Wednesday rejected her parents' latest attempt to get the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube reconnected.

The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to consider an emergency bid by Bob and Mary Schindler for a new hearing in their case, raising a flicker of hope for the parents after a series of setbacks in the case. But the court rejected the request 15 hours later.

Three times last week, the court also ruled against the Schindlers.

"Any further action by our court or the district court would be improper," Judge Stanley F. Birch Jr. wrote. "While the members of her family and the members of Congress have acted in a way that is both fervent and sincere, the time has come for dispassionate discharge of duty."

To be granted, the parents' request would have needed the support of seven of the court's 12 judges. The court did not disclose the vote breakdown.

The Schindlers visited their daughter Wednesday morning at her hospice and urged their supporters to keep trying. "I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw," Bob Schindler said. "So she's still fighting, and we'll keep fighting."

"We know that some of her organs are still functioning. ... It's not too late," he said.

In requesting a new hearing, the Schindlers argued that a federal judge in Tampa should have considered the entire state court record and not whether previous Florida court rulings met legal standards under state law. The Schindlers' motion also said the federal appellate court in Atlanta didn't consider whether there was enough "clear and convincing" evidence that Terri Schiavo would have chosen to die in her current condition.


http://apnews.myway.com/art
icle/20050330/D895GSSG1.html

Pinellas Park Police Shoot Schiavo Protester With Taser

Cops Shoot Schiavo Protester With Taser

Baptist Bible College Professor Arrested At Schiavo Hospice

A professor at a Bible college near Scranton, Pa., was arrested Tuesday as he tried to storm into the hospice caring for Terri Schiavo.

Dow Pursley, 56, was shot with a Taser stun gun and tackled to the ground by officers before he reached the door, Pinellas Park police said. He became the 47th protester arrested.

Pursley, who is on the faculty of the Baptist Bible College & Seminary in Clarks Summit, Pa., had two bottles of water with him, police said. He was charged with attempted burglary and resisting arrest.

Baptist Bible College officials said in a written statement that Pursley was not acting on the school's behalf and had traveled to Florida on his personal time.

"He is a dedicated man with strong beliefs and God-given convictions," the statement said.

Pursley is the clinical director of counseling programs for the theological college's graduate school. He also helps oversee a campus clinic that offers psychological counseling based on biblical teaching.

Baptist Bible College spokesman Mark Robbins said that while the college "believes in the sanctity of life," it has not taken an official position on the Schiavo case.

Doctors said that Schiavo, 41, would probably die within a week or two after the tube was removed on March 18. She suffered catastrophic brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped for several minutes because of a chemical imbalance.


http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14
243192&BRD=2212&PAG=461&dept_id=465812&rfi=6

Rudolph defense says explosives traces may have been contaminated

Defense: Explosives traces contaminated

Eric Rudolph's lawyers portrayed government explosives testing as a sloppy mess Wednesday and suggested tainted evidence was used to link the serial bombing suspect to a deadly abortion clinic blast.

Agents with pens, watches and a camera could have unwittingly transferred traces of dynamite from the bombing scene in Birmingham to Rudolph's trailer in North Carolina, defense lawyer Michael Burt said while questioning a federal agent.

Burt said internal audits from a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms laboratory that tested items from the bombing seem to reveal problems including unprotected evidence and explosives stored near examination areas.

ATF explosives chief Richard Strobel denied most of Burt's claims and said the defense was overstating any problems with scientific evidence about explosives traces.

U.S. District Judge C. Lynwood Smith Jr. is holding a hearing on a defense request to throw out much of the scientific evidence that prosecutors say links Rudolph to the bombing of New Woman All Women Health Care in Birmingham on Jan. 29, 1998. The blast killed police officer Robert "Sande" Sanderson and critically injured nurse Emily Lyons.

Rudolph, who has pleaded not guilty, could receive the death penalty if convicted on the federal charge.

While Rudolph rarely shows any emotion in court, he patted Burt on the back in greeting and looked into the spectator gallery several times.

Before the hearing recessed until Thursday morning, the forensic chemist who collected the explosives traces and other evidence from the bombing scene described the grim work he performed. Lloyd T. Erwin of the ATF office in Atlanta told about putting remnants of Sanderson's boots and what appeared to be pieces of his uniform into metal evidence cans.

In questions to Strobel, Burt contended explosives traces could have been transferred from the bombing scene to Rudolph's trailer near Murphy, N.C., through such common items as writing pens, wristwatches and cameras.

On a big screen, Burt showed photos that were taken during the search of Rudolph's trailer. In one photo, a gloved hand was shown holding a pen near a pair of shoes. In another, a gloved hand with an exposed wristwatch was shown near boots.

Burt suggested that explosives traces from the clinic could have been transferred into the trailer by such common items or even by the photographer who took the pictures.

But Strobel said any agents who looked for evidence at the bombed clinic would have showered, changed clothes and put on protective suits before entering Rudolph's trailer five days after the bombing.

Strobel denied that a photographer would have touched any evidence.

"His duty is to document things as they exist," he said. "Why would a photographer go in and just start rummaging around?"

Agents already had collected samples for explosives testing when the photos were taken, he said.

Burt also produced a series of internal audits mentioning apparent problems with a now-closed ATF lab that tested evidence in Rockville, Md. One report mentioned explosives being stored near work areas, and another said evidence was left out in the open by an examiner who was training other workers at the time.

"Is that true?" Burt asked of the unprotected evidence.

"I would assume so if it's in the report," Strobel said.

Strobel described many of the items mentioned in the audits as insignificant "documentation" problems.

"You have to look at the issues involved," he said.

Captured in 2003 in North Carolina after about five years on the lam, Rudolph also is charged in the 1996 bombing that killed a woman at the Atlanta Olympics and a pair of Atlanta-area bombings in 1997. Preliminary jury selection in the Alabama case is April 6, but the trial probably won't begin before late May or June.

The hearing is being held under extraordinary security, with Rudolph shackled and surrounded by U.S. marshals any time he is outside the courtroom. Outside, barricades were erected to keep vehicles away from the three-story brick courthouse.


http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=2005033
0&Category=APN&ArtNo=503300802&SectionCat=&Template=datelineprint

Court to Weigh Schiavo Emergency Motion

11th Weighs Emergency Motion

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- In a rare legal victory for Terri Schiavo's parents, a federal appeals court agreed to consider an emergency motion requesting a new hearing on whether to reconnect their severely brain-damaged daughter's feeding tube.

In its order late Tuesday, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals didn't say when it would decide whether to grant the hearing. It was not clear what effect reconnecting Terri Schiavo's feeding tube would have on her, as she approached her 13th day without nourishment.

The order issued allowed Bob and Mary Schindler to file the appeal, even though the court had set a March 26 deadline for doing so.

Its one-sentence order said: "The Appellant's emergency motion for leave to file out of time is granted." Twice last week, the court ruled against the Schindlers.

In requesting a new hearing, the Schindlers argued that a federal judge in Tampa should have considered the entire state court record and not whether previous Florida court rulings met legal standards under state law. It also stated that the Atlanta federal appellate court didn't consider whether there was enough "clear and convincing" evidence that Terri Schiavo would have chosen to die in her current condition.

Attorneys for the Schindlers and Michael Schiavo didn't immediately return phone messages Wednesday.

Time was running out for Schiavo, however. Bob Schindler described his daughter on Tuesday as "failing."

"She still looks pretty darn good under the circumstances," Schindler said. "You can see the impact of no food and water for 12 days. Her bodily functions are still working. We still have her."

Doctors have said Schiavo, 41, would probably die within two weeks after the tube was removed March 18. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, insists he is carrying out her wishes by having the feeding tube pulled.

The request for a new hearing also asks to have the tube reinserted immediately "in light of the magnitude of what is at stake and the urgency of the action required."

The order was a ray of hope for the Schindlers, who are battling their son-in-law over their daughter's fate. The case has wound its way through six courts for seven years; the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene five times.

Protesters keeping a 24-hour vigil outside the hospice praised the latest decision.

"There's a chance for a miracle," said Christine Marriott, 43, who rushed to the hospice after hearing the news on TV. "Anything positive is a breath of life."

Early Wednesday, a man was arrested when he tried to bring a plastic cup of water into the hospice. Officers stopped him at the gate as he shouted: "You don't know God from Godzilla!"

He became the 48th protester arrested since the tube was removed on a court order sought by her husband. Terri Schiavo suffered catastrophic brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped for several minutes because of a chemical imbalance apparently brought on by an eating disorder.

The Schindlers have maintained that their daughter would want to be kept alive.

Their attorneys raised the issue of the new request after a Saturday deadline set by the court, saying they have had more time to research the issues and have become convinced that the federal court in Tampa had "committed plain error when it reviewed only the state court case and outcome history."

Attorneys for the Schindlers have argued that Terri Schiavo's rights to life and privacy were being violated.

"I think the courts want to be sure that there's no accusation that any legal argument was ignored," said attorney Neal Sonnett, former chairman of the American Bar Association's criminal justice section.

Federal courts were given jurisdiction to review Schiavo's case after Republicans in Congress pushed through unprecedented emergency legislation aimed at prolonging her life. But federal courts at three levels have rebuffed her parents.


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&u=/ap/2
0050330/ap_on_re_us/brain_damaged_woman_35&printer=1

Court to weigh petition in the Schaivo case

11th to Weigh Petition

As Terri Schiavo neared her 13th day without nourishment, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta agreed early today to consider a petition for a hearing on whether to reconnect her feeding tube. Schiavo remained at a hospice in Pinellas Park, Fla.

This time, the court is considering a request for a new trial rather than whether earlier state rulings have met legal standards under Florida law, which is what federal courts have done previously.

The surprise development came after Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, lost another round in state courts Tuesday. A Florida appeals court upheld a previous ruling that blocked the state Department of Children and Families from intervening in the case.

Schiavo's parents have maintained that the 41-year-old would want to be kept alive. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, has said he is carrying out her wishes by having the feeding tube pulled.

Her condition: Conflicting reports emerged Tuesday as to whether Terri Schiavo was unable to pass urine, which would indicate her kidneys had failed and death is imminent. George Felos, the lawyer for Michael Schiavo, said she had not urinated since Sunday, but her parents dispute that.

End-of-life specialists said the toll of nearly two weeks without food or water may be irreversible.


http://www.freep.com/news/n
w/schiavo30e_20050330.htm

Schiavo parents get federal court appeal

Parents Get Federal Appeal

Atlanta, GA -- Based on a technicality, lawyers for the parents of brain-damaged Terri Shiavo filed an emergency petition with a U.S. federal court, CNN said Wednesday.

The papers were filed late Tuesday in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, claiming federal judges who rejected the previous efforts to have Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted violated a Supreme Court precedent that requires them to consider the full record, not just the procedural history from the state court.

The court accepted the filing, but did not immediately indicate if it would consider the appeal, the report said.

Schiavo has been without the feeding tube since March 18, and doctors expect her to die at a central Florida hospice within days.

Schiavo's parents are fighting to have their daughter's feeding tube restored, and the latest petition refutes their son-in-law Michael Schiavo's testimony that Terri had said she would want to refuse life support if she were in a vegetative state.


http://washingtontimes.com/upi-br
eaking/20050330-061305-6388r.htm

Appeals court invites additional Schiavo review

Federal Appeals Court OKs Schiavo Review

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- In a rare legal victory for Terri Schiavo's parents, a federal appeals court agreed to consider their request for a new hearing on whether to reconnect their severely brain-damaged daughter's feeding tube.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled without comment late Tuesday and did not indicate when it would consider the motion. Last week, the same court twice ruled against Schiavo's parents, who are trying to keep her alive.

But time was running out — Bob Schindler described his daughter as "failing" on Tuesday, her 12th day without nourishment.

"She still looks pretty darn good under the circumstances," Schindler said. "You can see the impact of no food and water for 12 days. Her bodily functions are still working. We still have her."

Doctors have said Schiavo, 41, would probably die within a week or two of the tube being removed.

Tuesday's ruling was a ray of hope for the Schindlers, who have lost a string of court battles over their daughter's fate. The case has wound its way through six courts for seven years; the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene five times.

Protesters keeping a 24-hour vigil outside the hospice praised the latest ruling.

"There's a chance for a miracle," said Christine Marriott, 43, who rushed to the hospice after hearing the news on TV. "Anything positive is a breath of life."

Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed March 18 on a court order sought by her husband, Michael, who contends she wouldn't want to be kept alive artificially. She suffered catastrophic brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped for several minutes because of a chemical imbalance apparently brought on by an eating disorder.

But the Schindlers have maintained that their daughter would want to be kept alive. In seeking the new hearing late Tuesday, their attorneys argued that the District Court "committed plain error when it reviewed only the state court case and outcome history."

Now, the court will consider the request for a new hearing based on the facts of the case, rather than whether previous Florida court rulings have met legal standards under state law.

Attorneys for the Schindlers and Michael Schiavo didn't immediately return phone messages early Wednesday.

"I think the courts want to be sure that there's no accusation that any legal argument was ignored," said attorney Neal Sonnett, former chairman of the American Bar Association's criminal justice section.

Federal courts were given jurisdiction to review Schiavo's case after Republicans in Congress pushed through unprecedented emergency legislation aimed at prolonging Schiavo's life. But federal courts at three levels have rebuffed the family.

On Tuesday, Mary Schindler made a terse but emotional appeal to Michael Schiavo: "Michael and Jodi, you have your own children. Please, please give my child back to me." Michael Schiavo and fiancee Jodi Centonze have two children, born long after Terri Schiavo's collapse.

Although supporters of the Schindlers have claimed the dehydrated woman is being denied comforts such as ice chips for her dry mouth or balm for chapped lips, George Felos, the husband's attorney, defended how Schiavo is being cared for.

"Obviously, the parents and the siblings are desperate. Desperation may lead to different perceptions," Felos told CNN. "I can only tell you what I've seen, and Terri is dying a very peaceful, cared-for death."

The Rev. Jesse Jackson prayed with the Schindlers on Tuesday and joined conservatives in calling for state lawmakers to order her feeding tube reinserted.

The former Democratic presidential candidate was invited by Schiavo's parents to meet with activists outside Schiavo's hospice. His arrival was greeted by some applause and cries of "This is about civil rights!"

"I feel so passionate about this injustice being done, how unnecessary it is to deny her a feeding tube, water, not even ice to be used for her parched lips," he said. "This is a moral issue and it transcends politics and family disputes."

Jackson said he asked Michael Schiavo for permission to see Terri but was denied. He also telephoned black legislators in a last-ditch effort to bring back a bill that would prohibit severely brain-damaged patients from being denied food and water if they didn't express their wishes in writing. Lawmakers rejected the legislation earlier this month and appeared unlikely to reconsider it.

One of those contacted by Jackson, Democratic state Sen. Gary Siplin, said he told Jackson the issue had been "thoroughly discussed." Senate Democratic leader Les Miller added, "I have voted. It's time to move on."

First lady Laura Bush also commented on the case Tuesday, saying the government was right to have intervened on behalf of Schiavo.

"It is a life issue that really does require government to be involved," Bush said aboard a plane bound for Afghanistan, where she was to promote education and women's rights.

During Jackson's visit, a man was tackled to the ground by officers when he tried to storm into the hospice, police said. He became the 47th protester arrested since the feeding tube was removed. The man had two bottles of water with him but did not reach the hospice door, police said.

On Tuesday, the Schindlers had lost a round in the courts when an appeals court upheld a previous ruling by Pinellas County Circuit Judge George Greer that blocked the Department of Children and Families from intervening in the case.


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&u=/ap/
20050330/ap_on_re_us/brain_damaged_woman_30&printer=1

Why Hasn't Michael Schiavo Been Charged With Criminal Adultery?

Adulterer Michael Schiavo

The attorney for Bob and Mary Schindler is David Gibbs, Jr. The Schindler's legal team has met with Governor Jeb Bush "a number of times," and Gov. Bush has refused to use the authority of his office to pursue the criminal adultery issue regarding Michael Schaivo. [who has co-habited with another woman not-his-wife for 10 years and fathered two children by her]

Under Florida state law, adultery is a criminal misdemeanor. Gov. Jeb Bush is refusing to enforce Florida state law in an effort which could make the case that Michael Schiavo has a clear (and obvious) "conflict of interest", and should not be allowed to continue as Terri's "legal guardian." During the course of the criminal investigation, Terri could be taken into the state's protective custody.

Gov. Jeb Bush has also apparently refused to pursue the allegations by the hospice nurse, Carla Iyer, of Michael Schiavo's alleged attempted murder of Terri by insulin injection.

Gov. Bush has said publicly he will not exceed his authority. However, Jeb Bush is deceiving the people of Florida and the American - the truth is, Gov. Jeb Bush is not using the lawful authority that he has to save Terri Schiavo.

Unless he changes his behavior and acts, his life's legacy may well be that of a Pontius Pilate, who stood by while an innocent woman was killed by the withholding of water, one of life's basic necessities for any one of us.


____________________________________

The 2004 Florida Statutes




ADULTERY; COHABITATION

798.01 Living in open adultery. – Whoever lives in an open state of adultery shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. Where either of the parties living in an open state of adultery is married, both parties so living shall be deemed to be guilty of the offense provided for in this section.

History.--s. 1, ch. 1986, 1874; RS 2595; GS 3518; RGS 5406; CGL 7549; s. 772, ch. 71-136.

____________________________________

Question from Steve Lefemine to Gibbs Law Firm:

"The Writ of Mandamus I suggested would be through a court - are you telling me that David Gibbs has requested the court to issue a Writ of Mandamus to Gov Jeb Bush and the Florida state Attorney General to charge Michael Schiavo with criminal adultery under the Florida state misdemeanor adultery law? Has David Gibbs also pressed the Governor, not just the court, to do this? And has David Gibbs pressed the Governor, not just the court, to open up an investigation on murder allegations? Not everything must be done through a court first. Charging Michael Schiavo with criminal adultery is an executive branch, law enforcement action, that would later be adjudicated in the courts. Ask the Attorney General, not just the courts, to charge Michael NOW!"

Answer from Matthew Davis, Gibbs Law Firm:

"Yes, and we are doing so again later today. We have also done so in the 2nd DCA, the Federal District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States. We have met with Governor Bush a number of times. We have literally begged every branch of the government to act, in all the ways you have described. They have done what they have done, but they will not pursue the adultery issue or the other criminal issues."

____________________________________

Gov. Jeb Bush: Please Rescue Terri !!!

Re: PLEASE RESCUE TERRI !!!

Proverbs 24:10-12

1) Why isn't a criminal investigation being opened by the Sheriff of Pinellas County, or the State Attorney General of Florida into the allegations by the hospice nurse, Carla Iyer, of Michael Schiavo's alleged attempt to murder Terri by insulin injection -allegations which you are aware of !! Why aren't you and the Florida Attorney General acting on this?!

2) Why hasn't Michael Schiavo been charged with criminal adultery under Florida's state misdemeanor adultery law, with the prima facie evidence of his co-habitation with another woman, and fathering two children by this immoral, 10-year relationship?

3) Why are not the two points above: 1) and 2), sufficient cause to remove Michael Schiavo as the "legal guardian" of Terri, and place Terri under the protective custody of the state ? Doesn't the adultery charge alone indicate an obvious "conflict of interest" for Michael Schiavo ? And Terri is being sentenced to death on the hearsay evidence of one man, this criminal adulterer, who it is alleged also attempted to kill Terri with an insulin injection??

This whole matter is part of your life's legacy, Jeb Bush: don't allow your legacy to be that of Pontius Pilate (Matthew 27:24).

Steve Lefemine, pro-life missionary dir., Columbia Christians for Life Columbia, SC.

Jerry Falwell in Critical Condition

Jerry Falwell in Critical Condition

LYNCHBURG, Va. -- The Rev. Jerry Falwell was hospitalized in critical condition Tuesday, battling his second case of viral pneumonia in just five weeks, hospital and church officials said.

Falwell, 71, was admitted to Lynchburg General Hospital shortly before midnight Monday suffering from "respiratory arrest," the hospital said in a statement.

He was put on a ventilator and stabilized but remained in critical condition, the hospital said.

"He's resting comfortably and in stable condition," said Ron Godwin, Falwell's executive assistant. "It's a recurrence of the viral pneumonia."

Falwell, the founder of the Moral Majority and Liberty University, had left the hospital March 4 after 13 days, spending part of the time on a ventilator.

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Falwell said he was feeling much better, but still recovering from his hospital stay.

Falwell had been in the pulpit Easter Sunday at Thomas Road Baptist Church and appeared in good health, said the Rev. Dave Randlett, a senior associate pastor.

"He always looks 'up' so you wouldn't know if he wasn't" feeling well, Randlett said. "He was very optimistic."

An avid sports fan, Falwell had made the trip to Chattanooga, Tenn., on Saturday to see Liberty University's team play in the third round of the NCAA women's basketball tournament. The team lost. He also had been in the crowd March 22 when it won in the second round in College Park, Md.


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&
u=/ap/20050329/ap_on_re_us/falwell_7&printer=1

Protestors Continue Demonstrating for Terri

Protests Continue

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- Protestors rallied around Terri Schiavo's hospice as the severely brain-damaged woman entered her 12th day without food or water. Schiavo's condition remained unclear amid a blur of conflicting reports from her family and husband, Michael.

Schiavo's father, Bob Schindler, repeated his plea that she be kept alive by having her feeding tube reinserted. About 100 protesters used harsh rhetoric and some in the crowd mimicked Nazi soldiers by goose-stepping in front of police. Another eight protesters who tried to bring water into the hospice for Schiavo were arrested for trespassing, bringing the total of arrests to 46.

"She's still communicating, she's still responding. She's emaciated, but she's responsive," Schindler told reporters after a visit with his daughter, saying that she showed facial expressions when he hugged and kissed her.

George Felos, the attorney for husband and guardian told reporters later that he had visited Schiavo for more than an hour Monday and said she looked "very peaceful. She looked calm."

"I saw no evidence of any bodily discomfort whatsoever," Felos said, although he added her breathing seemed "a little on the rapid side" and her eyes were sunken.

Felos said the hospice room was decorated with flowers, had music playing and that Schiavo had a stuffed tabby cat under one arm.

Doctors said Terri Schiavo, 41, would probably die within a week or two when the tube was removed on March 18. She suffered catastrophic brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped for several minutes because of a chemical imbalance.

Felos said that the chief medical examiner for Pinellas County, Dr. John Thogmartin, had agreed to perform an autopsy. He said her husband wants definitive proof showing the extent of her brain damage. Michael Schiavo contends his wife told him years ago she would not want to be kept alive artificially under such circumstances.

An attorney for Schiavo's parents, David Gibbs III, said her family also wants an autopsy. "We would certainly support and encourage an autopsy to be done with all the unanswered questions," Gibbs said.

Doctors have said Schiavo, 41, would probably die within a week or two once the feeding tube — which kept her alive for 15 years — was disconnected. Monday was her 10th day without food or water. She relied on the tube since suffering catastrophic brain damage when her heart stopped beating and oxygen was cut off to her brain.

However, Bob and Mary Schindler continued to ask Gov. Bush and President Bush to intervene on their daughter's behalf. But President Bush's aides have said they ran out of legal options to help the woman.

Despite the fresh appeals, a Schindler family spokesman said the parents know their daughter is dying.

"They are dealing with reality," Paul O'Donnell, a Roman Catholic Franciscan monk and a spokesman for her parents, said of the Schindlers in an interview on NBC's "Today." "They know their daughter is dying. They know what is about to happen."

No new details of Schiavo's condition have been released, but a priest who visited her room said, "death is imminent."

Michael Schiavo permitted his wife to receive Easter communion on Sunday, when she also was anointed with holy oil, blessed and absolved of her sin by a priest.

Felos said Terri Schiavo “received the sacrament [of Communion] on Easter at approximately 4 p.m. ... A drop of wine was put on Ms. Schiavo’s lip.”

As her brother, sister and brother-in-law watched, the Rev. Thaddeus Malanowski held Terri's right hand as he and the hospice priest, the Rev. Joseph Braun, placed the droplet on her tongue. Malanowski also anointed her with holy oil, offered a blessing and absolved her of sin.

"She received the blood of Christ," said Malanowski, adding he could not give her a fleck of communion bread because her tongue was too dry.

O'Donnell said Schiavo smiled, raised her hands and made guttural sounds late Sunday while being visited by her father and a friend, who was talking about how she liked to go out dancing.

Supporters Vow to Continue Fight

Protesters in support of Terri Schiavo weren't ready to give up their fight Monday. Supporters vowed to head to Washington to pressure Bush and lawmakers to fight to have the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube reinserted.

"Everyone is willing to write this woman's obituary except one person. And that's Terri Schiavo herself," said O'Donnell. A group of their supporters were heading to protest outside the White House gates Monday.

Schiavo's parents dispute that their daughter is in a persistent vegetative state as court-ordered doctors have determined.

Fewer than 10 protesters stayed overnight in rain and wind. One man was arrested before dawn trying to take a jug of water to Schiavo.

Schiavo's mother did not visit her daughter on Easter, emotions keeping her from the hospice for the first time since Terri's feeding tube was removed 10 days ago, O'Donnell said.

"If she goes in there again, we might have to take her to the hospital," O'Donnell said.

Maureen Dowd: The Vatican code

The Vatican code

WASHINGTON -- Some may mock the Vatican for waiting until everyone on earth had read "The Da Vinci Code" to denounce "The Da Vinci Code."

I am not one of them. I don't want to blot my catechism.

It's a little late, now that the two-year-old thriller by Dan Brown is a publishing miracle - with 25 million copies sold in 44 languages, a cascade of other books inspired by the novel and a movie with Tom Hanks set to start filming this spring - for Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone to intone on a Vatican radio broadcast: "Don't read and don't buy 'The Da Vinci Code."'

But when you think of the history of the Catholic Church, the Vatican is acting with lightning speed. It took the church more than 350 years to reverse its condemnation of Galileo. The Vatican only began an inquisition of the 16th-century Inquisition in 1998. It wasn't until the reign of Pope John Paul II that the Vatican apologized for the crimes of the Crusaders and offered contrition for the silence of Catholics in the Holocaust. The church has still not apologized for shameful dissembling by its hierarchy on the sex abuse scandal. And America's Catholic bishops only last week announced they were finally going to get serious about opposing the death penalty.

The 70-year-old cardinal assigned by the Vatican to exorcise the success of the novel is the archbishop of Genoa, a former soccer commentator and a contender to succeed the ailing pope. "There is a very real risk that many people who read it will believe that the fables it contains are true," he told Il Giornale.

It evokes the Dan Quayle-Murphy Brown flap for a Vatican official to slam Dan Brown's fictional characters, but a former Vatican reporter explained it this way: "The church is founded on a story that some people believe and some people don't, so the Vatican tends to get very threatened by other versions of that story, especially racier ones."

Brown's zippy version has Jesus and Mary Magdalene marrying and having children. This "perverts the story of the Holy Grail, which most certainly does not refer to the descendants of Mary Magdalene," Bertone said. "It astonishes and worries me that so many people believe these lies."

The novelist is not the first one to conjure romantic sparks between the woman usually painted as what one writer calls "the Jessica Rabbit of the Gospels" and the eligible young Jewish carpenter and part-time miracle worker.

For years, female historians and novelists have been making the case that Brown makes, that Mary Magdalene was framed and defamed, that the men who run Christianity obliterated her role as an influential apostle and reduced her to a metaphor for sexual guilt.

The church refuses to allow women to be ordained as priests because there were no female apostles. So if Mary Magdalene was a madonna rather than a whore, the church loses its fig leaf of justification for male domination and exclusion.

It's obvious that Vatican officials did not read to the end of Brown's novel or they never would have denounced it.

(Caveat lector: If you have somehow missed reading the blockbuster or are one of the thrifty souls waiting for the paperback to finally come out, do not read further.)

After whipping you into a feminist frenzy over the hidden agenda of the church's unjustly perpetuating itself as an all-male, all "celibate" institution - precepts that have clearly led to some unnatural perversions and attracted a disproportionate number of priests fleeing sexual confusion - Brown abruptly deflates you at the end, going along with the notion that women should stay silent and submissive, letting the men who run the church continue to run the church with men.

The woman who is the descendant of Mary Magdalene and Jesus tells Robert Langdon, Brown's Harvard symbologist hero, that the secret saga of how the church smeared her ancestor as a slut and swindled all women out of serious roles in the church does not need to be aired. It can continue to remain a secret.

"Her story is being told in art, music and books," the woman says, adding that things are gradually changing for women: "We are beginning to sense the need to restore the sacred feminine."

No whistle is blown. No alarm is sounded. Talk about an anticlimax for a fantastic ride. As it turns out, Brown is not the tormentor of the Vatican, but an ally.


http://www.iht.com/articles/2
005/03/28/opinion/eddowd.html

Prosecutors allege link between Rudolph, anti-abortion figure

Prosecutors: Rudolph linked to 'anti-abortion activist'

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Prosecutors in the trial of Eric Rudolph, charged in a fatal abortion clinic bombing, want to show jurors that he had ties to a Tennessee church led by an anti-abortion activist.

In court papers filed over the weekend, prosecutors said Rudolph's "expressed anti-abortion views and his association with anti-abortion activists will clearly help set the stage for the crime, give it context, and will help the jury understand the reasons" for it.

The defense objects to the evidence as irrelevant and as a violation of Rudolph's First Amendment rights.

Prosecutors also suggest Rudolph may have financed the bombing and his low-profile lifestyle from the sale of marijuana grown around his home in western North Carolina.

The documents were filed ahead of a hearing Tuesday in Huntsville in which a federal judge will consider whether to let prosecutors present certain scientific evidence, including what the government says is a replica of the deadly clinic bomb.

Preliminary jury selection in Rudolph's federal death penalty trial is set for April 6. Opening statements may not begin until early June.

In a filing that reveals some possible evidence against Rudolph, prosecutors indicated they want to introduce testimony about Rudolph's association with a fundamentalist church in Benton, Tenn., led by Dr. John Grady, an early activist against abortion in Florida.

In a telephone interview Monday, Grady told The Associated Press he did not recall Rudolph ever visiting his small congregation, "but that certainly doesn't mean he didn't." The congregation, which he described as Catholic, lacks a full-time priest, and Grady said he serves as a lay leader.

Grady, who has written a booklet offered for sale by pro-life groups, said he is "very much opposed to abortion" and called it the "crime of the century." But implying that his beliefs could fuel Rudolph to bomb an abortion clinic is "really stretching it," said Grady, 74.

Grady said he does not expect to testify in Rudolph's trial.

The defense also is trying to limit evidence about Rudolph's "negative views about the government, African-Americans, Jews and homosexuals," according to the government. Prosecutors claim such attitudes were "inextricably linked" to Rudolph's views against abortion.

Besides the Alabama bombing, Rudolph is accused of setting the bomb that killed a woman during the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 and bombings in metro Atlanta in 1997, including at a gay nightclub.

Separately, prosecutors said they want to show jurors evidence about Rudolph's alleged production, possession and sale of marijuana. The illegal sales helped Rudolph get by with only limited contact with people in his rural community and "possibly purchase components for his explosive device," they claimed.

The government said Deborah Rudolph, a former sister-in-law of the defendant, sold marijuana provided by Rudolph after he brought it to her in Nashville, Tenn. She previously has publicly described Rudolph's marijuana growing, anti-Semitism and hatred of the government.

The defense opposes introducing the evidence about marijuana, but did not elaborate in the weekend filings.

It was unclear whether evidence about the Tennessee church or the alleged drug dealings will come up during the hearing set to begin Tuesday in Huntsville before U.S. District Judge C. Lynwood Smith Jr.

In that hearing, Smith said he will primarily consider whether the government can present testimony about a model of the bomb that killed a police officer and critically injured a nurse outside a Birmingham abortion clinic in 1998. The defense opposes letting jurors see the replica.

The defense also is challenging testimony from forensic experts who allegedly found evidence linking the blast to explosives traces found in Rudolph's trailer home.


http://www.al.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/bas
e/news-12/1112045629109960.xml&storylist=alabamanews

Supreme Court rejects 'parental consent' appeal

Court rejects 'parental consent'

Supreme Court Rejects Appeal to Reinstate Law Requiring Girls Under Age 18 to Get Consent for Abortions

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court rejected an appeal Monday to reinstate a state law requiring girls under age 18 to get parental consent for abortions except under the most dire of medical emergencies.

Without comment, justices let stand a lower court ruling that struck down the Idaho law because its provisions on emergency abortions were too strict.

The Supreme Court in its 1973 case, Roe v. Wade, ruled that a woman has a constitutional right to abortion and to terminate her pregnancy if it poses a risk to her health.

At issue was whether the Idaho law was unduly burdensome on young mothers by limiting abortions without consent to "sudden and unexpected" instances of physical complications.

The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said yes, saying there was no reasonable explanation for the restriction. Other emergency medical procedures are allowed on minors without parental permission that do not fit the "sudden and unexpected" category, it said.

The court said the rest of the law could not be salvaged because the emergency provisions were too important.

The justices' move Monday sidesteps a highly charged issue amid continuing speculation about a looming vacancy on the high court. At least three justices have said they believe Roe v. Wade should be overturned, and liberal groups have vowed to fight any judicial nominee that opposes the landmark ruling.

The last major abortion decision by the Supreme Court came in 2000, when the court ruled 5-4 to strike down Nebraska's ban on so-called "partial-birth" abortion because it failed to provide an exception to protect the mother's health.

The Idaho law had been challenged by Planned Parenthood of Idaho and one of the four Idaho doctors who performs abortions.

Other states also provide for parental consent for abortions in many situations, but Idaho's is considered more stringent than most.

In 2001, there were 738 abortions performed in the state, a drop from 1980, when 2,553 were performed, according to state statistics.

The case is Wasden v. Planned Parenthood of Idaho, 04-703.


http://abcnews.go.com/P
olitics/print?id=620604

Christians rally at White House

Rally at White House

Christian activists flew to Washington last night to confront legislators over the plight of Terri Schiavo after the disabled woman was given her last rites in an emotional sundown ceremony.

Supporters made one final attempt to save her by appealing to politicians on Capitol Hill to enforce a congressional subpoena which, they say, makes Mrs Schiavo, 41, a legally protected federal witness.

Issued 11 days ago to prevent Mrs Schiavo’s feeding tube from being withdrawn, the subpoena was thrown out by Florida judge George Greer, triggering a politically charged wrangle over the constitutional separation of powers in the US.

“Were the subpoenas a political stunt or do they plan to enforce them?” asked Patrick Mahoney, the director of the Christian Defence Coalition, at a rally outside the White House.

Randall Terry, the president of the Society for Truth and Justice, said: “What in the name of God is going on here, when the entire US Government prostrates itself at the feet of a tinpot judge named Greer?”

Mrs Schiavo’s parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, seemingly resigned to her death as she spent her tenth full day without food or water, pleaded for a late miracle. For 12 years they have battled against their son-in-law’s efforts to let Mrs Schiavo die.

Michael Schiavo argues that his wife, diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state since a heart attack starved her brain of oxygen, would not have wished to stay alive. His home in Clearwater, Florida, which he shares with his girlfriend, Jodi Centonze, and their two children, is protected by armed police patrols and surveillance vans.

Christian activists who laid roses and Easter lilies on the pavement outside defied a torrent of water that suddenly gushed at them as Ms Centonze’s brother, John, switched on the garden sprinklers to try to keep them away.

Mr Centonze scooped up some of the flowers and gave them to a friend to take away. Mr Schiavo, who has maintained a vigil at his wife’s bedside, was “very upset”, he said.

Opposite the Woodside Hospice in nearby Pinellas Park, the Schindlers have taken over a small office building, surrounded by a tented media encampment. Mr Schiavo, who is his wife’s guardian, gives them appointments to visit her at times of his choosing. “Because of the discomfort family members have with Michael, it doesn’t seem a workable situation to have them all in Terri’s room at the same time,” said George Felos, his lawyer.

Bob Schindler ventures out several times a day to thank the hundreds of strangers who have come from across America to support him. They included Maud Scholl, 92, whose son drove her on a 320-mile round trip from north Florida just to give Mr Schindler a hug.

Last night Mr Schindler said after visiting his daughter that she had responded with facial expressions to his hugs and kisses and was “fighting like hell”. “I was frightened to death to go in there and see her for fear of what I would see but she has just incredible strength to live.”


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/ar
ticle/0,,11069-1545645,00.html

Terri Weak but Responding as Fight Moves to D.C.

'Don't give up on her'

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- Weak and emaciated, Terri Schiavo clung to life Monday as police stepped up security outside her hospice room and protesters praying for last-minute intervention by the government kept vigil.

As supporters of the severely brain-damaged woman carried their protest to the White House and Congress, her father repeated plea that his daughter be kept alive.

"Don't give up on her," Bob Schindler told reporters after a morning visit with his daughter, saying that she showed facial expressions when he hugged and kissed her. "We haven't given up on her, and she hasn't given up on us."

Schiavo, 41, was in her 11th day without the feeding tube that sustained her for 15 years. Her parents pressed again for President Bush, Congress and the president's brother Gov. Jeb Bush to intervene to have the tube reinserted, and a small group of supporters protested outside the White House gates.

Schindler said he recognized that his daughter was dying but insisted that it was not too late to save her and that she was "fighting like hell to live and she's begging for help. ... She has just incredible strength to live."

As Schiavo drew closer to death, extra police officers blocked the road in front of the hospice, and an elementary school next door was closed so students could avoid the crowd.

After overnight wind and rain thinned their ranks, about 100 protesters returned Monday with signs and renewed prayers. But the day also saw some of the harshest rhetoric, with some in the crowd mocking the police by goose-stepping like Nazis.

President Bush's aides have said they have run out of legal options. The governor said Monday that while it "made sense" to have federal courts review the case, he had to respect their decisions last week not to order the tube reinserted.

"I have not seen any means by which the executive branch can get involved. My legal counsel has talked to the Schindler family and their lawyer over the weekend," the governor said. "My heart is broken about this."

Schiavo's parents dispute that their daughter is in a persistent vegetative state as court-ordered doctors have determined. Michael Schiavo contends his wife told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially.

At least two more state-filed appeals seeking the feeding tube's reconnection were pending, but those challenges were before a Florida appeals court that had rejected the governor's previous efforts in the case.

Doctors said Schiavo would probably die within a week or two when the feeding tube was pulled out on March 18. She suffered catastrophic brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped because of a chemical imbalance that was believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder.

Schindler said he feared the consequences of the morphine drip given to his daughter to relieve any pain. "I have a great concern that they will expedite the process to kill her with an overdose of morphine because that's the procedure that happens," he said.

Hospice spokesman Mike Bell said federal rules kept him from discussing Schiavo specifically, but "a fundamental part of hospice is that we would do nothing to either hasten or postpone natural death."

Comfort measures, including morphine drips, are taken in consultation with a patient's guardian, physician and hospice care team, Bell said.


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&u=/ap/
20050328/ap_on_re_us/brain_damaged_woman_27&printer=1

Gov. Bush: Schiavo Options Exhausted

Supporters appeal to Bushes

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- Terri Schiavo was hanging onto life Monday after being given last rites and protesters who rallied outside her Florida hospice vowed to march on the White House in their quest to have her feeding tube reinserted.

Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Monday he had to respect decisions made by federal courts last week not to have the tube reinserted.

"I have not seen any means by which the executive branch can get involved. My legal counsel has talked to the Schindler family and their lawyer over the weekend," Bush said. "My heart is broken about this."

At least two more state-filed appeals are pending, but those challenges are before the state's 2nd District Court of Appeal, which has rebuffed Gov. Bush's previous efforts in the case. Bush's office and the court clerk said Monday it was unclear when the appeals judges would rule.

Doctors have said Schiavo, 41, would probably die within a week or two once the feeding tube — which kept her alive for 15 years — was disconnected. Monday was her 10th day without food or water. She relied on the tube since suffering catastrophic brain damage when her heart stopped beating and oxygen was cut off to her brain.

However, Bob and Mary Schindler, the parents of Terri Schiavo, continued to ask Gov. Bush and President Bush to intervene on their daughter's behalf. But President Bush's aides have said they ran out of legal options to help the woman.

Despite the fresh appeals, a Schindler family spokesman said the parents know their daughter is dying and are "dealing with reality."

"They are dealing with reality," Paul O'Donnell, a Roman Catholic Franciscan monk and a spokesman for her parents, said of the Schindlers in an interview on NBC's "Today." "They know their daughter is dying. They know what is about to happen."

No new details of Terri Schiavo's condition have been released, but a priest who visited her room said, "death is imminent."

On Sunday, Schiavo was given a drop of wine as Easter communion Sunday and was anointed with holy oil, blessed and absolved of her sin by a priest after her husband, Michael Schiavo, allowed her to receive the sacrament.

As her brother, sister and brother-in-law watched, the Rev. Thaddeus Malanowski held Terri's right hand as he and the hospice priest, the Rev. Joseph Braun, placed the droplet on her tongue. Malanowski also anointed her with holy oil, offered a blessing and absolved her of sin.

"She received the blood of Christ," said Malanowski, adding he could not give her a fleck of communion bread because her tongue was too dry.

O'Donnell said Schiavo smiled, raised her hands and made guttural sounds late Sunday while being visited by her father and a friend, who was talking about how she liked to go out dancing.

Supporters Vow to Continue Fight

Protesters in support of Terri Schiavo weren't ready to give up their fight Monday. Supporters vowed to head to Washington to pressure Bush and lawmakers to fight to have the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube reinserted.

"Everyone is willing to write this woman's obituary except one person. And that's Terri Schiavo herself," said O'Donnell. A group of their supporters were heading to protest outside the White House gates Monday.

Schiavo's parents dispute that their daughter is in a persistent vegetative state as court-ordered doctors have determined. Michael Schiavo contends his wife told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially.

