Wouldn't it be good, or at least fair, to read in our local papers the true story of Terri and Michael Schiavo? While he's deprived Terri of medical care and the chance to recover through therapy for the past ten years, he insists that she would not want to be kept alive by means of a feeding tube. A "motion [was] filed by the Schindlers arguing that ending Terri's life would violate her Catholic religious beliefs.
"Citing recent statements by Pope John Paul II that disabled patients like Terri Schiavo should not be deprived of food and water and painfully starved to death, the Schindlers say, "Terri would not have made the decision to withdraw life-prolonging procedures."
"The Pope recently stated that the administration of food and water, even if by artificial means, can never be considered "a medical act." Rather, it always represents a natural means of preserving life, and is morally obligatory."
9.26.2004
The Hand of Hope
The Hand of Hope -Samuel Alexander Armas, 21 week in-utero during operation to correct his spina bifida.
"The photo reminds us my pregnancy isn't about disability or illness," Samuel's mother said. "It's about a little person."
9.22.2004
Padre Pio- The Saint of the Eucharistic Year, and of TOB
Blessed Be Christ The King
Meditation on the Immaculate Conception
By Padre Pio, OFM, Cap.
Eternal Love, Spirit of Light and Truth, make a way into my poor mind and allow me to penetrate as far as it is possible to a wretched creature like myself, into that abyss of grace, of purity and of holiness, that I may acquire a love of God that is continually renewed, a love of God Who, from all eternity planned the greatest of all the masterpieces created by His hands: the Immaculate Virgin Mary.
From all eternity Almighty God took delight in what was to be the most perfect work of His hands, and anticipated this wonderful plan with an outpouring of His Grace.
Man, created innocent, fell by disobeying Him; the mark of original sin remained engraved on his forehead and that of his progeny who will bear its consequences until the end of time.
A woman brought ruin, and a woman was to bring salvation. The one, being tempted by a serpent, stamped the mark of sin on the human race; the other was to rise through grace, pure and immaculate. She would crush the head of the serpent who was helpless before her and who struggled in vain under her heel; for she was conceived without sin, and through her came grace to mankind.
Protected with Grace by Him Who was to be the Savior of Mankind that had fallen into sin, she escaped all shadow of evil. She sprang from the mind of God as a pure ray of light, and will shine like a morning star over the human race that turns to her. She will be the sure guide who will direct our steps toward the Divine Sun which is Jesus Christ. He makes her radiant with divine splendor and points to her as our model of purity and sanctity. No creature surpasses her, but all creation defers her through the Grace of Him Who made her immaculate. He Whom she was to carry in her womb was the Son of God participating with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the glory of her conception.
Clothed in light from the moment of her conception, she grew in grace and comeliness. After Almighty God, she is the most perfect of creatures; more pure than the angels; God is indeed well pleased in her, since she most resembles Him and is the only worthy repository of His secrets.
In the natural order she preceded her Divine Child, Our Lord, but in the divine order Jesus, the Divine Sun, arose before her, and she received from Him all grace, all purity and all beauty.
All is darkness compared to the pure light that renews all creation through Him Whom she bore in her womb, as the dew on the rose.
The Immaculate Conception is the first step in our salvation. Through this singular and unique gift Mary received a profusion of Divine Grace, and through her cooperation she became worthy of absorbing infinitely more.
My most pure Mother, my soul so poor, all stained with wretchedness and sin cries out to your maternal heart. In your goodness deign, I beseech you, to pour out on me at least a little of the grace that flowed into you with such infinite profusion from the Heart of God. Strengthened and supported by this grace, may I succeed in better loving and serving Almighty God Who Filled your heart completely, and Who created the temple of your body from the moment of your Immaculate Conception.
The Three Divine Persons imbue this sublime creature with all her privileges, her favors and her graces, and with all of her holiness.
