Denied

Posted by Tammy on Mar 30, 2005 in Terri Schiavo | 4 comments

Again. That’s the news I was greeted with when I clicked onto FoxNews. And not only denied, but these judges are beginning to sound downright mean. Here’s the story, for what it’s worth.

Federal Court Denies New Schiavo Appeal
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
By Jane Roh

A federal appeals court once again denied a new hearing on whether to reinsert Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube on Wednesday, all but sealing the severely brain-damaged woman’s fate.

Schiavo was on her 13th day of no nutrients or water. A court ruling had allowed her husband and legal guardian, Michael Schiavo (search), to order the tube that had kept her alive for 15 years removed.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (search) late Tuesday night had allowed Bob and Mary Schindler (search) to file an emergency appeal — temporarily, it turned out, boosting the fading hopes for their daughter.

“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.

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 Judge Charles R. Wilson dissented, but the exact breakdown was not disclosed.

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 President Bush 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 his wife did not want to be kept alive artificially.

Judge Birch scolded the “legislative and executive branches of our government” for muddying the separation of powers.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Schindlers and their friends and relatives said Terri Schiavo 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. Sean Morrison, a professor of palliative medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, said if her kidneys had already shut down her life would be prolonged for just hours or days, or worse, her body could become flooded with fluids, leaving her to choke to death.

Differences of Opinion Turn Ugly

As Terri 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 (search), 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 and 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 an imbalance of potassium. Potassium imbalance 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 Schiavo’s former nurse of spousal abuse 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 Terri Schiavo’s brain damage.

Dr. Morrison said it was hard to predict what would happen if the tube were reinserted because it’s highly unusual to do that after life-prolonging treatments have been stopped.

He also said that reinserting the tube could actually hasten her death, because it would supply fluids to a body that can no longer get rid of them.

The resulting fluid buildup could essentially drown Schiavo, and she could die gasping and choking, he said.

Morrison said Schiavo would have no awareness of this because of her persistent vegetative state, but reinserting the tube might “transform a peaceful death into one that can be very distressing for families and friends to witness.”

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 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.

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

The Associated Press contributed to this report.