Fewer than 10 protesters stayed overnight in rain and wind. One man was arrested before dawn trying to take a jug of water to Schiavo.

Schiavo's mother did not visit her daughter on Easter, emotions keeping her from the hospice for the first time since Terri's feeding tube was removed 10 days ago, O'Donnell said.

"If she goes in there again, we might have to take her to the hospital," O'Donnell said.

Tensions were noticeably heightened both among the protesters and, apparently, among the closest confidants to the woman's parents. David Gibbs III, their lead lawyer, told CBS' "Face the Nation" that Schiavo has "passed where physically she would be able to recover."

"In the family's opinion, that is absolutely not true," spokesman Randall Terry said outside the hospice.

The Schindler family, also bothered by repeated arrests and heightened anger outside the hospice, pleaded with supporters to spend Easter with their families. They had little success; five people were arrested and chants of "Give Terri water!" echoed for much of the day.

Extra police officers blocked the road in front of Schiavo's hospice and Pinellas County school officials said an elementary school next to the hospice would be closed Monday.

At Michael Schiavo's Clearwater home, protesters dropped roses and Easter lilies on his lawn — a peaceful protest interrupted when sprinklers came on.

His fiancee's brother picked up the flowers and handed them to a bystander to take away. John Centonze declined to answer questions, only saying that Michael Schiavo was "very upset."

During Easter services at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in Clearwater, the Rev. Ted Costello avoided mentioning the Schiavo case. Yet at Faith Lutheran Church in Dunedin, the Rev. Peter Kolb thought Schiavo's story was appropriate for his sermon. "One day, we're all going to go through the valley," Kolb told churchgoers.

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http://www.foxnews.com/printer_fri
endly_story/0,3566,151654,00.html

Nurse: Terri is still fighting

Terri is still fighting

I just spoke with Bob Schindler, Terri's father. Last night Terri had two old friends visit with her. The two woman used to party with Terri. They were on Terri's visitors list and recently arrived into town to visit Terri. When Terri saw them she became excited and began interacting with them, raising her arm, and trying to talk to them. Mr. Schindler said, "despite how sunken in her face is because they are starving and dehydrating her, she was alert, vibrant and wonderful last night."

Mr. Schindler is worried because he never knows how much morphine they will give to her in between his visits. He beleives it is the morphine that they are giving to her which makes her lethargic, consequently making it more difficult for her to breath. Please pray for a miracle. Terri is fighting to remain alive. if you know how to help her....Please use your contacts.

Continue to call the president. Beg him to please take action to save Terri. Terri is not ready to die...She has a right to live and she needs our help before they overdose her with morphine.

Thank You,
Cheryl Ford, R.N.

Advocates for Terri head to Washington

Enforce Subpoenas

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- With their court battles apparently exhausted, supporters of Terri Schiavo's parents said Sunday that they would take their efforts to Washington on Monday.

The Rev. Patrick Mahoney, a Christian activist who has become a prominent figure in the protests over Schiavo's case, said he will go to Washington to plead with congressional leaders and the Bush administration to enforce subpoenas issued March 18 by a House committee for the 41-year-old woman to appear before Congress.

The conclusion of Mahoney's news conference Sunday afternoon was disrupted by a minor scuffle among protesters jostling to get their signs within camera range.

Before the disruption, Mahoney had said: "We are going to plead for Terri, to be her voice in Washington, D.C."

The congressional subpoena was quashed the same day it was issued by the Florida judge who ordered Schiavo's feeding tube removed, and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal of that decision by Republican congressional leaders.

Mahoney said the fact that Schiavo has survived nearly 10 days since the removal of the tube that has supplied her with nutrition and water indicates that she wants to appear before the House Government Reform Committee.

He challenged House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, to show that he was not "just playing politics" with the subpoena.

With tensions flaring, security outside Schiavo's hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida, was doubled Sunday from the day before to as many as 10 police officers.

Protesters have gathered daily outside the hospice, and some have been arrested trying to enter the facility in ceremonial efforts to take water to Terri Schiavo.

Despite the Schindlers' requests that people spend Easter at home with their families, demonstrators showed up outside the hospice Sunday. Their son, Bobby Schindler, asked protesters to stop volunteering to be arrested.

"It's not going to help at all to do anything that's going to lead to arrests," Schindler said. Police "are here to do a job," he added.

Governor Bush says he can't help

Earlier Sunday, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said there is nothing he can do to save Terri Schiavo's life.

"I cannot violate a court order," Bush said after attending Easter Sunday church services. "I don't have powers from the United States Constitution -- or for that matter from the Florida Constitution -- that would allow me to intervene after a decision has been made.

"I'm sad that she's in the situation that she's in," Bush said, commenting publicly on the case for the first time since Thursday. "I feel bad for her family. My heart goes out to the Schindlers and, for that matter, to [her husband] Michael [Schiavo]," Bush said. "This has not been an easy thing for any, any member of the family. But most particularly for Terri Schiavo."

To Terri Schiavo's parents -- who have said Bush should do more to help their daughter -- the governor said: "I can't. I'd love to, but I can't."

Her parents have lost nearly 30 legal opinions in both state and federal courts, which have consistently sided with Michael Schiavo, who also is Terri Schiavo's legal guardian.


http://www.cnn.com/2005/LA
W/03/27/schiavo/index.html

Gov. Bush: I can't help Terri Schiavo

Jeb: I Can't Help

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said on Sunday there is nothing else he can do to save Terri Schiavo's life.

"I cannot violate a court order," Bush said after attending Easter Sunday church services. "I don't have powers from the United States Constitution or -- for that matter from the Florida Constitution -- that would allow me to intervene after a decision has been made."

To Terri Schiavo's parents -- who have said Bush should do more to help their daughter -- the governor said: "I can't. I'd love to, but I can't."

The governor has been under public pressure from Bob and Mary Schindler, parents of the 41-year-old brain-damaged woman, and many religious groups to intervene further in the case.

On Thursday, a Florida state judge denied a petition by Gov. Bush and the state Department of Children and Families to take Schiavo into state custody.

The Florida Supreme Court dismissed on Saturday -- for the second time in a week -- an emergency petition by the Schindlers to have their daughter's feeding tube reconnected.

"I'm sad that she's in the situation that she's in," Bush said, commenting publicly on the case for the first time since Thursday. "I feel bad for her family. My heart goes out to the Schindlers and, for that matter, to [her husband] Michael [Schiavo]," Bush said. "This has not been an easy thing for any, any member of the family. But most particularly for Terri Schiavo."

The fight has garnered much national attention in recent weeks, including special legislation enacted by Congress and the governor's brother, President Bush.

Outside Terri Schiavo's hospice in Pinellas Park on Sunday, her brother Bobby Schindler asked protesters to stop volunteering to be arrested.

"It's not going to help at all to do anything that's going to lead to arrests," Schindler said. Police "are here to do a job," Bobby Schindler said.

"I don't care if you're here prayerful and peaceful. But if we could keep it prayerful and peaceful."

Security outside the hospice was doubled Sunday from the day before to between eight and 10 police.

Doctors do not expect Terri Schiavo to live beyond next Friday. An attorney for her parents suggested the battle between her husband and her parents was all but over.

"Terri is declining rapidly," Schindler attorney David Gibbs said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "We believe at this point she has passed where physically she would be able to recover."

Anti-abortion activist Randall Terry, who is acting as a spokesman for Schiavo's parents, said Gibbs' description of Terri Schiavo as past the point of recovery is "absolutely untrue."

Gibbs also said Terri Schiavo is receiving morphine for pain.

In a petition denied Saturday by the Florida court, Schiavo's parents argued that a court order to remove her feeding tube was akin to "mercy killing." They had wanted their daughter to be medically re-evaluated, so that a new judgment could be made about her cognitive skills.

The ruling Saturday night was the third legal blow Schiavo's parents received within 24 hours.

Their motions were also denied earlier in the day by Circuit Court Judge George Greer in Clearwater, Florida, and Friday by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia.

Her parents have now lost nearly 30 legal opinions in both state and federal courts, which have consistently sided with Michael Schiavo, who also is Terri Schiavo's legal guardian. Michael Schiavo has said that he is simply following his wife's wish not to be kept in a persistent vegetative state.

'She looked beautiful'

Speaking with reporters Saturday, Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, said, "I would hope that the parents' side realize that any further legal action will be futile. We can understand their desperate efforts in this case. But I would hope that at some point, they leave that behind and begin to cope with this on a more personal level."

Felos said that he had visited Terri Schiavo for 20 minutes earlier in the day at her hospice in Pinellas Park.

"Frankly, when I saw her...she looked beautiful. In all the years I've seen Mrs. Schiavo, I've never seen such a look of peace and beauty upon her."

He disagreed with charges made by Schiavo's parents that her lips were bleeding, her skin was peeling and that she appeared in discomfort.

Felos said that "it felt right and appropriate that Mrs. Schiavo not be fed and sustained through an artificial device" and that "she has a right to die with dignity" and "in peace" without the release of video and photographs of her at this time.

Additionally, Felos said that Schiavo received last rites, which includes Communion, the day the tube was removed, and that a court has ordered that she be able to receive the sacrament one more time before she dies.

Felos said no exact time for those rites has been set, but they would be administered by the hospice priest.

He said Schiavo's breathing has been regular and that her death doesn't appear "imminent." He said that Schiavo's remains would be cremated and interred in a family plot in Pennsylvania, where she and her husband grew up.

Felos said Michael Schiavo has been at his wife's bedside around the clock, except when her other family members want to visit.


http://www.cnn.com/20
05/LAW/03/27/schiavo/

Schiavo Recieves Last Rites

Terri Given Last Rites

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- Terri Schiavo was given last rites and Easter communion — a drop of wine, but no bread — as relatives of the brain-damaged woman asked protesters gathered outside her hospice to tone down their behavior.

Neither Schiavo's parents nor her husband offered new, specific details on her condition, but one of the two priests who visited her hospital room said the brain-damaged woman's "death is imminent" — a devastating proclamation for those who spent Easter Sunday praying for a woman they never knew.

"We are Terri's voice. Right now, Terri is fighting for her life," the Rev. Patrick Mahoney angrily shouted Sunday, his face reddening. He pledged to protest outside the White House on Monday.

Schiavo's mother, Mary Schindler, did not visit her daughter on Easter, emotions keeping her from the hospice for the first time since Terri's feeding tube was pulled 10 days ago, said Paul O'Donnell, a Roman Catholic Franciscan monk and a family spokesman.

"If she goes in there again, we might have to take her to the hospital," O'Donnell said.

But the woman's parents claimed one Easter victory: Terri received communion wine after her husband allowed her to receive the sacrament.

As her brother, sister and brother-in-law looked on, the Rev. Thaddeus Malanowski (search) held Terri's right hand as he and hospice priest Rev. Joseph Braun placed the droplet on her tongue. Malanowski also anointed her with holy oil, offered a blessing and absolved her of sin.

"She received the blood of Christ," said Malanowski, adding he could not give her a fleck of communion bread because her tongue was too dry.

By previous court order, Terri Schiavo was allowed to receive communion once more with the consent of her husband and guardian, Michael Schiavo, who has fought her parents for years about whether the woman would want to live or die. Terri received both sacraments on March 18, just before the tube was pulled.

Tensions were noticeably heightened both among the protesters and, apparently, among the closest confidants to the woman's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler. David Gibbs III, their lead lawyer, told CBS' "Face the Nation" that Schiavo has "passed where physically she would be able to recover."

"In the family's opinion, that is absolutely not true," spokesman Randall Terry said outside the hospice.

The Schindler family, also bothered by repeated arrests and heightened angst outside the hospice, pleaded with supporters to tone down their behavior. They had little success; five people were arrested and chants of "Give Terri water!" echoed for much of the day.

Doctors have said Terri Schiavo, 41, would probably die within a week or two once the feeding tube — which kept her alive for 15 years — was disconnected. She relied on the tube since suffering catastrophic brain damage when her heart stopped beating and oxygen was cut off to her brain.

At Michael Schiavo's Clearwater home, protesters dropped roses and Easter lilies on his lawn — a peaceful protest interrupted when sprinklers came on suddenly.

His fiancee's brother picked up the flowers and handed them to a bystander to take away. John Centonze declined to answer questions, only saying that Michael Schiavo was "very upset."

The saga was on the mind of many churchgoers, but some leaders skipped mention of it in Easter services.

At St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in Clearwater, Father Ted Costello scrupulously avoided mentioning the Schiavo case. Yet at Faith Lutheran Church in Dunedin, the Rev. Peter Kolb thought Schiavo's story was appropriate for his sermon. "One day, we're all going to go through the valley," he told churchgoers.

Extra police officers blocked the road in front of Schiavo's hospice. Pinellas County school officials said the elementary school next to the hospice would not open Monday. The 600 students were to be sent elsewhere.

And some protesters continued demanding Gov. Jeb Bush intervene, but Bush told CNN he cannot ignore numerous state and federal court rulings against intervention. "I don't have powers ... that would allow me to intervene after a decision has been made," he said.

Gibbs told CBS he believed Bush has done all he could. "Gov. Bush has been a real friend," he said.

Schiavo's parents dispute that their daughter is in a persistent vegetative state as court-ordered doctors have determined. Michael Schiavo contends his wife told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially.

At least two more appeals are pending by the state and Bush, but those challenges are before the state 2nd District Court of Appeal, which has rebuffed the governor's previous efforts in the case.


http://www.foxnews.com/printer_fri
endly_story/0,3566,151654,00.html

Funeral Fight Over Cremation

Cremation Uproar

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. - Terri Schiavo's imminent death won't end the bitter public family battle over her wishes. Indeed, it will only get worse.

Michael Schiavo has already made plans to have his wife cremated and to place her ashes in his family plot near Philadelphia, where they met and married.

Her parents are appalled: They want a wake, an open-casket Catholic funeral service and burial near them in western Florida so they can visit the grave.

"Even in death, he isn't going to allow them a shrine, a place to go talk to her," said Paul O'Donnell, a Franciscan monk designated to speak for the family. "He's taking her from them. Won't he at least give them her dead body?"

Another spokesman for Bob and Mary Schindler put it more bluntly. "He's a bastard," said abortion activist Randall Terry. "It's sheer spite. He's moved on with his life. Why can't he give them this?"

Ratcheting up the already ugly battle, the Schindlers, who have never allowed the possibility that their son-in-law could be acting in good faith, accuse him of wanting to cremate Terri to cover up evidence they say actually caused her brain damage.

Like the controversy over whether Terri would have wanted to die or not, the two sides are diametrically opposed about what she would have wished for her body.

"She never wanted to be put in the ground with bugs," Michael Schindler told The Tampa Tribune in 2002, the first time his wife's feeding tube was removed before her parents won a bid to reinsert it. "She always told me that."

The Schindlers say she was a practicing Catholic who would not want to be cremated. The cremation was okayed by the courts in 2002. Numerous appeals were denied.

In a desperate bid to overturn the court rulings, the parents sent a petition to Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in 2003, charging that Terri's catastrophic collapse was not caused by bulimia, as doctors testified, but that "Terri was possibly strangled."

"The Schindler family believes Terri's cremation is a maneuver her husband will utilize to destroy evidence of his criminal acts," the family told Bush.

George Felos, Michael Schiavo's lawyer, said that after being so thoroughly vilified by the Schindlers, Schiavo has no compunction about flouting their wishes.

"This is a man who's been called a murderer and an abuser. These are false charges, and they know they're false charges," Felos said. "Can you imagine how Mr. Schiavo feels?"

Felos said he didn't know if Michael Schiavo, who has spent the past 10 days and nights at his dying wife's bedside, was planning a private or public service. "Frankly, I don't think he's thought that far ahead," he said.


http://www.nydailynews.com/front/v-
pfriendly/story/294148p-251857c.html

Schiavo's parents urge Gov. Bush to take action

Appeal to Gov. Bush

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- As Terri Schiavo entered her ninth day without food or water, her parents lost another court battle Saturday and abandoned their quest for a federal court review.

Saturday night, through a spokesman, Bob and Mary Schindler asked Gov. Jeb Bush to take Schiavo into protective custody in a last-ditch effort to save her life.

"Gov. Bush, you do have the authority to stop the killing of Terri Schiavo," said Brother Paul O'Donnell, a Schindler family spokesman. "... We beg you to have courage and take action."

O'Donnell said at about 9 p.m. EST that Terri "is really showing signs of starvation and dehydration. ... Tonight, we begin the holy celebration of Easter. The family would request that everyone go home. Be with your children. Hold them close. And cherish every moment you have with them.

"Tomorrow, as we celebrate Easter, they pray that you gather in the churches of your own denominations and if you would, offer a prayer for their daughter Terri."

He said the family would give no more interviews.

Earlier in the day, after a visit with his daughter, Bob Schindler said she was "fighting like hell to stay alive," and that he wanted "the powers that be to know that. It's not too late to save her."

"She's not throwing in the towel," he said. "She doesn't want to die."

Schiavo has been in what doctors have termed a "persistent vegetative state" since collapsing in 1990.

Michael Schiavo has said his wife would not want to be kept alive artificially, and has fought the Schindlers' efforts to have a feeding tube re-inserted. George Felos, Michael Schiavo's attorney, contended Saturday that "any fair observer of this situation would say the legal struggle is over here," and that "any further legal action is going to be futile."

He also said he felt neither Bush nor legislators would step in.

"There's a real perceptible shift in public opinion here. I think the politicians have backed off this case," he said. "I think the politicians here realize they made an erroneous judgment as to what might be in their interests."

He said he could understand the parents' "desperate efforts in this case, but I would hope that at some point before Terri's death they would leave that behind and begin to try to cope with this more on a personal level."

As before, there were conflicting reports about how she looked.

Felos said he had been to see Terri earlier that day, and she was "calm, peaceful, resting comfortably." In fact, he said, she looked "beautiful" and that in the eight years he has been working on the case, he had never seen her have such "a look of peace and beauty."

Terri's brother, Bobby Schindler, however, lashed out later, saying Felos' comments were "the most absurd thing I have ever heard. ... They mischaracterized her condition today, just as they mischaracterized it for five years. It is sick, it is heinous."

He said he was suggesting that his parents not go visit Terri any more.

Felos said it was "obvious that those opposed to carrying out Terri's wishes, lacking a legal case, have tried to stir up emotions and get people angry and to have people believe that something wrong is occurring here. And it's just simply not the case."

On the day before Easter, the families also sparred over whether Terri, a Roman Catholic, could be given communion.

Felos said that the court had ordered that the sacraments could be administered twice. A family friend, Msgr. Thaddeus Malanowski, administered last rites shortly before Terri's feeding tube was taken out on March 18. The priest said he used an eye dropper to put a small amount of wine into the tube.

Felos said the timing of the last communion would be up to Michael Schiavo and Terri's health care providers.

It was a somber day outside the Woodside Hospice, with demonstrators shushing the crowd when the Schindlers appeared and calling after them as they left, "God Bless You."

News photographers have previously jostled each other and surrounded the family as they made their way across the street to the hospice from a small store where they have secluded themselves; Saturday, they formed a more orderly cordon and the Schindlers walked through unimpeded.

By late afternoon, the crowd of demonstrators had swollen to nearly 300 people, all but about three or four in favor of reinserting Terri's feeding tube. More than 100 stood praying and singing "Ave Maria" as Msgr. Malanowski performed mass at an impromptu altar made from a folding table.

A single demonstrator was arrested for trespassing, bringing the total to 31, including six juveniles, the youngest of whom is ten, said Pinellas Park Police Capt. Sanfield Forseth.

He said demonstrators had been alerting the police when they saw potential problems. "They want a peaceful event," Forseth said. "They don't want anyone to mess it up."

When Felos spoke outside his office, four law enforcement officers stood nearby. Security has been tight for those involved in the case; Pinellas Circuit Judge George Greer and Michael Schiavo have received death threats.

Greer's ruling Saturday was another setback for the Schindlers. Greer rejected the family's claim that she tried to say "I want to live" hours before her tube was removed. The family appealed that ruling, but late Saturday the Florida Supreme Court rejected their appeal.

In addition, Bush and the state have two appeals pending in their fight to support the Schindlers; those appeals are before the state's 2nd District Court of Appeal.

Bush has already tried to take Schiavo into protective custody, but was denied by a Pinellas Circuit judge. On Thursday, Bush said his powers "are not as expansive as people would want them to be. ... I cannot go beyond what my powers are and I'm not going to do it."

If medical estimates that Terri Schiavo's death could take place 10 to 14 days after her feeding tube is removed are correct, she could die within days.


http://www.centredaily.com/mld
/centredaily/news/11239715.htm

Schiavo Legal Battle at End

Court Appeals Are Over

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- Under increased security and fading hopes, Terri Schiavo's parents asked supporters to return home to spend Easter Sunday with their families as the couple's brain-damaged daughter went a ninth day without food or water.

Paul O'Donnell, a Roman Catholic Franciscan monk, said the family unsuccessfully urged Michael Schiavo to allow his wife the sacrament of communion during the holiest day of the Catholic year. She received last rites the day the feeding tube was pulled.

"This is in violation of her religious rights and freedoms and allows the governor to ... intervene," O'Donnell said Saturday, repeating the family's request that the governor take Schiavo into protective custody. "We beg you to have courage and take action."

Police brought in extra officers to block the road in front of Schiavo's hospice, citing the increased hostility and intensity of protesters.

Attorneys for Bob and Mary Schindler decided not to file another motion with a federal appeals court, essentially ending their effort to persuade federal judges to intervene — something allowed by an extraordinary law passed by Congress.

Schiavo's parents have disputed that their daughter is in a persistent vegetative state as court-ordered doctors have determined.

Late Saturday, the Florida Supreme Court dismissed a request from the parents' attorney to have their daughter's feeding tube reinserted, turning aside an emergency petition arguing that a Pinellas County judge ignored new evidence about Schiavo's wishes and her medical condition.

At least two more appeals loomed by the state and Gov. Jeb Bush, but those challenges were before the state 2nd District Court of Appeal, which has rebuffed the governor's previous efforts in the case.

Still, protesters planned to hold a sunrise Easter Mass outside the hospice, even as the Schindlers urged them to celebrate the holiday with their families.

"Be with your children," O'Donnell told supporters. "Hold them close and cherish every moment you have with them."

Terri Schiavo was raised Roman Catholic, and her parents have made heavy use of her faith as the basis for the numerous appeals to reinsert the feeding tube.

Meanwhile, police monitored the scene from the hospice roof, patrol cars blocked each entrance and uniformed officers patrolled the grounds.

Schiavo's condition has deteriorated since her feeding tube was removed, but attorneys for each side offered distinctly different assessments.

David Gibbs III, who represents the Schindlers, said "Terri Schiavo will pass the point that she will be able to recover over this Easter weekend." Family supporters also said Terri's breathing has become increasingly labored. Another family attorney said hospice workers began giving her morphine.

But Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, denied reports by the parents' attorneys that her tongue and eyes were bleeding, wracked by dehydration.

"She is resting comfortably," Felos said Saturday. "Her breathing does not appear to be shallow."

Doctors have said she would probably die within a week or two of her feeding tube being pulled, which was done after a judge sided with her husband's argument that she would not want to be kept alive artificially.

Meanwhile, another attorney for the Schindlers, Barbara Weller, said Terri cried when her mother hugged her Saturday night. "She knows what's going on. She was trying to vocalize something with Mary."

In a last-ditch plea, Gibbs argued to the state's high court that Schiavo was treated unfairly because she is disabled.

"In the best way she is able, Terri has communicated her wish to live," the petition argued.

Terri Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly from a chemical imbalance believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder. She left no living will.

"This is so sad and so disappointing," said Alia Faraj, a Bush spokeswoman. "This is a very difficult day for Mr. and Mrs. Schindler and most especially for Terri."

Outside the hospice early Sunday, protesters maintained a vigil. Some believed it wasn't a coincidence that the brain-damaged woman would lay dying during Easter weekend.

"Things are all done in God's timing," said David Vogel, who was arrested for trespassing last week when he tried to take water to her.

Schiavo has been without food and water longer than she was in 2003, when the tube was removed for six days before Gov. Bush pushed through a law to have it reinserted. The law was later thrown out by the state Supreme Court.


http://www.foxnews.com/printer_fri
endly_story/0,3566,151617,00.html

From nurse who is friend of Schindlers

Hospice 'Exit Protocol'

Cheryl Ford, R.N.

Dearest Friends of Terri,

I am very distraught this evening. I have contemplated whether to send this information to the people who have remained steadfast and very dedicated in their fight to free Terri from her captors. However, after great consideration, I feel it is only right that I share with you, Terri's supporters, the information I have been given to me this evening by Terri's family.

As we all have come to know, Terri Schindler is a strong woman who has an incredible will to live. Despite the daily inhumane torture that is inflicted upon her by estranged spouse, Michael Schiavo, (the man who has allowed her to lay in a bed with no food and water for the past eight days,) she has been fighting very hard to remain alive. Last Friday, in spite of her not being permitted therapy since 1993, Terri even tried to articulate the words "I Waaaaaa " in a very loud voice, in response to Attorney Weller saying to her, "all you have to do Terri, is tell us you want to live, and this whole thing can be over Terri."

Under normal circumstances, considering how well hydrated and nourished Terri has been due to receiving the balanced nutritional elements in enteral feedings, it would seem reasonable for Terri to live for another week, or so. However, what was reported by her family tonight, has presented my worst fears. Terri's breathing has changed and has recently become very labored. I am assuming this is happening so quickly because of the possible initiation of Woodside's "exit protocol." A protocol which delivers to her nebulized morphine, a narcotic which suppresses respirations. The "exit protocol" was obviously written to enhance her death process. Woodside claims Morphine was to be administered to provide her with so-called "comfort" measures. Odd, however, they would find it necessary to administer Morphine to a patient who Schiavo and Felos have declared all along has no pain, is without any feelings, and is brain dead.

Go figure!

In simple English, it appears they are killing Terri faster than she has the ability to fight to stay alive any longer. Terri's family are physically and emotionally worn out. They feel disappointed and deserted by government leaders who they once supported. They pleaded for help from them to save their daughters life, but were repeatedly turned down by judges who chose to err on the side of death, as opposed to life. Sadly, leaving them alone to stand by and witness their daughter fighting against the inhumane death of starvation and dehydration.

The callous, cruel and bizarre behaviors we have also witnessed from Schiavo in his determination to rapidly kill the wife he claims to love; leads us to assume he may now be on a rapid mission to leave Terri's parents with the memory of her death on Easter.

Please pray that God continues to protect Terri. Pray that He will provide Terri with peace as she struggles to take her final breaths. Please pray that He allows her family to feel confident that they did everything possible to save her life. Please pray that He allows them to know how much she loves them for the valiant fight they have made on her behalf. Please pray that if Terri is forced to take her final breaths, it can be with her family by her bedside and not Michael Schiavo. Pray that someday soon she will be capable of inhaling the beauty of LIFE, in a place where no more harm will come to her.

As Terri now lays taking labored breaths, I myself, am given a sense of peace in knowing if she dies, she will soon be free from Michael ever bringing harm to her again. I will no longer have to worry about what he may do to her; or, how she has had to stay locked up in a room away from her family and the beautiful sounds of the earth we each are all able to enjoy each day. I will pray for each of you that you find peace within yourself in knowing you have each helped Terri in your own special way.

In the meantime, please know, for as long as Terri is alive and fighting, I will continue to pray for a miracle and will keep on fighting for her until her final breaths are taken. I ask that you all join me in doing the same.

Thank you so much for being an enormous strength for Terri's family. They continue to appreciate the love and dedication you continue to show to Terri, and to each of them.

I will keep you posted.

Respectfully, and with great admiration.
Cheryl Ford, R.N.

Fla. Judge Rejects Last Request

Greer Rejects Appeal

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- A state judge on Saturday rejected another attempt by Terri Schiavo's parents to have her feeding tube reconnected, rejecting what the couple's lawyer described as their last chance to keep their severely brain-damaged daughter alive.

Bob and Mary Schindler claimed in the motion filed Friday that their daughter tried to say "I want to live" just before her feeding tube was removed, saying "AHHHHH" and "WAAAAAAA" when asked to repeat the phrase.

Doctors have said Schiavo's past utterances were involuntary moans consistent with someone in a vegetative state. The 41-year-old woman suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly from a chemical imbalance.

Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband, says she would not want to be kept alive artificially.

As of Saturday afternoon, Schiavo had been without food or water for eight full days, and doctors have said she would probably die within a week or two of her feeding tube being pulled.

David Gibbs III, the Schindlers' lead attorney, described the motion before Pinellas Circuit Judge George Greer the couple's last legal option, saying the couple had ended their federal appeals less than a week after Congress passed an extraordinary law to let them take the case to federal court.

"There is nothing that can be brought back to the court federally that will in any way help Terri," Gibbs said.

After Geer's ruling Saturday, the Schindlers were holding out hope for an unlikely intervention by Gov. Jeb Bush, who has said he has done everything in his power to take custody of Schiavo.

Her lawyers, however, have said Schiavo — whose dehydrated body has begun to shut down — may not survive the weekend.

"Time is moving quickly, and it would appear most likely — absent the state court stepping forward — that Terri Schiavo will pass the point that she will be able to recover over this Easter weekend," Gibbs said.

State and federal courts have repeatedly ruled against the Schindlers, and the motion filed Friday before Greer had been considered a long shot. Attorneys for Michael Schiavo argued Friday that the Schindlers had abandoned all pretense of the law and were simply making "a pure emotional appeal."

Bob Schindler pleaded with Gov. Jeb Bush to intervene by taking temporary custody of their daughter while court challenges are argued. Bush, who has been a staunch supporter of the Schindlers, said Thursday he is not willing to go beyond the boundaries of his powers and that he was hoping the courts would provide relief.

Outside the hospice, eight more people — including a 10-year old boy and 13-year-old twin girls — were arrested Friday for trying to bring her water.

"I'm so discouraged, I feel so helpless," said Christine Ambrusko, a student from Atlanta. "I don't know how in our civilized country we can allow a person to be starved to death with so many questions unanswered."


http://www.foxnews.com/printer_fri
endly_story/0,3566,151585,00.html

Michael Schiavo lawyer gave to judge Greer's campaign

IS JUDGE GREER PAYED OFF?

George Felos made contribution to Greer day after key ruling by court in Terri's case

The judge who tried the Terri Schiavo case and most recently rejected Gov. Jeb Bush's request to intervene, received a campaign contribution from the lawyer pressing for the brain-injured woman's death, raising questions of a conflict of interest.

According to Florida's Department of State, Pinellas County Circuit Court Judge George W. Greer received a contribution of $250 for his 2004 re-election campaign from Felos & Felos, the law firm of George Felos.

Felos, known as a "right-to-die" advocate, represents Terri Schiavo's estranged husband, Michael Schiavo, who won a court order from Greer to have the woman's life-sustaining feeding tube removed one week ago.

The contribution's apparent conflict of interest was raised by an Internet site investigating the Schiavo case, the Empire Journal, and by Rev. D. James Kennedy's group Center for Reclaiming America.

The contribution from Felos came May 7, 2004, one day after Pinellas County Circuit Court Judge Douglas Baird ruled "Terri's Law" unconstitutional. The Florida Legislature's measure was designed to enable Gov. Bush to intervene in the previous instance in which Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed.


http://www.worldnetdaily.com/ne
ws/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43493

Schiavo's Parents Await Another Decision

Parents Await Another Decision

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- After a federal appeals court panel rebuffed them yet again, Terri Schiavo's parents made another desperate attempt to keep their brain-damaged daughter alive, telling a judge that she tried to say "I want to live" just minutes before her feeding tube was removed a week ago.

Pinellas Circuit Judge George Greer was expected to announce a decision by noon Saturday on the motion by Bob and Mary Schindler. The appeal is seen as a long shot because Greer was the judge who ordered Schiavo's feeding tube removed March 18.

Attorneys for Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband, argued the Schindlers had abandoned all pretense of the law and were simply making "a pure emotional appeal." Michael Schiavo says his wife would not want to be kept alive artificially.

State and federal courts have repeatedly ruled against the Schindlers, who grew increasingly anguished as their daughter entered her second week without the tube that sustained her for 15 years.

Doctors have said the 41-year-old woman would probably die within a week or two of the tube being removed. By Friday, dehydration was taking its toll. Terri Schiavo's tongue and eyes were bleeding and her skin was flaking off, said Barbara Weller, the Schindlers' attorney.

"Terri is weakening. She's down to her last hours. Something has to be done and has to be done quick," said Bob Schindler, who visited his daughter Friday morning. After a later visit, he added: "I told her that we're still fighting for her, and she shouldn't give up because we're not. But I think the people who are anxious to see her die are getting their wish."

The Schindlers filed a motion Friday asking Greer to order the reinsertion of the tube, claiming their daughter tried to say "I want to live" when it was removed. The motion said Terri Schiavo was asked to repeat that phrase and responded: "AHHHHH" and "WAAAAAAA."

Doctors who have examined her for the court case have said her previous utterances were involuntary moans consistent with someone in a vegetative state.

Schindler attorney David Gibbs III urged Greer to act quickly because he expected "Terri to step into eternity this Easter weekend." George Felos, the attorney for Michael Schiavo, said the belief Terri Schiavo can speak was "crossing the line" into an abuse of the legal system.

Earlier Friday, a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta denied another appeal by the Schindlers, saying it had already ruled on most of the issues and other issues raised did not apply to the case.

It marked the third time in four days the court had denied an emergency request made by Schiavo's parents. Attorneys for the Schindlers said they planned to appeal, but would wait until Saturday morning.

Bob Schindler also pleaded with Gov. Jeb Bush to intervene by taking temporary custody of their daughter while court challenges are argued.

"With the stroke of his pen, he could stop this," Bob Schindler said. "He's put Terri through a week of hell and my family though a week of hell. I implore him to put a stop to this. He has to stop it. This is judicial homicide."

Bush, who has been a staunch supporter of the Schindlers, said Thursday he is not willing to go beyond the boundaries of his powers and that he was hoping the courts would provide relief.

"We are continuing to do whatever we can, and we are pursuing all the options available to us in this case," Bush spokesman Jacob DiPietre said.

Terri Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly from a chemical imbalance believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder. She left no living will.

She went without food and water in 2003 when the feeding tube was removed for six days and five hours. It was reinserted when Bush and the Legislature pushed through a law that was later thrown out by the state Supreme Court.

Outside the hospice, eight more people — including a 10-year old boy and 13-year-old twin girls — were arrested Friday for trying to bring her water.

"I don't want her to die," Joshua Heldreth, 10, from North Carolina, said before his arrest. "I'm not afraid because God is with me."

A handful of protesters remained outside Terri Schiavo's hospice overnight.

"I'm so discouraged, I feel so helpless," said Christine Ambrusko, student from Atlanta. "I don't know how in our civilized country we can allow a person to be starved to death with so many questions unanswered."

Also Friday, the FBI said a man was arrested in Fairview, N.C., on charges of sending an e-mail threat, allegedly for offering a $250,000 bounty for Michael Schiavo's death and $50,000 for that of a judge in the case. The FBI did not identify the judge.

Richard Alan Meywes allegedly sent the e-mail Tuesday to two Tampa-area news organizations and the host of a national conservative talk show, the FBI said.

Meywes was taken into custody at his home and charged with murder for hire and with the transmission of interstate threatening communications, the FBI said.

If convicted, Meywes could face up to 15 years in prison and fines up to $500,000, federal prosecutors said.


http://www.foxnews.com/printer_fri
endly_story/0,3566,151585,00.html

Political corruption alleged in Schiavo case

Criminal Probe Shut Down

Criminal probes reportedly shut down despite investigators' concerns

As Terri Schiavo enters what are thought to be her last hours of life, allegations of political corruption and obstruction of justice on the part of state officials raise questions as to whether the brain-injured woman's court-ordered death by starvation might serve to cover up crimes committed against her.

Criminal probes launched by two Florida agencies looking into allegations the incapacitated woman was abused, neglected and exploited were shut down, despite investigators' concerns.

One investigation took place at the Department of Children and Families, or DCF, in late 2001. The other was conducted by agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, or FDLE, in August 2003.

Both agencies are mandated by Florida Statutes 415 and 825 to detect and correct the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of the elderly or disabled adults.

The individual whose 700-page anonymous complaint prompted the DCF to conduct a 60-day investigation into numerous alleged violations of state statutes protecting disabled and incapacitated people tells WND the DCF investigator gave him the impression he thought the allegations were credible and he was sorry the probe got aborted by his superiors.


http://www.worldnetdaily.com/ne
ws/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43509

Another Legal Blow to Schiavo's Parents

'Judicial Homicide'

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — A federal appeals court panel refused to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube Friday, hours after the severely brain-damaged woman's father said she was weakening and down "to her last hours."

In its ruling, a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals said it had already ruled on most of the issues raised in the latest appeal, and that other issues raised did not apply to the case.

It marked the third time in four days the court had denied an emergency request made by Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler.

After Friday's appellate court ruling, Schiavo's parents again pleaded with Gov. Jeb Bush to intervene.

"With the stroke of his pen, he could stop this," Bob Schinder said. "He's put Terri through a week of hell and my family though a week of hell. I implore him to put a stop to this. He has to stop it. This is judicial homicide."

Doctors have said she would probably die within a week or two of the feeding tube being removed, which was done March 18 after a judge sided with her husband's argument that she would not want to be kept alive artificially. Dehydration has taken its toll on the 41-year-old woman, producing flaky skin, dry tongue and lips, and sunken eyes, according to attorneys and friends of the Schindlers.

Many supporters of the Schindlers say Bush could simply ignore the courts and take emergency custody of Schiavo.

"Now is the day. Now is the time for the governor to have courage," said Paul O'Donnell, a Franciscan monk and Schindler family supporter. "The governor needs to take action and take action soon. She's dying."

On Thursday, a Rockford, Ill., man was arrested in Seminole after trying to steal a weapon from a gun shop. Michael W. Mitchell, 20, told deputies he wanted to "take some action and rescue Terri Schiavo" after he visited the Pinellas Park hospice where she lives, an official said. Seminole is about 5 miles west of Pinellas Park.

Bush said Thursday he is not willing to go beyond the boundaries of his powers.

Outside the hospice where Terri Schiavo lay, eight more people — including a 10-year old boy and 13-year-old twin girls — were arrested Friday for trying to bring her water.

"I don't want her to die," Joshua Heldreth, 10, from North Carolina, said before his arrest. "I'm not afraid because God is with me."

Also, the FBI said a man was arrested Friday in Fairview, N.C., on charges of sending an e-mail threat, allegedly for offering a $250,000 bounty for Michael Schiavo's death and $50,000 for that of a judge in the case. The FBI did not immediately identify the judge.

Terri Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly from a chemical imbalance believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder. She left no living will.


http://www.foxnews.com/printer_fri
endly_story/0,3566,151571,00.html

Terri's father: 'Down to her last hours'

Time's Running Out, Jeb

PINELLAS PARK, Florida -- The father of Terri Schiavo, the severely brain-damaged woman whose feeding tube was removed a week ago, said Friday his daughter is "down to her last hours."

Bob Schindler, Schiavo's father, said, "Terri is weakening. ... Something has to be done, and has to be done quick."

Schindler said the family's hopes lie with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia, which is hearing -- for the second time this week -- an appeal claiming Schiavo's due process rights have been violated.

Schiavo is in her seventh day without food or water since Pinellas County Circuit Judge George Greer ordered the tube removed for the third time.

The case is again in the federal appeals court, where a three-judge panel will rule on the motion filed by attorneys for Schiavo's parents.

"We've had some of the best legal minds in the country working on this," Schindler said. "I do think that what was presented last night in federal court is very, very viable, and we're encouraging the appellate court to take a hard look at this thing and to do the right thing."

Early Friday, U.S. District Court Judge James Whittemore denied an emergency request from the parents of Terri Schiavo to have her feeding tube reinserted.

The Schindlers had taken their case to federal courts after a special law was passed early Monday by Congress. After the first appeal ended with the refusal of the U.S. Supreme Court to become involved, the parents went back to Whittemore on Thursday night, arguing he ignored evidentiary issues the first time.

Friday morning, Whittemore denied the latest appeal.

Schiavo's feeding tube was removed March 18 after a years-long fight by her husband, Michael Schiavo, who has argued she had said, before her illness, that she would not want to continue living if she were in such a condition.

Schiavo's parents have fought to have the feeding tube restored. They argue that their daughter never made such a right-to-die declaration and that she would not want to be, in their words, "starved to death."

The tube had been removed twice before -- for two days in 2001 and six days in 2003.

State court setbacks

In another setback for the parents Thursday, Greer rejected a request to hear new medical testimony from a doctor who disagrees with the prevailing diagnosis that Schiavo is in a "persistent vegetative state." Greer also barred state authorities from taking Schiavo into their custody.

Schiavo's parents have said that in the 23 decisions against them, judges have not considered all the facts and, in fact, are joining forces in what Bob Schindler called a "crusade to kill" his daughter.

Schiavo has been hospitalized, bedridden and unable to speak or feed herself since 1990, when she suffered heart failure linked to an eating disorder. The courts have consistently agreed with doctors hired by Michael Schiavo and appointed by the court who have concluded that the 41-year-old woman is in a persistent vegetative state.

But Dr. William Cheshire, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic-Jacksonville, examined Schiavo's medical records and watched videotapes provided by her parents and concluded she was "most likely in a state of minimal consciousness."

Based on that diagnosis, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush ordered the state Department of Children and Families to make a new effort to intervene in the case on Wednesday.

Greer rebuffed those efforts in a series of rulings on Thursday, and the state Supreme Court rejected an appeal of that decision Thursday evening.

The justices have declined five previous opportunities to get involved in the issue, including an effort by a congressional committee to place Schiavo under federal protection through a subpoena.