The Eternal Father created her pure and immaculate and is well pleased in her for she is the worthy dwelling of His only Son. Through the generating of His Son in His bosom from all eternity, He forecasts the generation of His Son as Man in the pure womb of this mother, and He clothed her from her conception in the radiant snowy garment of grace and of most perfect sanctity; she participates in His perfection.
The Son Who chose her for His Mother poured His wisdom into her that from the very beginning, by infused knowledge, she knew her God. She loved and served Him in the most perfect manner as He never until then had been loved and served on this earth.
The Holy Ghost poured His love into her; she was the only creature worthy or capable of receiving this love in unlimited measure because no other had sufficient purity to come so near to God; and being near to Him could know and love Him ever more. She was the only creature capable of containing the stream of love which poured into her from on high. She alone was worthy to return to Him from Whom came that love. This very love prepared her for that "Fiat" which delivered the world from the tyranny of the infernal enemy and overshadowed her, the purest of doves making her pregnant with the Son of God.
Oh my Mother, how ashamed I feel in your presence, weighted down as I am with faults! You are most pure and immaculate from the moment of your conception, indeed from the moment in eternity when you were conceived in the mind of God.
Have pity on me! May one compassionate look of yours revive me, purify me and life me up to God; raising me from the filth of this world that I may go to Him Who created me, Who regenerated me in Holy Baptism, giving me back my white stole of innocence that original sin had so defiled. Dear Mother, make me love Him! Pour into my heart that love that burned in yours for Him. Even though I be clothed in misery, I revere the mystery of your Immaculate Conception, and I ardently wish that through it you may purify my heart so that I may love your God and my God. Cleanse my mind that it may reach up to Him and contemplate Him and adore Him in spirit and in truth. Purify my body that I too may be a tabernacle for Him and be less unworthy of possessing Him when He deigns to come to me in Holy Communion. Amen.
We too, redeemed by Holy Baptism, are corresponding to the grace of our vocation when in imitation of our Immaculate Mother we apply ourselves incessantly to the knowledge of God in order that we may ever learn better to know Him, to serve Him and to love Him.
Meditation on the Immaculate Conception
By Padre Pio, OFM, Cap.
Eternal Love, Spirit of Light and Truth, make a way into my poor mind and allow me to penetrate as far as it is possible to a wretched creature like myself, into that abyss of grace, of purity and of holiness, that I may acquire a love of God that is continually renewed, a love of God Who, from all eternity planned the greatest of all the masterpieces created by His hands: the Immaculate Virgin Mary.
From all eternity Almighty God took delight in what was to be the most perfect work of His hands, and anticipated this wonderful plan with an outpouring of His Grace.
Man, created innocent, fell by disobeying Him; the mark of original sin remained engraved on his forehead and that of his progeny who will bear its consequences until the end of time.
A woman brought ruin, and a woman was to bring salvation. The one, being tempted by a serpent, stamped the mark of sin on the human race; the other was to rise through grace, pure and immaculate. She would crush the head of the serpent who was helpless before her and who struggled in vain under her heel; for she was conceived without sin, and through her came grace to mankind.
Protected with Grace by Him Who was to be the Savior of Mankind that had fallen into sin, she escaped all shadow of evil. She sprang from the mind of God as a pure ray of light, and will shine like a morning star over the human race that turns to her. She will be the sure guide who will direct our steps toward the Divine Sun which is Jesus Christ. He makes her radiant with divine splendor and points to her as our model of purity and sanctity. No creature surpasses her, but all creation defers her through the Grace of Him Who made her immaculate. He Whom she was to carry in her womb was the Son of God participating with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the glory of her conception.
Clothed in light from the moment of her conception, she grew in grace and comeliness. After Almighty God, she is the most perfect of creatures; more pure than the angels; God is indeed well pleased in her, since she most resembles Him and is the only worthy repository of His secrets.
In the natural order she preceded her Divine Child, Our Lord, but in the divine order Jesus, the Divine Sun, arose before her, and she received from Him all grace, all purity and all beauty.
