Washington, D.C. stays up late to save Terri
The White House said Monday that an extraordinary law allowing a federal court to intervene in the Terri Schiavo case was narrowly tailored and not intended as a precedent for Congress to step into battles over the fate of seriously disabled or terminally ill patients.
President Bush, who rushed back to the White House from Texas, was awakened to sign the bill shortly after it was approved by the House at 12:42 a.m. Monday and then rushed to him by staff secretary Brett Kavanaugh. Bush stepped outside his bedroom and signed it at 1:11 a.m., standing in the hall of his private residence.
[Bless his heart!
Betcha the President tried to stay up watching those Congresspersons drone on, on C-SPAN, and fell asleep after 30 seconds...
We of the Pajamahadeen certainly hope he was in his jammies!--Jen]
Senior White House aides had been consulting with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales about the case for several days, and the Justice Department had provided "technical support" to congressional lawyers, presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said as Bush flew to Tucson, Ariz., for a speech
Bush, in a written statement, promised to "stand on the side of those defending life for all Americans, including those with disabilities."
[I have to add that we must stand especially for those with disabilities like Terri who can't speak for themselves.]
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," he said.
[One of the most appalling aspects of Terri's case is that the Florida courts have taken the "word" of Terri's "husband" that she didn't want to live in a physical state that required her perpetual care.
Why don't these courts have a "presumption in favor of Life" as I would have expected out of any and every American court?--J.T.]
The law gave Schiavo's parents the right to file suit in federal court over the withdrawal of nourishment and medical treatment needed to sustain their daughter, who suffered severe brain damage 15 years ago.
"Tonight we have given Terri Schiavo all we could — a chance to live," said House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas. "After four days of words, the best of them uttered in prayer, Congress has acted and a life may have been saved."
[Let's hope so, Tom!
BTW, Texas is still pretty proud of this man, and yet the Dimocrats maintained that DeLay was leading the fight for Terri not because of his strong convictions, but to take public attention off of his current political trials. Sheesh!]
The bill passed the House after an often wrenching debate. It won the backing of virtually all the Republicans and almost half the Democrats who sprinted back to the Capitol for the debate, while 174 of the House's 435 elected members did not vote.
House Republicans scrambled to yank lawmakers back from a two-week Easter recess and amass the 218 votes necessary to bring the bill to a vote. The Senate approved the measure on Sunday by voice vote in a nearly empty chamber.
[Is it me or does it seem as if Congress is almost perpetually on vacation, with their long periods of "rest" being interrupted by brief spells of real work?
Yes, the debate was "wrenching" and tiresome; the Democrats' "debates" were mostly "Can we get back to me and my pet causes?"
It's so easy to wail on the Dim Congresscritters, but so valid.
Many were concerned not at all with saving Terri's life and bloviated about "states' rights" and Terri's predicament being "none of our business."]
[...]
Many Republicans said Terri Schiavo isn't in the hopeless state that her husband portrays.
[...whereas many Dims and the Leftist MSM kept saying incorrectly that Terri was in a "vegetative" state, which she is not.]
[...]
A few Republicans questioned the motives of Terri Schiavo's husband, Michael, suggesting he doesn't have his wife's best interest at heart.
"Now, he has had her feeding tube removed and sentenced her to a most excruciating death, citing Terri's own wishes as the rationale ..." said Rep. Jim Ryun, R-Kan. "Michael did not remember this supposed request until years after Terri's initial injuries when a cash settlement was awarded to her, a settlement he would stand to inherit."
[There's evidence to suggest that Terri's injuries resulted from strangulation and not a "heart attack" so it's possible that Michael tried unsuccessfully to kill her.
Unfortunately, there are bad men that some women marry.
Either don't marry them in the first place or don't depend on them to take care of you if you're incapacitated.
This whole mess could have been avoided if only Michael had either been willing to work with Terri's parents and the doctors to take care of her or divorced her and let her parents have sole authority and custody.
But nooooooooooo...]
Republican supporters said the "Palm Sunday Compromise" seeks to protect the rights of a disabled person. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said the law would not affect state assisted suicide laws nor serve as a precedent for future legislation.
McClellan said he was unaware of any discussions in the White House for Congress to take broader action covering other patients like Schiavo.
"This is an extraordinary case," he said. "It is a complex case where serious questions and signficant doubts have been raised." He said it was unclear what Schiavo's wishes were, and he noted that her parents had offered to care for her.
"We've looked at options that were available previously," McClellan said. "We'll see what happens with the court now."
Bush is adamantly opposed to legalizing physician assisted-suicide, as in an Oregon law. "The president believes that a culture of life is built on valuing life at all stages," McClellan said.
The Jewish faith has a saying "If you save one life, it's as if you've saved the whole world."
This is the case with Terri.
now that medical science has the ability to keep us "alive," when we're "brain dead" or in a coma means that a stroke or heart attack could put us in the state Terri's in.
The life saved this Palm Sunday weekend may be mine or yours someday.
Thank God the President and the Congress stepped in to save this precious life when the court system had failed her.
(And Good for you! to the Democrat Congresspersons who crossed the aisle to vote for Life!)
It's one more victory in the Culture Wars and and a victory to return the "culture of Life" to this country where the dream of every citizen enjoying "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness" was made a reality and that we want to keep a reality.
On a sad, infuriating note, this showed us, the American people, without a doubt that the extreme Leftists of the Democrat party will oppose the GOP and the President on anything and turn it into bitter partisan bickering, even saving a woman's life!
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