Meanwhile, Schindler supporters were planning an all-day Good Friday prayer vigil at the Florida governor's mansion as part of an effort to persuade Bush to intervene, despite his comments Thursday that he cannot overstep his gubernatorial powers.

Bush -- the brother of President Bush -- has taken action in the past, prodding the state legislature to pass laws, later found unconstitutional, to keep her alive. He tried again Wednesday, but the state Senate defeated the attempt.

Differing descriptions of Terri

George Felos, the attorney for Schiavo's husband, said Michael Schiavo is at his wife's bedside, where he has been since shortly after her feeding tube was removed last Friday.

Felos told CNN that Terri Schiavo appears "peaceful" and "is in her dying process." She is going through what "millions go through during their death process," he said.

Michael Schiavo's brother, Brian, also said his sister-in-law appeared "peaceful."

"She's lying there. Sometimes her mouth is agape," he said. "She's not too different from when I saw her the day before."

Brian Schiavo said she appears "withdrawn," but "she is not in pain."

The Schindlers visited their daughter in the Pinellas Park hospice Thursday afternoon. Anti-abortion activist Randall Terry, who is acting as a spokesman for the Schindlers, said Mary Schindler became "physically ill" during the visit and had to leave the hospital room.

"The family said she (Terri Schiavo) is gaunt ... her voice is very weak. Her breathing appears to be somewhat struggled," he said.

Brother Paul O'Donnell, a spiritual adviser for the Schindlers, said their "hope is dimming."

"They're very disappointed," he said. "They're in shock. They can't believe this is happening. They hope the governor is going to do something, but this is a severe blow when Terri's life hangs in the balance."

Tight security

Protesters, most of them supporting the Schindlers, have gathered outside the hospice where security has been tight.

Law enforcement officials detonated a backpack Thursday night that was leaning against the federal courthouse where Whittemore was conducting the latest hearing. The woman who had left the pack later said that there was nothing dangerous in it.

Also Thursday night, police arrested an Illinois man they said robbed a Seminole, Florida, gun store as part of an attempt to "rescue Terri Schiavo."

Michael W. Mitchell, 20, faces charges of attempted armed robbery, aggravated assault and criminal mischief, said Marianne Pasha, spokeswoman for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.


http://www.cnn.com/2005/LA
W/03/25/schiavo/index.html

Gov. Jeb Bush Must Step Forward, Terri's Advocates Say

Jeb's a 'Pontius Pilate'

Gov. Jeb Bush is being compared to Pontius Pilate as he comes under intensive pressure from religious and pro-life groups to do whatever it takes to save Terri Schiavo's life.

The groups that are pressuring Gov. Bush commend him for all he has done so far on Terri's behalf. But it hasn't worked -- and they say there is more that he can do.

Dr. D. James Kennedy, the president of Coral Ridge Ministries, said that as governor, Jeb Bush is the only legal authority who can stop Terri from starving.

"He must act and he must act immediately on her behalf. He must disregard the order of Judge Greer. He has both the authority and the duty to do so under the state constitution," Kennedy said in a press release.

Kennedy noted that Article I, Section 2 of the Florida Constitution says, "All natural persons, female and male alike, are equal before the law, and have inalienable rights, among which are the right to enjoy and defend life..."

It also says "no person shall be deprived of any right because of ... physical disability." That includes the right to enjoy life, Kennedy said.

As governor, Jeb Bush has the "'supreme executive power' and the constitutional duty as stated in Article IV, Section 1, to 'take care that the laws be faithfully executed.'"

Kennedy said Gov. Bush may not disregard that obligation, even if a member of the judiciary has ordered otherwise. "He is not bound by a court order that is at odds with a constitutional guarantee," Kennedy said.

"Jeb Bush must choose between the clear mandate of Florida's constitution and a judiciary which, in this case, has acted in defiance of that state supreme law. After all this time of praying, petitioning, and lobbying, it comes down to this," Kennedy said.

Pontius Pilate

A pro-life group called Crossroads agrees that Gov. Bush has done a great deal on Terri's behalf.

"But how will history remember him if Terri dies? Likely, as a weak, moral coward, who did not have the courage to save a helpless, dying woman from those who so vehemently wished to take her life," the group said in a press release.

Crossroads noted that nearly 2000 years ago this week, Pontius Pilate "stood by and did nothing in the face of determined evil as it took the life" of one innocent man."

Pilate simply lacked the moral courage that is occasionally demanded of one who governs, Crossroads said.

The group said Pilate was not filled with hate -- but in the end, he "chose not to risk his office to save the 'insignificant' [Christ]."

Crossroads said Bush must ask himself, "Is one helpless woman's life worth my political career?'"

"As of this writing, the tribunals have spoken against an innocent, helpless woman, and an angry, hate-filled mob has gathered to mock and ridicule those praying for a miracle near to where Terri Schiavo lies in her fatal agony," Crossroad said.

"And her mother, Mary, must suffer the contempt of those who are determined to see her child unjustly condemned to death. Now it is in the hands of the governor, the man who will ultimately choose either to wield the temporal powers of his office to save innocent life, or 'wash his hands' of her."


http://www.cnsnews.com//ViewPrint.asp?Page
=\Culture\archive\200503\CUL20050325b.html

Terri's Health Wanes As Parents Appeal Again

Parents Appeal to 11th Again

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- As Terri Schiavo's health waned, a federal judge refused Friday to order the reinsertion of her feeding tube, thwarting another legal move from the brain-damaged woman's parents. They quickly appealed the ruling.

For a second time, U.S. District Judge James Whittemore ruled against the parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, who had asked him to grant their emergency request to resume their daughter's nourishment while he considers a lawsuit they filed.

The Schindlers appealed again to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to review Whittemore's ruling. The Atlanta court refused earlier this week to overturn a previous Whittemore ruling.

Gov. Jeb Bush has ordered his legal team to scour state laws for a way to reconnect Schiavo's feeding tube. There were calls from the parents' supporters for him to take further action.

The tube was removed a week ago on a state judge's order that agreed with Schiavo's husband, Michael, who has said she has no hope for recovery and wouldn't want to be kept alive artificially. The Schindlers believe their daughter could improve and wouldn't want to die.

In his 11-page ruling, Whittemore wrote that the Schindlers couldn't establish "a substantial likelihood of success on the merits" of their case. He also noted "the difficulties and heartbreak the parties have endured throughout this lengthy process" and praised the lawyers' civility, saying it was "a credit to their professionalism ... and Terri."

George Felos, attorney for Michael Schiavo, did not immediately return a call seeking comment on the ruling.

As of Friday morning, Terri Schiavo, 41, had been without food or water for almost seven days and was showing signs of dehydration — flaky skin, dry tongue and lips, and sunken eyes, according to attorneys and friends of the Schindlers. Doctors have said she would probably die within a week or two of the tube being pulled.

She has now been off the tube longer than she was in 2003, when the tube was removed for six days and five hours. It was reinserted when the Legislature passed a law later thrown out by the courts.

The governor's request to let the state take Terri Schiavo into protective custody was denied by a Pinellas Circuit judge on Thursday. Some Schindler family supporters say the governor isn't doing enough.

"Bob and Mary are begging Governor Bush to save their daughter on this Good Friday day," Paul O'Donnell, a Franciscan monk, said after Friday's ruling. "Now is the day. Now is the time for the governor to have courage. The governor needs to take action and take action soon. She's dying." He contended the governor still has the power to take her into protective custody.

On Thursday, Bush said his powers "are not as expansive as people would want them to be. ... I cannot go beyond what my powers are and I'm not going to do it."

A spokeswoman for the governor, Alia Faraj, said Friday he was "saddened by the decision. ... Judge Whittemore's willingness to take a look at Terri's case gave us a ray of hope."


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&u=/ap/
20050325/ap_on_re_us/brain_damaged_woman_142&printer=1

Federal Court Denies Schiavo Request

Judge Rules Against Parents

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- In what may have been the last major legal route in an effort to save Terri Schiavo's life, a federal court on Friday morning denied the severely brain-damaged woman's parents' request to have her feeding tube reeinserted.

For a second time, U.S. District Judge James Whittemore ruled against the parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, who had asked him to grant their emergency request to restore her feeding tube while he considers a lawsuit they filed.

The tube was removed a week ago on a state judge's order that agreed with her husband, who has said she has no hope for recovery and wouldn't want to be kept alive artificially. The Schindlers believe their daughter could improve and wouldn't want to die.

As of Friday morning, Terri Schiavo, 41, had been without food or water for almost seven days and was showing signs of dehydration -- flaky skin, dry tongue and lips, and sunken eyes, according to attorneys and friends of the Schindlers. Doctors have said she would probably die within a week or two of the tube being pulled.

On Thursday, both the U.S. Supreme Court and Florida Supreme Court denied attempts to save Schiavo. The Schindlers were also hoping that Florida Gov. Jeb Bush would somehow find a way to intervene — but Bush warned that he was running out of options.

"We're minute by minute right now. But it doesn't look like we have much left," Suzanne Vitadamo, Terri Schiavo's sister, told The Associated Press late Thursday.

Whittemore, who had previously rejected a similar request from Schiavo's parents, said many of the plaintiffs' motions were redundant after the hearing.

At the hearing's outset, Whittemore asked Schindler lawyer David Gibbs III (search) to focus on the legal issues because he was aware of Schiavo's declining health. Gibbs argued that as she lay dying, her rights to life and privacy were being violated.

The drama wasn't limited to the courtroom. Tampa police called in a bomb squad after a suspicious black backpack was found on the north side of the federal court building. The hearing was not interrupted, and the package was safely detonated by police.

Thursday evening, a man was arrested after he went to a gun store in Seminole and threatened its owner with a box cutter while demanding a weapon to "rescue" Schiavo, the Pinellas County sheriff's office said.

Meanwhile, family members worried that Schiavo was becoming more and more malnourished as the legal battle played itself out.

"It's very frustrating. Every minute that goes by is a minute that Terri is being starved and dehydrated to death," said her brother, Bobby Schindler. He said seeing his sister was like looking at "pictures of prisoners in concentration camps."

Brian Schiavo, brother of Terri Schiavo's husband Michael Schiavo, strongly disagreed with that assessment, telling a news network that Terri Schiavo "does look a little withdrawn" but insisting she was not in pain. He added that starvation is simply "part of the death process."

A lawyer for Michael Schiavo said he hoped the woman's parents and the governor would finally give up their fight.

"We believe it's time for that to stop as we approach this Easter weekend and that Mrs. Schiavo be able to die in peace," attorney George Felos said.

Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly from a chemical imbalance believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder. She left no living will, but her husband argued that she told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially. Her parents dispute that and contend she could get better.

The dispute has led to what may be the longest, most heavily litigated right-to-die case in U.S. history.


http://www.foxnews.com/printer_fri
endly_story/0,3566,151454,00.html

Florida governor indicates he won't defy court order

Jeb Chooses Death

Governor to let Terri Schiavo die

Those hoping Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will step forward to save Terri Schiavo from imminent, court-ordered starvation death are likely to be disappointed, based on his comments to a group of reporters following county court Judge George Greer's ruling against the state's effort to take custody of the brain-injured woman at the center of a worldwide euthanasia controversy.

While Bush reiterated his motivation to save Schiavo, based on new evidence that she is not in a persistent vegetative state and is, to some degree, conscious of her surroundings, the governor said "it isn't possible to remove her" from the hospice.

Bush downplayed the earlier reports about the possibility of action by the DCF.

"We never said that unilaterally we would do something that's against the court," he said.

"I've been asked to do it by a lot of people – a lot of the advice I'm getting over the Internet and over television and the like. I know that there were lots of rumors of things that aren't accurate.

"I have a duty to uphold the law and I have been very consistent about that. It seemed like a big story that never was confirmed because it wasn't true. If we had that ability to do it, if there wasn't an injunction, we would do it right now. We would stabilize her by giving her hydration. We couldn't put a feeding tube in. There was already a court order in place. The opportunity we had was appealing his decision."


http://www.worldnetdaily.com/ne
ws/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43488

Schiavo's Parents Await Federal Court Ruling

Parents Await Federal Ruling

Jeb says his hands were increasingly tied

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- Terri Schiavo's parents suffered several legal defeats Thursday, but still held out hope that a federal judge would decide to reinsert their brain-damaged daughter's feeding tube.

Earlier in the day, both the U.S. Supreme Court and Florida Supreme Court denied attempts to save the 41-year-old woman, who has been without food or water for six full days and was showing signs of dehydration.

In the federal court hearing Thursday evening, U.S. District Judge James Whittemore heard the Schindlers' emergency request that the feeding tube be reattached while they pursue their claims that Schiavo's religious and due-process rights were violated.

Whittemore, who had previously rejected a similar request from Schiavo's parents, and said many of the plaintiff's motions were redundant after the hearing. He said he would stay in his chambers until he reached a decision.

Bob and Mary Schindler, the woman's parents, were also hoping that Florida Gov. Jeb Bush would somehow find a way to intervene — but Bush warned that he was running out of options.

Even before the state high court's ruling, the governor acknowledged Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press that his hands were increasingly tied.

"It is frustrating for people to think that I have power that I don't, and not be able to act," he said. "I don't have embedded special powers. I wish I did in this particular case."


http://www.foxnews.com/printer_fri
endly_story/0,3566,151454,00.html

Fla. Supreme Court Refuses to Overturn Judge Greer Decision

Fla. Court Won't Overturn Greer

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday refused to overturn a judge's order blocking the state from taking temporary custody of Terri Schiavo, another setback in her parents' battle to keep their brain-damaged daughter alive.

Gov. Jeb Bush wants the state Department of Children & Families to take custody of Schiavo, presumably to reinsert her feeding tube, and to investigate allegations that she has been abused and prove that she's not in a persistent vegetative state.

Pinellas Circuit Judge George Greer earlier in the day denied Bush's request and has blocked the state from taking emergency action to intervene in the case while it appeals his decision.

As of Thursday afternoon, Schiavo, 41, had been without food or water for six full days and was showing signs of dehydration — flaky skin, dry tongue and lips, sunken eyes, according to attorneys and friends of her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler. Doctors have said she would probably die within a week or two of the tube being pulled.

Her parents have also been rebuffed by the U.S. Supreme Court and the Florida Senate.


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&u=/ap/2
0050325/ap_on_re_us/brain_damaged_woman_120&printer=1

Pastor to Jeb Bush: Disobey judge

Pastor to Jeb Bush: Disobey judge

D. James Kennedy says governor must 'disregard' judge to save Terri

With all legal remedies apparently exhausted, a prominent evangelical Christian leader is urging Jeb Bush to disobey a judge's order barring the Florida governor from intervening to save the life of Terri Schiavo.

In a statement shortly after Judge George Greer's decision today, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., minister D. James Kennedy pointed to Bush "as the only legal authority who can save the life of Terri Schiavo."

Kennedy, president of Coral Ridge Ministries, said Bush "must act and he must act immediately on her behalf."

"He must disregard the order of Judge Greer," Kennedy said. "He has both the authority and the duty to do so under the state constitution."

As governor, Jeb Bush has the "supreme executive power," and the constitutional duty, stated in Article IV, Section 1, to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed," Kennedy said.

The governor, who is sworn to uphold the constitution, is obligated to safeguard this constitutional guarantee of the "inalienable right ... to enjoy and defend life," regardless of physical disability, he argued.

"The governor may not disregard that obligation even if a member of the judiciary has ordered otherwise," Kennedy said. "He is not bound by a court order that is at odds with a constitutional guarantee."

"Jeb Bush must choose between the clear mandate of Florida's constitution and a judiciary which, in this case, has acted in defiance of that state supreme law."

"The governor may not disregard that obligation even if a member of the judiciary has ordered otherwise," Kennedy said. "He is not bound by a court order that is at odds with a constitutional guarantee."


http://www.worldnetdaily.com/ne
ws/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43481

Gov. Bush's Request for Custody of Schiavo Denied

Greer refuses to listen to Governor

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- A circuit court judge denied Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's request to take protective custody of Terri Schiavo on Thursday, perhaps spelling the end of the protracted legal battled over how the severely brain-damaged woman ought to die.

The decision by Judge George Greer, who has consistently ruled that Schiavo did not want to be kept alive artificially, was not surprising, though it came two hours later than expected.

Greer had earlier barred the Department of Children & Families in an emergency order from taking custody of Schiavo.

The long-shot moves by the state of Florida came as the U.S. Supreme Court once again refused to order Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted.

"The governor is disappointed [at the Supreme Court decision] and will continue to do whatever he can within the law to save Terri's life," Bush spokesman Jacob DiPietre said.

Schindler family spokesman Randall Terry said they felt "bitter disappointment" that the state was not acting more forcefully.

"The question we have for the governor and DCF is why did you come forward and say you have the authority to statutorily intervene if you didn't have the authority to do it ... Why were we in court asking for permission?" Terry asked.


http://www.foxnews.com/printer_fri
endly_story/0,3566,151347,00.html

Fla. Judge Won't Hear Gov. Jeb Bush's Arguments

Greer refuses to listen to Jeb

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- A state judge refused Thursday to hear Gov. Jeb Bush's arguments to take custody of Terri Schiavo, leaving the brain-damaged woman's parents with only the slimmest hopes in their fight to keep her alive.

Bush's request cited new allegations of neglect and challenges the diagnoses that Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state, but Pinellas Circuit Judge George Greer wasn't convinced.

Greer's decision came hours after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to order her feeding tube reinserted. The decisions reduce chances for quick intervention to reconnect the tube, which was pulled last Friday. Doctors have said Schiavo, 41, likely would die in a week or two without nourishment.

Schiavo's husband, Michael, had urged the high court Thursday not to intervene, saying her case has been endlessly litigated and state courts have agreed with him that she would want to die.

The appeal by her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, was part of a rush of legal activity in the unprecedented right-to-die struggle. They have frantically tried to reconnect the tube because they deny Michael Schiavo's arguments that she has no hope for recovery and that she would not have wanted to live in such a state.


http://apnews.myway.com/arti
cle/20050324/D891H5A00.html

Gov. Bush Requests Custody of Schiavo After Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Case

Jeb Files For Custody

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- Florida Gov. Jeb Bush filed a request to take custody of Terri Schiavo on Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court once again refused to order the severely brain-damaged woman's feeding tube reinserted.

Circuit Court Judge George Greer, who has almost consistently ruled that Schiavo did not want to be kept alive artificially, is expected to decide by noon on Bush's request. He also barred the Department of Children & Families in an emergency order from taking custody of the woman.

After being dealt a pair of blows in their effort to keep Schiavo alive, Bob and Mary Schindler (search) had argued in a 40-page emergency filing with the high court that their 41-year-old daughter faces an unjust and imminent death based on a decision by her husband to remove a feeding tube without strong proof of her consent. They alleged constitutional violations of due process and religious freedom.

The filing also argued Congress intended for Schiavo's tube to be reinserted, at least temporarily, when they passed an unprecedented bill last weekend that gave federal courts authority to fully review her case.

In its conclusion, the request suggests that the case has implications for the protection of the disadvantaged.

"It has taken our nation many years to make good on its commitment to equal justice for persons with profound, cognitive disabilities," the request reads. "Unless the state of Florida retains the power to protect the rights of its most vulnerable citizens ... the 14th Amendment's guarantees will apply only to those who are capable of defending them on their own."

It added: "Without a stay from this court, Terri will die a horrible death in a matter of days."

Terri's brother Bobby Schindler told FOX News: "We always hold out hope something's going to happen that's going to help save my sister's life, so we're extremely disappointed" in the court's decision.


http://www.foxnews.com/printer_fri
endly_story/0,3566,151347,00.html

Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Schiavo Case

It's up to Jeb now

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday refused to order Terri Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted, leaving the severely brain-damaged woman's family with few legal options for keeping their daughter alive.

After being dealt a pair of blows in their effort to keep Schiavo alive, Bob and Mary Schindler had argued in the 40-page emergency filing with the high court that their 41-year-old daughter faces an unjust and imminent death based on a decision by her husband to remove a feeding tube without strong proof of her consent. They allege constitutional violations of due process and religious freedom.

The filing also argued Congress intended for Schiavo's tube to be reinserted, at least temporarily, when they passed an extraordinary bill last weekend that gave federal courts authority to fully review her case.

In its conclusion, the request suggests that the case has implications for the protection of the disadvantaged.

"It has taken our nation many years to make good on its commitment to equal justice for persons with profound, cognitive disabilities," the request reads. "Unless the state of Florida retains the power to protect the rights of its most vulnerable citizens ... the 14th Amendment's guarantees will apply only those who are capable of defending them on their own."

It added: "Without a stay from this court, Terri will die a horrible death in a matter of days."

Hope in Florida?

What the Schindlers have left is a state court request by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and the state's social services agency to take custody of Schiavo. It cites new allegations of neglect and challenges Schiavo's diagnosis as being in a persistent vegetative state.

The long-shot custody request by Bush was made before Judge George Greer (search), the same judge who has presided over the case for several years and issued the ruling last month that allowed the feeding tube to be removed. Greer planned to decide by noon Thursday on whether the case would go forward.

Greer on Thursday denied a request by the Florida Department of Children and Families to unseal probate records, including financial information, in the guardianship case to determine it Schiavo has been abused or exploited. DCF argued it needed that information for their current investigation.

DCF filed a motion last month to intervene in the case, saying it was investigating 30 allegations of abuse, neglect and exploitation of the brain-damaged woman and that her husband Michael was the suspect. The agency asked for a 60-day stay of removal of the tube but Greer denied the stay and refused them right to intervene in the case.

Republican leaders in Congress early Thursday morning filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in support of the Schindlers. Sens. Bill Frist of Tennessee, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Mel Martinez of Florida and Sam Brownback of Kansas filed the brief, which is an updated version of the one submitted to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

Meanwhile, Terri's husband Michael, issued a response to the Schindler's Supreme Court appeal for an emergency stay to reinsert the feeding tube. He's opposing the injunction.

"The status quo today is that Mrs. Schiavo is exactly where she would want to be; she has been released from unwanted, intrusive medical procedures according to her wishes," states his response. "Preservation of the status quo would allow her to die in peace, and to maintain her dignity and autonomy. Petitioners [the Schindlers], however, ask this court to upset the peace that Mrs. Schiavo has attained, to reverse the fulfillment of her own wishes, and to dismantle 8 years of painstaking work by courts in both the Florida system and the federal system."

Supporters of Schiavo's parents grew increasingly dismayed, and police arrested 10 protesters outside her hospice for trying to bring her water.

"When I close my eyes at night, all I can see is Terri's face in front of me, dying, starving to death," Mary Schindler said outside her daughter's Pinellas Park hospice. "Please, someone out there, stop this cruelty. Stop the insanity. Please let my daughter live."

Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly from a chemical imbalance believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder. Court-appointed doctors say she is in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery.

Her parents contend that she could get better and that she would never have wanted to be cut off from food and water. Schiavo's husband, Michael Schiavo, has argued that his wife told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially, and a state judge has repeatedly ruled in his favor.

The Fight So Far

Gov. Bush's request for state custody is based on the opinion of a neurologist working for the state who observed Schiavo at her bedside but did not conduct an examination of her.

The neurologist, William Cheshire of the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, is a bioethicist who is also an active member in Christian organizations, including two whose leaders have spoken out against the tube's removal.

Ronald Cranford of the University of Minnesota, a neurologist who was among those who made a previous diagnosis of Schiavo, said "there isn't a reputable, credible neurologist in the world who won't find her in a vegetative state."

Florida state senators rejected a bill 21-18 Wednesday that would have prohibited patients like Schiavo from being denied food and water if they did not express their wishes in writing.

The Legislature stepped in in 2003 as well, and Schiavo's feeding tube was reinserted. But Gov. Bush's "Terri's Law" was later struck down by the state Supreme Court as an unconstitutional attempt to interfere in the courts.

Terri Schiavo's brother, Bobby Schindler, watching from the Florida Senate gallery above the floor during the debate. He covered his eyes with his hands and lowered his head during the debate.

"I'm here pleading for mercy. Have mercy on Theresa Marie Schiavo," said bill sponsor Sen. Dan Webster, a Republican.

But Senate Democratic Leader Les Miller warned: "By the time the ink is dry on the governor's signature, it will be declared unconstitutional, just like it was before."

A lawyer for Michael Schiavo said he was pleased by what happened in the appeals court. But he was bothered that the governor was attempting to intervene again.

"They have no more power than you or I or a person walking down the street to say we have the right to take Terri Schiavo," attorney George Felos said.

Meanwhile, President Bush suggested that he and Congress had done their best to help the parents prolong Schiavo's life, and the White House said it had no further legal options.

"I believe that in a case such as this, the legislative branch, the executive branch, ought to err on the side of life, which we have," the president said Wednesday. "Now we'll watch the courts make their decisions."


http://www.foxnews.com/printer_fri
endly_story/0,3566,151347,00.html

Supreme Court Won't Hear Schiavo Case

Supremes: No Comment

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to order Terri Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted, rejecting a desperate appeal by her parents to keep their severely brain-damaged daughter alive.

The decision, announced in a terse one-page order, marked the end of a dramatic and disheartening four-day dash through the federal court system by Bob and Mary Schindler.

Justices did not explain their decision, which was at least the fifth time they have declined to get involved in the Schiavo case.


http://apnews.myway.com/art
icle/20050324/D891DS3G0.html

An Open Letter to Governor Jeb Bush

Open Letter to Gov Jeb Bush

Dear Governor Bush,

It appears that you and only you can save Terri Schiavo from premeditated judicial murder.

Terri is dying a painful and inhumane death at this very moment. We, your voting base, implore you to immediately exercise your perfectly legal executive authority, take custody of Terri Schiavo, and have her feeding tube re-inserted.

There are now new and very credible allegations, accompanied by compelling evidence, which indicate that Michael Schiavo, Terri’s former husband who is common-law married to another woman and has children by her, may have been systematically abusing Terri since she became incapacitated.

You are perfectly within your legal and moral authority to order Florida’s Department of Children and Family Services to investigate these very credible allegations. No court has the authority to tell you not to do your job, and no voter who is likely to support you in any future election will fault you for doing what is right, honorable and legal.

We are very grateful and proud of you for what you’ve done so far in an effort to save Terri. Know this however; we are closely watching what you do from here.

Please recognize this as "tough love" Governor: If you do not take all action within your legal authority to save Terri, and she is successfully murdered by Michael Schiavo and an activist judiciary, then you yourself may experience the unfortunate pains of political euthanasia.

Sincerely,

The Voters

Call to Action: Please copy/paste this letter into an e-mail and send it to Jeb's office. Also, send the link to this web page to your email lists and encourage other people to contact Governor Jeb Bush.

Contact Governor Bush’s office by telephone or e-mail and encourage him to act now to save Terri Schiavo’s precious life.

Phone: 850-488-4441

E-mail: jeb.bush@myflorida.com

Reach the Governor

Michigan Lawmaker: Adultery should end right to make life decisions

Adulterous Guardianship

State Rep. Joel Sheltrown thinks adulterous husbands or wives shouldn't be allowed to keep food or medical treatment from a spouse who's unable to make those decisions.

Sheltrown is drafting legislation to address an issue surrounding brain-damaged Terri Schiavo in Florida. Schiavo's parents say her husband, Michael Schiavo, wants to disconnect her feeding tube and hasten her death so he can marry his girlfriend with whom he has two children.

Michael Schiavo had battled for years to remove his wife's feeding tube, saying she would not want to be kept alive by artificial means.

"I question the motives, his ability for good judgment in a situation like that, where you're with another woman, you went on with your life," Sheltrown, D-West Branch, said Tuesday.

Under Michigan law, medical care cannot be withheld from a patient unless he or she has specifically asked that it be withheld. Those wishes can be carried out through a living will or by giving a trusted family member or friend durable power of attorney for medical decisions.

Detroit attorney Kay Felt, an expert in end-of-life issues, questioned the need for new laws protecting patients from unscrupulous decisions. She said family members and physicians already can block a decision to withhold treatment from a patient if motives are suspect.

The problem with adultery is proving it.

"Unless people are living openly together, it's a very tough thing to prove," Felt said.

House Speaker Craig DeRoche, R-Novi, said support for Sheltrown's legislation would depend on its wording.

DeRoche, an insurance executive before his election to the Legislature, noted that insurance policy payouts can be denied under a "moral hazard" clause.

"Do we have a moral hazard with a person on life support, and the spouse might stand to benefit by moving on with his life or getting remarried or doing other things if his wife was not to live?

"We can't legislate morality, but where conflicts exist, we need to take them seriously."


http://www.freep.com/news/m
ich/adultery23e_20050323.htm

Schiavo's Parents Appeal to Supreme Court

Parents Turn to Supreme Court

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- Terri Schiavo's parents took their battle to the Supreme Court late Wednesday after being dealt a pair of blows in their effort to keep their severely brain-damaged daughter alive.

A 40-page appeal to the high court, which has previously refused to get involved in the case, was filed at around 11:00 p.m. EST.

In the emergency filing, Bob and Mary Schindler say their 41-year-old daughter faces an unjust and imminent death based on a decision by her husband to remove a feeding tube without strong proof of her consent. They allege constitutional violations of due process and religious freedom.

The filing also argues Congress intended for Schiavo's tube to be reinserted, at least temporarily, when they passed an extraordinary bill last weekend that gave federal courts authority to fully review her case.

In its conclusion, the request suggests that the case has implications for the protection of the disadvantaged.

"It has taken our nation many years to make good on its commitment to equal justice for persons with profound, cognitive disabilities," the request reads. "Unless the state of Florida retains the power to protect the rights of its most vulnerable citizens ... the 14th Amendment's guarantees will apply only those who are capable of defending them on their own."

Justice Anthony Kennedy will be the first to consider the Schindlers' appeal. He can choose to act on the petition alone or refer it to the entire court, which he did on the last emergency request involving Schiavo.

Kennedy, appointed to the high court by President Reagan, has traditionally taken a moderate position on social issues.

Earlier in the day, the Florida Senate rejected a bill that would have restored the feeding tube. Before that, an appeals court also voted not to order the device reinserted.

The feeding tube was pulled on Friday afternoon with a Florida judge's approval. By late Tuesday, Terri's eyes were sunken and her skin, lips and tongue were parched, said Barbara Weller, an attorney for Terri's parents. Terri's hospice has refused to provide details about her condition.

Doctors have said Terri would die within one or two weeks after removal of the feeding tube.

Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush continued his own efforts to keep Terri alive, seeking court approval to take custody of the woman and presumably reinsert the feeding tube. At the same time, President Bush suggested that Congress and the White House had done all they could to keep her alive.

Supporters of Schiavo's parents grew increasingly dismayed, and police arrested 10 protesters outside her hospice for trying to bring her water.

"When I close my eyes at night, all I can see is Terri's face in front of me, dying, starving to death," Mary Schindler said outside her daughter's Pinellas Park hospice. "Please, someone out there, stop this cruelty. Stop the insanity. Please let my daughter live."

The Schindlers' attorneys planned to file an appeal with the high court, said Rex Sparklin, a member of the legal team. Republican leaders in Congress also were preparing arguments for the Supreme Court in support of the parents.

Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly from a chemical imbalance believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder. Court-appointed doctors say she is in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery.

Her parents comtend that she could get better and that she would never have wanted to be cut off from food and water. Schiavo's husband, Michael Schiavo, has argued that his wife told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially, and a state judge has repeatedly ruled in his favor.

The battle played out on several fronts Wednesday.

A three-judge panel from the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the family early Wednesday, and hours later the full court refused to reconsider; the vote breakdown was not provided.

Gov. Bush and the state's social services agency filed a petition in state court to take custody of Schiavo. It cites new allegations of neglect and challenges Schiavo's diagnosis as being in a persistent vegetative state. The request is based on the opinion of a neurologist working for the state who observed Schiavo at her bedside but did not conduct an examination of her.

The neurologist, William Cheshire of the Mayo Clinic (search) in Jacksonville, is a bioethicist who is also an active member in Christian organizations, including two whose leaders have spoken out against the tube's removal.

Ronald Cranford of the University of Minnesota, a neurologist who was among those who made a previous diagnosis of Schiavo, said "there isn't a reputable, credible neurologist in the world who won't find her in a vegetative state."

The long-shot custody request by Bush was made before Judge George Greer, the same judge who has presided over the case for several years and issued the ruling last month that allowed the feeding tube to be removed. Greer planned to decide by noon Thursday on whether the case would go forward.

The Florida Legislature also jumped back into the fray, but senators rejected a bill that would have prohibited patients like Schiavo from being denied food and water if they did not express their wishes in writing. The measure was rejected 21-18.

The Legislature stepped in before, in 2003, and Schiavo's feeding tube was reinserted. But "Terri's Law" was later struck down by the state Supreme Court as an unconstitutional attempt to interfere in the courts.

The Senate vote Wednesday came after a bitter debate, with Terri Schiavo's brother, Bobby Schindler, watching from the gallery above the floor. He covered his eyes with his hands and lowered his head during the debate.

"I'm here pleading for mercy. Have mercy on Theresa Marie Schiavo," said bill sponsor Sen. Dan Webster, a Republican.

But Senate Democratic Leader Les Miller warned: "By the time the ink is dry on the governor's signature, it will be declared unconstitutional, just like it was before."

A lawyer for Michael Schiavo said he was pleased by what happened in the appeals court. But he was bothered that the governor was attempting to intervene again.

"They have no more power than you or I or a person walking down the street to say we have the right to take Terri Schiavo," attorney George Felos said.

Meanwhile, President Bush suggested that he and Congress had done their best to help the parents prolong Schiavo's life, and the White House said it had no further legal options.

"I believe that in a case such as this, the legislative branch, the executive branch, ought to err on the side of life, which we have," the president said. "Now we'll watch the courts make their decisions."

Federal courts were given jurisdiction to review Schiavo's case after Republicans in Congress pushed through unprecedented emergency legislation over the weekend aimed at prolonging Schiavo's life. But federal courts at two levels rebuffed the family.

"There is no denying the absolute tragedy that has befallen Mrs. Schiavo," Judges Ed Carnes and Frank M. Hull said in the 2-1 decision by the 11th circuit panel. "We all have our own family, our own loved ones, and our own children. However, we are called upon to make a collective, objective decision."

Dissenting Judge Charles R. Wilson said Schiavo's "imminent" death would end the case before it could be fully considered. "I fail to see any harm in reinserting the feeding tube," he wrote.

Republican leaders in Congress refused to give up entirely. In legal papers prepared for filing at the Supreme Court, they argued that the 11th circuit had "failed to adhere to the plain meaning" of the emergency legislation.

The legislation required that a new, independent evaluation of her case be made, according to papers filed for House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois, Majority Leader Tom DeLay and others. They said it also required the courts to "ensure that desperately needed nutritional support" is provided to Schiavo while the review is conducted.


http://www.foxnews.com/printer_fri
endly_story/0,3566,151347,00.html

Florida neurologist: Terri's no vegetable

Neurologist: Terri wrongly diagnosed

Doctor for state's adult protective services finds Schiavo has been wrongly diagnosed

An eminent neurologist who evaluated Terri Schiavo for the Florida state Department of Children and Families yesterday concluded she has been wrongly diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state and urges immediate removal to another facility and the restoration of food and water to the dying woman who has become the focal point of the nation's attention.

In his affidavit to the court, obtained by WorldNetDaily, Dr. William Polk Cheshire Jr. found Schiavo is aware of pain and reacts visibly to it. She also reacts to the expectation of pain based on conversations she overhears in her room.

"If Terri is consciously aware of pain, and therefore is capable of suffering, then her diagnosis of PVS may be tragically mistaken," he writes.


http://www.worldnetdaily.com/ne
ws/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43470

Florida officials may protect Schiavo

State Officials May Help

PINELLAS PARK -- Repeatedly rebuffed by the courts but armed with what they called a new diagnosis, top state officials pressured the Legislature today to act on behalf of Terri Schiavo's parents -- and they set the stage to take her into protective custody.

''Terri may have been misdiagnosed and is more likely she is in a state of minimal consciousness rather that in a persistent vegetative state,'' Gov. Jeb Bush said during an afternoon press conference. ``I'm urging the Florida Senate to take up the bill . . . that will provide protection for Terri Schiavo and other vulnerable Floridians.''

It didn't work. The Senate rejected the bill on a 21-18 vote.

Now, state officials said, they might attempt to place the brain-damaged woman under protective custody so her feeding tube can be reinserted. As a possible precursor of that event, they filed a new motion in state court in Tampa.

Schiavo has been without food and water since her feeding tube was removed Friday. Doctors said her organs were beginning to sustain injury and she could die by the end of next week -- or within days.

Atlanta and likely to move to the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington.

In every instance, the courts have favored Schiavo's husband, Michael Schiavo, who says she should be allowed to die.

On Wednesday, a federal appeals court in Atlanta dealt the second blow of the day to Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, refusing to review its earlier rejection of their plea to order the tube reinserted.

They were expected to take their case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has tended to leave such matters to the states.

At the very same time, the state Senate was considering a bill that could help the parents succeed, but the measure appeared to have dim prospects of passage -- at least until the governor's surprise announcement.

The flurry of 11th-hour action included a dramatic press conference by Bush, in which he revealed a new and more optimistic diagnosis of Schiavo by a doctor who did not fully examine her.

He said that Dr. William Cheshire, a neurologist with the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, concluded that Schiavo may not be in a permanent vegetative state, as determined by many other doctors, but instead may be in a state of ``minimal consciousness.''

''This new information raises serious concerns warrants immediate attention . . .,'' the governor said. ``It is imperative that she be stablized so that the adult protective services team can fulfill their statutory duty and review all the facts surrounding the case. If there is any uncertainty, we should err on the side of protecting her.''

Other state officials said that Cheshire ''made personal observations'' of Schiavo at an undisclosed time in the past. He stood at her bedside observing her for less than an hour and, two days ago, watched two of the six videotapes in the court's possession, they said.

Now in her sixth day without food and water, Schiavo was said to be weakening in her hospice bed.

''When I close my eyes at night, all I see is Terri's face, dying, starving to death,'' Mary Schindler said as she stood outside the Hospice House Woodside, where her daughter resides. ``Please, someone out there stop the cruelty, stop the insanity. Please let my daughter live.''

Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings and the director of the state social services agency confirmed they were considering an intervention in the controversial and increasingly tangled case -- based on calls alleging that Schiavo is being abused in her hospice.

The abuse allegations are based primarily on the removal of her feeding tube.

''We're looking at the response to the abuse calls,'' Jennings said. ``You'll probably be hearing more.''

She and other state officials said the governor's office is considering using a state law that allows the state to take a vulnerable adult into immediate custody if there is a demonstrated need for protection.

Lucy Hadi, secretary of the Department of Children and Families, said the state investigation into potential abuse is ongoing and the state is required by law to file a petition to bring Schiavo into state care if an emergency exists.

The agency filed that new motion in state court this afternoon, alleging that Schiavo was abused by, among other things, her husband's insistence that the tube be removed.

The state does not have to wait for a court to act, she said.

''We are looking at every potential opportunity to be of assistance,'' Hadi said. ``There's nothing about this case that has been clear cut except our concern.''

Schiavo's brother, Bobby Schindler who spent the morning in Tallahassee visiting dozens of state senators, said he is encouraging the state to intervene.

''We think there's been abuse and neglect, and think DCF has every right to take my sister into protective custody,'' he said.

Michael Schiavo's lawyer, George Felos, said he's worried that the governor, Department of Children and Families, the Legislature or others might attempt an end run around the courts and the Legislature, including taking custody of Terri Schiavo.

''Of course there is concern,'' Felos said.

He and an attorney for Morton Plant Hospital, where the feeding tube could be replaced, asked Circuit Judge George Greer for ''guidance'' on what to do if that occurs.

Greer told them to contact him at that time for advice.

A few hours earlier, attorneys for Schiavo's parents asked a full appeals court in Atlanta to review a crushing blow dealt by a three-member panel that refused to order their brain-damaged daughter reconnected to a feeding tube.

By a 2-1 vote, the panel ruled at 2:30 a.m. that the parents -- and the Bush administration, which filed a motion on their behalf -- ``failed to demonstrate a substantial case on the merits of any of their claims.''

Attorneys for the parents initially said they would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but instead they asked the entire U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta for an ``expedited rehearing.''

But that request was denied this afternoon.

With time running out, a flurry of other developments occurred today:

• President Bush, the governor's brother, said he was not considering any other action but was continuing to watch the case. Early Monday, the president signed a bill that gave the Schindlers access to the federal courts.

''This is an extraordinary and sad case,'' he said during a press conference in Waco, Texas. ``I believe that in a case such as this, the legislative branch, the executive branch, ought to err on the side of life, which we have. Now, we'll watch the court make it's decisions. And we look at all options from the executive branch perspective.''

• Supporters of the family escalated their civil disobedience actions outside the hospice.

About a dozen people, including some children, submitted to arrest after making the symbolic gesture of carrying water toward the hospice.

'Jesus said, `Whatever you do to the least of men, you do for me,' '' said Josie Keys, 14. ``I'm a little nervous, but I think this is what God wants me to do.''

Also arrested were her brothers Cameron, 12, and Gabriel, 10.

No immediate reaction to the day's events came from Michael Schiavo, the woman's husband, who says she should be allowed to die. He had been locked in years of legal battles with the Schindlers over his wife's faith.

His attorney, Felos, said he was ''very pleased'' with the ruling of the appeals court panel, which also called the lower court's decision not to intervene proper and ``carefully thought out.''

Judges Frank Hall and Ed Carnes voted against the parents; Judge Charles Wilson voting for them.

''There is no denying the absolute tragedy that has befallen Mrs. Schiavo,'' the majority opinion said. ``We all have our own family, our own loved ones, and our own children. However, we are called upon to make a collective, objective decision concerning a question of law.