All is darkness compared to the pure light that renews all creation through Him Whom she bore in her womb, as the dew on the rose.
The Immaculate Conception is the first step in our salvation. Through this singular and unique gift Mary received a profusion of Divine Grace, and through her cooperation she became worthy of absorbing infinitely more.
My most pure Mother, my soul so poor, all stained with wretchedness and sin cries out to your maternal heart. In your goodness deign, I beseech you, to pour out on me at least a little of the grace that flowed into you with such infinite profusion from the Heart of God. Strengthened and supported by this grace, may I succeed in better loving and serving Almighty God Who Filled your heart completely, and Who created the temple of your body from the moment of your Immaculate Conception.
The Three Divine Persons imbue this sublime creature with all her privileges, her favors and her graces, and with all of her holiness.
The Eternal Father created her pure and immaculate and is well pleased in her for she is the worthy dwelling of His only Son. Through the generating of His Son in His bosom from all eternity, He forecasts the generation of His Son as Man in the pure womb of this mother, and He clothed her from her conception in the radiant snowy garment of grace and of most perfect sanctity; she participates in His perfection.
The Son Who chose her for His Mother poured His wisdom into her that from the very beginning, by infused knowledge, she knew her God. She loved and served Him in the most perfect manner as He never until then had been loved and served on this earth.
The Holy Ghost poured His love into her; she was the only creature worthy or capable of receiving this love in unlimited measure because no other had sufficient purity to come so near to God; and being near to Him could know and love Him ever more. She was the only creature capable of containing the stream of love which poured into her from on high. She alone was worthy to return to Him from Whom came that love. This very love prepared her for that "Fiat" which delivered the world from the tyranny of the infernal enemy and overshadowed her, the purest of doves making her pregnant with the Son of God.
Oh my Mother, how ashamed I feel in your presence, weighted down as I am with faults! You are most pure and immaculate from the moment of your conception, indeed from the moment in eternity when you were conceived in the mind of God.
Have pity on me! May one compassionate look of yours revive me, purify me and life me up to God; raising me from the filth of this world that I may go to Him Who created me, Who regenerated me in Holy Baptism, giving me back my white stole of innocence that original sin had so defiled. Dear Mother, make me love Him! Pour into my heart that love that burned in yours for Him. Even though I be clothed in misery, I revere the mystery of your Immaculate Conception, and I ardently wish that through it you may purify my heart so that I may love your God and my God. Cleanse my mind that it may reach up to Him and contemplate Him and adore Him in spirit and in truth. Purify my body that I too may be a tabernacle for Him and be less unworthy of possessing Him when He deigns to come to me in Holy Communion. Amen.
We too, redeemed by Holy Baptism, are corresponding to the grace of our vocation when in imitation of our Immaculate Mother we apply ourselves incessantly to the knowledge of God in order that we may ever learn better to know Him, to serve Him and to love Him.
9.21.2004
Doublespeak: False Term "Pre-embryo" Re-emerges Warns Bioethicist
One of my pet peeves: a world full of people and organizations that can't speak the English language- or any other for that matter.
Maybe they've realized that "fetus" in Latin, means "young one"-and now they've turned to a new, more antiseptic word to hide the humanity of the unborn child...
ROME, SEPT. 20, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Promotion of embryonic stem cell research and "morning-after" pills has led to the resurfacing of a false term in public discourse, warns a bioethicist.
That term is "pre-embryo," which denotes a "false phase of human development," said Dr. Claudia Navarini, professor in the School of Bioethics at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University..
"It seemed to have definitively, unequivocally disappeared, discarded from common and scientific language," Navarini told ZENIT.
"Instead, the term 'pre-embryo' is back again," appearing "unexpectedly in scientific and popular magazines, in newspaper articles and television debates," she said.