``In the end, and no matter how much we wish Mrs. Schiavo had never suffered such a horrible accident, we are a nation of laws, and if we are to continue to be so, he pre-existing and well-established federal law governing injunctions . . . must be applied to her case.''

In his dissent, Wilson said Schiavo's ''imminent'' death would end the case before it could be fully considered.

The denial 'frustrates Congress' intent,'' he wrote in a lengthy dissent, ``which is to maintain the status quo by keeping Schiavo alive until the federal courts have had a new and adequate opportunity to consider the constitutional issues raised by the plaintiffs.

''In fact, I fail to see any harm in reinserting the feeding tube,'' he wrote.

David Gibbs III, who represents the parents, said:

``We are preparing an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and we anticipate having it filed later this morning.''

On Tuesday, the language employed during frantic legal maneuvering by her parents and the Justice Department on one side and her husband on the other side grew more stark and ominous.

''Time is of the essence,'' Gibbs wrote in the parents' petition to the appeals court. ``Terri is fading quickly and her parents reasonably fear that her death is imminent.''

He said the court would be unable to fully review the case unless it orders the tube reconnected for the ``simple reason that Terri may die at any time. If that happens, the appeal will become moot.''

The Justice Department filed a motion with the court in support of the Schindlers. It said the feeding tube ''is plainly warranted here'' because Schiavo is so close to death.

Doctors say organ failure could begin within days and she is likely to die by the end of next week unless nutrition is restored.

Schiavo has been on life support for most of the past 15 years.

Her husband says she is in a persistent vegetative state and should be allowed to die; her parents say she is responsive and should be allowed to live.

Michael Schiavo's lawyers told the appeals court that she will not suffer physical harm until today or Thursday. That, they said, left enough time for the court to act on the merits of the case without ordering the tube reconnected.

Their motion included a long, detailed description of the surgery required to reinsert the feeding tube. Schiavo has been without food and water since 1:45 p.m. Friday.

''Reinstituting artificially provided hydration or nutrition, even on a temporary basis, would force Mrs. Schiavo, once cessation reoccurs, to commence her death process again from the beginning,'' wrote Felos, Michael Schiavo's attorney.

Earlier Tuesday, U.S. District Judge James Whittemore of Tampa ruled in favor of the husband and refused to order the tube reconnected.

He said the case had been fully and properly aired in state court. He also raised a yellow flag about the constitutionality of the bill Congress rushed into passage over the weekend giving the parents access to federal court.

''Theresa Schiavo's life and liberty interests were adequately protected by the extensive process provided in the state courts,'' Whittemore wrote in the 12-page decision that triggered the appeal by the Schindlers.

But in their appeal, the Schindlers said Whittemore was required to conduct a full trial, hearing all the evidence in her case, and they said he did not. Now, they said, a trial would become meaningless if she is allowed to die.

''If she is allowed to die before her claims can be heard, [the congressional law] was an exercise in futility,'' Gibbs said in court papers.

The parents also challenged the validity of seven years of litigation in Pinellas County Probate Court before Judge George Greer. At one point, the filing refers to one of Greer's rulings as a ``death order.''

With prospects uncertain in court and as a degree of desperation set in, Mary Schindler renewed her pleas Tuesday evening to the Florida Legislature.

''I understand that we only need one vote in the state Senate to save my daughter,'' she said as she stood outside Schiavo's hospice. ``Please senators, for the love of God, I'm begging you, please, don't let my daughter die of thirst.''

Observers in Tallahassee said a bill that could help the Schindlers did not seem likely, though the parents' supporters were working in that direction.

The case involves a federal lawsuit filed by the Schindlers before dawn on Monday, a few hours after Congress passed and President Bush signed the special bill.

They say her constitutional rights have been denied by the removal of her feeding tube and the alleged absence of a lawyer representing her interests.

Whittemore, the judge in Tampa, rejected that view.

Lawyers for all sides, he said, ``thoroughly advocated their competing perspectives on Theresa Schiavo's wishes. Another lawyer appointed by the court could not have offered more protection of Theresa Schiavo's interests. Accordingly, the plaintiffs have not established a likelihood of success on the merits.''

He said ''there may be substantial issues concerning the constitutionality of the act'' passed by Congress.

Schiavo's brother, Bobby Schindler, expressed deep disappointment with the decision.

''I'm on pins and needles right now,'' he said. ``You know how when you get nervous your stomach starts to hurt? I feel like I have a stomachache all the time.

``One minute we're getting good news and the next minute we're getting bad news. It's a constant roller-coaster ride of emotions.'' Though Michael Schiavo did not comment, his brother told The Associated Press that the ruling was ``a good thing.''

''There's not a law that's made for this,'' Scott Schiavo said. ``This is something that goes on 100 times a day in our country -- that people, their wish to die with dignity, is not a federal issue.''

Outside Hospice House Woodside, where Schiavo resides, Brother Paul O'Donnell, a Franciscan monk who serves as a spiritual advisor to the Schindlers, said the parents were ''devastated'' by the decision.

''But they're not giving up hope,'' he said.

He noted that this week carries special resonance for Christians, and he compared Terri Schiavo to Jesus and her mother to the biblical Mary.

''And during this week, as we look to Good Friday, He [Jesus] was condemned by unjust courts the same way Terri Schiavo is being condemned to die by court order,'' O'Donnell said. ``We pray that this modern-day crucifixion will not happen.''

Mike Tammaro, an uncle who visited Schiavo on Tuesday, said she seemed weaker.

The reaction from Congress, which met in an extraordinary weekend session to push the legislation, was decidedly muted as lawmakers waited for word from the appeals court.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist described himself as ''deeply disappointed'' by the lower court ruling, saying it ``denies Terri Schiavo another chance to live.''

''It is a sad day for all Americans who value the sanctity of life,'' Frist said. ``I'm hopeful for a different result on appeal.''

But a representative of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida praised Wittemore.

'The president, no doubt, will continue to talk about a `culture of life,' '' said the ACLU's Howard Simon, 'but what Judge Whittemore did in his decision was to defend the `culture of freedom' that each of us have to exercise control over our lives, and the circumstances of our own death.''


http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercur
ynews/news/breaking_news/11209309.htm

Schiavo Bill Fails in Fla. Senate

Fla. Rejects Terri Bill

TALLAHASSEE Fla. -- The Florida Senate rejected a bill Wednesday to keep Terri Schiavo alive as the brain-damaged woman's parents were running out of options to have her feeding tube reinserted.

The bill would have prohibited patients like Schiavo from being denied food and water if they didn't express their wishes in writing. The 21-18 vote came five days after her feeding tube was removed under court order. Doctors have said she could survive one to two weeks without the tube, which was pulled Friday.

Several senators said prior to the vote that they shouldn't be getting involved.

"This bill doesn't belong here. This decision belongs between the courts and the family." said Sen. Dennis Jones, a Republican.

The Legislature tried once before to protect Schiavo, in 2003 voting to reinsert Terri Schiavo's feeding tube after six days. But "Terri's Law" was later struck down as unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court, which said it violated Schiavo's right to privacy and delegated legislative power to the governor.

The Senate minority leader, Sen. Les Miller, said the new bill faced a similar fate.

"By the time the ink is dry on the governor's signature, it will be declared unconstitutional, just like it was before," said Miller, a Democrat, before the vote. "So I don't see anything or any language that can persuade my vote."

Gov. Jeb Bush on Wednesday renewed his call for the Legislature to step in and "spare Terri's life."

Bush and the head of the state's social services agency also filed a petition with a Pinellas County trial court seeking to take custody of Schiavo. It cites new allegations of abuse and challenges Schiavo's diagnosis as being in a persistent vegetative state based on the opinion of a neurologist working for the state.

The state House had already passed a bill, but it has broader language than the Senate version. The Senate bill would have applied only to cases where families disagree on a patient's wishes.


http://www.foxnews.com/printer_fri
endly_story/0,3566,151264,00.html

Court Rejects Schiavo Parents' Request a Second Time

Court Rejects Parents Again

ATLANTA -- For the second time in less than a day, a federal appeals court Wednesday rejected a bid by Terri Schiavo's parents to have her feeding tube re-inserted. Florida lawmakers, meanwhile, debated another last-ditch effort to prolong her life.

In a 10-2 decision, the Atlanta-based U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused Bob and Mary Schindler's request for an emergency rehearing by the full court. A three-judge panel from the same court ruled against the family earlier Wednesday.

The court did not give an explanation for its decision. Matt Davidson, a clerk for the court, said it normally does not make statements when it votes on whether to consider a request.

However, the dissenting judges did make statements. Judge Charles R. Wilson, who also dissented in the three-judge panel's ruling, said he still stood by his earlier rationale that Schiavo's "imminent" death would end the case before it could be fully considered. "I fail to see any harm in reinserting the feeding tube," he wrote in the earlier ruling.

The parents have vowed to take their fight to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has refused to get involved previously.

Supporters of the parents grew increasingly dismayed by the developments, and 10 protesters were arrested outside Schiavo's hospice for trying to bring her water. The severely brain-damaged woman's mother pleaded, again, that her daughter be kept alive.

"When I close my eyes at night, all I can see is Terri's face in front of me, dying, starving to death," Mary Schindler said outside the hospice. "Please, someone out there, stop this cruelty. Stop the insanity. Please let my daughter live."

Terri Schiavo has not received any nourishment since the tube was pulled Friday afternoon. By late Tuesday, Terri's eyes were sunken, her skin was parched and flaking and her lips and tongue were parched, said Barbara Weller, an attorney for the Schindlers.

Doctors have said she could survive one to two weeks without the feeding tube.

A lawyer for Michael Schiavo said he was "very pleased" by the initial appeals court ruling. But he worried that, as her parents ran out of options, either Gov. Jeb Bush or lawmakers might try again to take Terri Schiavo into their custody and circumvent years of court rulings that support the husband's position. Michael Schiavo argued that his wife has no hope of recovery and would want to die.

"They have no more power than you or I or a person walking down the street to say we have the right to take Terri Schiavo," attorney George Felos said in a state court hearing.

In Tallahassee, the state capital, Bush renewed his call for the Legislature to "spare Terri's life." The governor and the head of the state's social services agency also said they have filed a petition with a Pinellas County trial court seeking to take custody of Schiavo. It cites new allegations of neglect and challenges Schiavo's diagnosis as being in a persistent vegetative state based on the opinion of a neurologist working for the state. The doctor observed Schiavo at her bedside but did not conduct an examination of her.

Bush and Department of Children & Families Secretary Lucy Hadi suggested they have authority to intervene on Schiavo's behalf regardless of the outcome of the bill in the Florida Legislature or a myriad of court decisions.

Sen. Daniel Webster was scrambling to secure votes to pass a bill that would prohibit patients like Schiavo from being denied food and water if they didn't express their wishes in writing. A similar measure brought last week by Webster was defeated 21-16.

Senate Democratic Leader Les Miller said the new bill faced a similar fate to one that was pushed through in 2003 to reconnect the tube six days after it was removed.

"By the time the ink is dry on the governor's signature, it will be declared unconstitutional, just like it was before," Miller said. "So I don't see anything or any language that can persuade my vote."

Meanwhile, President Bush suggested that he and Congress had done their best to help the parents prolong Schiavo's life, and the White House said it has no further legal options.


http://apnews.myway.com/arti
cle/20050323/D890T6DO1.html

Bush brothers urged to intervene

Bushes urged to intervene

Call for police to take Terri into protective custody

WorldNetDaily.com

Religious and political groups are banding together to urge President Bush and his brother Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to use their executive powers to order police to take Terri Schiavo into protective custody.

Calling itself "The 11th Hour Coalition to Save Terri Schiavo's Life," the 20 organizations held simultaneous press conferences in Washington, D.C., and Tallahassee, Fla., arguing the president and governor have the power to order reinsertion of the brain-injured woman's feeding tube, which was removed Friday by court order.


http://www.worldnetdaily.com/ne
ws/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43453

Bush Eyes Legal Handling of Schiavo Case

W's Paying Attention

WACO, Texas -- President Bush said Wednesday he is watching how federal courts deal with the Terri Schiavo case and defended actions by himself and Congress to try to prolong her life.

But he sidestepped a question on what avenues might remain, if any, for him, saying he had previously "looked at all options" before signing a bill giving federal courts jurisdiction.

"This is an extraordinary and sad case," Bush said.

Bush spoke during a news conference with his counterparts from Canada and Mexico.

The brain-damaged woman's parents, racing against time, asked a federal appeals court in Atlanta on Wednesday for an emergency review of an appellate panel's ruling that her feeding tube not be hooked up again.

Schiavo's parents have also vowed to take their fight to the U.S. Supreme Court and the Florida legislature.

Bush held a three-way news conference at Baylor University with Mexican President Vicente Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin.

On another subject, Martin did not back down from Canada's decision last month to snub Washington on missile defense.

"The file is closed," he said.

In a move that surprised the Bush administration, Martin opted out of the U.S. missile shield to protect the United States and some allies from ballistic nuclear missile attack.

The issue continues to be a sore point between the United States and Canada.

For his part, Bush said there are "going to be disagreements and differences," but that he believed the overall U.S. relationship with Canada was "very strong and very positive."

On another subject, Bush was asked if he was setting a deadline for North Korea to return to six-party talks aimed at ending it's nuclear program.

He suggested there was no deadline, saying, "I'm a patient person."

But, Bush said that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il must know that all other five parties to the talks — the United States, South Korea , China, Japan and Russia — want a nuclear-weapons free Korean peninsula.

"For the sake of peace and tranquility and stability in the Far East, Kim Jong Il must listen," he said.

Bush said he had received a two-hour briefing from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who just returned from a weeklong visit to Asia.

They were later going to Bush's ranch in nearby Crawford for lunch.

The three leaders, seeking to restore smooth relations after disagreements over Iraq, announced a pact with Canada and Mexico to broaden cooperation on security and economic issues.

Meanwhile, Wednesday was the fifth day that Terri Schiavo has not received nourishment from a feeding tube.

Bush was asked what options he had and he did not suggest any.

"I believe that in a case such as this, the legislative branch, the executive branch, ought to err on the side of life, which we have," Bush said. "Now we'll watch the courts make their decisions."

While not saying what remaining options there might be, Bush said that he had "looked at all options prior to taking the action we took last weekend in concert with Congress."

Over the weekend, Republicans in Congress pushed through unprecedented emergency legislation aimed at prolonging Schiavo's life by allowing the case to be reviewed by federal courts.

Bush rushed from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, to Washington and signed the bill in the early-morning hours of Monday.

On Tuesday, a federal judge in Tampa rejected the parents' request to have the tube reinserted. That decision was upheld by the federal appellate panel in Atlanta.

The president said he had not discussed next steps in the case with his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. White House aides said he had talked to his brother on Friday.


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=544&
u=/ap/20050323/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_15&printer=1

Schiavo's Family Tries Appeals Court Again

Appeals Court Again

WASHINGTON -- In one of the last-ditch attempts to save their daughter's life, Bob and Mary Schindler on Wednesday asked a full federal appeals court in Atlanta to review a previous decision to not reinstate Terri Schiavo's feeding tube.

The Schindlers have filed a petition with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for an "expedited hearing" by the entire court to decide whether it agrees with a previous decision made by a three-judge panel not to reinstate the tube.

The panel ruled 2-1 to deny the family's request early Wednesday morning, a day after a federal judge in Florida rejected a similar appeal.

The second attempt with this appeals court comes after the Schindlers considered taking their case directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. But because the high court previously refused to hear the case, lawyers thought the appeals court may be their best hope.

"This is an extraordinary and sad case and I believe that in a case such as this, the legislative branch, the executive branch, ought to err on the side of life, which we have," President Bush told reporters when asked about the issue on Wednesday. "Now we watch the courts make their decisions."

Meanwhile, outside of the Pinellas Park, Fla. hospice where Terri Schiavo is staying, police arrested some protesters who tried to get water to her. Another group of protesters claimed they would risk arrest in a similar manner later Wednesday.

"It's hard to put into words how we're feeling right now," Terri's brother, Bobby Schindler, said shortly after arriving in Tallahassee early Wednesday. "My sister is in her fifth day, and it's just hard to say."

The Schindlers said Tuesday that their daughter was "fading quickly" and might die at any moment. The feeding tube was disconnected on Friday after the Schindlers' appeals to keep the tube in place failed in Florida state court. Doctors have said that Terri Schiavo, 41, could survive one to two weeks without water and nutrients.

Point, Counterpoint

In its ruling, the 11th circuit panel said the woman's parents "failed to demonstrate a substantial case on the merits of any of their claims."

"There is no denying the absolute tragedy that has befallen Mrs. Schiavo," the ruling reads. "We all have our own family, our own loved ones, and our own children. However, we are called upon to make a collective, objective decision concerning a question of law."

But in the dissenting opinion, Judge Charles R. Wilson expressed concern that Schiavo's "imminent" death would end the case before it could be fully considered.

"In fact, I fail to see any harm in reinserting the feeding tube," he wrote.

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Wednesday that he "could not be more disappointed" in the court's decision.

"Terri has been without sustenance for almost five days now. Time is of the essence and I hope all who have the ability and duty to act in this case will do so with a sense of urgency," Bush said in a statement. "Terri Schiavo — like all Americans — deserves our protection and respect. I will continue to call on the Florida Legislature to pass legislation to honor patients' decisions about end-of-life care, protect all vulnerable Floridians, and spare Terri's life."

Howard Simon of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida praised Wednesday's ruling.

"It's naive to ever say this may be over, but the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to get into this case [before] and it may be the ruling that came out this morning that may finally be the end of this case," Simon said.

The decision from the appeals court came one day after U.S. District Judge James Whittemore of Tampa denied the Schindler's request to have the tube reinserted, saying the Schindlers had not established a "substantial likelihood of success" at trial on the merits of their arguments.

'Significant Decline?'

The Rev. Patrick Mahoney, a Schindler family supporter, told reporters Wednesday that Bobby Schindler and others were in Tallahassee lobbying state lawmakers to order the feeding tube reinserted while the legal debate continues. Mahoney said three Republican votes are needed to pass such a measure.

"We believe we see movement in Tallahassee right now," Mahoney said, noting that lawmakers should have left for vacation on Tuesday but were still working on Wednesday. "We want to send a very clear message — the fate of Terri Schiavo rests in the hands of Senate President [Tom] Lee and the Republican majority: Let it not be said that Terri Schiavo will starve to death in a brutal fashion" with Republicans in control of the legislature and the governor's office. "If Terri Schiavo dies, it is on your watch."

Mahoney also appealed to Gov. Bush to exercise executive authority and privilege to intervene if needed.

Brother Paul O'Donnell, a Schindler family spiritual adviser, told reporters that Terri's parents were at home resting on Wednesday.

"As you can imagine, they are devastated," O'Donnell said. "It is unfathomable this is happening to their daughter — being starved and dehydrated to death. She is dying, it's not because she has terminal cancer — she's dying because of a court order."

Later that afternoon, the Schindlers arrived at their daughter's hospice and pleaded with state lawmakers to save her life.

"Please, senators, for the love of God, I'm begging you, don't let my daughter die of thirst," Mary Schindler said before breaking down; she was escorted away.

In court documents, the Schindlers said their daughter began "a significant decline" late Monday. Her eyes were sunken and dark, and her lips and face were dry.

"While she still made eye contact with me when I spoke to her, she was becoming increasingly lethargic," Bob Schindler said in the papers. "Terri no longer attempted to verbalize back to me when I spoke to her."

Even before the parents' full appeal was filed, Schiavo's husband, Michael, said in his own filing that his wife's rights would be violated if the judges ordered nutrition restored during the legal wrangling.

"That would be a horrific intrusion upon Mrs. Schiavo's personal liberty, and the status quo should therefore be maintained until this court issues its final ruling," said the filing by Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos. The status quo - with the feeding tube removed - could continue for a couple of days without harming Terri Schiavo, the filing argued.

Felos had planned to file his own appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court if the tube was ordered reconnected on a temporary basis.

An emergency filing to the high court would go first to Justice Anthony Kennedy, a Reagan appointee who has staked a moderate position on social issues.

Kennedy would have the option to act on the petition alone, although on previous emergency requests involving Schiavo he has referred the matter to the full nine-member court.

The Supreme Court ruled in 1990 that a terminally ill person has a right to refuse life-sustaining treatment. And next term it plans to consider whether the federal government can prosecute doctors who help ill patients die.

Between those cases, the court has not said much, choosing to allow states to decide the issue.

Demonstrators who gathered outside Terri Schiavo's hospice here decried the courts' decisions. One woman was arrested Tuesday for trespassing after trying to bring Schiavo a cup of water.

"This is a clear cut case of judicial tyranny. All the judges who have ruled against Terri are tyrants, and we fully expected this decision," said Tammy Melton, 37, a high school teacher from Monterey, Tenn.

But Richard Avant, who lives down the street from the hospice, carried a sign reading "Honor her wishes."

"We represent the silent majority, if you look at the polls," Avant said. "We agree that Congress overstepped their bounds."

Lawmakers Lament

The Bush administration "would have preferred a different ruling," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said of the Florida court ruling. Congress and President Bush over the weekend enacted a new law that permitted Schiavo's parents to take their case to federal court.

"We hope that they would be able to have relief through the appeals process," McClellan added.

The House, however, isn't giving up on efforts to get Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted. An appeal filed last week by the House counsel to the Florida Court of Appeals after the tube was removed Friday is still pending.

• Text of Schiavo Bill (thomas.loc.gov)

Click here to see how your legislator voted on the bill to move Terri Schiavo's case to a federal court.

FOX News has learned that the March 25 hearing of the House Government Reform Committee, scheduled to look at the issue of long-term care of incapacitated adults like Schiavo, will proceed.

The hearing was intended to buy Congress and Schiavo time on the matter; lawmakers have ordered Schiavo and her husband, as well as some hospital staff, to appear.

It is not clear whether the hearing will take place in Washington or in Florida.

Numerous state courts have affirmed the right of Michael Schiavo, to act on her behalf. Terri Schiavo did not have a living will. Terri Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly because of a possible potassium imbalance brought on by an eating disorder. She can breathe on her own, but has relied on the feeding tube to keep her alive.

Doctors say she is severely brain-damaged and has no chance of recovery in her persistent vegetative state. A CAT scan made several years ago indicates that her cerebral cortex, the upper part of the brain, has largely atrophied and been replaced by spinal fluid.

Friday marked the third time Schiavo's feeding tube had been removed. In both previous instances, the tube was reinserted, once on a judge's order and once after Jeb Bush signed "Terri's Law."

The Justice Department also filed a court statement, saying an injunction was "plainly warranted" to carry out the wishes of Congress to provide federal court jurisdiction over the case.

Unless the feeding tube is reinserted, the department said, Schiavo may die before the courts can resolve her family's claims. "No comparable harm will be caused" by letting Schiavo live while the case is reviewed, the filing said.


http://www.foxnews.com/printer_fri
endly_story/0,3566,151227,00.html

Jeb Bush Renews Calls to Help Schiavo

Jeb Bush Renews Call

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- Their options dwindling after two failed federal court appeals, Terri Schiavo's parents and brother vowed Wednesday to take their fight to the U.S. Supreme Court and state Legislature as the brain-damaged woman was in her fifth day without a feeding tube.

Gov. Jeb Bush renewed his call for the Legislature to step in and "spare Terri's life."

In a 2-1 ruling early Wednesday, a panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta said the parents, who have battled with their son-in-law for years over the woman's fate, "failed to demonstrate a substantial case on the merits of any of their claims" that Terri's feeding tube should be reinserted immediately.

"There is no denying the absolute tragedy that has befallen Mrs. Schiavo," the ruling by Judges Ed Carnes and Frank M. Hull said. "We all have our own family, our own loved ones, and our own children. However, we are called upon to make a collective, objective decision concerning a question of law."

Wednesday's ruling was the latest legal blow for Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler. Doctors have said that their daughter, now 41, could survive one to two weeks without water and nutrients.

"It's hard to put into words how we're feeling right now. ... It's just hard to say," Terri's brother, Bobby Schindler, said after arriving in Tallahassee Wednesday.

Attorneys for the husband, Michael Schiavo, did not immediately return phone calls and e-mails requesting comment Wednesday.

In a Wednesday statement, the governor said he "could not be more disappointed in the decision announced this morning."

"Time is of the essence and I hope all who have the ability and duty to act in this case will do so with a sense of urgency," Gov. Bush said.

In his dissent to the appeals court ruling, Judge Charles R. Wilson said Schiavo's "imminent" death would end the case before it could be fully considered. "In fact, I fail to see any harm in reinserting the feeding tube," he wrote.

Wilson and Hull were appointed to the appeals court by President Clinton, while Carnes was appointed by former President Bush.

An appeal was still pending in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on whether Schiavo's right to due process was violated.

On Tuesday, a federal judge in Tampa also rejected the parents' emergency request.

Rex Sparklin, an attorney with the law firm representing the parents, said Wednesday that the couple will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. "The Schindlers will be filing an appropriate appeal to save their daughter's life," he said. The high court has previously refused to hear Schiavo's case.

Howard Simon of the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites) of Florida said the ruling pointed out the limited role of government in these matters and the need for a living will "to keep politicians out of your personal life."

"I do think we are coming to the end of this sad case," he said.

The Schindlers have long battled Schiavo's husband over whether her feeding tube should be disconnected. State courts have sided with Michael Schiavo, who insists his wife told him she would never want to be kept alive artificially.

Michael Schiavo has repeatedly urged courts not to grant an emergency request and restore nutrition. The tube had been pulled Friday afternoon.

"That would be a horrific intrusion upon Mrs. Schiavo's personal liberty," said an appeals court filing by his attorney, George Felos.

The Legislature had stepped in before, in 2003, and her feeding tube was reinserted after six days at that time. But "Terri's Law" was later struck down as unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court.

More recently, Florida lawmakers had failed to pass new legislation that could have prevented the removal of the tube. They may consider another bill Wednesday, and state Sen. Daniel Webster, the bill's sponsor, said it would be the measure's last chance.

"Today is it," said Webster, a Republican, who said Wednesday he still isn't certain he has enough votes to push the measure through. "But I'm going to try."

The state House could take up the bill very quickly if the Senate sends it, according to a spokesman for Speaker Allan Bense. After Wednesday, both chambers are in recess until next week.

Mary Schindler has pleaded with state lawmakers to save her daughter's life.

"Please, senators, for the love of God, I'm begging you, don't let my daughter die of thirst," she said Tuesday outside her daughter's hospice.

Terri Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly from a chemical imbalance believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder. Court-appointed doctors say she is in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery.

Her parents — who told the appeals court that her condition is rapidly deteriorating — argue that she could get better and that she would never have wanted to be cut off from food and water.

An emergency filing to the high court would go first to Justice Anthony Kennedy, a Reagan appointee who has staked a moderate position on social issues.

The Supreme Court's history on right-to-die cases is pretty thin.

It ruled in 1990 that a terminally ill person has a right to refuse life-sustaining treatment. And next term it plans to consider whether the federal government can prosecute doctors who help ill patients die.

Between those cases, the court has not said much, choosing to allow states to decide the issue.

Demonstrators who gathered outside Terri Schiavo's hospice decried the courts' decisions. One woman was arrested Tuesday for trespassing after trying to bring Schiavo a cup of water, and another group claimed they would risk arrest in a similar manner later Wednesday morning.

"This is a clear-cut case of judicial tyranny," said Tammy Melton, 37, a high school teacher from Monterey, Tenn. But Richard Avant, who lives down the street from the hospice, carried a sign reading "Honor her wishes."

Over the weekend, Republicans in Congress pushed through unprecedented emergency legislation aimed at prolonging Schiavo's life by allowing the case to be reviewed by federal courts.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge James Whittemore of Tampa rejected the parents' request to have the tube reinserted, saying they had not established a "substantial likelihood of success" at a trial.


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20050323/ap_on_re_us/brain_damaged_woman_48&printer=1

Schiavo's Parents to Turn to U.S. Top Court After Losing Appeal

Appeal To Be Filed Today

The parents of Terri Schiavo said they will turn to the U.S. Supreme Court after a federal appeals court rejected a plea that doctors be ordered to reinsert the feeding tube that has kept their brain-damaged daughter alive.

The high court has twice before refused to become involved in the Florida woman's right-to-die case that has split her family and the nation.

``We are preparing an appeal to the United States Supreme Court'' to be filed this morning, the parents' lawyer, David Gibbs, said in an e-mailed message. Terri Schiavo, who has been without food and water for five days, is ``fading quickly,'' he said.

Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, ``failed to demonstrate a substantial case on the merits of any of their claims,'' the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled 2-1 early today.

Schiavo, 41, suffered severe brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped because of a chemical imbalance. Her husband and legal guardian, Michael Schiavo, petitioned the courts to remove her feeding tube in accord with what he said were her wishes not to be kept alive artificially. After seven years of legal battles in Florida state courts, her parents turned to the federal courts this week after Congress and President George W. Bush took extraordinary action to authorize a review at the federal level.

Sympathy for Parents

In their ruling today for the 11th Circuit, Judges Edward Carnes and Frank Hull expressed sympathy for the Schindlers but said they were bound by the law.

``There's no denying the absolute tragedy that has befallen Mrs. Schiavo,'' they wrote. ``We all have our own family, our own loved ones, and our own children. However, we are called upon to make a collective, objective decision concerning a question of law. In the end, and no matter how much we wish Mrs. Schiavo had never suffered such a horrible accident, we are a nation of laws.''

Judge Charles Wilson dissented, saying ``I fail to see any harm in reinserting the feeding tube'' while the case proceeds in federal court. ``Congress intended for this case to be reviewed with a fresh set of eyes. We are not called upon to consider the wisdom of this legislation,'' he said.

The appeals court upheld a ruling yesterday by a federal judge in Tampa. In the last seven years, 19 Florida judges have heard the case and all sided with Michael Schiavo.

Legislative Action

In Florida, groups supporting the Schindlers pressed for action in the state Senate to reintroduce a bill aimed at keeping Terri Schiavo alive, the Tampa Tribune reported today. Republican state Senator Dan Webster told the newspaper he didn't have enough support to reintroduce the bill, which failed last week.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused last week to hear a previous appeal by the Schindlers and one by the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform. When those failed, Congress returned to Washington from recess to pass the law authorizing the federal courts to act. Bush came back from vacation to sign it.

Michael Schiavo asked the courts to allow his wife to die after doctors told him there was no hope she would recover from a vegetative state. He got a state court to order the removal of the feeding tube on March 18. Medical experts say she may be able to survive until the end of the month without food or water.

U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican, said in a statement yesterday that refusing to order reinsertion of the feeding tube while the case is studied further is ``at odds with both the clear intent of Congress and the constitutional rights of a helpless young woman.''

Legal Arguments

The Schindlers also claimed in federal court that their daughter's constitutional rights were deprived during the state court proceedings and that the state judge who ordered removal of the feeding tube had become an advocate for Terri Schiavo's death.

Opponents of the new law authorizing federal court intervention said it may be unconstitutional because it violates the doctrine providing for separation of powers between the legislative and judicial branches of government.

The case is Theresa Maria Schindler Schiavo, Robert Schindler and Mary Schindler v. Michael Schiavo, Judge George W. Greer and the Hospice of Florida Suncoast Inc., 05-11556, 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.


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d=10000103&sid=ao8dHL8yhIr8&refer=us

Supreme Court Watch

Court Watch

Court Rejects Abortion Signs Case
Washington, DC -- The U.S. Supreme Court Monday rejected review in a Missouri case on whether abortion or other types of protest signs can be banned as hazards. Anti-abortion activists gathered at a street corner in Kansas City in June 2001 to protest and provide information about abortion. Warned they would be arrested if they did not move or remove the signs, the protesters refused. Five were arrested for obstructing traffic. When the federal courts refused to find a constitutional violation, the demonstrators asked the Supreme Court for review.

Court Rules Death Row Inmate's Religious
Conversion Properly Considered At Trial
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a jury which sentenced a convicted killer to death had properly taken into account his religious conversion, even though a prosecutor incorrectly argued it was irrelevant.

Court Won't Hear Moussaoui's Appeal
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Monday rejected terrorism suspect Zacarias Moussaoui's attempt to directly question three al-Qaida prisoners and cleared the way for a trial of the only U.S. defendant charged in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks.

Court Lets Stand Ex-Smoker's Award
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court declined Monday to consider whether to reduce $10.5 million in damages a jury awarded against Philip Morris USA to a former smoker with lung cancer. Justices let stand a lower court ruling that upheld the award to Patricia Henley of Glendale, Calif. Patricia Henley of Glendale, Calif., who smoked for 35 years starting at age 15, was diagnosed in 1997 with lung cancer, which is now in remission. She sued Philip Morris, accusing the firm of getting young people addicted to cigarettes and concealing the dangers of smoking. In 1999, a San Francisco jury originally awarded Henley $26.5 million, the first verdict against a tobacco company under a 1998 state law that allows individuals to sue for newly discovered smoking-related illnesses.

Court Declines to Clarify Disclosure Law
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court declined to clarify Monday how much federal law shields companies from shareholder lawsuits when they make financial disclosures that later turn out to be wrong. At issue was a "safe harbor" provision of a 1995 securities law that gives companies a defense from liability for revenue predictions if they disclose risks to investors.

Ailing Rehnquist Returning to Bench
WASHINGTON -- Looking frail, his voice clear but slightly hoarse, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist returned to the bench Monday for the first time since being diagnosed with thyroid cancer last October. Rehnquist, 80, joined his eight fellow justices in emerging from behind a curtain, as is the customary practice, to open the court's latest two-week series of arguments. He then swore in new members to the Supreme Court Bar.

Reinsertion of Schiavo Feeding Tube Denied

Appeal to Supreme Court

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. - After losing two consecutive appeals in federal court, Terri Schiavo's parents vowed Wednesday to take their fight to the U.S. Supreme Court as their severely brain-damaged daughter began her fifth full day without the feeding tube that has kept her alive for more than a decade.

In a 2-1 ruling early Wednesday, a panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta said the parents "failed to demonstrate a substantial case on the merits of any of their claims" that Terri's feeding tube should be reinserted immediately.

"There is no denying the absolute tragedy that has befallen Mrs. Schiavo," the ruling said. "We all have our own family, our own loved ones, and our own children. However, we are called upon to make a collective, objective decision concerning a question of law."

In his dissent, Judge Charles R. Wilson said Schiavo's "imminent" death would end the case before it could be fully considered. "In fact, I fail to see any harm in reinserting the feeding tube," he wrote.

Wednesday's ruling was the latest legal blow for Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, as their 41-year-old daughter's life hangs in balance. Doctors have said that Schiavo could survive one to two weeks without water and nutrients.

On Tuesday, a federal judge in Tampa also rejected the parents' emergency request.

Rex Sparklin, an attorney with the law firm representing the parents, said Wednesday that the couple will appeal to the Supreme Court. "The Schindlers will be filing an appropriate appeal to save their daughter's life," he said.

Howard Simon of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida praised Wednesday's ruling.

"It's naive to ever say this may be over, but the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to get into this case (before) and it may be the ruling that came out this morning that may finally be the end of this case," Simon said.

The Schindlers have been locked for years in a battle with Schiavo's husband over whether her feeding tube should be disconnected. State courts have sided with Michael Schiavo, who insists his wife told him she would never want to be kept alive artificially.

Even before the parents' appeal was filed with the 11th Circuit, Michael Schiavo urged the court not to grant an emergency request to restore nutrition.

"That would be a horrific intrusion upon Mrs. Schiavo's personal liberty," said the filing by his attorney, George Felos. He filed a response to the Schindlers' appeal and said he would go to the Supreme Court if the tube were ordered reconnected.

Terri Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly from a chemical imbalance believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder. Court-appointed doctors say she is in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery.

Her parents argue that she could get better and that she would never have wanted to be cut off from food and water.

An emergency filing to the high court would go first to Justice Anthony Kennedy, a Reagan appointee who has staked a moderate position on social issues.

Kennedy would have the option to act on the petition alone, although on previous emergency requests involving Schiavo he has referred the matter to the full nine-member court.

The Supreme Court's history on right-to-die cases is pretty thin.

It ruled in 1990 that a terminally ill person has a right to refuse life-sustaining treatment. And next term it plans to consider whether the federal government can prosecute doctors who help ill patients die.

Between those cases, the court has not said much, choosing to allow states to decide the issue.

Mary Schindler has pleaded with state lawmakers to save her daughter's life.

"Please, senators, for the love of God, I'm begging you, don't let my daughter die of thirst," she said Tuesday outside her daughter's hospice, before she broke down and was escorted away.

Florida lawmakers previously have failed to pass legislation that could have prevented the removal of the tube. They may consider another bill Wednesday, but state Sen. Daniel Webster said he has yet to persuade any lawmakers to change their votes.

In court documents, the Schindlers said their daughter began "a significant decline" late Monday. Her eyes were sunken and dark, and her lips and face were dry.

"While she still made eye contact with me when I spoke to her, she was becoming increasingly lethargic," Bob Schindler said in the papers. "Terri no longer attempted to verbalize back to me when I spoke to her."

Demonstrators who gathered outside Terri Schiavo's hospice here decried the courts' decisions. One woman was arrested Tuesday for trespassing after trying to bring Schiavo a cup of water.

"This is a clear cut case of judicial tyranny. All the judges who have ruled against Terri are tyrants, and we fully expected this decision," said Tammy Melton, 37, a high school teacher from Monterey, Tenn.

But Richard Avant, who lives down the street from the hospice, carried a sign reading "Honor her wishes."

"We represent the silent majority, if you look at the polls," Avant said. "We agree that Congress overstepped their bounds."

Over the weekend, Republicans in Congress pushed through unprecedented emergency legislation aimed at prolonging Schiavo's life by allowing the case to be reviewed by federal courts.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge James Whittemore of Tampa rejected the parents' request to have the tube reinserted, saying they had not established a "substantial likelihood of success" at a trial on their claim that Schiavo's religious and due process rights have been violated.

The Bush administration "would have preferred a different ruling" from Whittemore, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. "We hope that they would be able to have relief through the appeals process."

The Justice Department also filed a court statement, saying an injunction was "plainly warranted" to carry out the wishes of Congress to provide federal court jurisdiction over the case.


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20050323/ap_on_re_us/brain_damaged_woman_43&printer=1

Reinsertion of Schiavo Feeding Tube Denied

Appeals Court: Schiavo Denied

ATLANTA - A federal appeals court refused early Wednesday to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube, denying the latest emergency request by the severely brain-damaged woman's parents to keep her alive.

A panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 2-1 ruling that the parents "failed to demonstrate a substantial case on the merits of any of their claims."

"There is no denying the absolute tragedy that has befallen Mrs. Schiavo," the ruling said. "We all have our own family, our own loved ones, and our own children. However, we are called upon to make a collective, objective decision concerning a question of law."

But Judge Charles R. Wilson said in his dissent that Schiavo's "imminent" death would end the case before it could be fully considered. "In fact, I fail to see any harm in reinserting the feeding tube," he wrote.

Schiavo's parents will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, said Rex Sparklin, an attorney with the law firm representing Bob and Mary Schindler.

"The Schindlers will be filing an appropriate appeal to save their daughter's life," Sparklin said.

The Schindlers said Tuesday that their daughter was "fading quickly" and might die at any moment. Her feeding tube was disconnected on Friday, and doctors have said that Schiavo, 41, could survive one to two weeks without water and nutrients.

The latest court ruling came less than 24 hours after U.S. District Judge James Whittemore of Tampa, Fla., rejected the parents' request to have the tube reinserted, saying they had not established a "substantial likelihood of success" at a trial on their claim that Schiavo's religious and due process rights have been violated.

A man who answered Bob Schindler's cellular phone declined comment Wednesday.

The Schindlers have been locked for years in a battle with Schiavo's husband over whether her feeding tube should be disconnected. State courts have sided with Michael Schiavo, who insists his wife told him she would never want to be kept alive artificially.

Even before the parents' appeal was filed with the 11th Circuit, Michael Schiavo urged the court not to grant an emergency request to restore nutrition.

"That would be a horrific intrusion upon Mrs. Schiavo's personal liberty," said the filing by his attorney, George Felos. He filed a response to the Schindlers' appeal and said he would go to the U.S. Supreme Court if the tube were ordered reconnected.

Demonstrators who gathered outside Terri Schiavo's hospice in Pinellas Park, Fla., decried the decision early Wednesday.

"This is a clear cut case of judicial tyranny. All the judges who have ruled against Terri are tyrants, and we fully expected this decision," said Tammy Melton, 37, a high school teacher from Monterey, Tenn.

On Tuesday, the Schindlers arrived at Terri's hospice and pleaded with state lawmakers to save their daughter's life.

"Please, senators, for the love of God, I'm begging you, don't let my daughter die of thirst," Mary Schindler said before she broke down and was escorted away.

Florida lawmakers previously have failed to pass legislation that could have prevented the removal of the tube. They may consider another bill Wednesday, but state Sen. Daniel Webster said he has yet to persuade any lawmakers to change their votes.

In court documents, the Schindlers said their daughter began "a significant decline" late Monday. Her eyes were sunken and dark, and her lips and face were dry.

"While she still made eye contact with me when I spoke to her, she was becoming increasingly lethargic," Bob Schindler said in the papers. "Terri no longer attempted to verbalize back to me when I spoke to her."

Louise Cleary, a spokeswoman at Woodside Hospice, said she could not discuss Terri Schiavo's condition for reasons of privacy.

Over the weekend, Republicans in Congress pushed through unprecedented emergency legislation aimed at prolonging Schiavo's life by allowing the case to be reviewed by federal courts.

In his dissenting opinion Wednesday, Wilson addressed the congressional actions.

"Congress intended for this case to be reviewed with a fresh set of eyes," Wilson wrote. "Today, we are not called upon to second-guess the wisdom of Congress, but to apply the law it has passed."

Dozens of protesters have been gathering outside the hospice, virtually all of them calling for the tube to be reinserted. They carried signs and shouted through bullhorns, and a Catholic Mass was celebrated. One woman was arrested Tuesday for trespassing after trying to bring Schiavo a cup of water.

But Richard Avant, who lives down the street from the hospice, carried a sign reading "Honor her wishes."

"We represent the silent majority, if you look at the polls," Avant said. "We agree that Congress overstepped their bounds."

The Bush administration "would have preferred a different ruling" from Whittemore, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. "We hope that they would be able to have relief through the appeals process."

The Justice Department also filed a court statement, saying an injunction was "plainly warranted" to carry out the wishes of Congress to provide federal court jurisdiction over the case.

At the same time, Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, praised Tuesday's ruling. "What this judge did is protect the freedom of people to make their own end-of-life decisions without the intrusion of politicians," he said.

Terri Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly from a chemical imbalance believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder. Court-appointed doctors say she is in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery.

Her parents argue that she could get better and that she would never have wanted to be cut off from food and water.


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20050323/ap_on_re_us/brain_damaged_woman_41&printer=1

11th Circuit Court Rejects Schiavo Appeal

11th Circuit Rejects Terri

TAMPA, Fla. -- The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has denied a request by the parents of Terri Schiavo to reinsert the severely brain-damaged woman's feeding tube. The three-judge panel ruled 2-1 to deny the request, a day after a federal judge in Florida rejected a similar appeal.

In its ruling, the panel said the woman's parents "failed to demonstrate a substantial case on the merits of any of their claims."

"There is no denying the absolute tragedy that has befallen Mrs. Schiavo," the ruling reads. "We all have our own family, our own loved ones, and our own children. However, we are called upon to make a collective, objective decision concerning a question of law."

• Text of 11th Circuit Court's Ruling (pdf format)

But in the dissenting opinion, Judge Charles R. Wilson expressed concern that Schiavo's "imminent" death would end the case before it could be fully considered.

"In fact, I fail to see any harm in reinserting the feeding tube," he wrote.

Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, vowed to file yet another appeal later today.

"The Schindlers will be filing an appropriate appeal to save their daughter's life," said Rex Sparklin, an attorney with the law firm representing the parents.

The Schindlers said Tuesday that their daughter was "fading quickly" and might die at any moment. The feeding tube was disconnected on Friday after the Schindlers' appeals to keep the tube in place failed in Florida state court. Doctors have said that Terri Schiavo, 41, could survive one to two weeks without water and nutrients.

U.S. District Judge James Whittemore of Tampa, the Florida judge who denied the Schindler's request on Tuesday, said the Schindlers had not established a "substantial likelihood of success" at trial on the merits of their arguments.

Late in the afternoon Tuesday, the Schindlers arrived at their daughter's hospice and Terri's mother again pleaded with state lawmakers to save her life.

"Please, senators, for the love of God, I'm begging you, don't let my daughter die of thirst," Mary Schindler said.

With that, she broke down, and was escorted away.

Even before the parents' full appeal was filed, Schiavo's husband Michael said that his wife's rights would be violated if the judges ordered nutrition restored while considering whether the feeding tube should be permanently reconnected in a filing with the appeals court.

"That would be a horrific intrusion upon Mrs. Schiavo's personal liberty, and the status quo should therefore be maintained until this court issues its final ruling," said the filing by Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos. The status quo — with the feeding tube removed — could continue for a couple of days without harming Terri Schiavo, the filing argued.

Felos had planned to file an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court if the tube was ordered reconnected on a temporary basis.

Michael Schiavo: Government Should Stay Out

Michael Schiavo said he was outraged that lawmakers and the president intervened in a private matter.

"When Terri's wishes are carried out, it will be her wish. She will be at peace. She will be with the Lord," he said during a televised interview late Monday.

After the congressional bill applying to her specifically was signed by Bush early Monday morning, Michael Schiavo said it was a "sad day for Terri."

"But I'll tell you what: It's also is a sad day for everyone in this country," he added, "The United States government is going to come in and trample all over your personal, family matters."

Carla Sauer Iyer, a registered nurse who provided care to Terri Schiavo from 1995 to 1996 at a convalescence home in Largo, Fla., told FOX News in an interview Tuesday that her patient would interact with staff, was alert and aware and could talk.

"Her cognitive abilities including laughing, talking, letting you know she was in pain," Iyer told FOX News, adding that Terri Schiavo could say words like "mommy," "help me," "hi" and "pain."

She also said Schiavo had accurate reflexes on demand. Nurses also were able, at times, to feed Terri thickened liquids such as pudding and Jell-O with a baby bottle.

Iyer also claims that one time when she put a washcloth in Terri's hand to test her reflexes, Michael Schiavo would get upset and say, "that's therapy — take that washcloth out."

"I think a gag order has been put on all positive things that Terri has done," claimed Iyer.

Iyer said she was coming forward "to let the truth be known, to let the people know. I was one of the few people who was able to see Terri. She was able to talk, communicate with staff ... I want the public to know the truth."

Michael Schiavo has not responded to repeated interview requests from The Associated Press and FOX News Channel.

Terri Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly because of a possible potassium imbalance brought on by an eating disorder. She can breathe on her own, but has relied on the feeding tube to keep her alive.

Court-appointed doctors say she has no hope of recovery but her parents insist she could recover with treatment. Doctors have said Schiavo could survive one to two weeks without the feeding tube.

Friday marked the third time Schiavo's feeding tube had been removed. In both previous instances, the tube was reinserted, once on a judge's order and once after Florida Gov. Jeb Bush signed "Terri's Law," which was later declared unconstitutional.

The Justice Department also filed a court statement, saying an injunction was "plainly warranted" to carry out the wishes of Congress to provide federal court jurisdiction over the case.

Unless the feeding tube is reinserted, the department said, Schiavo may die before the courts can resolve her family's claims. "No comparable harm will be caused" by letting Schiavo live while the case is reviewed, the filing said.


http://www.foxnews.com/printer_fri
endly_story/0,3566,151227,00.html

Parents seek to restore feeding tube after lower court unconscionable snub

Parents go to Appeals Panel

ATLANTA, Georgia -- The Terri Schiavo case landed at a federal appeals court Tuesday after a lower court rejected her parents' plea to keep the brain-damaged woman alive.

Schiavo has been without food or water since a Florida state judge ordered her feeding tube removed Friday at her husband's request.

A three-judge panel at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta received the case hours after U.S. District Judge James Whittemore in Tampa, Florida, refused the request of parents Bob and Mary Schindler to reinsert the tube.

President Bush has expressed support for the Schindlers' fight, signing legislation allowing the case to be reviewed by federal courts.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the Bush administration would have preferred a "different ruling" than Whittemore's decision.

McClellan said the administration hoped the Schindlers find relief in the appeals process.

In denying the request for a temporary restraining order to restore the tube, Whittemore wrote that Schiavo's parents didn't have a "substantial likelihood of success" on the merits of their arguments.

"This court concludes that Theresa Schiavo's life and liberty interests were adequately protected by the extensive process provided in the state courts," the judge wrote.

Whittemore acknowledged the "gravity of the consequences of denying injunctive relief."

"Even under these difficult and time strained circumstances, however, and not withstanding Congress' expressed interest in the welfare of Theresa Schiavo, this court is constrained to apply the law to the issues before it," Whittemore's ruling said.

Schindler spokesman Gary McCullough called the decision "extremely cruel."

"Here's a woman whose life is hanging. She's being slowly starved," he said.

"This judge could have made his decision and give the family's attorney time to appeal this."

Scott Schiavo, brother of Terri's husband, Michael, told The Associated Press that the ruling was "a good thing" and that Congress shouldn't have intervened.

"There's not a law that's made for this," he told the AP. "This is something that goes on 100 times a day in our country, that people, their wish to die with dignity is not a federal issue."

Michael Schiavo insists that his wife would never want to continue to live in her condition -- what Florida courts have deemed a persistent vegetative state.

People in such a condition cannot think, speak or respond to commands and are not aware of their surroundings.

Terri Schiavo, 41, collapsed in her home in 1990, suffering from heart failure that led to severe brain damage. Michael Schiavo said his wife suffered from bulimia that resulted in a potassium deficiency, triggering the heart failure.

He vowed to carry through with what he calls his wife's wish not to live in such a condition, saying, "I will stick by Terri."

"When Terri's wishes are carried out, it will be her wish. She'll be at peace, she'll be with the Lord," Michael Schiavo said Monday.

"This is what Terri wants. She does not want to be in this condition. She does not want to exist in this condition, and I'm going to carry out what she wanted."

But Schiavo's parents point to the absence of a living will, or written document, clearly spelling out her wishes. They argue that their daughter's due process rights have been violated and that she would not have wanted to die this way due to her faith as a Roman Catholic.

They also contend that their daughter's condition could improve with treatment.

An uphill legal battle?

Doctors have said Schiavo could live for one to two weeks without a feeding tube.

Her parents are facing an uphill battle. Repeated court rulings have held that Michael Schiavo is his wife's legal guardian and has the right to make decisions regarding her care.

At the federal court hearing Monday, the judge grilled the Schindlers' attorney about the constitutionality of their case.

Michael Schiavo, who was not at the hearing, visited his wife at a hospice in Pinellas Park on Monday. He said it is going to be hard when she finally dies.

"I've cried many tears so far, trust me," he told CNN's Larry King. "I made a promise to Terri. I'm going to stick by her side, and I'm going to do this for her. Terri is not a piece of property that you pass back and forth. She didn't say, 'Well, when I become sick, give me back to my parents.' "

He and his attorney, George Felos, said Terri made it clear years ago that she would not want to live in such a condition -- even though she never made a living will. They said she once made the comment to her best friend after seeing a movie in which a character was in such a state.

"She said, 'No tubes for me,' " Michael Schiavo said.

Asked if he would feel bad if his wife died and medical experts later figured out a way for her to have had a better life, he said that was a medical impossibility.

"Let's be realistic, Larry. You can't regrow a brain," he said.

Meanwhile, outside the hospice, Terri's brother thanked supporters on his family's behalf and said they remain optimistic the feeding tube will be reinserted.

At the same time, he said it is disturbing to visit his sister without the feeding tube.

"She's still alert, but we're going on four days now, and we're slowly watching my sister being starved to death," Bobby Schindler said.

"It's a surreal situation when you walk in there, and you realize you're watching a loved one slowly being starved to death and dehydrated to death. It's hard to describe."


http://www.cnn.com/2005/LA
W/03/22/schiavo/index.html

Schiavo's Parents Appeal Removal of Feeding Tube

Appeal Filed

TAMPA, Fla. -- Terri Schiavo's parents filed an appeal with a federal court Tuesday afternoon to order their severely brain-damaged daughter's feeding tube reconnected.

"Where, as here, death is imminent, it is hard to imagine more critical and exigent circumstances," David Gibbs III, attorney for Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, told the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta in the electronically filed appeal. "Terri is fading quickly and her parents reasonably fear that her death is imminent."

The move came after a federal judge early Tuesday morning refused to order the reinsertion of the tube. U.S. District Judge James Whittemore said the Schindlers, had not established a "substantial likelihood of success" at trial on the merits of their arguments.

Schiavo's tube was removed Friday after the Schindlers' appeals to keep the tube in place failed in state court. Tuesday marked the fourth day without her feeding tube.

Even before the parents' full appeal was filed, Schiavo's husband Michael said in a filing with the appeals court that his wife's rights would be violated if the judges ordered nutrition restored while considering whether the feeding tube should be permanently reconnected.

"That would be a horrific intrusion upon Mrs. Schiavo's personal liberty, and the status quo should therefore be maintained until this court issues its final ruling," said the filing by Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos. The status quo -- with the feeding tube removed -- could continue for a couple of days without harming Terri Schiavo, the filing argued.

Felos also told the judges he would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court if the tube is ordered reconnected on a temporary basis.

Congress and President Bush took unprecedented action over the weekend, enacting a new law that permitted Schiavo's parents to take their case to federal court.

The Atlanta court appointed a three-judge panel to review the Schindler's appeal then decide if they will hear oral arguments in the case; judges can rule without those arguments. There is no indication of what they will do or what time they will do it. Court officials said, however, that they will go late into the night if needed.

That court was already considering an appeal on whether Terri Schiavo's right to due process had been violated. Whittemore also found that Schiavo's due process rights had been upheld throughout the litigation process.

Whittemore wrote that Schiavo's "life and liberty interests" were protected by the process of the Florida courts and found that a state court judge did not compromise the fairness of the proceeding or the impartiality of the court with his decision to allow the feeding tube to be removed.

"Even under these difficult and time strained circumstances, however, and notwithstanding Congress' expressed interest in the welfare of Theresa Schiavo, this court is constrained to apply the law to the issues before it," the ruling reads.

"To have to see my parents go through this is absolutely barbaric," brother Bobby Schindler told a morning television news program on Tuesday. "I'd love for these judges to sit in a room and see this happening as well."

Burke Balch, director of the Powell Center for Medical Ethics of the National Right to Life Committee, said Whittemore engaged in a "gross abuse of judicial power."

"Unless higher courts issue a stay on appeal, an innocent young woman will be denied what every mass murderer convicted in state court gets — her day in federal court," Balch said in a statement.

But Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, praised the ruling: "What this judge did is protect the freedom of people to make their own end-of-life decisions without the intrusion of politicians."

Lawmakers Lament

The Bush administration "would have preferred a different ruling," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters in Albuquerque, N.M. "We hope that they would be able to have relief through the appeals process."

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., who led the Senate effort to enact the new law, spoke out against the judge's ruling, as did others like House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas.

"I'm deeply disappointed by today's court decision that denies Terri Schiavo another chance to live," Frist said in a statement. "It is a sad day for all Americans who value the sanctity of life. I'm hopeful for a different result on appeal."

The House isn't giving up on efforts to get Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted. An appeal filed last week by the House counsel to the Florida Court of Appeals after the tube was removed Friday is still pending.

FOX News has learned that the March 25 hearing of the House Government Reform Committee scheduled to look at the issue of long-term care of incapacitated adults like Schiavo will proceed. That hearing was specifically scheduled to buy Congress and Schiavo time on the matter; lawmakers subpoenaed Schiavo and her husband, as well as some hospital staff, in that hearing. What's still up in the air however, is whether that hearing will take place in Washington or in Florida. Discussion on that issue is expected Tuesday.

But Scott Schiavo, Michael Schiavo's brother, called the judge's decision "a good thing," and said Congress shouldn't have intervened.

"There's not a law that's made for this," Scott Schiavo said in a telephone interview. "This is something that goes on 100 times a day in our country, that people, their wish to die with dignity is not a federal issue."

• Text of Schiavo Bill (thomas.loc.gov)

Click here to see how your legislator voted on the bill to move Terri Schiavo's case to a federal court.

Numerous state courts have affirmed the right of Michael Schiavo, to act on her behalf. The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear the case.

Terri Schiavo did not have a living will. Michael Schiavo has fought in courts for years to have the tube removed because he said she would not want to be kept alive artificially.

Doctors say she is severely brain-damaged and has no chance of recovery in her persistent vegitative state. A CAT scan made several years ago indicates that her cerebral cortex, the upper part of the brain, has largely atrophied and been replaced by spinal fluid. Doctors say the damaged part of her brain also is the part that feels pain.

Michael Schiavo: Government Should Stay Out

Michael Schiavo said he was outraged that lawmakers and the president intervened in a private matter.

"When Terri's wishes are carried out, it will be her wish. She will be at peace. She will be with the Lord," he said on CNN's "Larry King Live" late Monday.

After the congressional bill applying to her specifically was signed by Bush early Monday morning, Michael Schiavo said it was a "sad day for Terri."

"But I'll tell you what: It's also is a sad day for everyone in this country," he added, "because the United States government is going to come in and trample all over your personal, family matters."

Carla Sauer Iyer, a registered nurse who provided care to Terri Schiavo from 1995 to 1996 at a convalescence home in Largo, Fla., told FOX News in an interview Tuesday that her patient would interact with staff, was alert and aware and could talk.

"Her cognitive abilities including laughing, talking, letting you know she was in pain," Iyer told FOX News, adding that Terri Schiavo could say words like "mommy," "help me," "hi" and "pain."

She also said Schiavo had accurate reflexes on demand. Nurses also were able, at times, to feed Terri thickened liquids such as pudding and Jello with a baby bottle.

Iyer also claims that one time when she put a washcloth in Terri's hand to test her reflexes, Michael Schiavo would get upset and say, "that's therapy — take that washcloth out."

"I think a gag order has been put on all positive things that Terri has done," claimed Iyer.

Iyer said she was coming forward "to let the truth be known, to let the people know. I was one of the few people who was able to see Terri. She was able to talk, communicate with staff ... I want the public to know the truth."

Michael Schiavo has not responded to repeated interview requests from The Associated Press and FOX News Channel.

Terri Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly because of a possible potassium imbalance brought on by an eating disorder. She can breathe on her own, but has relied on the feeding tube to keep her alive.

Court-appointed doctors say she has no hope of recovery but her parents insist she could recover with treatment. Doctors have said Schiavo could survive one to two weeks without the feeding tube.

Friday marked the third time Schiavo's feeding tube had been removed. In both previous instances, the tube was reinserted, once on a judge's order and once after Fla. Gov. Jeb Bush signed "Terri's Law," which was later declared unconstitutional.

After the ruling Tuesday, Gov. Bush, brother of the president, was described by a spokeswoman as "extremely disappointed and saddened" over the judge's decision not to order the tube reconnected.

"Gov. Bush will continue to do what he legally can within his powers to protect Terri Schiavo, a vulnerable person," said spokeswoman Alia Faraj.


http://www.foxnews.com/printer_fri
endly_story/0,3566,151140,00.html

Judge Rejects Schiavo Appeal

Judge Rejects Appeal

TAMPA, Fla. -- A federal judge early Tuesday morning refused to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube, leaving the fate of the severely brain-damaged Florida woman unresolved.

U.S. District Judge James Whittemore, who was nominated to the court in 1999 by former President Clinton, had listened to arguments from both sides Monday afternoon in his Tampa courtroom.

Whittemore refused an appeal filed earlier Monday by Schiavo's parents' attorney, David Gibbs II, to issue an emergency injunction.

Schiavo's tube was removed Friday after the efforts of her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, failed in state court. Tuesday marked the fourth day without her feeding tube.

The hearing followed an unprecedented act by Congress and President Bush to intervene in the Schiavo case.

The House, following a move by the Senate, passed a bill early Monday to let Schiavo's parents take their daughter's case to federal court. President Bush signed the measure less than an hour later, just after 1 a.m. Monday.

Numerous state courts have affirmed the right of her husband, Michael Schiavo, to act on her behalf. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case.

Michael Schiavo says he thinks his wife would not want to be kept alive artificially.

"I opposed what Congress did," Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., told FOX News on Monday. "The courts determined that it was Terri’s will that she not continue in the persistent vegetative state that she’s in ... We disrespected Terri’s wishes."

Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif., disagreed with Wexler, saying he supports the bill passed by Congress.

"Who are we to pass judgment as to what someone's quality of life is? That's not up to us to determine," Dreier told FOX News on Monday. "The parents have said, we would like to have a chance to step in and care for our daughter ... All we said is, let's let a federal judge give an opportunity for these parents to have their day in court."

During the hours leading up to the hearing, a few demonstrators appeared outside the federal courthouse, saying they were praying for Whittemore. Only a few people stayed outside the hospice where Terri Schiavo has been a resident, while others said they planned to return during the afternoon.

Schiavo's husband, Michael Schiavo, said he was outraged that lawmakers and the president were intervening in the contentious right-to-die battle. He has fought for years with his wife's parents over whether she should be permitted to die or kept alive through the feeding tube.

"This is a sad day for Terri. But I'll tell you what: It's also is a sad day for everyone in this country because the United States government is going to come in and trample all over your personal, family matters," he told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday.

Michael Schiavo has not responded to repeated interview requests from The Associated Press.

The lawsuit alleges a series of rights violations, including that Terri Schiavo's religious beliefs were being infringed upon, that the removal of the feeding tube violated her rights and that she was not provided an independent attorney to represent her interests.

Outside the hospice where his daughter entered her fourth day without food or water, Bob Schindler told reporters "I'm numb, I'm just totally numb. This whole thing, it's hard to believe it."

A shout of joy was heard from the crowd outside the hospice when news of the House bill's passage came. Among those cheering was David Bayly, 45, of Toledo, Ohio: "I'm overjoyed to see the vote and see Terri's life extended by whatever amount God gives her."

When dawn broke Monday, fewer than a dozen demonstrators remained at the hospice, but the area bustled with television lights, cameras and reporters covering the saga.

The 41-year-old woman's feeding tube was removed Friday on a Florida judge's order. Schiavo could linger for one or two weeks if the tube is not reinserted — as has happened twice before, once on a judge's order and once after Gov. Jeb Bush signed "Terri's Law," which was later declared unconstitutional.

George Felos, a lawyer for Michael Schiavo, did not return repeated phone messages seeking comment Monday. The voicemail box of George Greer, the Florida circuit judge who presides over the case, was full and didn't accept messages.

Terri Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly because of a possible potassium imbalance brought on by an eating disorder. She can breathe on her own, but has relied on the feeding tube to keep her alive.

Court-appointed doctors say she is in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery. Her husband says she would not want to be kept alive in that condition, but her parents insist she could recover with treatment.

Bob Schindler visited his daughter late Sunday and said he noticed the effects of dehydration on her. He said she appeared to be getting tired, but eventually responded to his teasing by making a face at him.

"It tells us she's still with us," he said.

Brian Schiavo, Michael's brother, said he spent Sunday afternoon with his brother and Terri at the hospice, but Terri did not move or make any noises. "Anybody that thinks that she talks and responds, they need to have a mental health examination," he said.

The bill passed in Congress applies only to Schiavo and would allow a federal court to review the case. The House passed the bill on a 203-58 vote after calling lawmakers back for an emergency Sunday session. The Senate approved the bill Sunday by voice vote. President Bush cut short a visit to his Texas ranch to return to the White House.

"In cases like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life," President Bush said in a statement after signing the bill, which he did at 1:11 a.m. EST Monday.

A crowd of about 50 people prayed and sang outside the hospice on Sunday. One man played "Amazing Grace" on a trumpet, as a pickup truck pulled a trailer bearing 10-foot-high replicas of the stone Ten Commandments tablets and a huge working version of the Liberty Bell.

Gov. Bush, praised the actions of Congress. "We in government have a duty to protect the weak, disabled and vulnerable," he said in a statement Monday. "I appreciate the efforts of state and federal lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who have taken this duty to heart."


http://www.foxnews.com/printer_fri
endly_story/0,3566,151112,00.html

Judge Won't Issue Decision on Schiavo Yet

No Immediate Decision

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- Armed with a new law rushed through Congress over the weekend, the attorney for Terri Schiavo's parents pleaded with a judge Monday to order the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube reinserted.

U.S. District Judge James Whittemore did not immediately make a ruling after the two-hour hearing, and he gave no indication on when he might act on the request.

The hearing came three days after the feeding tube was removed. Doctors have said Schiavo could survive one to two weeks without the tube.

During the hearing, David Gibbs, an attorney for the parents, said that forcing Terri Schiavo to die by starvation and dehydration would be "a mortal sin" under her Roman Catholic beliefs.

"It is a complete violation to her rights and to her religious liberty, to force her in a position of refusing nutrition," Gibbs told Whittemore.

But the judge told Gibbs that he still wasn't completely sold on the argument. "I think you'd be hard-pressed to convince me that you have a substantial likelihood" of the parents' lawsuit succeeding, the judge said.

George Felos, one of the attorneys for husband Michael Schiavo, told Whittemore that the case has been aired thoroughly in state courts and that forcing the 41-year-old severely brain damaged woman to endure another re-insertion of the tube would violate her civil rights.

"Every possible issue has been raised and re-raised, litigated and re-litigated," Felos said. "It's the elongation of these proceedings that have violated Mrs. Schiavo's due process rights."

Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed at 1:45 p.m. Friday, the third such time she had begun what Felos described as "her dying process." On both previous occasions, the tube was re-inserted by court order.


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&u=/ap/
20050321/ap_on_re_us/brain_damaged_woman_16&printer=1

FDA Expects to Ease Plan B Availability

Bush's OTC Morning-After Pill On The Way

The Washington Post

President Bush's nominee to become the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration indicated Thursday that the agency is close to approving a proposal to allow customers to buy the emergency contraceptive Plan B without a prescription.

Speaking at his Senate committee confirmation hearing, acting FDA Commissioner Lester M. Crawford did not formally announce a decision, but he left little doubt how the agency would ultimately rule.

"The science part is generally done," Crawford told Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), who had pressed him on the issue. "We're just now down to what the label will look [like]. This is going to be a very unusual sort of approval."

The agency has been roiled in recent months by issues including drug safety, the speed of new drug reviews, possible conflicts of interest, and abortion, but the Plan B controversy drew the most attention yesterday.

FDA staff members and an advisory panel of outside experts have strongly endorsed the proposal to make emergency contraception more easily available -- in part as a way to reduce the number of abortions -- but the agency turned down the first application last year. Two months ago it did not meet its deadline for ruling on a revised application. Conservative members of Congress have lobbied President Bush to reject the proposal, submitted by Barr Laboratories, because of concerns that it could lead to greater promiscuity among teenagers.

Clinton and several other senators said the agency's protracted struggle with the Plan B proposal has raised increasingly sharp questions about whether the FDA remains a science-based organization. "I am hopeful that we will reverse what appears to be a dangerous slide into political opinion rather than scientific evidence," Clinton said.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) also questioned Crawford aggressively, asking whether a formal decision on Plan B would be announced before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions votes on his nomination, probably on April 13. Crawford said he doubted a decision would be forthcoming by then because of the application's complexity, and Murray said that "troubles me greatly." Crawford and several senators later agreed to meet in private to discuss aspects of the application that could not be discussed in public.

Crawford, 66, has served as acting commissioner twice in the past four years, for a total of almost two years. Trained as a veterinarian and pharmacologist, he has worked at senior levels for the FDA on four occasions.

Although the sharpest questioning involved emergency contraception, he was also asked frequently -- sometimes skeptically -- about the FDA's plans to create a drug safety review panel. Crawford had announced he would set up an enhanced safety review board after last year's withdrawal of the arthritis drug Vioxx and later revelations of potential problems with similar COX-2 inhibitor painkillers, which led to criticism that the agency had been lax on safety.

The structure of the board is being debated, and senators had conflicting advice for Crawford. Committee Chairman Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.) warned against setting up a panel that would overemphasize safety concerns and underemphasize the benefits of drugs. But Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) said it is essential that the board be completely independent of the officials who approve drug applications in order to restore confidence in the agency.

Enzi also asked Crawford about a controversy over the medical abortion pill, RU-486. A citizens group that opposes abortion petitioned the agency to take the drug off the market for safety reasons, but supporters say that the drug is safe.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/articles/A45610-2005Mar17.html

Bush Signs Emergency Schiavo Legislation

Bush signs bill into Law

WASHINGTON -- President Bush early on Monday signed emergency legislation aimed at prolonging the life of a brain-damaged Florida woman, Terri Schiavo.

"Today, I signed into law a bill that will allow federal courts to hear a claim by or on behalf of Terri Schiavo for violation of her rights relating to the withholding or withdrawal of food, fluids, or medical treatment necessary to sustain her life," Bush said in a written statement.

"In cases like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws, and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life. This presumption is especially critical for those like Terri Schiavo who live at the mercy of others," he said.


http://reuters.myway.com/article/20050321/2005-03-21T06350
4Z_01_N21310204_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-RIGHTS-SCHIAVO-BUSH-DC.html

For the relief of the parents of Theresa Marie Schiavo. (Engrossed as Agreed to or Passed by Senate)

Text of Schiavo Act

For the relief of the parents of Theresa Marie Schiavo.

S 653 ES

109th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 653

________________________________________________

AN ACT

For the relief of the parents of Theresa Marie Schiavo.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. RELIEF OF THE PARENTS OF THERESA MARIE SCHIAVO.

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida shall have jurisdiction to hear, determine, and render judgment on a suit or claim by or on behalf of Theresa Marie Schiavo for the alleged violation of any right of Theresa Marie Schiavo under the Constitution or laws of the United States relating to the withholding or withdrawal of food, fluids, or medical treatment necessary to sustain her life.

SEC. 2. PROCEDURE.

Any parent of Theresa Marie Schiavo shall have standing to bring a suit under this Act. The suit may be brought against any other person who was a party to State court proceedings relating to the withholding or withdrawal of food, fluids, or medical treatment necessary to sustain the life of Theresa Marie Schiavo, or who may act pursuant to a State court order authorizing or directing the withholding or withdrawal of food, fluids, or medical treatment necessary to sustain her life. In such a suit, the District Court shall determine de novo any claim of a violation of any right of Theresa Marie Schiavo within the scope of this Act, notwithstanding any prior State court determination and regardless of whether such a claim has previously been raised, considered, or decided in State court proceedings. The District Court shall entertain and determine the suit without any delay or abstention in favor of State court proceedings, and regardless of whether remedies available in the State courts have been exhausted.

SEC. 3. RELIEF.

After a determination of the merits of a suit brought under this Act, the District Court shall issue such declaratory and injunctive relief as may be necessary to protect the rights of Theresa Marie Schiavo under the Constitution and laws of the United States relating to the withholding or withdrawal of food, fluids, or medical treatment necessary to sustain her life.

SEC. 4. TIME FOR FILING.

Notwithstanding any other time limitation, any suit or claim under this Act shall be timely if filed within 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. STAY.

Upon the filing of a suit or claim under this Act, the District Court may issue a stay of any State court order authorizing or directing the withholding or withdrawal of food, fluids, or medical treatment necessary to sustain the life of Theresa Marie Schiavo pending the determination of the suit.

SEC. 6. NO CHANGE OF SUBSTANTIVE RIGHTS.

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to create substantive rights not otherwise secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States or of the several States.

SEC. 7. NO EFFECT ON ASSISTING SUICIDE.

Nothing is this Act shall be construed to confer additional jurisdiction on any court to consider any claim related--

(1) to assisting suicide, or

(2) a State law regarding assisting suicide.

SEC. 8. NO PRECEDENT FOR FUTURE LEGISLATION.

Nothing in this Act shall affect the rights of any person under the Patient Self- Determination Act of 1990.

SEC. 9. NO AFFECT ON THE PATIENT SELF-DETERMINATION ACT OF 1990.

Nothing in this Act shall affect the rights of any person under the Patient Self-Determination Act of 1990.

Passed the Senate March 17, 2005.

Attest:

Secretary.

109th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 653

AN ACT

For the relief of the parents of Theresa Marie Schiavo.

http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.html

Congress Vote May Prolong Schiavo's Life

Congress Approves Schiavo Legislation

WASHINGTON -- Congress approved emergency legislation early Monday to let Terri Schiavo's parents ask a federal judge to prolong their daughter's life, capping days of emotional debate over who should decide life and death.

President Bush waited at the White House to sign the measure permitting a federal review of the case, which could trigger the reinsertion of feeding tubes needed to keep the brain-damaged Florida woman alive.

The House passed the bill on a 203-58 vote after calling lawmakers back for an emergency Sunday session for debate that stretched past midnight.

The Senate approved the bill Sunday by voice vote.

Republican supporters said the "Palm Sunday Compromise" seeks to protect the constitutional rights of a disabled person and rejected suggestions that political motives lay behind the last-minute maneuver.

"When a person's intentions regarding whether to receive lifesaving treatment are unclear, the responsibility of a compassionate nation is to affirm that person's right to life," said House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis. "In our deeds and public actions, we must build a culture of life that welcomes and defends all human life."

Many Democrats who opposed the bill said the congressional vote placed lawmakers in the middle of issues best left to state courts and family members.

"Today, congressional leaders are trying to appoint Congress as a judge and jury," said Rep. Jim Davis (news, bio, voting record), D-Fla. "If we do not draw the line in the sand today, there is no limit to what democratic principles this Congress will ignore or what liberties they may trample on next."

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. and others rejected the description of the brain-damaged woman as persisting in a "vegetative" state.

"She laughs, she cries and she smiles with those around her. She is aware of her surroundings and is responsive to them," he said. "This is a woman who deserves a chance at life and not a death sentence of starvation and dehydration."

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., rejected the notion that elected lawmakers could accurately diagnose her condition.

"The caption tonight ought to be: We're not doctors, we just play them on C-SPAN," he said.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said the federal district court in Florida, which is open 24 hours a day, had already been informed that a petition would be filed as soon as the president signs the measure — with the presumption a judge will order that the tube be replaced.

"Time is not on Terri Schiavo's side," DeLay said. "The few remaining objecting House Democrats have so far cost Mrs. Schiavo two meals already today."

Even though the legislation paved an avenue for federal jurisdiction in the legal case, there was no way to determine in advance how or when a judge would rule — or even which judge would be assigned the case by lottery.

Lawmakers who left Washington on Friday for the two-week Easter recess had to make abrupt changes in plans, backtracking for a dramatic and politically contentious vote.

In a special session Sunday afternoon, Democrats refused to allow the bill to be passed without a roll call vote.

That meant a vote could not occur before 12:01 a.m. Monday — the start of a new legislative day. Still, the measure was handled on an expedited calendar that required a two-thirds majority to pass.

The House has 232 Republicans, 202 Democrats and one independent.

The legislation would give Schiavo's parents the right to file suit in federal court over the withdrawal of food and medical treatment needed to sustain the life of their daughter.

It says the court, after determining the merits of the suit, "shall issue such declaratory and injunctive relief as may be necessary to protect the rights" of the woman. Injunctive relief in this case could mean the reinserting of feeding tubes.

"It gives Terri Schiavo another chance," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said after the late-afternoon voice vote in a near-empty Senate chamber. "It guarantees a process to help Terri, but does not guarantee a particular outcome."

Frist also noted that the bill, responding to some Democratic objections, does not affect state assisted suicide laws or serve as a precedent for future legislation.

A Senate bill passed by the House is returned to the Senate enrollment clerk's office where it is printed on parchment and, when speed is important, driven immediately to the White House by Senate personnel. There, the White House clerk takes custody of the legislation and prepares it for the president to sign into law.

The White House made arrangements for Bush to sign the measure at any hour, although without fanfare.

The Democratic whip, Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said his office was telling members to vote their conscience on the issue and there was considerable Democratic support for the bill.

Schiavo has been in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years. Her feeding tubes were removed Friday afternoon at the request of her husband, who says that his wife expressed to him before she fell ill that she did not want to be kept alive under such circumstances.

House and Senate committees at the end of the week issued subpoenas seeking to force the continuation of treatment, but that move was rejected by a Florida court.

Schiavo could linger for one or two weeks if the tube is not reinserted, as has happened twice before.

Republicans distanced themselves from a memo suggesting GOP lawmakers could use the case to appeal to Christian conservative voters and to force Democrats into a difficult vote. DeLay said he and other GOP leaders hadn't seen the memo and that he would fire any staffer who wrote such a document.


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=512&u=/ap
/20050321/ap_on_go_co/schiavo_congress_22&printer=1

Congress Convenes for Terri Schiavo

Congress Convenes for Terri

FOX News

WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives reconvened Sunday night to debate legislation that could influence brain-damaged patient Terri Schiavo's fate, after the Senate unanimously passed a bill to try to push the case into a federal court for consideration.

The House opened its meeting at 9 p.m. EST to start the debate, and House leaders said they hoped to get a vote on the matter as early as possible after midnight.

"As millions of Americans observe the beginning of Holy Week this Palm Sunday we are reminded that every life has purpose and none is without meaning," said House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., a leader in crafting the bill.

But Rep. Jim Davis, D-Fla., said the congressional action was "a clear threat to our democracy." Congress, he said, was ignoring the constitutional separation of power and "is on the verge of telling states, courts, judges and juries that their opinions, deliberations and decisions do not matter."

The Senate is poised to adjourn for spring break unless the House of Representatives fails to pass the bill, in which case it would reconvene on Monday.

After three hours of House debate, leaders will call for a vote, but Democrats are expected to demand a recorded vote. The House will need at least 218 members present to take a roll call vote. The House has 232 Republicans, 202 Democrats and one independent, but no one is certain how many members from each side are expected to return.

Schiavo's feeding tube was removed Friday upon a district judge's order after House lawyers' emergency request to intervene was denied. Congress quickly scrambled to move the case to a different venue on the chance that a federal court would order an injunction on the removal of Schiavo's tube until it can be determined whether Schiavo's husband, Michael Schiavo, or Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, have the authority to decide to keep Schiavo alive or let her starve to death.

Doctors say Schiavo, 41, is in a persistent vegetative state and will not fully recover from a heart attack she endured 15 years ago. If the case goes to a federal court, Schiavo's tube could be reinserted while the ruling is deliberated. Her parents and siblings insist Schiavo is responsive to their encouragement.

The legislation says the federal court, after determining the merits of the suit, "shall issue such declaratory and injunctive relief as may be necessary to protect the rights" of the woman. Injunctive relief in this case could mean reinserting the feeding tubes.

"The bill guarantees a process to help Terri but does not guarantee a particular outcome. Once a new case is filed, a federal judge can issue a stay at any time," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee. "The judge has discretion of that particular decision; however, I would expect that a federal judge would grant a stay under these circumstances because Terri would need to live in order for the court to consider the case."

David Gibbs III, the attorney for the Schindlers, said that his office has been in contact with the Federal District Court in Tampa and he is anticipating sending a filing in the middle of the night. A computer program randomly generates the presiding judge, who will be delivered the request for an injunction immediately.

Gibbs added that he hoped the court would give the case the same urgency as Congress and President Bush, who returned to Washington, D.C., from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, to sign the bill right away if it reaches his desk.

"This is a complex case where serious questions and significant doubts have been raised, and the president believes the presumption ought to be in favor of life, that we ought to err on the side of life in a case like this," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said aboard Air Force One on the way back to the capital.

"This legislation, [in] my understanding, is narrowly tailored and would give the parents another opportunity to save their daughter's life in federal courts," he said.

House leaders had wanted to vote on the bill by unanimous consent, meaning without a roll call vote, but several Democrat lawmakers were ready to insist on a recorded vote. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., returned to Washington on Sunday to state his objection.

"There is a law to be followed and the Florida courts have found it. And they found that Terri's wishes were not to be kept alive" by artificial means, Wexler told FOX News. "Congress is in no position now, in my view, to undermine the sanctity of the Florida court system. ... If this is the process, then no state court ruling will be final."

Davis said during an afternoon press conference on Capitol Hill that House members who want to hold the vote without debate are abdicating their responsibility.

"The impact of the debate this Congress is about to have extends beyond Terri Schiavo. ... If this Congress wants to have this vote without a debate, then why even have a Congress?" Davis asked. "The U.S. Congress is on the verge of telling states and courts that their decisions do not matter. Today's Congress should be following the law and not trampling on the Constitution."

Congress is stepping into a family matter, added Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who argued that the state court determined that Schiavo had made known her wish not to be kept alive in this condition. "It is not the Congress' place to say 'yes' or 'no,'" about Schiavo's fate, she said.

Lawmakers supporting Schiavo's tube being restored argued that the legislation should not face objection because it has a very narrow focus. Federal review would only apply in cases in which an incapacitated person has no written advance directive, the family disputes the individual's fate and a state judge has ordered withdrawal of the food and water that would keep the individual alive.

Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., added that he hasn't seen Schiavo, but as a physician, the evidence suggests she was wrongly classified as being in a vegetative state. For instance, he said, Schiavo's responsiveness to people who are close to her rather than merely in the room likely can be attributed to damaged vision rather than lack of power to respond.

Schiavo's mother insists that her daughter should be kept alive because she is not in the condition that doctors have said. She added her request that congressional members not politicize Terri Schiavo's case.

"Gentlemen, don't use this bill as your own personal agenda. I am pleading with the moms and the dads to call their congressman and help them pass this bill for Terri," Mary Schindler said.

Earlier Saturday, Michael Schiavo criticized House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who helped broker the congressional compromise.

"He's sitting up there saying that Terri wants to live. How does he know? Has he ever met her? No. He hasn't met me," Schiavo said on a morning news show. On Sunday, it was reported that he refused to permit Schiavo's family into the hospice room where Terri Schiavo is housed.

Congress' action has led to several questions about its role in determining matters that are largely left up to families. National Public Radio correspondent Juan Williams, a FOX News contributor, said the Legislature has completely overstepped its boundaries.

"It looks like total opportunism on the part of Republicans," Williams said on "FOX News Sunday." Weekly Standard publisher Bill Kristol reminded Williams that the bill also has the support of Democrat Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa and Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

Florida Republican Sen. Mel Martinez told "FOX News Sunday" that the issue has brought both parties together on Capitol Hill.

"All we're doing is seeking a federal review of what has happened in the state courts to ensure that all the constitutional rights, all of the basic protections that we afford a criminal have been afforded to Terri Schiavo as well. And a federal judge in the district of Florida is the right place to do that," Martinez said.

He added that anyone who thinks this bill will set a precedent is misguided since it's a private relief bill that specifically names Schiavo's family in the legislation.

Terri Schiavo suffered severe brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly because of a chemical imbalance. She can breathe on her own, but has relied on the feeding tube to keep her alive.

In 2001, Schiavo went without food and water for two days before a judge ordered the tube reinserted. When the tube was removed in October 2003, Gov. Jeb Bush pushed through "Terri's Law," and six days later the tube was reinserted. The Florida Supreme Court ruled in September 2004 that Bush had overstepped his authority, declaring the law unconstitutional.


http://www.foxnews.com/printer_fri
endly_story/0,3566,150958,00.html

Senate Passes Bill to Help Schiavo

Senate Passes Schiavo Bill

FOX News

WASHINGTON -- With the sparsest of attendance, the Senate unanimously passed on Sunday a bill to try to help brain-damaged patient Terri Schiavo by pushing her case into a federal court for consideration.

The Senate is poised to recess for spring break unless the House of Representatives fails to pass the bill, in which case it would reconvene on Monday.

Earlier in the day, the House of Representatives met to vote on Schiavo's fate but quickly recessed after it became clear that the bill would face congressional debate by opposing Democrats. The House was meeting at 9 p.m. EST to start debate, and House leaders said they hoped to get a vote on the matter as early as possible after midnight.

Schiavo's feeding tube was removed Friday upon a district judge's order after House lawyers' emergency request to intervene was denied. Congress quickly scrambled to move the case to a different venue on the chance that a federal court would order an injunction on the removal of Schiavo's tube until it can be determined whether Schiavo's husband, Michael Schiavo, or Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, have the authority to decide to keep Schiavo alive or let her starve to death.

Doctors say Schiavo, 41, is in a persistent vegetative state and will not fully recover from a heart attack she endured 15 years ago. If the case goes to a federal court, Schiavo's tube could be reinserted while the ruling is deliberated. Her parents and siblings insist Schiavo is responsive to their encouragements.

The legislation says the federal court, after determining the merits of the suit, "shall issue such declaratory and injunctive relief as may be necessary to protect the rights" of the woman. Injunctive relief in this case could mean the reinserting of feeding tubes.

"The bill guarantees a process to help Terri, but does not guarantee a particular outcome. Once a new case is filed, a federal judge can issue a stay at any time," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee. "The judge has discretion of that particular decision."

House leaders had wanted to vote on the bill by unanimous consent, meaning without a roll call vote, but several Democrat lawmakers were ready to insist on a recorded vote. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., returned to Washington on Sunday to state his objection.

"There is a law to be followed and the Florida courts have found it. And they found that Terri's wishes were not to be kept alive" by artificial means, Wexler told FOX News. "Congress is in no position now, in my view, to undermine the sanctity of the Florida court system. ... If this is the process, then no state court ruling will be final."

Florida Democrat Rep. Jim Davis (search) said during an afternoon press conference on Capitol Hill that House members who want to hold the vote without debate are abdicating their responsibility.

"The impact of the debate this Congress is about to have extends beyond Terri Schiavo. ... If this Congress wants to have this vote without a debate, then why even have a Congress?" Davis asked. "The U.S. Congress is on the verge of telling states and courts that their decisions do not matter. Today's Congress should be following the law and not trampling on the Constitution."

Congress is stepping into a family matter, added Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (search), D-Fla., who argued that the state court determined that Schiavo had made known her wish not to be kept alive in this condition. "It is not the Congress' place to say 'yes' or 'no,'" about Schiavo's fate, she said.

After three hours of House debate, leaders will call for a vote, but Democrats are expected to demand a roll call. The House will need at least 218 members present to take a roll call vote. Lawmakers have been trickling in from their districts to be there for the midnight hour. The House has 232 Republicans, 202 Democrats and one independent.

For his part, President Bush returned to Washington, D.C. from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, on Sunday afternoon in order to sign the bill right away if it reaches his desk.

"This is a complex case where serious questions and significant doubts have been raised and the president believes the presumption ought to be in favor of life, that we ought to err on the side of life in a case like this," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said aboard Air Force One on the way back to the capital. "This legislation, my understanding , is narrowly tailored and would give the parents another opportunity to save their daughters life in federal courts."

Lawmakers supporting Schiavo's tube be restored argued that the legislation should not face objection because it has a very narrow focus. Federal review would only apply in cases in which an incapacitated person has no written advance directive, the family disputes the individual's fate and a state judge has ordered withdrawal of the food and water that would keep the individual alive.

Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., added that he hasn't seen Schiavo, but as a physician, the evidence suggests she was wrongly classified as being in a vegetative state. For instance, he said, Schiavo's responsiveness to people who are close to her rather than merely in the room likely can be attributed to damaged vision rather than lack of power to respond.

Schiavo's mother insists that her daughter should be kept alive because she is not in the condition that doctors have said. She added her request that congressional members not politicize Terri Schiavo's case.

"Gentlemen, don't use this bill as your own personal agenda. I am pleading with the moms and the dads to call their congressman and help them pass this bill for Terri," Mary Schindler said.

Earlier Saturday, Michael Schiavo criticized House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who helped broker the congressional compromise.

"He's sitting up there saying that Terri wants to live. How does he know? Has he ever met her? No. He hasn't met me," Schiavo said on a morning news show. On Sunday, it was reported that he refused to permit Schiavo's family into the hospice room where Terri Schiavo is housed.

Congress' action has led to several questions about its role in determining matters that are largely left up to families. National Public Radio correspondent Juan Williams, a FOX News contributor, said the Legislature has completely overstepped its boundaries.

"It looks like total opportunism on the part of Republicans," Williams said on "FOX News Sunday." Weekly Standard publisher Bill Kristol reminded Williams that the bill also has the support of Democrat Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa and Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

Florida Republican Sen. Mel Martinez told "FOX News Sunday" that the issue has brought both parties together on Capitol Hill.

"All we're doing is seeking a federal review of what has happened in the state courts to ensure that all the constitutional rights, all of the basic protections that we afford a criminal have been afforded to Terri Schiavo as well. And a federal judge in the district of Florida is the right place to do that," Martinez said.

Terri Schiavo suffered severe brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly because of a chemical imbalance. She can breathe on her own, but has relied on the feeding tube to keep her alive.

In 2001, Schiavo went without food and water for two days before a judge ordered the tube reinserted. When the tube was removed in October 2003, Gov. Jeb Bush pushed through "Terri's Law," and six days later the tube was reinserted. The Florida Supreme Court ruled in September 2004 that Bush had overstepped his authority, declaring the law unconstitutional.

House Delays Vote on Schiavo's Fate

House Delays Vote

FOX News

WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives convened Sunday afternoon to vote on the fate of brain-damaged patient Terri Schiavo, but quickly recessed after it became clear that the bill to push Schiavo's case into a federal court would have to face congressional debate. The House recessed until midnight Monday morning and House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Majority Whip Roy Blunt departed for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's office to come up with a bill that Democrats would not oppose.

Schiavo's feeding tube was removed Friday upon a district judge's order after House lawyers' emergency request to intervene was denied. Congress quickly scrambled to move the case to a different venue on the chance that a federal court would order an injunction on the removal of Schiavo's tube until it can be determined whether Schiavo's husband, Michael Schiavo, or Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, have the authority to decide to keep Schiavo alive or let her starve to death.

Doctors say Schiavo, 41, is in a persistent vegetative state and will not fully recover from a heart attack she endured 15 years ago. If the case goes to a federal court, Schiavo's tube could be reinserted while the ruling is deliberated.

House leaders had wanted to vote on the bill by unanimous consent, meaning without a roll call vote, but several Democrat lawmakers were ready to insist on a recorded vote. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., returned to Washington on Sunday to state his objection.

"There is a law to be followed and the Florida courts have found it. And they found that Terri's wishes were not to be kept alive" by artificial means, Wexler told FOX News. "Congress is in no position now, in my view, to undermine the sanctity of the Florida court system ... If this is the process, then no state court ruling will be final."

Florida Democrat Rep. Jim Davis said during an afternoon press conference on Capitol Hill that House members who want to hold the vote without debate are abdicating their responsibility.

"The impact of the debate this Congress is about to have extends beyond Terri Schiavo ... If this Congress wants to have this vote without a debate, then why even have a Congress?" Davis asked. "The U.S. Congress is on the verge of telling states and courts that their decisions do not matter. Today's Congress should be following the law and not trampling on the Constitution."

Congress is stepping into a family matter, added Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who argued that the state court determined that Schiavo had made known her wish not to be kept alive in this condition. "It is not the Congress' place to say 'yes' or 'no,'" about Schiavo's fate, she said.

For now, the House will try again Monday morning after a period of debate. The House will need at least 218 members present to take a roll call vote, which means lawmakers' spring recess will be further delayed.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., said he was trying to gather enough votes to defeat the bill, which doesn't specifically refer to Schiavo but addresses incapacitated persons in general.

"This bill would have the federal government intrude into the most private, personal and painful family decision," Blumenauer said.

Bush, who was at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, and planned to hold a summit this week with the leaders of Canada and Mexico as well as travel around the country to promote Social Security; was set to return to Washington, D.C., late Sunday afternoon in order to sign the bill right away if it reaches his desk.

"The president intends to sign legislation as quickly as possible once it is passed,'' White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said from Texas, emphasizing that time was critical. "This is about defending life."

Opposition over the bill declined Saturday after House leaders agreed to give up broader legislation and accept a narrowly crafted bill that applied only to Schiavo's case. The Senate convened briefly Saturday evening to give formal permission for the House to meet Sunday, when it otherwise would be adjourned for spring recess.

Schiavo's mother insists that her daughter should be kept alive because she is not in the condition that doctors have said. She added her request that congressional members not politicize Terri Schiavo's case.

"Gentlemen, don't use this bill as your own personal agenda. I am pleading with the moms and the dads to call their congressman and help them pass this bill for Terri," Mary Schindler said.

Earlier Saturday, Michael Schiavo criticized House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who helped broker the congressional compromise.

"He's sitting up there saying that Terri wants to live. How does he know? Has he ever met her? No. He hasn't met me," Schiavo said on a morning news show.

But Bob Schindler praised Saturday's deal after talking with supporters.

"We're elated primarily that they put politics to one side and they're concentrating on the issue of saving Terri's life," he said.

Congress' action has led to several questions about its role in determining matters that are largely left up to families. National Public Radio correspondent Juan Williams, a FOX News contributor, said the Legislature has completely overstepped its boundaries.

"It looks like total opportunism on the part of Republicans," Williams said on "FOX News Sunday." Weekly Standard publisher Bill Kristol reminded Williams that the bill also has the support of Democrat Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa and Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

Florida Republican Sen. Mel Martinez told "FOX News Sunday" that the issue has brought both parties together on Capitol Hill.

"All we're doing is seeking a federal review of what has happened in the state courts to ensure that all the constitutional rights, all of the basic protections that we afford a criminal have been afforded to Terri Schiavo as well. And a federal judge in the district of Florida is the right place to do that," Martinez said.

Terri Schiavo suffered severe brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly because of a chemical imbalance. She can breathe on her own, but has relied on the feeding tube to keep her alive.

In 2001, Schiavo went without food and water for two days before a judge ordered the tube reinserted. When the tube was removed in October 2003, Gov. Jeb Bush pushed through "Terri's Law," and six days later the tube was reinserted. The Florida Supreme Court ruled in September 2004 that Bush had overstepped his authority, declaring the law unconstitutional.


http://www.foxnews.com/printer_fri
endly_story/0,3566,150958,00.html

Washington to Vote on Schiavo's Fate

House convenes Sunday

FOX News

WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives convenes Sunday afternoon to debate the fate of brain-damaged patient Terri Schiavo, whose feeding tube was removed Friday upon a district judge's order after House lawyers' emergency request to intervene was denied.

A chance exists that the body could pass the bill, followed by Senate action, to have federal courts take up the case of whether Schiavo's husband, Michael Schiavo, or Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, have the authority to decide to keep Schiavo alive or let her starve to death. Doctors say Schiavo, 41, is in a persistent vegetative state and will not fully recover from a heart attack she endured 15 years ago. If the case goes to a federal court, Schiavo's tube would be reinserted while the ruling is deliberated.

If the bill passes, President Bush has stated that he would sign it. More likely, however, is the possibility that the bill will face an objection by at least one Democrat lawmaker who will insist on a recorded vote. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., was returning to Washington on Sunday to state his objection. He explained his reservation in a written statement.

"While my heart goes out to Ms. Schiavo and all members of her family, I find it unconscionable that Congress has decided to continue to intercede in spite of the clear action of Florida courts and the unequivocal precedent of law ... Congress is opening a dangerous can of worms with this action. I cannot support it," Wexler said on Saturday.

Added Florida Democrat Rep. Jim Davis (search), who is also returning to Washington to object: "I refuse to sit by and allow Congress to take this unprecedented step without a public debate. The attempt to shove Congress into a private family matter is a stunning abuse of power and threatens rights central to every American family."

If an objection is heard, the House will adjourn and try again Monday morning after a period of debate. The House will need at least 218 members present to take a roll call vote, which means lawmakers' spring recess will be further delayed.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., said he was trying to gather enough votes to defeat the bill Monday.

"This bill would have the federal government intrude into the most private, personal and painful family decision," Blumenauer said. Bush, who was at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, and planned to hold a summit this week with the leaders of Canada and Mexico as well as travel around the country to promote Social Security; was set to return to Washington, D.C., on Sunday in order to sign the bill right away if it reaches his desk.

"The president intends to sign legislation as quickly as possible once it is passed,'' White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said from Texas, emphasizing that time was critical. "This is about defending life."

Opposition over the bill declined Saturday after House leaders agreed to give up broader legislation and accept a narrowly crafted bill that applied only to Schiavo's case. The Senate convened briefly Saturday evening to give formal permission for the House to meet Sunday, when it otherwise would be adjourned for spring recess.

Schiavo's mother insists that Terri should be kept alive because she is not in the condition that doctors have said.

"We laugh together, we cry together, we smile together, we talk together," Mary Schindler told reporters Saturday. "Please, please, please save my little girl."

Earlier Saturday, Michael Schiavo criticized House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who helped broker the congressional compromise. "He's sitting up there saying that Terri wants to live. How does he know? Has he ever met her? No. He hasn't met me," Schiavo said on a morning news show.

But Bob Schindler praised Saturday's deal after talking with supporters.

"We're elated primarily that they put politics to one side and they're concentrating on the issue of saving Terri's life," he said.

But Congress' action has led to several questions about its role in determining matters that are largely left up to families. National Public Radio correspondent Juan Williams, a FOX News contributor, said the Legislature has completely overstepped its boundaries.

"It looks like total opportunism on the part of Republicans," Williams said on "FOX News Sunday." Weekly Standard publisher Bill Kristol reminded Williams that the bill also has the support of Democrat Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa and Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. Florida Republican Sen. Mel Martinez told "FOX News Sunday" that the issue has brought both parties together on Capitol Hill.

"All we're doing is seeking a federal review of what has happened in the state courts to ensure that all the constitutional rights, all of the basic protections that we afford a criminal have been afforded to Terri Schiavo as well. And a federal judge in the district of Florida is the right place to do that," Martinez said.

Terri Schiavo suffered severe brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly because of a chemical imbalance. She can breathe on her own, but has relied on the feeding tube to keep her alive.

In 2001, Schiavo went without food and water for two days before a judge ordered the tube reinserted. When the tube was removed in October 2003, Gov. Jeb Bush pushed through "Terri's Law," and six days later the tube was reinserted. The Florida Supreme Court ruled in September 2004 that Bush had overstepped his authority, declaring the law unconstitutional.


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iendly_story/0,3566,150958,00.html

Schiavo Kin Wants Feeding Tube Reinserted

Third Day Off Feeding Tube

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- Hanging their hopes on a last-minute compromise in Congress, Terri Schiavo's parents notified her hospice to prepare to have her feeding tube reinserted on Sunday, her third day without food or water.

Congressional leaders from both parties hoped an agreement reached on a bill would allow the tube to be restored while federal courts review her case. The House and Senate were expected to take up the legislation by Sunday or early Monday. If passed, President Bush planned to sign it.

"Everyone recognizes that time is important here. This is about defending life," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said in Texas, where the president planned an early return to Washington to be able to sign the bill as soon as possible.

The development was the latest in a contentious right-to-die battle between Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, and her husband, Michael Schiavo, over whether she should be permitted to die or kept alive by the feeding tube.

Michael Schiavo criticized congressional leaders Sunday for intruding in the fight.

"I'm outraged, and I think that every American in this country should also be outraged that this government is trampling all over a personal family matter that has been adjudicated in the courts for seven years," he told CNN. "I think that the Congress has more important things to discuss."

Schindler attorney Barbara Weller said a letter was faxed to the hospice and to the office of Michael Schiavo's attorney Saturday night notifying them of the action in Congress and that the tube could be reinserted as early as Monday.

She said the hospice and Terri Schiavo's doctor were asked to "take whatever measures necessary to prepare for the tube to be put back in."

If the bill passes, attorneys would probably have to seek a federal court order to have the tube reinserted before a trial to review the state court decisions that allowed Michael Schiavo to remove the feeding tube, Weller said.

"We're going to be ready to do what we have to do immediately," she said.

Weller also learned Sunday that an appeal to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on due process issues is still alive, with the court asking for additional briefs before noon Sunday. The same action was denied by a federal court in Florida Friday.

Bob Schindler said he visited his daughter Sunday morning at her hospice and she seemed to be doing well as supporters maintained a vigil outside.

The 41-year-old woman's feeding tube was removed Friday on a Florida judge's order. Schiavo could linger for one or two weeks if the tube is not reinserted — as has happened twice before.

Doctors say she is in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery. Her husband says she would not want to be kept alive in that condition.

Michael Schiavo, who has not responded interview requests from The Associated Press, continued his criticism Sunday of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who helped broker the congressional compromise.

"Tom DeLay should be ashamed of himself," Michael Schiavo told CNN. "He's sitting up there, making comments and bashing people. He has one side of the case. ... This is his cause. He's found a cause to hide behind, to lighten the load of his other problems."

Passage of the congressional measure would require the presence of only a handful of lawmakers and would allow Schiavo's parents to take their case to a federal judge.

Opposition waned after House leaders agreed to give up broader legislation and accept a narrowly crafted bill that applied only to Schiavo's case. The Senate convened briefly Saturday evening to give formal permission for the House to meet Sunday, when it otherwise would be adjourned for spring recess.

Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., issued a statement late Saturday saying he will make an objection that would stop the vote Sunday. Any member can demand that a majority of members be present to do business. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., said he was trying to gather enough votes to defeat the bill Monday.

Meanwhile, emotions swelled outside the hospice. Four people, including right wing leader James Gordon "Bo" Gritz, were arrested Saturday on trespassing charges when they attempted to bring Schiavo bread and water — a symbolic move, since she is unable to eat.

A spokesman for Schiavo's parents, Paul O'Donnell, later told reporters that they do not want supporters to engage in civil disobedience on their daughter's behalf.

On Sunday, a small group of supporters congregated outside the hospice, including some who had camped out for days. New protest signs were put up Sunday saying "Save Terri Schiavo From State-Sponsored Murder!" and "Free Terri, jail the rest."

Guabe Garcia Jones, an attorney from Washington, said he's been on a hunger strike since the tube was pulled Friday, only drinking water for the roughly two days he has spent in a tent outside the hospice.

"I'm not going to eat until she can eat — or I break down," said Jones, 26.

Terri Schiavo suffered severe brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly because of a chemical imbalance. She can breathe on her own, but has relied on the feeding tube to keep her alive.

In 2001, Schiavo went without food and water for two days before a judge ordered the tube reinserted. When the tube was removed in October 2003, Gov. Jeb Bush pushed through "Terri's Law," and six days later the tube was reinserted. The Florida Supreme Court ruled in September 2004 that Bush had overstepped his authority, declaring the law unconstitutional.


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&u=/ap/
20050320/ap_on_re_us/brain_damaged_woman_23&printer=1

House, Senate Compromise on Schiavo Bill

House, Senate Compromise

FOX News

WASHINGTON -- Congressional leaders hoped a deal reached Saturday would clear the way for a brain-damaged woman to resume being fed while a federal court reviews the right-to-die battle between her parents and her husband.

"We think we have found a solution" to the Terri Schiavo case, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said at a Capitol Hill news conference.

"We are confident this compromise addresses everyone's concerns, we are confident it will provide Mrs. Schiavo a clear and appropriate avenue for appeal in federal court, and most importantly, we are confident this compromise will restore nutrition and hydration to Mrs. Schiavo as long as that appeal endures," he said.

Final approval was hoped for Sunday when the House planned to meet in a special session, he said. The Senate intended to meet Saturday evening on the matter.

President Bush was expected to sign the bill as soon as it gets to him.

A White House spokesman, Jeanie Mamo, said the president, who was at his Texas ranch "was supportive of the efforts by congressional leaders. We remain in contact with Congress and the president is being kept apprised."

The compromise was similar to a Senate bill passed Thursday that would let a federal court review the state judge's decision in the Schiavo case. House Republicans had favored broader legislation that applied similar cases that questioned the legality of withholding food or medical treatment from people who are incapacitated.

Schiavo's feeding tube was disconnected Friday afternoon. Schiavo, 41, could linger for one to two weeks if no one intercedes and gets the tube reinserted.

GOP Rep. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said the measure was "narrowly targeted" and did not set a precedent.

For a decade, a feud has raged between Schiavo's husband, Michael, and her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, who have tried to oust Michael Schiavo as their daughter's guardian and keep in place the tube that has kept her alive for more than 15 years.

Michael Schiavo says his wife told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially. Her parents dispute that, saying she could get better and that their daughter has laughed, cried, smiled and responded to their voices.

On Friday, Republicans used their subpoena power to demand that Schiavo be brought before a congressional hearing, with lawmakers saying that removing the tube amounted to "barbarism."

The Florida judge presiding over the case rejected the request from House lawyers to delay the tube's removal. Late Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court, without comment, denied an emergency request from the House committee that issued the subpoenas to reinsert Schiavo's feeding tube while the committee filed appeals in the lower courts to have its subpoenas recognized.


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iendly_story/0,3566,150929,00.html

Schiavo Mom Seeks Action on Feeding Tube

Mary's Cry for Help

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- The mother of Terri Schiavo appealed Saturday to politicians to take action requiring reconnection of the feeding tube that was removed from the severely brain-damaged woman on court order.

"Please, please, please, save my little girl," Mary Schindler said outside the hospice where her daughter lives.

Schindler called upon President Bush, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, members of Congress and state lawmakers to do whatever they could to prevent Schiavo from dying. Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, who failed Friday in a bid to use congressional subpoena powers to circumvent court orders, said they would work throughout the weekend to find a way to do that.

"Mrs. Schiavo's struggle to live, our fight to save her and the American people's prayers will all continue," said House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas.

Schiavo, 41, could linger for one to two weeks, if no one intercedes and gets the tube reinserted -- something that has happened twice before. The tube was disconnected Friday afternoon.

Schiavo's husband, Michael, said Terri Schiavo's wishes were being carried out. "I am 100 percent sure," he said Saturday on NBC's "Today."

"It felt like some peace was happening for Terri," Michael Schiavo said. "And I felt like she was finally going to get what she wants, and be at peace and be with the Lord."

As activists kept up their vigil for Schiavo, three men were arrested on misdemeanor trespassing charges for allegedly trying to enter the hospice Saturday to give her bread and water. Although she cannot eat or drink, supporters of keeping her alive said the move had symbolic value.

"A woman is being starved to death, and I have to do something," said Brandi Swindell, 28, from Boise, Idaho. "There are just certain things that you have to do, that you have to try."

A spokesman for Schiavo's parents, Paul O'Donnell, later told reporters that they do not want supporters to engage in civil disobedience on their daughter's behalf.

"The family is asking that the protests remain peaceful," said O'Donnell, a Roman Catholic Franciscan monk.

The removal signals that an end may be near in a decade-long feud between Schiavo's husband and her devoutly Roman Catholic parents, Bob and Mary Schindler. The parents have been trying to oust Michael Schiavo as their daughter's guardian and keep in place the tube that has kept her alive for more than 15 years.

Michael Schiavo says his wife told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially. Her parents dispute that, saying she could get better and that their daughter has laughed, cried, smiled and responded to their voices. Court-appointed physicians testified her brain damage was so severe that there was no hope she would ever have any cognitive abilities.

David Gibbs III, the Schindlers' attorney, said he would work through the weekend to prepare another appeal for a federal appellate court.

On Friday, Republicans on Capitol Hill issued a subpoena demanding that Terri Schiavo be brought before a congressional hearing, saying that removing the tube amounted to "barbarism." Michael Schiavo's attorney shot back at a news conference, calling the subpoenas "nothing short of thuggery."

"Terri Schiavo has a right to die in peace," attorney George Felos said.

The judge presiding over the case ruled in Michael Schiavo's favor and rejected the request from House attorneys to delay the removal, which he had previously ordered to take place at 1 p.m. EST.

"I have had no cogent reason why the (congressional) committee should intervene," Circuit Judge George Greer told attorneys in a conference call, adding that last-minute action by Congress does not invalidate years of court rulings.

Gov. Jeb Bush said the judge's decision "breaks my heart" and noted it often takes two decades for a death row inmate's appeals to go through the system.

"There's this rush to starve her to death," Bush said.

Michael Schiavo said Bush and other lawmakers have no business interfering in a personal, family matter. "These people are pandering for votes. That's all," he told NBC.

Late Friday, the Supreme Court, without comment, denied an emergency request from the House committee that issued the subpoenas to reinsert Schiavo's feeding tube while the committee files appeals in the lower courts to have its subpoenas recognized.

Schiavo suffered severe brain damage in 1990 when a chemical imbalance apparently brought on by an eating disorder caused her heart to stop beating for a few minutes. She can breathe on her own, but has relied on the feeding and hydration tube to keep her alive.

Both sides accused each other of being motivated by greed over a $1 million medical malpractice award from doctors who failed to diagnose the chemical imbalance.

The Schindlers also said Michael Schiavo wants their daughter dead so he can marry his longtime girlfriend, with whom he has young children. They have begged him to divorce their daughter, and let them care for her.

The case has encompassed at least 19 judges in at least six different courts.

In 2001, Schiavo went without food and water for two days before a judge ordered the tube reinserted when a new witness surfaced.

When the tube was removed in October 2003, the governor pushed through "Terri's Law," and six days later the tube was reinserted. The Florida Supreme Court ruled in September 2004 that Bush had overstepped his authority and declared the law unconstitutional.

___

On the Net:

Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation: www.terrisfight.org


http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ats-ap_health13mar19
,0,5291487,print.story?coll=ny-leadhealthnews-headlines

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on Supreme Court's Denial of Schiavo Appeal

Congress Works Thru Weekend

WASHINGTON -– House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) today criticized the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to explain its decision to deny an appeal that would allow Terri Schiavo to continue receiving food and water. The appeal, which was filed by the general counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives, called for the Supreme Court to modify the order placed by Florida Judge George Greer to remove Schiavo's feeding tube in order for her to appear as a witness at a House Government Reform Committee hearing on March 25, 2005.

"While I respectfully disagree with the Supreme Court's decision, the justices' refusal to offer any explanation or guidance -– knowing that Congress is working around the clock to save the life of a defenseless dying woman –- is a moral and legal tragedy.

"The Supreme Court owes it to Terri Schiavo and her family -– and, frankly, to the dignity of human life -– to explain their decision so that Congress can properly focus its continuing work to replace Mrs. Schiavo's feeding tube.

"When this tragic episode is resolved, the Supreme Court will have some serious questions to answer about its silence and arbitrary interpretation of federalism, but those questions will have to wait for now.

"In the meantime, the fight is not over. We will continue to work with the Senate to negotiate a legislative solution, and we won't rest until we find one. Mrs. Schiavo's struggle to live, our fight to save her, and the American people's prayers will all continue."


http://releases.usnewswire.
com/GetRelease.asp?id=44625

Terri's First Full Day Off Feeding Tube

First Day Off Feeding Tube

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- Lying in her hospice bed with a crowd of protesters gathering outside, Terri Schiavo stopped receiving nourishment through a feeding tube that has kept her alive for more than a decade.

Doctors removed the tube Friday despite an extraordinary, last-minute push by Republicans on Capitol Hill to use the subpoena powers of Congress to keep the brain-damaged woman alive.

Schiavo, 41, could linger one to two weeks, provided no one intercedes and gets the tube reinserted — something that has happened twice before.

But activists promised to keep a vigil for Schiavo, while congressional Republicans and her parents' lawyers promised to go on fighting for her life as she spent her first full day Saturday without food and water.

Three men, led by anti-abortion activist James Gordon "Bo" Gritz, were arrested on misdemeanor trespassing charges after trying Saturday morning to enter the hospice with bread and water to give Schiavo. Although she cannot eat or drink, supporters of keeping her alive said the move had symbolic value.

"A woman is being starved to death, and I have to do something," said Brandi Swindell, 28, from Boise, Idaho. "There are just certain things that you have to do, that you have to try."

A spokesman for Schiavo's parents, Paul O'Donnell, later told reporters that they do not want supports to engage in civil disobedience on their daughter's behalf.

"The family is asking that the protests remain peaceful," said O'Donnell, a Roman Catholic Franciscan monk.

Schiavo's husband said Terri Schiavo's wishes were being carried out.

"I am 100 percent sure," he said Saturday on NBC's "Today" show.

He was at her side shortly after the tube was removed at mid-afternoon.

"It felt like some peace was happening for Terri," said Michael Schiavo, whose attorney, George Felos, was seated to his left. "And I felt like she was finally going to get what she wants, and be at peace and be with the Lord."

The removal signals that an end may be near in a decade-long feud between Schiavo's husband and her devoutly Roman Catholic parents, Bob and Mary Schindler. The parents have been trying to oust Michael Schiavo as their daughter's guardian and keep in place the tube that has kept her alive for more than 15 years.

Michael Schiavo says his wife told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially. Her parents dispute that, saying she could get better and that their daughter has laughed, cried, smiled and responded to their voices. Court-appointed physicians testified her brain damage was so severe that there was no hope she would ever have any cognitive abilities.

David Gibbs III, the Schindlers' attorney, said he would work through the weekend to prepare another appeal for a federal appellate court. He also said he hoped lawmakers in Washington or Tallahassee could agree on legislation that would force that the tube be reinserted.

"I'm hopeful these men and women can get a strategy, get a focus, because we're running out of time," Gibbs said.

Bobby Schindler, Terri's brother, told NBC's "Today" from Washington on Saturday that the woman's family still believes she can improve with therapy.

"It's clear to us Terri is very much alive and she just needs help," he said. "There's a reason why Michael and his attorney are trying so hard to keep Terri from the public and I would just welcome the opportunity to bring Terri outside and allow the world to see her."

Earlier Friday, Republicans on Capitol Hill used their subpoena power to demand that Terri Schiavo be brought before a congressional hearing, saying that removing the tube amounted to "barbarism." Michael Schiavo's attorney shot back at a news conference, calling the subpoenas "nothing short of thuggery."

"Terri Schiavo has a right to die in peace," Felos said.

The judge presiding over the case ruled in the husband's favor and rejected the request from House attorneys to delay the removal, which he had previously ordered to take place at 1 p.m. EST.

"I have had no cogent reason why the (congressional) committee should intervene," Circuit Judge George Greer told attorneys in a conference call, adding that last-minute action by Congress does not invalidate years of court rulings.

Gov. Jeb Bush said the judge's decision "breaks my heart" and noted it often takes two decades for a death row inmate's appeals to go through the system.

"There's this rush to starve her to death," Bush said.

Michael Schiavo said in the NBC interview that Bush and other lawmakers are "pandering for votes" and have no business interfering in a personal, family matter.

"This is a personal opinion of the governor here who has trumped the judicial system here, the state courts," Michael Schiavo said. "This has been in courts for five years. This has been heard by the U.S. Supreme Court three times. These people are pandering for votes. That's all."

Late Friday, the Supreme Court, without comment, denied an emergency request from the House committee that issued the subpoenas to reinsert Schiavo's feeding tube while the committee files appeals in the lower courts to have its subpoenas recognized.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said in a statement late Friday that they "are committed to reaching an agreement on legislation that provides an opportunity to save Mrs. Schiavo's life."

Schiavo suffered severe brain damage in 1990 when a chemical imbalance apparently brought on by an eating disorder caused her heart to stop beating for a few minutes. She can breathe on her own, but has relied on the feeding and hydration tube to keep her alive.

Both sides accused each other of being motivated by greed over a $1 million medical malpractice award from doctors who failed to diagnose the chemical imbalance.

"There's nothing there. There's no money. No money at all," Michael Schiavo said.

The Schindlers also said Michael Schiavo wants their daughter dead so he can marry his longtime girlfriend, with whom he has young children. They have begged him to divorce their daughter, and let them care for her.

The tangled case has encompassed at least 19 judges in at least six different courts.

In 2001, Schiavo went without food and water for two days before a judge ordered the tube reinserted when a new witness surfaced.

When the tube was removed in October 2003, her parents and two siblings frantically sought intervention from Gov. Jeb Bush to stop her slow starvation. The governor pushed through "Terri's Law," and six days later the tube was reinserted.

That set off a new round of legal battles that culminated in September 2004 with the Florida Supreme Court ruling that Bush had overstepped his authority and declared the law unconstitutional.

On Feb. 25, Circuit Judge George Greer gave Michael Schiavo permission to order the removal of the feeding tube Friday.


http://www.foxnews.com/printer_fr
iendly_story/0,3566,150919,00.html

Court Denies Request to Reinsert Schiavo's Feeding Tube

Court Denies Emergency Request

The U.S. Supreme Court late Friday denied without comment a House committee emergency request to have Terri Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted. The decision came after the committee requested the court's ruling in order to buy time as lower court appeals on subpoenas issued by the committee are considered.

The brain-damaged Florida woman had depended on the feeding tube for the past 15 years before it was removed Friday afternoon. Without the tube, she will likely starve to death within a week or two. In a statement, Republican congressional leaders vowed to work through the weekend in order to save Schiavo's life.

A statement on Schiavo's parents' Web site read: "Terri's nutrition and hydration have now been withheld from her. It is unclear if the port that accommodates her feeding tube has been surgically removed as her family was ordered to leave her room."

But late Friday, a House committee asked Supreme Court justices to reinsert the feeding device while the committee files appeals in the lower courts to have its subpoenas recognized.

Before the removal of the tube, the same committee used its subpoena power to demand that Schiavo be brought before a congressional hearing, saying removing the tube amounted to "barbarism." The attorney for Schiavo's husband shot back at a news conference, calling the subpoenas "nothing short of thuggery."

"It was odious, it was shocking, it was disgusting and I think all Americans should be very alarmed about that," George Felos said.

Felos said his client was not at his wife's side during the procedure, citing difficulty of the circumstances. Schiavo's husband, who is Terri Schiavo's legal guardian and directed physicians to remove the tube, says his wife did not want to be kept alive artificially.

In the room with Terri Schiavo as her feeding tube was removed were a representative for Michael Schiavo, a physician and other health case providers, Felos said.

"It was a very calm, peaceful procedure with a high degree of emotion," Felos said. "Those there felt the need to pray and I'm told they did."

Felos said Michael Schiavo went to be with his wife, who is in a persistent vegetative state, after the tube was removed. No person has ever come out of a persistent vegetative state.

The removal is a major, but not necessarily final, defeat for Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, and the activists and lawmakers who have lobbied to keep the 41-year-old Florida woman alive.

Felos indicated that the Schindlers have already begun legal motions to have the tube reinserted.

The tube was originally scheduled for removal at 1 p.m. EST, under orders from Schiavo's husband Michael, but legal wrangling directed from as high up as the U.S. House of Representatives delayed the procedure for nearly three hours.

Felos called the political maneuvering "shameful."

"To think that your parent or loved one could be in a nursing home or hospital and a congressman can issue a subpoena forcing you to have your loved one treated against their will is absolutely shocking and the lowest type of political strong-arming," Felos said in a news conference following the removal.

Schiavo suffered severe brain damage when she collapsed in 1990 and her heart temporarily stopped, possibly as a result of an eating disorder.

After being told by doctors that his wife, who could no longer speak, would never recover, Michael Schiavo asked a court to allow him to stop treatment. On Feb. 11, 2000, Circuit Court Judge George Greer approved the request to remove the feeding tube.

Michael Schiavo has always insisted that his wife told him she did not want to be kept alive artificially. His very religious parents-in-law dispute that claim. They also insist their daughter will eventually recover if kept alive.

The case ignited the most heated debate over the right to die since Dr. Jack Kevorkian was convicted of helping a patient commit suicide in 1999.

Republican lawmakers, along with Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and his brother, President George W. Bush, have called for keeping Terri Schiavo alive. Florida courts have almost consistently decided in Michael Schiavo's favor.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the president discussed the case with his brother and members of Florida's congressional delegation during his swing through Florida on Friday to discuss Social Security reform.

"We're continuing to monitor developments," McClellan said. "The president believes when there are serious questions or doubts in a case like this that the presumption ought to be in favor of life."

Gov. Jeb Bush said the judge's decision "breaks my heart" and noted that it often takes two decades for a death row inmate's appeals to go through the system.

"There's this rush to starve her to death," Bush said.

But Rep. Henry Waxman of California, senior Democrat on the Government Reform Committee, called the subpoenas a "flagrant abuse of power" and said they amounted to Congress dictating the medical care Terri Schiavo should receive.

"Congress is turning the Schiavo family's personal tragedy into a national political farce," Waxman said.

Terri Schiavo's feeding tube has been removed and reinserted twice before. In 2003, when the tube was removed for the second time, Gov. Bush hastily pushed a new law that allowed him to order the tube reinserted.

The measure, dubbed "Terri's Law," was later ruled unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court declined Bush's request to consider the law.

Religious groups and other activists have been a steady presence outside the Pinellas Park, Fla., hospice where Schiavo lives, and they were out in force Friday as the clock ticked down to 1 p.m. Most prayed and sang hymns, sometimes led by religious leaders.

A number of protesters who had covered their mouths with red tape solemnly looked on Woodside Hospice. On the tape the word "life" was written in capital letters.

Several churches in the area held special services in Schiavo's honor.

Dr. Sean Morrison, a professor of geriatric and internal medicine at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York, said that while coma patients recover, patients in a persistent vegetative state do not.

He also said it was wrong to characterize Schiavo's death as starvation.

"What happens is she loses fluid from her body, she enters a peaceful coma and she gradually passes away, very gently and very peacefully," he said.


http://www.foxnews.com/printer_fr
iendly_story/0,3566,150878,00.html

Man Confesses to Murder of Jessica Lunsford

Missing Fla. Girl Murdered

Registered sex offender John Evander Couey, a "person of interest" in the disappearance of Jessice Lunsford in Homosasser, Florida, has confessed to authorities that he killed the nine-year-old. Police tape has been placed around Couey's former neighborhood residence and it has been declared a crime scene.

The bombshell announcement came hours after an "America's Most Wanted" spokeperson said Couey had been cleared of all charges and eliminated as a suspect, a day after he was arrested in Augusta, Georiga and questioned.

"I've got my man," Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy told reporters.

Couey reportedly gave authorities "a general area to search" for Jessica's body.

http://crime.about
.com/b/a/154759.htm

Sheriff: Registered Sex Offender Admits Killing Fla. Girl

HOMOSASSA, Fla. -- A registered sex offender has admitted kidnapping a 9-year-old Florida girl from her bedroom last month and killing her, authorities said Friday.

"I've got my man," Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy told a news conference.

Dawsy said John Evander Couey confessed to investigators after taking a lie-detector test. The sheriff said Jessica Lunsford's body had not been found, but Couey gave them a general area to search.

Authorities cordoned off an area Friday near the home of Couey's half-sister, who lived about 150 yards from the home Jessica shared with her father and grandparents. Investigators said Couey sometimes stayed at the home, but Jessica's father said he had never met him.

Couey, 46, had been named as a "person of interest" in the case but was not initially charged. He was arrested in Augusta, Ga., on Thursday on a probation violation for failing to notify officials that he was moving, a requirement for sex offenders.

Authorities said Couey left Florida on or about March 4, about a week after the girl's disappearance, after telling relatives that police would be looking for him.

Jessica, a third grader, was last seen when she went to bed Feb. 23 in the home where she lived with her father and grandparents. She was discovered missing the next morning, with an unlocked door and a missing stuffed animal serving as evidence of her disappearance.

Couey has an extensive criminal record that includes arrests for burglary, carrying a concealed weapon and indecent exposure. In 1991, he was arrested in Kissimmee on a charge of fondling a child under age 16. Records don't show how the case was resolved.

During a house burglary in 1978, Couey was accused of grabbing a girl in her bedroom, placing his hand over her mouth and kissing her, Dawsy said. Couey was sentenced to 10 years in prison but was paroled in 1980.


http://apnews.myway.com/art
icle/20050318/D88TMJ800.html

Source: Schiavo's Feeding Tube Is Removed

Terri's Feeding Tube Removed

The Associated Press

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. - Doctors removed Terri Schiavo's feeding tube Friday despite an extraordinary, last-minute push by Republicans on Capitol Hill to use the subpoena powers of Congress to keep the severely brain-damaged woman alive, a source close to the case told The Associated Press.

It is expected that it will take one to two weeks for Schiavo to die, provided no one intercedes and gets the tube reinserted. The source had been briefed on the situation but spoke on condition of anonymity.

The removal came amid a flurry of maneuvering by Schiavo's parents, state lawmakers and Congress to keep her alive. Committees in the Republican-controlled Congress issued subpoenas for Schiavo, her husband, and her caregivers demanding that they appear at hearings on March 25 and March 28.

But the judge presiding over the case later refused a request from House attorneys to delay the removal, which he had previously ordered to take place at 1 p.m. EST.

"I have had no cogent reason why the (congressional) committee should intervene," Greer told attorneys in a conference call, adding that last-minute action by Congress does not invalidate years of court rulings.

The tube's removal signals that an end may be near in a decade-long family feud between Schiavo's husband and her devoutly Roman Catholic parents, Bob and Mary Schindler. The parents have been trying to oust Michael Schiavo as their daughter's guardian and keep in place the tube that has kept her alive for more than 15 years.

The tube has twice been removed in the past, but was re-inserted within days in both cases.

Michael Schiavo says his wife told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially. Her parents dispute that, saying she could get better and that their daughter has laughed, cried, smiled and responded to their voices. Court-appointed physicians testified her brain damage was so severe that there was no hope she would ever have any cognitive abilities.

Several right-to-die cases across the nation have been fought in the courts in recent years, but few, if any, have been this drawn-out and bitter.

The case has garnered attention around the world and served as a rallying cry for conservative Christian groups and anti-abortion activists, who flooded members of Congress and Florida legislators with messages seeking to keep Schiavo alive.

Outside Schiavo's hospice, about 30 people keeping vigil dropped to their knees in prayer when word spread of the judge's ruling calling for removal of the tube.

"What can wash away our sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus," they sang. Messages on protest signs included "Impeach Greer.com," a reference to the judge, and "Execution — It's Not Just for the Guilty Anymore."

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, told reporters in Washington earlier Friday that removal of the tube amounted to "barbarism."

But Rep. Henry Waxman (news, bio, voting record) of California, senior Democrat on the Government Reform Committee, called the subpoenas a "flagrant abuse of power" and amounted to Congress dictating the medical care Terri Schiavo should receive.

"Congress is turning the Schiavo family's personal tragedy into a national political farce," Waxman said.

Schiavo suffered severe brain damage in 1990 when a chemical imbalance apparently brought on by an eating disorder caused her heart to stop beating for a few minutes. She can breathe on her own, but has relied on the feeding and hydration tube to keep her alive.

Both sides accused each other of being motivated by greed over a $1 million medical malpractice award from doctors who failed to diagnose the chemical imbalance.

The Schindlers also said that Michael Schiavo wants their daughter dead so he can marry his longtime girlfriend, with whom he has young children. They have begged him to divorce their daughter, and let them care for her.

The tangled case has encompassed at least 19 judges in at least six different courts.

In 2001, Schiavo went without food and water for two days before a judge ordered the tube reinserted when a new witness surfaced.

When the tube was removed in October 2003, her parents and two siblings frantically sought intervention from Gov Jeb. Bush to stop her slow starvation. The governor pushed through "Terri's Law," and six days later the tube was reinserted.

That set off a new round of legal battles which culminated in September 2004 with the Florida Supreme Court ruling that Bush had overstepped his authority and declared the law unconstitutional.

The U.S. Supreme Court has been unwilling to hear arguments in the case.

On Feb. 25, Greer gave Michael Schiavo permission to order the removal of the feeding tube at 1 p.m. Friday.

The family and lawmakers continued with their fight in recent weeks.

In Tallahassee, the Florida House on Thursday passed a bill to block the withholding of food and water from patients in a persistent vegetative state who did not leave specific instructions on their care. Hours later, however, the Senate defeated a different measure 21-16.


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&u=/ap/2
0050318/ap_on_re_us/brain_damaged_woman_58&printer=1

Judge OKs Removal of Schiavo Feeding Tube

Will U.S. Marshal intervene?

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- The presiding judge in the case of Terri Schiavo ruled Friday that the feeding tube keeping the brain-damaged woman alive must be removed despite efforts by congressional Republicans to have her appear at hearings.

Pinellas Circuit Judge George Greer refused a request from U.S. House attorneys to delay the removal, which he had previously ordered to take place at 1 p.m. EST. Greer determined that removal must go forward about an hour after another judge issued a temporary delay blocking it.

"I have had no cogent reason why the (congressional) committee should intervene," Pinellas Circuit Court Judge George Greer told attorneys in a conference call, adding that last-minute action by Congress does not invalidate years of court rulings.

There was no immediate word on when the tube might be removed. House attorneys said they would immediately appeal the decision.

Outside the hospice where Terri Schiavo lives, about 30 people keeping vigil dropped to their knees in prayer when word spread of Greer's ruling.

U.S. Senate and House committees in the Republican-controlled Congress issued subpoenas for Schiavo, her husband Michael Schiavo and her caregivers to appear at hearings later in March, with the House Government Reform Committee planning its for March 25 at the hospice.

The Senate Health Committee set its hearing for March 28 in Washington.

There was no immediate comment from Michael Schiavo or his attorneys.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, told reporters in Washington that removal of the tube amounted to "barbarism" that the hearings would at least temporarily prevent. House and Senate lawyers contend that Terri Schiavo would be protected by the subpoenas from anyone attempting to prevent her appearance.

"Terry Schiavo is alive. She's as alive as you and I. As such, we have a moral obligation to protect and defend her," DeLay said . "This is not over."

Rep. Henry Waxman of California, senior Democrat on the Government Reform Committee, called the subpoenas a "flagrant abuse of power" and amounted to Congress dictating the medical care Terri Schiavo should receive.

"Congress is turning the Schiavo family's personal tragedy into a national political farce," Waxman said.

The hospice where Terri Schiavo lives received subpoenas late Friday morning, spokeswoman Louise Cleary said. Officials there did not disclose their next steps.

"At this time, we are monitoring developments and consulting with legal and ethical advisers to determine what to do," she said.

Michael Schiavo has waged a yearslong court battle with his parents-in-law, contending his wife, who has been in a persistent vegetative state since 1990, would not want to live that way. The tube has been removed twice in the past and then reinserted as the battle continued.

"It is a contempt of Congress to prevent or discourage someone from following the subpoena that's been issued," David Gibbs, the attorney for her parents, said. "What the U.S. Congress is saying is, 'We want to see Terri Schiavo.'"

"The family is prayerfully excited about their daughter going before the United States Congress for the whole world to see how alive she is."

He said that despite her brain damage, she would be able to travel. A statement from the office of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., on Friday said the purpose of the hearing was to review health care policies and practices relevant to the care of non-ambulatory people.

Frist's statement noted that it is a federal crime to harm or obstruct a person called to testify before Congress.

Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Florida office, said his group's attorneys were working with Michael Schiavo's attorneys to determine if the subpoenas would block the scheduled removal of the tube.

"This is clearly an effort to circumvent a lawful court order by a state judge," Simon said. "I am not sure how a subpoena, which is ordinarily done to produce records or somebody to testify, can essentially have the effect of an injunction overriding the orders of a court."

Terri Schiavo's father, Bob Schindler, went into the Woodside Hospice in Pinellas Park at about 9:30 a.m. to visit his daughter. Outside, about three dozen people prayed and wept.

"What can wash away our sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus," they sang. Messages on protest signs included "Impeach Greer.com," a reference to a judge in the case, and "Execution - It's Not Just for the Guilty Anymore."

In Tallahassee, the Florida House on Thursday passed a bill 78-37 to block the withholding of food and water from patients in a persistent vegetative state who did not leave specific instructions regarding their care. But hours later, the Senate defeated a different measure 21-16. The sponsor of another state Senate didn't bring it for a vote because it didn't have enough support.

Gibbs also has said he would ask a federal judge in Tampa to block the removal and review the actions of state courts. Such habeas corpus appeals seek to require the government to justify its actions.

At the White House, President Bush left little doubt where he stands, saying, "those who live at the mercy of others deserve our special care and concern." His brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, long has supported the parents' efforts and urged lawmakers to act before it was too late.

Schiavo suffered severe brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped because of a chemical imbalance, and court-appointed doctors say she is in a persistent vegetative state. Her husband says she told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially. Her parents dispute that, and say she could get better.


http://apnews.myway.com/arti
cle/20050318/D88TIB3G1.html

Congress to Call Schiavo as Witness

Congress subpoenas Terri

WASHINGTON -- Shortly before a feeding tube was to be removed from a Florida woman, U.S. lawmakers on Friday called on Terri Schiavo to appear before congressional committees in an attempt to keep her alive.

House of Representatives leaders issued subpoenas for Schiavo while the Senate called her as a witness to congressional hearings to stave off the removal of her feeding tube, scheduled for 1 p.m.

Both the House and Senate also summoned her husband, Michael, who contends she would not have wanted to be kept alive in what court-appointed doctors describe as a persistent vegetative state.

"The Senate and the House remain dedicated to saving Terri Schiavo's life. While discussions over possible legislative remedies continue, the Senate and the House are taking action to keep her alive in the interim," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican.

Federal law protects a witness "from anyone who ... influences, obstructs, or impedes an inquiry or investigation by Congress," Frist said.

Congressional aides said the protections are triggered as soon as the calls to appear as a congressional witness are issued.

The House Government Reform Committee hearing is set for March 25, and is expected to be held at the Florida hospice where Schiavo is being treated. The Senate Health, Education and Labor committee hearing is set for March 28.

The House general counsel also filed a motion in the state of Florida seeking a modification of the order for the feeding tube to be removed.

Schiavo has been fed through a tube since she suffered a heart attack in 1990.

"The state does not own Mrs. Schiavo's body and Congress cannot simply order her to remain alive contrary to her medical treatment wishes and court order," Michael Schiavo's lawyer George Felos, told Reuters by telephone.

"Tom DeLay and Dennis Hastert are not members of the Politburo in Stalinist Russia," Felos said, referring to the House majority leader and speaker, both Republicans.

Schiavo's parents are fighting to keep their daughter alive, saying she responds to them and could improve with rehabilitation. The right-to-die case has galvanized activists on both sides of issue.

The Republican congressional leaders made the last-minute bid after the House and Senate passed bills to keep the feeding tube in place, but failed to reconcile differences in the measures to get it signed into law by President Bush.

Bush, who was in Florida on Friday to talk about Social Security, backed efforts to prolong Schiavo's life.

"The president will continue to stand on the side of defending life," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said aboard Air Force One on the way to Pensacola.

Schiavo was in her mid-20s when she became ill and had no "living will" or written directive about end-of-life care. She remains at the Woodside Hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida, under police guard. Outside demonstrators held a prayer vigil.

She would not die immediately upon removal, but could be expected to die within seven to 14 days, doctors have testified.


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1896&u=/nm/
20050318/us_nm/rights_schiavo_congress_dc_23&printer=1

Liberals and Evangelicals Reach Compromise by Adopting Same Public Policy Goals

Compromise With The Devil

Evangelical "leaders" call for broader approach to public policy; Richard Land, James Dobson, Chuck Colson and Rick Warren lend support

WASHINGTON -- The National Association of Evangelicals, with 30 million members in 45,000 churches, opened a debate on Thursday on a document intended to expand the political platform of evangelicals beyond the fight against abortion and same-sex marriage.

The authors of the paper, "For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility," said they reached a consensus between liberals and conservatives by adopting public policy goals, but not prescribing strategies to achieve them. At a luncheon held by the association on Thursday on Capitol Hill, however, some evangelical leaders voiced concern that the new platform could dilute the focus of the evangelical movement by taking on too many issues.

The document urges evangelicals to address issues like racial injustice, religious freedom, poverty in the United States and abroad, human rights, environmentalism and advancing peace through nonviolent conflict resolution.

The "Evangelical Call" is an effort to bridge some of the fault lines running through the evangelical world, between Republicans and Democrats, between those who welcome political involvement and those who shun it and between those who say social problems are a result of personal sin and those who say they are a result of systemic inequity.

"Evangelicals have sometimes been accused of having a one- or two-item political agenda," said the Rev. Ronald J. Sider, who helped draft the document and is the president of Evangelicals for Social Action, a group affiliated with the liberal wing. "This document makes it very clear that a vast body of evangelicals today reject a one-issue approach."

At the luncheon, several speakers said the document was necessary because evangelicals risked being seen as merely a Republican voting bloc. Several of those speakers identified themselves as Republicans.

Barbara Williams-Skinner, president of the Skinner Leadership Institute, a Christian training center in Tracy's Landing, Md., criticized evangelicals who decide their votes using abortion and same-sex marriage as a litmus test.

"The litmus test is the Gospel, the whole of it," said Ms. Williams-Skinner, an African-American who told the group that she is a Democrat who opposes abortion.

Ms. Williams-Skinner was the sole speaker to draw a standing ovation.

Diane Knippers, a Republican who helped draft the document, warned Democrats not to try to win over religious voters by trying to mobilize the religious left.

"The religious left is political smoke and mirrors," said Ms. Knippers, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy.

She attended the meeting but had lost her voice. A colleague read her statement.

Critics indicated that the new smorgasbord approach could hit resistance.

Tom Minnery, vice president of Focus on the Family, an influential ministry based in Colorado Springs, stood up at the luncheon and warned the other leaders, "Do not make this about global warming."

"The issues of marriage, the issues of pro-life are the issues that define us to this day," he added.

A. James Reichley, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, warned the National Association of Evangelicals not to travel the same route as mainline Protestant denominations that adopt resolutions at their national meetings on a wide range of questions, from foreign policy to budget cuts.

"We can responsibly disagree" on specific issues, "and that's fine," Mr. Reichley said.

Others, however, said they welcomed the document because it could change the tenor and direction of the evangelical movement.

"There is a consensus here, but some of us haven't had the nerve to do what needs to be done," said John C. Holmes, director of government affairs for the Association of Christian Schools International, which represents Christian teachers and schools.

In a sign of power after an election campaign in which President Bush worked hard to mobilize religious support, the session drew prominent figures from both parties.

Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, also spoke to the group and said that as an observant Jew he applauded the platform plank about caring for the environment. He urged support for a bill he has sponsored with Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, to combat global warming with binding curbs on heat-trapping gases.

Senator Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, praised evangelicals for lobbying on issues like prison rape and human rights abuses in Sudan.

"This is a young movement," he said later in an interview, "and it's just starting to get its sea legs. I think you'll now see it spread out into a whole lot of areas."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/11/po
litics/11evangelical.html?oref=login

Evangelical leaders call for broader approach to public policy; Land, Dobson lend support

WASHINGTON --A leading evangelical association has issued -– with the endorsement of such Christian leaders as Richard Land, James Dobson, Chuck Colson and Rick Warren –- a call for a broader approach to public policy issues than evangelicals have been known for in the past.

The National Association of Evangelicals recently held a discussion on Capitol Hill of a document that promises policy efforts related not only to such issues as abortion, marriage and religious liberty but poverty, human rights, peace and the environment. While it says evangelicals “have failed to engage with the breadth, depth and consistency to which we are called,” the statement lists seven guidelines for political engagement by Christians:

-- To guard religious liberty and freedom of conscience.

-- To promote family life and defend children.

-- To uphold the sanctity of human life.

-- To gain justice and compassion for the “poor and vulnerable.”

-- To safeguard human rights.

-- To work for peace and the restraint of violence.

-- To protect creation.

Nearly 90 evangelical leaders signed on to the document, including Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission; Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family; Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship; and Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California and author of “The Purpose-Driven Life.”

Other signers included Barrett Duke, the ERLC’s vice president for public policy; NAE President Ted Haggard; Jack Hayford, president of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel; Walter Kaiser, president of Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary; Diane Knippers, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy; David Neff, editor of Christianity Today; John Perkins, founder of Voice of Calvary Ministries; Ron Sider, president of Evangelicals for Social Action; and author and apologist Ravi Zacharias.

The NAE represents 30 million people in 45,000 churches and has 51 member denominations.

The statement, “For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility,” addresses not only issues and goals but the method of influencing public policy. While it does not endorse specific legislation, the document calls for Christians to work for the transformation of “both individuals and institutions.” It also says evangelicals should act with humility, civility and integrity in the process.

“While we may frequently settle for ‘half-a-loaf,’ we must never compromise principle by engaging in unethical behavior or endorsing or fostering sin,” the statement says. “As we rightly engage in supporting legislation, candidates and political parties, we must be clear that biblical faith is vastly larger and richer than every limited, inevitably imperfect political agenda and that commitment to the Lordship of Christ and his one body far transcends all political commitments.”

In addition to opposing abortion, euthanasia and same-sex “marriage,” the document urges care for the poor, the disabled, the persecuted, the elderly, minorities and refugees both in the United States and overseas. It calls for churches to “model good race relations.”

The statement encourages governments to use their militaries only under “just-war” criteria and after pursuing peace nonviolently. “Just-war” theory is a classical Christian approach to the use of force that requires certain standards, such as a just cause and its utilization as a last resort.

Land, who did not attend the Washington event, commended the document for speaking “eloquently and succinctly of our call to engage the public policy debates.”

Though Land signed the document as released, he expressed hope that some revisions he recommended would be made. Those suggestions had received what he characterized as a “very favorable” response from NAE.

Among those proposals, he recommended a sentence on evangelicals’ “normative vision” be changed to make it clear that the understanding of the “moral order that God has embedded in his creation” must be biblically informed. In the section on religious liberty, Land recommended a sentence that includes the phrase “gospel pluralism,” which describes the fact “those who obey and those who disobey God coexist in society and share in its blessings,” be revised to eliminate the phrase to say: “This coexistence is foundational to the religious liberty of all.”

Land also proposed the removal of the phrase “in opportunity and outcome” from this sentence: “Though the Bible does not call for economic equality, it condemns gross disparities in opportunity and outcome that cause suffering and perpetuate poverty, and it calls for us to work toward equality of opportunity.” He said the Bible “condemns oppression of the poor by the rich” but it doesn’t appear to be clear about “opportunity and outcome.”

At the March 10 discussion on the statement, some concern was expressed that the NAE not lose its way while calling for engagement on a wider array of issues. During the discussion time, Focus on the Family Vice President Tom Minnery urged the association not to “make this about global warming.” He said the evangelical movement has strong agreement on issues like the sanctity of life and the family but was not united on global warming, which he described later in a written statement as a “very controversial area.”

Though the document does not mention global warming, The New York Times reported the same day as the discussion that NAE leaders are supporting policies to combat it, and Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D.-Ct., spoke on the issue during his address to the group of evangelicals. Lieberman is co-sponsoring a bill on global warming that he described as a “moderate effort.”

At the event, Sen. Sam Brownback, R.-Kan., encouraged evangelicals to continue their work in the needy places of the world. He also urged them not to become “shrill” or “hateful.”

Church historian Mark Noll called the NAE statement “compassionate ... thoughtful, humble.” Joe Loconte, a fellow in Religion and a Free Society at the Heritage Foundation, said the document provided evidence that evangelicals “are thinking soberly.”

The statement may be accessed online at www.nae.net.


http://www.sbcbaptistpres
s.org/bpnews.asp?ID=20361

Fla. House OKs Bill to Keep Schiavo Alive

House passes bill to save Terri's life

The Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The state House passed a bill Thursday that could keep Terri Schiavo alive, less than 24 hours before the severely brain-damaged woman's feeding tube is scheduled to be removed.

The Senate began debating a more limited version of the bill as lawmakers rushed to beat the scheduled removal of Schiavo's feeding tube.

The legislative action was part of a last-minute flurry of attempts to save Schiavo's life. Congress was also considering legislation to move the case to the federal courts, Schiavo's parents appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and Florida Circuit Court Judge George Greer scheduled a hearing Thursday to consider a request from the state to halt the removal of the tube.

The House bill would block the withholding of food and water from patients in a persistent vegetative state who didn't leave specific instructions refusing the artificial measure. It passed 78-37.

"This provides a safety net where the government stands up for the vulnerable who don't otherwise have a voice," said Republican Rep. Kevin Ambler.

Gov. Jeb Bush has strongly urged the Legislature to pass a bill that would save Schiavo, as it did in 2003. That law allowed Bush to order doctors to restore Schiavo's feeding tube six days after it had been removed. The law was later declared unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court.

"We have a responsibility to act, to deal with this issue," Bush said. "It breaks my heart we're in a situation where it's possible this woman could starve to death."

The Senate bill could also prevent Schiavo's death, but would only apply to cases where families disagreed on the patient's wishes.

Schiavo, 41, has been at the center of a long and bitter court battle between her parents and her husband, who wants to remove her feeding tube so she can die.

Schiavo suffered severe brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped temporarily, and court-appointed doctors say she is in a persistent vegetative state. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, says she told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially. Her parents disagree that was her wish and say she could improve with proper treatment.

Greer has granted Michael Schiavo permission to remove the feeding tube, a ruling a state appeals court upheld Wednesday. Without the feeding tube, Terri Schiavo would likely die in one to two weeks.

Late Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would delay removal of the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube by moving such a case to federal court. Federal judges have twice turned down efforts by the parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, to move the case out of Florida courts, citing a lack of jurisdiction.

On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., urged his chamber to save Schiavo.

"If we don't act or if somebody does not act, a living person who has a level of consciousness, who is self-breathing will be starved to death here in the next two weeks," Frist said.

At the White House, press secretary Scott McClellan said the case raises "a lot of complex issues" and declined to comment on specific legislation. But he said Bush "stands on the side of defending life."

Also, Schiavo's parents filed an emergency motion at the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the removal of her feeding tube so lower courts can consider whether their daughter's religious freedom and due process rights have been violated.


http://apnews.myway.com/art
icle/20050317/D88ST30O0.html

House Enters Schiavo Right-To-Life Case

Terri Schiavo's Right-To-Life

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives stepped in with legislation to delay removal of the feeding tube, possibly as early as Friday, from a brain-damaged Florida woman whose husband has been given permission by a state court to let her die.

The House acted late Wednesday evening after a Florida appeals court refused, earlier in the day, to block the removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube.

Her husband has battled her parents over his efforts to allow her to die, which he contends she would prefer rather than live in a vegetative state.

On Thursday, Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, filed an emergency motion at the Supreme Court to stop the removal of her feeding tube so lower courts can consider whether their daughter's religious freedom and due process rights have been violated.

The House bill, passed on a voice vote, would move such a case to federal court. Federal judges have twice turned down efforts by the parents to move the case out of Florida courts, citing a lack of jurisdiction.

Senate Republicans are introducing a separate bill to give Schiavo and her family standing in federal court, and they hope it can be debated on Thursday, a GOP aide said.

Under the House legislation, a federal judge would decide whether withholding or withdrawing food, fluids or medical treatment from an incapacitated person violates the Constitution or U.S. law.

It would apply only to incapacitated people who had not left directives dealing with being kept alive artificially and for whom a state judge had authorized the withholding of food or medical treatment.

Schiavo, 41, suffered severe brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped temporarily, and court-appointed doctors say she is in a persistent vegetative state. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, says she told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially. Her parents disagree that was her wish and say she could improve with proper treatment.

Florida Circuit Judge George Greer has granted Michael Schiavo permission to remove the feeding tube, a ruling a state appellate court upheld Wednesday. Without the feeding tube, which the state court allowed to be removed as early as Friday, Terri Schiavo would likely die in one to two weeks.


http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireSto
ry?id=589785&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

Rudolph Prosecutors Want to Show Jury Scene of Clinic Bombing

Rudolph Prosecutors Want to
Show Jury Scene of Clinic Bombing

By Jay Reeves / The Associated Press

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Prosecutors have asked for permission to take jurors on a bus ride during Eric Rudolph's trial and show them the abortion clinic he is accused of bombing in 1998.

The defense, meanwhile, again has asked a judge to throw out the indictment against Rudolph, arguing the court's jury selection procedures violate his constitutional rights. The defense also wants access to any information prosecutors gather on potential jurors, including their political affiliations.

The requests came in a flurry of motions made public Wednesday ahead of the start of preliminary jury selection April 6. Testimony in his federal death penalty trial is not expected to being until weeks later.

Prosecutors say jurors would have an easier time understanding the case if they were allowed to see New Woman All Women Health Care Clinic, where a bomb went off in a grassy area near the entrance on Jan. 29, 1998, killing a police officer and critically injuring a nurse.

The government proposed letting the judge, jurors and attorneys ride to the scene in a bus, which could also take them down the residential streets where a witness said he followed a man after the blast, leading to Rudolph's identification and capture more than five years later.

"A view would assist the jury in understanding the topography of the route taken by the defendant, the witnesses' opportunity to observe the defendant and the relationship between the clinic's location and the area" where Rudolph's pickup truck was later spotted, prosecutors said.

Rudolph's lawyers had no immediate response, but they argued in a motion that flaws with a jury questionnaire mean the indictment against Rudolph should be thrown out. Among other things, the form asks whether jurors can understand English or have any physical or mental disabilities — questions the defense claimed make it unconstitutional.

A judge has overruled Rudolph's previous challenges of the charges.

Separately, the defense asked a court to make prosecutors hand over any information they gather about prospective jurors, including any criminal histories, voting preference and political party affiliations.

U.S. Attorney Alice Martin denied that prosecutors gather "rap sheets" on jurors or have access to information about their political leanings.

"The information we get on jurors is the same information they get," Martin said in an interview.

Rudolph could be sentenced to death if convicted in the abortion clinic bombing. He also is charged with the 1996 bombing at the Atlanta Olympics, which killed a woman, and bombings in the Atlanta area in 1997.


http://www.al.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/bas
e/news-12/1111003255255750.xml&storylist=alabamanews

Hunt Goes On For Fugitive Abortionist

FUGITIVE ABORTIONIST

The Daily Oakland Press

Police are still searching for a physician who is accused of sexually assaulting female abortion patients after he failed to appear for his preliminary examination last week.

The exam was continued to Monday and then was rescheduled for March 21 in 48th District Court, Bloomfield Township, at the request of the defense attorney.

"We believe he has left the country," said Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Barbara Morrison, noting the doctor could have taken a trip to his native Argentina.

Rodolfo Finkelstein, 55, of Bloomfield Township, a physician who performs abortions locally and in Livonia, faces two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, which carry a life sentence if convicted, as well as five fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct charges.

District Judge Kimberly Small has forfeited his bond and issued a bench warrant for his arrest. Another warrant will be issued if he is ordered to stand trial in circuit court.

The next exam is expected to determine if testimony from an alleged victim's ex-boyfriend and a nurse who cared for her will be admitted as evidence.

Also, Morrison said she will ask Small to order Finkelstein to stand trial on all of the charges in Oakland Circuit Court, whether or not he is present.

The victim, who alleged she was groped before the abortion procedure and again during the post examination and that Finkelstein tried to kiss her, has fled and is not cooperating with investigators, officials said.

Two other alleged victims testified Feb. 25

Finkelstein is married with children. He surrendered his passport at his arraignment, but Morrison said she is unsure whether he also had an Argentinean passport or an alternate American passport.

She said a detective discovered that Finkelstein left the country on March 1 and, "We do not know if he is on the return flight. We're not sure if he is here or in Argentina.

"We are actively seeking his whereabouts.

"Now we're focusing on getting the case bound over and the next step is finding him and determining whether extradition procedures will be appropriate," Morrison said.


http://www.theoaklandpress.com/st
ories/031505/loc_20050315014.shtml

Condoleezza Rice says she's 'Mildly Pro-choice'

For children being slaughtered under the Bush administration she's nothing more than a cold blooded killer.

Rice: A Cold Blooded Killer

Rice describes murdering children as an "extremely difficult moral issue" which she approaches as "a deeply religious person."

2008 run, abortion engage her politically

By Bill Sammon / The Washington Times
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday pointedly declined to rule out running for president in 2008, and gave her most detailed explanation of a "mildly pro-choice" stance on abortion.

In an interview with editors and reporters in the office of the editor in chief at The Washington Times, she said she would not want the government "forcing its views" on abortion.

She seemed bemused by speculation that a Rice candidacy could set up an unprecedented all-woman matchup with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, New York Democrat, who is widely expected to seek the presidency.

"I never wanted to run for anything -- I don't think I even ran for class anything when I was in school," she said. "I'm going to try to be a really good secretary of state; I'm going to work really hard at it.

"I have enormous respect for people who do run for office. It's really hard for me to imagine myself in that role."

She was then pressed on whether she would rule out a White House bid by reprising Gen. William T. Sherman's 1884 declaration: "If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve."

"Well, that's not fair," she protested with a chuckle. "The last thing I can -- I really can't imagine it."

Several Republicans have floated the idea of a Rice candidacy to counter Mrs. Clinton's prospects, especially since several Republican officials with national prominence, including Vice President Dick Cheney and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, have ruled out pursuing the party's 2008 nomination.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani are often mentioned as prospective candidates, and several other potential Republican candidates, such as Sen. George Allen of Virginia and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, have not yet developed a national following.

Other Republicans have questioned whether evangelical Christians, a crucial component of the Republican base, would turn out to vote for a pro-choice candidate. Miss Rice, a Presbyterian's preacher's daughter who twice in the interview spoke of her "deep religious faith," suggested it's a moot point. "I'm not trying to be elected."

Miss Rice said abortion should be "as rare a circumstance as possible," although without excessive government intervention. "We should not have the federal government in a position where it is forcing its views on one side or the other.

"So, for instance, I've tended to agree with those who do not favor federal funding for abortion, because I believe that those who hold a strong moral view on the other side should not be forced to fund it."

Describing pro-lifers as "the other side" is one of the ways Miss Rice articulates her position as a "mildly pro-choice" Republican. She explained that she is "in effect kind of libertarian on this issue," adding: "I have been concerned about a government role.

"I am a strong proponent of parental notification. I am a strong proponent of a ban on late-term abortion. These are all things that I think unite people and I think that that's where we should be.

"We ought to have a culture that says, 'Who wants to have an abortion? Who wants to see a daughter or a friend or a sibling go through something like that?'"

Miss Rice described abortion as an "extremely difficult moral issue" which she approaches as "a deeply religious person."

"My faith is a part of everything that I do," she said. "It's not something that I can set outside of anything that I do, because it's so integral to who I am.

"And prayer is very important to me and a belief that if you ask for it, you will be guided. Now, that doesn't mean that I think that God will tell me what to do on, you know, the Iran nuclear problem.

"That's not how I see it. But I do believe very strongly that if you are a prayerful and faithful person, that that is a help in guiding us, as imperfect beings, to have to deal with extremely difficult and consequential matters."

Since becoming secretary of state earlier this year, she has noticed a public interest about even her taste in fashion. Yesterday, she wore a smartly tailored black suit with large gold buttons on the sleeves.

"I like clothes -- I always have," she said to laughter, answering a question. "You know, when I was 5 years old, my poor father would go off to work on his sermon on Saturday -- he was the Presbyterian minister -- so he would go off to work on his sermon. And my mother and I would go shopping. Shopping is fun."


http://www.washingtontimes.com/functions
/print.php?StoryID=20050311-115948-2015r

Sex Assault Suspect Skips Court

Be On The Lookout!

All Points Bulletin: Fugitive Abortionist Dr. Rodolfo Finkelstein May Be Headed For Argentina. Arrest Warrant Issued Tuesday

Bloomfield Twp. doctor is accused of sexually assaulting patients following abortions.

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP -- A physician accused of sexually assaulting his female patients after they had undergone abortions is on the run and investigators fear he may be headed back to his native Argentina.

Dr. Rodolfo Finkelstein was scheduled to appear in the 48th District Court on Tuesday for a preliminary examination on two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and five counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.

He never showed up, said Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Barbara Morrison.

"We don't know his whereabouts. He is considered a fugitive. We are very much concerned he is gone and out of the country," Morrison said.

Three women told investigators that Finkelstein sexually assaulted them during their visits to his clinic, the Women's Advisory Center on Woodward Avenue in Bloomfield Township, in 2003 and 2004.

At the start of the preliminary examination on Feb. 25, one victim testified that Finkelstein assaulted her once after the abortion procedure and again during the post-operative visit.

Two other women allege they were groped before the procedure and again during their post-abortion exams and that Finkelstein tried to kiss them. One of those women testified at the hearing but the other has fled and is not cooperating with investigators.

The victims' ages range from 17 to 21.

Morrison said police in Wayne County are investigating similar complaints against Finkelstein made by female patients who received abortions at his Livonia clinic.

Finkelstein, 55, is married with children and lives in Bloomfield Township. He surrendered his U.S. passport at his arraignment, but Morrison said she was unsure whether he had an Argentinian passport as well.

Defense attorney Mitch Ribitwer was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

Bloomfield District Judge Kimberly Small forfeited Finkelstein's bond and issued a warrant for his arrest on Tuesday.

Morrison said Finkelstein knew that she was going to ask Small to revoke his bond.

On Monday, Morrison said will ask Small to order Finkelstein to stand trial on the seven charges in Oakland Circuit Court, whether he is present in court or not. Small will have to decide whether the third victim's statement can be admitted in court or whether charges in that case must be dismissed.

Anyone with information on Finkelstein's whereabouts is asked to call Bloomfield Township police at (248) 433-7760.


http://www.detnews.com/2005/o
akland/0503/10/C04-112999.htm

Kansas Supreme Court Rules To Tip Off Sex Predators

Rape Victims in Danger

Kansas Supreme Court Rules To Tip Off Criminals, Places Rape Victims in Danger

Attorney General Phill Kline said, "I just cannot believe a court would do this. It could harm a child directly."

Gag order on clinic records lifted; Kline says victims in danger

TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Kansas Supreme Court has lifted a gag order covering Attorney General Phill Kline's pursuit of records from two abortion clinics, and Kline said Thursday the decision could harm child rape victims.

The gag order was imposed last year by a Shawnee County district judge who issued subpoenas for the records of 90 patients from the still-unknown clinics. Kline said the records contain information that will help him pursue child rapes and potentially illegal late-term abortions.

The clinics asked the Supreme Court last month to lift the gag order, and the Supreme Court issued its one-word order - "granted" - late Wednesday. The clinics also want the Supreme Court to intervene, keeping them from having to give the records to the Shawnee County judge and, ultimately, some information to Kline's office.

Supreme Court spokesman Ron Keefover said the court's decision allows parties in the case to discuss a secret, district court-supervised investigation Kline started in October, the judge's subpoenas and other related information.

However, Keefover said, most documents in the case remain under seal - including the clinics' request to have the gag order lifted.

Kline called the decision "amazing." He said the decision will permit the clinics to notify patients their records are being sought. Where a child has been raped by a family member or close acquaintance, Kline said, such notification will tip off the offender.

"I just cannot believe a court would do this," Kline said in an interview. "It could harm a child directly."

Bill Hoch, a spokesman for one of the clinics, identified only as "Alpha" in court documents, said it was pleased with the court's ruling. He declined further comment, saying the clinic would discuss the case publicly in the future.

Attorneys for the other clinic, "Beta" in court records, did not immediately return a telephone call from AP seeking comment.

The clinics' attorneys and abortion rights advocates have criticized Kline, who opposes abortion, saying his investigation could endanger women's privacy.

But Kline said investigators routinely gain access to medical information in criminal investigations, often without patients' knowledge. He noted that the district judge would determine what information his office would see, and his office will protect patients' privacy.

Kline also said in an investigation of potentially illegal late-term abortions, patients don't face sanctions under Kansas law, only doctors and clinics. State law prohibits abortions during or after the 22nd week of pregnancy unless a fetus cannot survive outside the womb and a woman's life or health is in danger.

"You can sue me, and I'm not going to provide you the names of these people, and besides, I probably won't get them," Kline told reporters and editors gathered for an annual Day at the Legislature program sponsored by AP and the Kansas Press Association.

He added: "Forget about Phill Kline being pro-life. Forget about Phill Kline being a religious, right-wing wacko and focus on the issues. All the assaults on our position on this are assaults against me - and this is not about me. It's not about me. It's about the law, and it's about protecting children, and it's about whether somebody is above the law or not."

Backing Kline in the dispute Thursday were county prosecutors, whose association filed legal arguments with the Supreme Court, saying its intervention would "greatly hamper" criminal investigations.

"The Kansas Supreme Court should refrain from attempting to micromanage this criminal investigation," the association said.

In a later interview, Kline questioned the clinics' commitment to patients' privacy, noting they sought to lift the gag order and want to discuss the investigation publicly.

"There's no reason for the clinics to do this," Kline said. "They are sowing fear, hysteria and terror."

---_

Case is No. 93,383.

On the Net:

Kansas Supreme Court: http://www.kscourts.org

Attorney general's office: http://www.ksag.org


http://www.kansas.com/mld/ka
nsas/news/state/11102461.htm

`Holly's Law' reintroduced to halt FDA approval of abortion pill

Bill to pull RU-486 from market

The abortion pill RU-486, which is being widely distributed under guidelines set by the Bush administration in 2001, that's been used to murder over four hundred thousands babies, killed at least three women and injured hundreds of others, will be pulled from U.S. markets under federal legislation reintroduced last week.



WALNUT CREEK, Calif. -- The controversial RU-486 abortion pill, which 18-year-old Holly Patterson of Livermore, Calif., took a week before dying of a massive infection in September 2003, would be at least temporarily pulled from U.S. markets under federal legislation reintroduced last week.

Republican lawmakers have reintroduced "Holly's Law," which would suspend Food and Drug Administration approval of RU-486 until the federal Government Accountability Office scrutinizes the process by which the drug came to U.S. markets in 2000.

Backers of Holly's Law contend RU-486 was approved by the FDA under political pressure from the Clinton administration under a "fast-track" review process normally reserved for drugs treating life- threatening illnesses, such as AIDS or cancer.

"The FDA abused an avenue reserved for only the most life-threatening situations in order to approve this drug," said Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C. "Too many questions remain as to its safety, and three women dying is three too many."

Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., who reintroduced an identical bill in the House, said RU-486 has "seriously injured dozens of other pregnant women" in the United States.

Monty Patterson, Holly's father, said Monday he supports the DeMint-Bartlett legislation.

"It's important not to stop asking questions about how and why the FDA approved RU-486," said Monty Patterson, a Livermore resident. "The safety, health and welfare of women should never be compromised. Holly has already paid the ultimate price."

Time ran out on the original legislation, submitted during the last session of Congress. Bartlett spokeswoman Lisa Wright said Monday it will likely get close attention in light of recent publicity about FDA approval of other drugs now deemed to have risky side effects, such as pain relievers Vioxx and Celebrex.

"It demonstrates there is a problem; that there is a safety issue," Wright said.

RU-486 supporters say the section of law under which the FDA approved the drug was not intended to fast-track anything, but rather to allow the FDA to impose additional restrictions on the drug's distribution.

Dr. Eric Schaff, who serves on the board of the National Abortion Federation, said although RU-486 was approved in France in 1991, clinical studies were delayed in the United States "for political reasons" until 1994.

"There was a tremendous amount of information on this medication from almost 1 million women in Europe," Schaff said. "It was very much studied, and it didn't get finally approved in the U.S. until 2000. This medication relied on more experience and research than most drugs to get approved.

"Almost 400,000 women have used mifepristone (RU-486) in the U.S. safely, which supports the FDA's decision to approve it in 2000. It's an incredibly safe medication."

A death last year - the third reported death of an American woman who had taken RU-486 - prompted the FDA to issue stronger safety warnings to doctors and consumers. But it did not conclude that RU-486 caused the deaths. And it noted that "rare" complications from RU-486, such as bleeding and bacterial infections, can also occur from miscarriages, surgical abortions and even childbirth.


http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/le
dgerenquirer/news/nation/11076398.htm

Dutch doctors seek debate on euthanasia

Doctors Killed 20 Newborns

BERLIN -- Attempting to prod the government of the Netherlands to weigh in on an ongoing battle over expanding euthanasia, a group of senior Dutch doctors has reported itself to prosecutors for having "killed" 20 newborns.

The law says people can elect suicide over continued treatment for terminal conditions, but it does not apply to children under 12. Debate over the sanctioned killing of children has been raging in the Netherlands for months and has drawn the attention of the Vatican and anti-euthanasia groups from around the world.

The nation's Supreme Court first approved of euthanasia, under certain circumstances, in 1984. Ten years later, the parliament outlined rules to follow to avoid prosecution. In 2002, members of parliament voted it into law.

But the law has dealt with patients who have requested death. This discussion, which is in a very preliminary stage and expected soon on the parliament's calendar, is about those who cannot request death, or voice a choice for life.

The debate centers around the so-called Groningen Protocol, which officials at the Groningen University Hospital wrote with the help of prosecutors.

The Dutch Journal of Medicine published a study last month claiming at least 22 babies had been euthanized in the Netherlands since 1997. Earlier, doctors at leading hospitals in the country called for a national committee to come up with a law on the matter.

"It's time to be honest about the unbearable suffering endured by newborns with no hope of a future," Dr. Eduard Verhagen, the head of pediatrics for the hospital, said in a statement. "All over the world, doctors end lives discretely, out of compassion, without any kind of regulation."

"These children face a life of agonizing pain," he said.

In December, the hospital, which had largely refused to discuss the details of the protocol, made it public in hopes of gaining support for the effort to regulate the practice.

According to the hospital's Web site, a terminally ill child's life could be ended under specific conditions:

• Suffering must be so severe that there is no hope for a future.

• There is no possibility of a cure or alleviation with medication or surgery.

• Parents must give their consent.

• A second opinion is required and must come from doctors not involved in the child's treatment.

• The "deliberate ending of life must be meticulously carried out with the emphasis on aftercare."

A hospital statement said that the protocol would apply to perhaps 15 to 20 cases a year in the Netherlands.

In the Netherlands, Bert Dorenbos, chairman of Cry for Life, which opposes euthanasia, genetic engineering and abortion, fears that the parents of handicapped children will soon be subjected to public ridicule and anger for not choosing euthanasia.

"Listen, nobody likes for children to suffer," he said. "But the fact that this movement now even exists suggests we are moving in the wrong direction, away from treatment."


http://www.kentucky.com/mld/hera
ldleader/news/world/11070354.htm

Couple tests Texas law protecting unborn

Couple Aborts Twins

Boyfriend Charged With Murder Girlfriend Walks Free

LUFKIN, Texas -- The would-be teen mother arrived by ambulance last May, her belly bruised, the twin fetuses she carried for five months gone and her lips tightly sealed.

Authorities assumed 16-year-old Erica Basoria had been beaten and charged her boyfriend, 18-year-old Gerardo "Jerry" Flores, with murder under the state's new law protecting the unborn.

But it wasn't that simple. Basoria told authorities she had been trying to kill the fetuses for weeks and finally asked Flores to help by stepping on her stomach.

"When I was four months pregnant, I began to show, and at that time I decided that I should have gotten an abortion," Basoria wrote in an affidavit.

Although Flores faces prosecution, Basoria can't be charged because the new law - like many others across the nation - bans prosecution of mothers on the grounds that they have a legal right to end pregnancies. The case has attorneys on both sides questioning the fairness of a statute that considers one person's crime another person's constitutional right.

"How can two people conspire to do something like this and only one of them be punished? How can that be fair?" defense attorney Ryan Deaton asked.

Prosecutor Clyde Herrington said it was startling that "they completely leave the female out of the criminal penalty."

"It doesn't seem entirely fair," Herrington said.

The couple had been dating just over a year when Basoria became pregnant in January 2004. They talked about the future, and Flores, a senior at Lufkin High School pursuing a soccer scholarship, said he offered to delay college a year until Basoria graduated.

The pregnancy changed everything. Both were scared. Neither had a job. And there were two babies.

Basoria didn't return calls for comment, but wrote in an affidavit that her family encouraged an abortion: "They said I was too young to have children."

Flores' mother, Norma, shunned the idea, saying "It's a life that wants to live."

At four months, when the mirror betrayed her first bulge, Basoria wanted out. She feigned taking prenatal vitamins and jogged when she wasn't supposed to.

"About two weeks before the miscarriage, I started hitting myself," Basoria wrote. "I would do this every other day and I would use both of my fists when I did this. I would hit myself 10 or more times."

Then she turned to her boyfriend.

"I said I didn't want to do it," he recalled. But she kept pleading, he said, until he agreed to step on her.

The night of the miscarriage, the couple fought and Flores acknowledged to police "accidentally, probably" hitting Basoria in the face, though Basoria said he wasn't regularly abusive.

Later, he awoke to Basoria's screams and found her crying, bleeding and hunched on the toilet. Flores' mother and sister went to the hospital and Flores stayed behind, cleaning up the blood and returning to bed.

Flores has since been charged with capital murder, though prosecutors aren't seeking the death penalty. He remains in jail, awaiting a trial date. His family learned of his arrest from TV and couldn't believe the charge.

"Murder sounds like when you go out there and kill somebody. But the baby's unborn," said Flores' sister, Maira. "It would have been different if they were born already and he killed them."

A co-author of the state law said it was intended to protect women and unborn babies from domestic violence, drunken drivers and other assaults.

"We didn't consider a case as ridiculous as this," said Rep. Ray Allen, a Republican. "I feel sad for these immature, stupid people. But the law is what the law is."

Roger Enriquez, a criminal justice professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said prosecutors should consider the couple's ages.

"This is a classic case here of individuals who are not mature enough to make these decisions on their own," he said.

Flores still calls Basoria regularly, adorns her letters with roses and teddy bears, and says they may get back together if he gets out.

"She feels bad. I forgave her. She'll do anything to help me out."


http://www.twincities.com/mld/twinci
ties/news/breaking_news/11049000.htm

Doctor testifies in fetus delivery malpractice trial

OBGYN Leaves Baby's Head Inside Mother

Atlanta, GA -- After three hours on the witness stand Friday, Dr. Stephen C. Blank admitted he made a mistake when he left the head of a fetus inside a Rockdale County woman who had miscarried.

"This has never happened to me before," the doctor, who estimates he had delivered more than 6,000 babies, told jurors. The mother, Nicole Thebaud, 31, is suing the Atlanta physician and his North Fulton practice for unspecified damages for physical and emotional pain she said she suffered after unexpectedly delivering her son's tiny head in her toilet in December 2003.

The medical malpractice trial continues Monday in Fulton County State Court with closing arguments before the jury of nine men and three women begins deliberations. Blank still insists he was not negligent.

Thebaud miscarried while at Northside Hospital in Atlanta. Blank was the on-call obstetrician and tried to deliver the breeched 5-month-old fetus, which weighed less than a pound, Dec. 9, 2003. But he only removed the torso.

Blank said he didn't tell the mother about the problem at that point because he did not want to further upset her. His nurse later told Thebaud what had happened and reluctantly showed her the torso after the mother insisted.

Hours later, Blank performed a surgery to remove the head using forceps and suction. He removed the placenta and other afterbirth, and assumed the fragments of the head were included.

Blank said he was shocked to hear Thebaud was hospitalized again two days later after having delivered the head.

Earlier in the week, Dr. Barry Slotky of Bloomington, Ill., told jurors that Blank was negligent for not performing an ultrasound or another test to make sure the head had been removed.

Blank told jurors that ultrasounds aren't typically done.

After heated questioning by the mother's attorney, Thomas Malone, the doctor acknowledged, "Had I elected to utilize an ultrasound, this could have been avoided."

"It was a mistake to send her home without getting the head," Blank testified.


http://www.ajc.com/news/content/m
etro/northfulton/0305/05trial.html

Convicted mothers appeal, cite case of Roe v. Wade

Texas Convicts' Appeal Invokes Roe v. Wade

Women convicted for giving drugs to fetuses

In an appeal that invokes reproductive rights under the landmark Roe v. Wade case, two Amarillo women convicted of delivering drugs to the unborn claim their convictions should be tossed out because their babies were fetuses when they received drugs via the womb.

Defense attorney Joe Dawson, Larry Cunningham, an assistant law professor at Texas Tech University, and two Tech student attorneys filed an appeal Friday with Amarillo's 7th Court of Appeals on behalf of Tracy Yolanda Ward and Rhonda Tulane Smith.

Ward, 30, pleaded guilty to a charge of delivery of a controlled substance to a minor after admitting she smoked crack cocaine before her son was born. She was sentenced to five years probation.

Smith, 24, also pleaded guilty to a charge of delivery of a controlled substance - methamphetamine - to a minor, her unborn daughter. She also was sentenced to five years of probation.

In their appeal, the attorneys argue that evidence presented by prosecutors is insufficient to legally sustain the women's criminal convictions.

"At the time, the transmission of narcotics occurred, the 'children' were fetuses," the appeal said. "A fetus is not a 'child' under Texas law."

The appeal argues that Texas courts have consistently held that fetuses cannot be considered crime victims.

"Acts committed against them, however contrary to public policy, are not punishable under the criminal law when the alleged offender is the fetus' mother," the brief said.

State lawmakers recently amended Texas law to redefine the term "individual" to mean a "human being who is alive, including an unborn child at every stage of gestation from fertilization until birth."

The new law permits criminal prosecutions of third parties for murder, assault, intoxicated assault and intoxicated assault against a fetus.

But the defense argues that lawmakers specifically exempted mothers from prosecution for harming their fetuses.

"In doing so, the intent of the Legislature was to specifically exclude mothers from prosecution or civil liability for conduct against their fetuses. The Legislature intended to preserve the reproductive rights of women, which has been the existing law since Roe," the appeal said.

The appeal also argues that prosecutors violated the women's constitutional rights against cruel and unusual punishment and due process.

The women, the appeal argues, could have avoided prosecution if they chose to have abortions.

"It is cruelly ironic that in the state's view, they would have the right to terminate their pregnancies, but not to continue them," the appeal said.

In January, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott ruled that physicians don't have a legal duty to report drug-abusing pregnant mothers, a ruling that conflicted with former 47th District Attorney Rebecca King's interpretation of the new law redefining the term "individual."

District Attorney Randall Sims, who inherited the case, said his office plans to file its answer to the appeal within 30 days.

Cunningham said he supervised two Tech students in helping Dawson draft and research the 51-page appeal.

"It's been a real good opportunity for them," he said.

Dawson said he expects to prevail in the case and expects oral arguments this summer.

"We kind of hit the points of error that we were going to focus on and they did a fantastic job with the brief," Dawson said of Tech's assistance in the appeal.


http://www.amarillo.com/stor
ies/030405/new_1400798.shtml

Documents Show Focus Of Kline's Inquiry

Documents Show Focus Of Kline's Inquiry

The Kansas City Star

“The issue in this case is whether abortion clinics are above the law.” --Attorney General Phill Kline

TOPEKA — Attorney General Phill Kline says he needs medical records from abortion clinics for an investigation into child predators and illegal late-term abortions.

But legal documents that Kline filed Thursday with the Kansas Supreme Court make little mention of child predators, and instead indicate that the legal battle centers on the clinics themselves and whether doctors are following the law in performing late-term abortions.

Kline, an abortion rights opponent, is seeking the medical records of 90 women and girls who received late-term abortions at two Kansas clinics in 2003. Kline said he is looking for evidence of child rape and instances in which the clinics may have broken the laws restricting late-term abortions.

The clinics have gone unnamed. Records of the criminal inquisition released by Kline's office refer to the two clinics as “Women's” and “Comprehensive.” The records confirm that one of the clinics is in Overland Park.

The secret judicial inquiry began last fall, coming to light last week when the clinics filed a brief asking the Supreme Court to intercede. The clinics have asked the court to overrule a Shawnee County district judge, who ordered the clinics to comply with Kline's subpoenas.

On Thursday, Kline filed his response. It included dozens of pages of previously unreleased court transcripts. The clinics may now submit a reply before the court takes action. The court could decide the conflict based on the written documents, send the case to a lower court, hold hearings or dismiss the case without ruling.

Democratic lawmakers have questioned Kline's motives, while lawmakers who oppose abortion have defended him.

Kline on Thursday accused the clinics of generating hysteria to thwart his investigation. Medical records are routinely used in criminal investigations, Kline said, and abortion clinics should be no different. He said the records would go to Shawnee County District Judge Richard Anderson, who would decide whether some information would be kept private.

“The issue in this case is whether abortion clinics are above the law,” Kline said Thursday, shortly before filing the brief with the Supreme Court.

The clinics have called Kline's request for records a “fishing expedition” that violates privacy rights and patient-doctor privilege.

A gag order prevents Kline or the clinics from discussing many of the details of the case. But records of court proceedings indicate that Kline's office and Anderson are considering whether a medical expert could review the records to determine “whether the fetus was viable or not, whether there is objective medical evidence to support the procedure.”

Kansas law prohibits abortions after 22 weeks of pregnancy unless the continuation of pregnancy could severely injure the woman. Kline has gone on record opposing an earlier court decision that injury to a woman's mental health was sufficient reason to allow a late-term abortion. In the court records, the judge discussed the issue of “interpretation of whether a mental health exception is reasonable basis for protecting a woman's health.”

Kline said his investigation is also meant to find child predators who may have raped underage girls. State law requires health-care providers to report suspected child abuse. According to state records, 78 girls younger than 15 received abortions in 2003. That's below the age of consent in Kansas; legally, those girls are considered to have been raped.

In the court record submitted by Kline, the clinics agreed to hand over information if Kline had reasonable proof that the clinics' doctors falsified records, urged their patients to undergo abortions or ignored medical standards in allowing the abortion to continue.

Anderson said that it was impossible to make that determination without reviewing the medical records.

“Without access to the medical records, how is the attorney general going to make a reasonably informed judgment as to whether the records do or do not contain evidence of a crime?” Anderson said, according to the court records.

In the statement released Thursday, the clinics repeated their insistence that they follow all laws relating to medical care and abortions.

“Our clients have followed the law and will continue to do so,” lawyer Lee Thompson wrote.

Kline also said the clinics never offered to provide the records with personal information redacted, even though lawyers for the clinics make that claim in the brief they filed with the court.

Thompson said the clinics repeatedly offered to provide the records if they could withhold identifying information.


http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kans
ascity/news/politics/11045693.htm

Fecal Matter Mom

Woman Sentenced For Putting Fecal Matter In Infant's IV

INDIANAPOLIS -- A woman was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison for injecting fecal matter into her hospitalized daughter's intravenous tube, Indianapolis television station WRTV reported.

Tracie Fleck, 34, pleaded guilty last month to two counts of battery. Authorities said a hidden camera caught Fleck tampering with her then-1-year-old daughter's IV line at Riley Hospital for Children in January 2004.

Police said they hid the camera in the daughter's hospital room because the child had been hospitalized 11 times and kept getting infections.

Authorities said the mother's actions made the girl dangerously ill. The child survived.

A doctor who directed child protection programs at Riley had said that Fleck could have been suffering from Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, a condition in which a caregiver makes someone sick to garner attention and sympathy.

Fleck has denied having the disorder. She said she will appeal the sentence.

A judge also ordered her to serve two years of probation.

Fleck's three children are in the custody of their maternal grandparents, WRTV reported.


http://www.thelouisvillechanne
l.com/news/4249965/detail.html

Court Debates Commandments Displays

WASHINGTON - With demonstrators shouting religious slogans outside, Supreme Court justices questioned, argued and fretted Wednesday over whether Ten Commandments displays on government property cross the line of separation between church and state.

Back-to-back arguments in cases from Texas and Kentucky were the court's first consideration of the issue since 1980, when justices ruled the Ten Commandments could not be displayed in public schools.

Clearly reluctant to adopt a blanket ban, the current justices wrestled with the role that religious symbols should play in public life — right down to the Ten Commandments display in their own courtroom.

Several expressed support for a 6-foot granite monument on the grounds of the Texas state Capitol, but were less certain about framed copies of the commandments in two Kentucky courthouses.

"If an atheist walks by, he can avert his eyes," Justice Anthony Kennedy said in a courtroom filled with spectators, many of whom could be seen glancing at the court's frieze of Moses carrying the tablets.

Banning the Texas display might "show hostility to religion," he said.

But Justices John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, while acknowledging the nation's religious history, wondered where the line should be drawn. The court ruled in 1983 that legislative prayer is allowable, citing its historical significance, but in 1992 said prayer in public schools is not because students may feel pressure to participate.

What if every federal court had a Ten Commandments display over its bench and opened with a prayer, Ginsburg asked, brushing aside Justice Antonin Scalia's retort that the justices already open their sessions with "God save this honorable court."

"We would try and defend that," said acting Solicitor General Paul Clement, who argued on behalf of the Bush administration in supporting the Ten Commandments displays.

A pivotal vote in the case is expected to be Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who in recent years has been at the forefront in outlining constitutional tests based in part on a symbol's history and "ubiquity." She did not tip her hand Wednesday, if she had one.

"It's so hard to draw that line" between allowing a legislative prayer and not allowing a Ten Commandments display, O'Connor fretted at one point.

Monuments carrying the Ten Commandments are common in town squares, courthouses and other government-owned land around the country. Lawyers challenging these displays argue that they violate the First Amendment ban on any law "respecting an establishment of religion."

While the cases strictly involve Ten Commandments displays, a broad ruling could determine the allowable role of religion in a wide range of public contexts, from the use of religious music in a school concert to students' recitation of "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. A decision is expected by late June.

The question has prompted dozens of heated legal battles, including one in Alabama by Roy Moore. He lost his job as chief justice a year ago after defying a federal order to remove a 5,300-pound Ten Commandments monument he had installed in the state courthouse.

At the Supreme Court, about 100 supporters of commandments displays gathered outside in the icy cold. Many shouted "Amen" and broke into refrains from "Amazing Grace." Several knelt before the court steps.

Opponents of the displays, smaller in number, waved signs reading "Keep Government and Religion Separate" and "My God Does Not Need Government Help." According to an AP-Ipsos poll, 76 percent of Americans support such displays, a fact that was not lost on some of the justices during arguments.

"It's a profoundly religious message, but it's a profoundly religious message believed in by a vast majority of the American people," Scalia said.

In the Texas case, the Fraternal Order of Eagles donated the exhibit to the state in 1961, and it was installed about 75 feet from the Capitol in Austin. The group gave thousands of similar monuments to American towns during the 1950s and '60s, and those have been the subject of multiple court fights.

The suit was brought by Thomas Van Orden, a former lawyer who is now homeless. Van Orden, who enlisted the help of Duke law professor Erwin Chemerinsky in the appeal, said in an interview that he spent the morning at the University of Texas law library playing chess online. He did not comment on the case.

Two Kentucky counties, meanwhile, hung framed copies of the Ten Commandments in their courthouses and added other documents, such as the Magna Carta and the Declaration of Independence, after the American Civil Liberties Union challenged the display.

While one lower court found the Texas display to be predominantly nonreligious because it was one of 17 monuments in a 22-acre park, another court struck down the Kentucky displays as lacking a "secular purpose." Kentucky's modification of the display was a "sham" for the religious intent behind it, the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (news - web sites) ruled.

Arguing against a strict wall between church and state, Solicitor General Clement said, "The Ten Commandments have an undeniable religious significance, but they also have a secular significance as a source of the law, a code of the law and a well-recognized historical symbol of the law."

David Friedman, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union who is challenging the courthouse displays in Kentucky, countered: "An assertion that the Ten Commandments is THE source, THE foundation of our legal system ... that is simply wrapping the Ten Commandments in the flag, and that's endorsement."

The Supreme Court's frieze depicts Moses as well as 17 other figures including Hammurabi, Confucius, Napoleon and Chief Justice John Marshall.

When Stevens said the depiction is more neutral in part because it does not display the Ten Commandments' text, Clement gently demurred. "I don't know if a display of Moses might be sending more of a religious message.


The cases are Van Orden v. Perry, 03-1500, and McCreary County v. ACLU, 03-1693.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=558&ncid=70
3&e=10&u=/ap/20050303/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_ten_commandments

Judge won't dismiss capital case against Rudolph

Judge won't dismiss capital case against Rudolph

Clinic bombing judge refuses to dismiss capital case against Eric Rudolph

By Jay Reeves / Associated Press Writer

A federal judge Thursday refused to throw out the death penalty case against Eric Rudolph, rejecting defense claims that the serial bombing suspect should be tried under a law that doesn't allow capital punishment.

In a brief order, U.S. District Judge Lynwood Smith accepted the recommendation of a magistrate judge who ruled Rudolph could face death if convicted in the deadly bombing of a Birmingham abortion clinic in 1998.

The defense claimed Rudolph should be tried under the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment for abortion clinic attacks resulting in death.

But Smith's ruling means Rudolph can be tried under a federal arson law that allows capital punishment for attacks involving explosives.

Rudolph's lawyers did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

U.S. Attorney Alice Martin said prosecutors charged Rudolph under the arson law specifically so they could seek the death penalty.

"We're pleased with the ruling. It's what we expected," she said.

In a separate order, the judge delayed preliminary jury selection in Rudolph's trial from March 23 until April 6. While opening arguments had been set for late May, the delay could result in the start of Rudolph's trial being pushed back until June.

Martin said the delay was "as much a scheduling issue as anything" since court officials plan to hold Rudolph's trial in the same courtroom where former HealthSouth Corp. chief executive Richard Scrushy is currently on trial.

The Scrushy case could last through late May, based on the schedule laid out by U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre.

Jailed without bond since his arrest in 2003 after more than five years as a fugitive, Rudolph has pleaded not guilty in the clinic bombing, which killed a police officer and seriously injured a nurse.

Rudolph also is charged with setting a bomb that exploded at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, killing a woman and injuring dozens, and with other bombings in Atlanta in 1997.


http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AI
D=/20050303/APN/503030843&cachetime=3&template=dateline

Witch Gets 10 Years In Connection With Daughter's Death

She Says Boyfriend Sacrificed 13-Month-Old Daughter

AKRON, Ohio -- A Springfield Township mother broke down in tears as she was sentenced to 10 years in prison in connection with the death of her 13-month-old daughter.

Vanessa McGlumphy, 25, and the baby's father made statements to the court Wednesday, NewsChannel5 reported.

McGlumphy, pleaded guilty last month to involuntary manslaughter and child endangering for not protecting her daughter.

The toddler died last October. She suffered a broken neck, a severed liver and 12 broken ribs. She also had been struck 40 times with a needle on the bottom of both feet and the side of her head, the prosecutor said.

McGlumphy said that she thought her boyfriend, Daniel Duffield, 32, sacrificed her child because he is a different religion than she is and that they performed a ritual on the girl as a result of his belief. McGlumphy characterized Duffield as a "black pagan," the prosecutor said.

Duffield was found guilty Tuesday of involuntary manslaughter and murder in the death of the toddler.

He will be sentenced March 9. He faces 15 years to life in prison.


http://www.newsnet5.com/
news/4246141/detail.html

Wiccan Found Guilty in Baby's Murder

Daniel Duffield convicted in brutal killing of girlfriend's daughter, faces life in prison

If looks could kill, Daniel Duffield would be facing more than life in prison for killing a 13-month-old girl.

Seated a few feet away from Duffield in a Summit County courtroom Tuesday was the girl's father, Daniel Cooper, and his unbending glare.

The father's eyes locked on Duffield before one guilty verdict after another was read. He only looked away after Duffield was escorted back to the county jail.

After five hours of deliberation over two days, the jury convicted Duffield, 32, of murder, involuntary manslaughter, three counts of child endangering and two counts of felonious assault for the Oct. 6 death of Jacqueline Mae Cooper.

He will be sentenced March 9 by Common Pleas Judge Marvin Shapiro and faces at the minimum a mandatory life sentence with parole eligibility after 15 years for the murder conviction.

Shapiro could extend his parole eligibility date for decades when he sentences Duffield on the other charges.

Vanessa McGlumphy, the girl's mother and Duffield's live-in girlfriend, is to be sentenced today for failing to protect her daughter. The 25-year-old Springfield Township mother pleaded guilty last month to involuntary manslaughter and child endangering.

Cooper meanwhile stood outside the courtroom after the Duffield verdict was announced. Surrounded by reporters and news cameras, he was asked about the penetrating stares he was sending Duffield -- looks he gave the defendant throughout the trial.

``What would go through your mind if someone just did that to your daughter?'' he said. ``There is (no appropriate sentence). How are you going to give my daughter back? How can you give back walking her up the aisle, taking her on a bicycle ride, teaching her things, taking her places? You can never give me that back.''

What happened to Cooper's daughter has been called torturous, brutal and bizarre. Authorities say that during her brief life, she was let down by the Summit County Children Services Board, Akron Children's Hospital doctors and her own mother.

Abuse not investigated

CSB failed to do a background check on Duffield when a social worker visited the girl's home -- a converted attached garage -- months before her death. Had agency workers checked a state database, they would have learned that Duffield had been convicted and served two years for abusing another child.

On Oct. 5, a day before Jacqueline was killed, she was at Children's Hospital, where her mother explained away a series of bruises, lying by attributing the marks to a collapsed crib. Prosecutors say Jacqueline was actually healing from previous abuse.

The next morning, the girl and her twin sister were left alone with Duffield while their mother went to get a prescription filled for Jacqueline, one written by hospital doctors for a cold. Inside the house, prosecutors say Duffield pummeled the girl to quiet her crying. She suffered bruising from head to toe, a severed liver, multiple broken ribs, a fractured ankle and a fatal blow that separated her skull from her neck and killed her instantly.

In addition, minutes to hours before her death, Jacqueline's feet and cheek were punctured more than 40 times with a tattoo needle, in what prosecutors say was an initiation ritual of sorts in a neopagan religion.

Jacqueline's twin sister, Layloni, was not harmed. She is currently living with McGlumphy's father.

Duffield and McGlumphy told investigators they were followers of the Wicca religion, but prosecutors in court said the acts against the child conflicted with the Wiccan tenet of not harming anyone.

Defense strategy failed

During the weeklong trial, Duffield's defense attorneys, Edward Bonetti and Kirk Migdal, tried to place blame for Jacqueline's death on McGlumphy. Shapiro thwarted that strategy in many ways with pretrial rulings that blocked defense introduction of several pieces of evidence.

Shapiro denied defense motions to allow jurors to be told of McGlumphy's guilty plea or the 38 love letters she wrote to Duffield following their arrest. The judge also allowed McGlumphy to invoke her Fifth Amendment rights outside the presence of the jury.

Down the courthouse hallway Tuesday, Duffield's mother sat in a wheelchair. Earlier, she dabbed tears as the jury's verdict came down. She said Shapiro's rulings crippled her son's defense and prevented him from getting a fair trial.

Jurors only heard testimony that McGlumphy was emotionally overwhelmed by the twins and had begged family members to take the children before something happened.

``I'm just saying my son is not guilty of this. The truth will come out. I can't understand why the truth didn't come out (at the trial),'' said Elizabeth Duffield, 55. ``I got letters from Vanessa myself stating that all Daniel did was care and love for her and those girls.''

Jury foreman Terry Brown of Akron, a father of three, said the panel was convinced of Duffield's guilt by the medical evidence, which Assistant Prosecutors Greg Peacock and Beth Aronson said narrowed a timeline and left only one possible suspect -- Duffield.

Brown, an insurance fraud investigator, said testimony and photographs of what happened to Jacqueline were difficult for many jurors to hear and see.

``It was tragic. Anytime a 13-month-old loses her life early and in such a horrendous and vicious way... there's nothing to say. It's horrendous, you can't go beyond that.''


http://www.ohio.com/mld/b
eaconjournal/11026388.htm

ATF-Fire Reward Offered

$5,000 Reward Offered To Catch Abortion Clinic Arsonist

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- A $5,000 reward is being offered to help catch the person who set fire to an abortion clinic in Olympia.

The special agent in charge of the Seattle office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Kelvin Crenshaw, says investigators hope the reward brings in more tips from the public.

He says they have some leads, but not enough to solve the case. Anyone with information is asked to call the bureau at 888-ATF-FIRE.

The fire in the early morning hours of January ninth caused $500,000 damage to the Eastside Women's Health Clinic.

Investigators say the fire was set with incendiary materials on the roof.

No one was injured.

Co-owner Nancy Armstrong believes the clinic was targeted because it performs abortions.

http://www.kirotv.com/n
ews/4243638/detail.html

Flashback
Fire Hits Olympia Clinic That Performs Abortions
Abortion Clinic Fire Ruled Arson

Court to Hear Ten Commandments Cases

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court is considering whether Ten Commandments displays on government property unconstitutionally entangle church and state, a cultural battle that has splintered lower courts for more than two decades.

Justices were hearing arguments Wednesday in two cases involving displays in Texas and Kentucky. It is the first time since 1980 the high court is tackling the emotional issue, in a courtroom boasting a wall carving of Moses holding the sacred tablets.

Ten Commandments monuments are common in town squares, courthouses and other government-owned land around the country. At issue is whether they violate the First Amendment ban on any law "respecting an establishment of religion," or simply represent a secular tribute to America's legal heritage.

The question has sparked dozens of heated legal battles, including one in Alabama by Roy Moore. He lost his job as chief justice a year ago after defying a federal order to remove a 5,300-pound Ten Commandments monument he had installed in the state courthouse.

Demonstrators gathered in front of the Supreme Court in the icy cold Tuesday night for a candlelight vigil, and rallies were expected Wednesday morning. More than 50 groups have filed "friend-of-the-court" briefs weighing in on the issue.

While the cases strictly involve Ten Commandments displays, a broad ruling could define the proper place of religion in public life — from use of religious music in a school concert to students' recitation of "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. A decision is expected by late June.

The Bush administration, which sided with a California school district last year to keep "God" in the Pledge, is now joining Texas and Kentucky officials to back the Ten Commandments displays.

"Countless monuments, medallions, plaques, sculptures, seals, frescoes, and friezes — including, of course, the Supreme Court's own courtroom frieze — commemorate the Decalogue. Nothing in the Constitution requires these historic artifacts to be chiseled away or erased," writes Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott in his court filing.

Erwin Chemerinsky, representing a homeless man suing to have the Texas display removed, countered: "The government's symbolic endorsement of religion is most obvious from the content of the monument itself. In large letters, the monument proclaims 'I AM the LORD thy God.'"

Ten Commandments displays are supported by a majority of Americans, according to an AP-Ipsos poll. The poll taken in late February found that 76 percent support it and 23 percent oppose it.

In the Texas case, Thomas Van Orden lost his lawsuit to have a 6-foot granite monument removed from the state Capitol grounds.

The Fraternal Order of Eagles donated the exhibit to the state in 1961, and it was installed about 75 feet from the Capitol in Austin. The group gave thousands of similar monuments to American towns during the 1950s and '60s, and those have been the subject of multiple court fights.

Two Kentucky counties, meanwhile, hung framed copies of the Ten Commandments in their courthouses and added other documents, such as the Magna Carta and the Declaration of Independence, after the American Civil Liberties Union challenged the display.

While one lower court found the Texas display to be predominantly nonreligious because it was one of 17 monuments in a 22-acre park, another court struck down the Kentucky displays as lacking a "secular purpose." Kentucky's modification of the display was a "sham" for the religious intent behind it, the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled.

The last time the Supreme Court weighed in on the issue was 1980, when it struck down a Kentucky law requiring Ten Commandments displays in public classrooms. Since then, more than two dozen courts have ruled in conflicting ways on displays in various public contexts.

Justices have outlined several different tests in recent years to determine their constitutionality:

_secular purpose; was there religious motive?

_endorsement; do they show a government neutrality toward religion?

_coercion; do they place impermissible pressure, such as school prayer?

_historical practice; are they part of the "fabric of our society," such as legislative prayer?

The Supreme Court frieze, for instance, depicts Moses and the tablets as well as 17 other figures including Hammurabi, Confucius, Napoleon and Chief Justice John Marshall. Because it includes secular figures in a way that doesn't endorse religion, the display would be constitutional, Justice John Paul Stevens suggested in a 1989 ruling.

The cases are Van Orden v. Perry, 03-1500, and McCreary County v. ACLU, 03-1693.

___

On the Net:

Supreme Court: http://www.supremecourtus.gov/


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=558&u=/ap/2005
0302/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_ten_commandments_5&printer=1

Schiavo accused of adultery

Michael Schiavo accused of adultery

Parents want divorce for Terri Schiavo, accuse son-in-law Michael Schiavo of adultery

TAMPA, Fla. -- The parents of Terri Schiavo asked a judge to allow her to divorce her husband -- even if she dies -- in one of a flurry of 11 new motions filed by the couple.

In the divorce motion filed Monday, Bob and Mary Schindler accused Michael Schiavo of adultery and not acting in his wife's best interests. The Schindlers have less than three weeks to find a way to keep their daughter alive before her feeding tube is removed.

"We have filed divorce proceedings because of (Schiavo's) total disregard for Terri as his wife," Bob Schindler said. "He is married to Terri, but he is living with another woman and he has two children by her. It has become quite obvious that his priorities are not in Terri's best interest."

The Schindlers' attorney, David Gibbs, said the divorce effort is unprecedented, and would allow Terri Schiavo to end her marriage to Michael even after she dies.

The Schindlers and their son-in-law have fought each other at every level of the Florida court system since the late 1990s on whether Terri Schiavo should live or die.

Michael Schiavo says his wife, who has spent 15 years in what doctors call a vegetative state, once told him she would never want to be kept alive artificially. Her parents have fought his efforts but Pinellas Circuit Court Judge George Greer ruled that Schiavo can have her feeding tube removed on March 18.

Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, called the new motions little more than an attempt to clog the case with further delays.

Gibbs said Greer had indicated he will not hear the divorce request and five of the other motions, but that the matters would be appealed.

Also Monday, the couple filed an appeal to overturn Greer's denial of an indefinite stay while they pursue their last legal options. Gibbs said it was not known when the appeals court would act on that motion, or how quickly it would respond to the others coming its way.

Appearing at a rally in Jacksonville, the Schindlers called on Gov. Jeb Bush to look into the circumstances that led to their daughter's 1990 collapse from a chemical imbalance. They asked Attorney General Charlie Crist to investigate whether her civil rights have been violated.

Felos has said that even if Michael Schiavo were to divorce his wife, any new guardian would be obligated to remove Terri Schiavo's feeding tube because the court has ruled it is her wish not to be kept alive artificially.

"I think everyone knows the parents are going to try anything, including throwing in the kitchen sink, to frustrate the court's final judgment and Terri's wishes," Felos said.

Other motions by the Schindlers ask that some news reporters be allowed to see Terri Schiavo's interactions with her parents, since they contend she responds to them; that they be allowed to take pictures with her before she dies and that those photographs not become Michael Schiavo's property, as a current court order now requires; that she be allowed to die at home; and that they be allowed to bury her rather than the cremation her husband has planned.


http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA
/ssistory.mpl/nation/3062572

Court kills Justice

The Sodomite Court Strikes Down Death Penalty for Juvenile

The U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to outlaw the death penalty for juveniles who were under the age of 18 at the time of the crimes, calling the execution of children unconstitutionally cruel.

The ruling will toss out the death sentences of 70 juvenile murderers who are currently on death row in the United States. The ban was not totally unexpected, since the court had previously voted to bar the executions of criminals who were under 16 years of age.


http://crime.about.com/od
/death/a/juvenile_ban.htm

Witch refuses to testify

Slain baby's mother refuses to testify at man's trial

Akron -- A murder case that included tattoos, Wiccan beliefs and a brutally beaten baby girl is expected to go to a Summit County jury today.

Thirteen-month-old Jacqueline Cooper died Oct. 6 of a broken neck, but officials also found she had numerous broken bones and had been punctured 47 times with a tattoo needle on her face and feet.

Daniel Duffield, 32, charged with her death, was the only person with her when she died, prosecutors said. However, his lawyers say Vanessa McGlumphy - who is Jacqueline's mother and Duffield's girlfriend - committed the crime.

McGlumphy, 25, has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and endangering children for not protecting Jacqueline. She refused Friday to testify for the defense, invoking her right against self-incrimination. Jurors were not present. Summit County Common Pleas Judge Marvin Shapiro has told them McGlumphy is a co-defendant, but he has not informed them of her plea.

Patricia Millhoff, McGlumphy's lawyer, told Shapiro that if her client testified, it could lead to additional charges. Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Greg Peacock said McGlumphy was not granted immunity for her plea and could face charges of obstruction of justice, tampering with evidence and felonious assault.

McGlumphy admitted in a police statement after her plea that she lied when she told doctors the night before Jacqueline died that bruises on the baby were caused when a crib collapsed. She had taken Jacqueline to the hospital Oct. 5 for treatment of a bad cold.

Peacock said McGlumphy was at a drugstore getting Jacqueline medicine when the baby died the next day.

Daniel Cooper, 32, the father of Jacqueline and her fraternal twin, Layloni, testified that McGlumphy called before leaving her Springfield Township home to go to the drugstore and screamed about needing money. He told police he heard her strike the children and she said if he did not come and get the girls, she did not know what she would do.

But Donnell Green, 38, of Youngstown, who shared a cell with Duffield at the Summit County Jail, testified that Duffield told him he killed Jacqueline to stop her from crying, Peacock said. Green told jurors that Duffield said he and McGlumphy were raising Jacqueline as a Wiccan, but not Layloni. Layloni was not harmed on Oct. 6.

Wicca is a nature-based earth spirituality that includes rituals and spells.

Green, who said he was given no special treatment for testifying, said Duffield discussed rituals and puncturing Jacqueline's skin.

An eight-inch tattoo needle found under Jacqueline's playpen was used to make the -inch-deep punctures, according to testimony. There was testimony that McGlumphy and Duffield knew how to tattoo.

Jurors have been told that Duffield was found guilty in 2000 of child endangering but not that it was for giving seven or eight Benadryl tablets to the 17-month-old child of his girlfriend.

Duffield is charged with murder, involuntary manslaughter, felonious assault and child endangering.

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/
index.ssf?/base/summit/1109414152261902.xml

Related
Witches Kill Baby
Little girl had 40 puncture wounds and a snapped neck

TBN Accuser Has Charge Dismissed

Judge Dismisses Charge Against Man Who
Alleged Sex With Televangelist Paul Crouch

An Orange County judge dismissed a contempt charge Monday against a man accused of violating a court order when he talked to the Los Angeles Times about his alleged sexual encounter with televangelist Paul Crouch.

Before the defense presented any evidence, Superior Court Judge Robert J. Moss ruled that Crouch's lawyers did not have enough proof to support their case against former Trinity Broadcasting Network employee Enoch Lonnie Ford.

"While it is likely that Mr. Ford did violate this order," Moss said, "there has been inadequate evidence."

Another judge had barred Ford in April 2003 from talking to the media about his allegation that Crouch seduced him seven years earlier at a network-owned cabin near Lake Arrowhead.

Reporter William Lobdell cited Ford's friends and court documents in a Sept. 12 article that first revealed the allegations. A story that ran 10 days later included statements from Ford and photographs of the 41-year-old Lake Forest man taken by a Times photographer.

Crouch has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Lawyers for Costa Mesa-based Trinity Broadcasting, the world's largest Christian network, said Ford violated Superior Court Judge John M. Watson's April 2003 injunction.

"[The order] was simple: Don't talk," said attorney Anna Mendiola. "From the beginning of this case, before this injunction was ever filed … the defendant threatened to violate the court's order. He planned it all along."

But lawyers for Ford countered that just producing the articles in court did not prove that Ford had spoken to the media.

"Crouch's lawyers failed quite miserably to establish certain facts," attorney Robert Hartmann said.

The judge dismissed the case at Ford's lawyers' request after the network presented its witnesses, who included a lawyer from each side and a longtime friend of Ford's that the Times interviewed for the Sept. 12 article.

Moss ruled in an earlier hearing Monday morning that neither the photographer for the Sept. 22 article nor the reporters who worked on the stories would have to testify. In asking the judge to throw out the subpoenas for the Times journalists, lawyer Kelli Sager cited California's shield law protecting reporters from disclosing sources and materials used in assembling an article.

Trinity Broadcasting lawyers said after the contempt hearing that the reporters' testimony would have helped their case.

"Had they been here to testify, there would have been a lot of information that came out," said David Loe. "We're disappointed that the judge didn't seem to take enough time to consider either of these matters fully. There's ample evidence that Mr. Ford spoke in clear violation of [the 2003] injunction."

He said he would consult Crouch about appealing the ruling.

TBN first became aware of Ford's allegations in 1998, when he threatened to sue the network because he said he had been unjustly fired. Crouch settled with Ford for $425,000. Among the terms was a secrecy clause preventing Ford from discussing his allegations.

In April 2003, Ford handed a copy of a manuscript titled "Arrowhead" to Crouch after walking onto the set of TBN's Costa Mesa studio during a "Praise-a-thon" fundraiser. Later that month, Watson prohibited Ford from discussing the manuscript publicly, saying it violated the 1998 agreement.


http://www.latimes.com/news/local/orange/la-me-ford1mar01,
1,7662115.story?coll=la-editions-orange&ctrack=2&cset=true

AG appeals in Christ's name

State Joins Town's Appeal Against Witch on Prayer

COLUMBIA -- South Carolina has weighed in on an issue before the U.S. Supreme Court as to whether town officials should be allowed to mention Jesus Christ in prayers before council meetings, the state attorney general said Monday.

In a case involving the Great Falls town council, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last summer ruled such prayers are unconstitutional and that invoking Christ's name amounts to a government advancement of one religion.

A ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue would clarify the law and impact hundreds of governing bodies throughout the state, including the Legislature, which routinely open with prayer using Christ's name, said Attorney General Henry McMaster, who has filed a brief with the court.

Darla Kaye Wynne, a Great Falls resident and Wiccan high priestess, sued the town in 2001 asking a judge to stop the council from referring to Christ in its prayers. She argued in her suit that the prayers violated the First Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits the establishment of a state religion.

U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie later agreed with Wynne and issued an order prohibiting the council from using the "name of a specific deity associated with any one specific faith or belief in prayers given at town council meetings."

McMaster first joined the town's appeal then.

"If the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling stands, courts will certainly entangle themselves in the business of prayer content review," McMaster said. "A court practicing such content-based review raises serious free speech and free exercise problems under the First Amendment."

In his argument to the U.S. Supreme Court, McMaster said the 4th Circuit was wrong in its ruling and that legislative bodies have historically opened with prayer and used Christ's name.

He also argued that a 1983 case upheld the practice of legislative prayer as long as the prayer does not proselytize, advance any one religion or disparage any faith.

"Great Falls prayer neither urges adherence to any religious faith, nor proselytizes any specific faith or belief, including Christianity," he argued in his brief to the justices.

"No coercion or attempt to establish a state religion is involved in the town council's prayer. Thus, the Great Falls prayer is constitutional."

Town officials, who also believe their prayers are legal, welcomed McMaster's aid.

"We are certainly grateful for the attorney general to come in support of our petition," said Brian Gibbons, the town's attorney. "We are hopeful that the Supreme Court will take the case and make a definitive ruling."

http://greenvilleonline.com/new
s/2005/02/28/2005022859578.htm

Related
SC AG says state has joined Great Falls' effort to use "Jesus" in town meeting prayer

Prosecutors defend work of labs, agents in Eric Rudolph case

Prosecutors defend work of labs in Rudolph case

By Jay Reeves / The Associated Press

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Prosecutors are defending government crime laboratories and investigators against claims by Eric Rudolph that their work was shoddy and scientific evidence that could link him to a deadly abortion clinic bombing should be thrown out.

In nearly 350 pages of documents filed Monday, prosecutors said jurors should be allowed to see the evidence without a hearing on whether it had been contaminated by mishandling.

"The defendant's arguments conveniently ignore the stubborn facts that indicate that cross-contamination did not occur in this case," the government said in documents filed late Monday.

The papers were the prosecution's first public response to allegations raised last month by Rudolph's lawyers, who claimed internal audits found "numerous deficiencies" at crime labs operated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Those problems could discredit evidence allegedly linking Rudolph to the clinic bombing, the defense argued.

Rudolph's attorneys also argued that investigators who worked on the bombing scene and, later, at Rudolph's trailer in North Carolina may have unknowingly spread explosives traces to sunglasses, a chair cushion, a towel and other items owned by Rudolph.

In response, posecutors filed documents arguing that jurors should get to see a bomb model made by an ATF agent. While the defense claimed the model includes components not found at the scene of the blast, the government said it wasn't supposed to be an exact replica, just an example.

U.S. District Judge Lynwood Smith has scheduled a hearing for March 28 on defense challenges of the bomb model and the work of forensic experts who examined bomb fragments.

Preliminary jury selection is set to begin March 23 in Rudolph's trial on death penalty charges of detonating a bomb that killed a police officer and critically injured a nurse outside the clinic in 1998.

Rudolph, who pleaded not guilty, also is charged with setting the bomb that killed a woman at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 and in other Atlanta-area bombings in 1997.


http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/le
dgerenquirer/news/local/11023310.htm