For example, it is a term that "appears a dozen times in an article on assisted procreation in this month's issue of the Italian scientific review Le Scienze," Navarini said. The term is "used carelessly" as is the concept "fertilized ovules," the bioethicist continued.
In fact, the term "'pre-embryo' … has had very little to do with scientific rigor since its appearance," she warned.
"It was coined in 1979 by embryologist Clifford Grobstein, a specialist in the study of frogs, who admitted that in this way he wanted to 'reduce the status of the early human embryo," Navarini explained.
At that time, "the birth of the first test-tube baby, Louise Brown" in 1978 "caused the dizzying proliferation of centers of in vitro fertilization," she said.
Because of this, "the then U.S. secretary of health, Joseph Califano, arousing ethical concerns about what was presented as human experimentation, called publicly for research on the early human embryo," Navarini said.
Then "Grobstein tried to resolve the concerns by declaring the early human embryo a 'pre-embryo,' namely, a non-person," she continued.
According to Navarini, "Subsequently the term was used in two important international venues: the Warnock Commission in Great Britain, directed to establishing the licit realms of human experimentation and techniques of assisted reproduction, and the Ethical Committee of the American Society for Fertility, of which Grobstein himself was a member."
Then "the scientific literature, both the specialized as well as the popular, appropriated the term, which soon became a most useful persuasive instrument of public opinion on the ethical innocuousness of embryonic manipulation," she stressed.
In fact, "in all the documents favorable to manipulation of the 'pre-embryo,' one can identify some criteria that justified its distinction from the 'real embryo,' which would appear magically on the 14th day of life and after," Navarini continued.
"Such criteria were based on the observation according to which around the 14th day of life some substantial novelties would occur in the development of the tiny man," such as "the completion of implantation in the maternal womb, initiated around the fifth, sixth day after conception," or "the increase of cellular differentiation," the bioethicist noted.
But "in reality, biological research itself has established with certainty that such 'progress' in embryonic development does not represent substantial novelties, but is part of the uninterrupted evolution of the organism from the first instant, the fertilization, until the last, the person's death," Navarini clarified.
She added that from the moment of fertilization and after, "the human being has some fixed biological properties: coordination -- namely, the fact of presenting a functionally organized unit according to an established object and autonomously pursued by the organism's genetic program; gradualness -- namely, the progressive constitution through different phases of development of the final form of the individual, according to his own identity, individuality and uniqueness."
These arguments "have met with broad consensus in the scientific community, to the almost total prohibition of the ambiguous expression," Navarini emphasized.
Yet, "in recent years, the attempts at massive distribution of the morning-after pill on one hand, and the interest in furthering research with embryonic stem cells on the other, have re-established the old debate on the human individuality of the early embryo, this time not strictly at the scientific level, but cultural and political" as well, the professor said.
"In other words, we are before a great and conscious lie," she warned.
She added: "As C.W. Kisher states: The so-called pre-embryo is a false stage of human development invented by an amphibian embryologist for political reasons, only. It has no credible scientific justification. Thus, the inclusion of this term into the language of human embryology has become a hoax of gigantic proportion.'"
ZE04092003
Maybe they've realized that "fetus" in Latin, means "young one"-and now they've turned to a new, more antiseptic word to hide the humanity of the unborn child...
ROME, SEPT. 20, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Promotion of embryonic stem cell research and "morning-after" pills has led to the resurfacing of a false term in public discourse, warns a bioethicist.
That term is "pre-embryo," which denotes a "false phase of human development," said Dr. Claudia Navarini, professor in the School of Bioethics at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University..
"It seemed to have definitively, unequivocally disappeared, discarded from common and scientific language," Navarini told ZENIT.
"Instead, the term 'pre-embryo' is back again," appearing "unexpectedly in scientific and popular magazines, in newspaper articles and television debates," she said.
For example, it is a term that "appears a dozen times in an article on assisted procreation in this month's issue of the Italian scientific review Le Scienze," Navarini said. The term is "used carelessly" as is the concept "fertilized ovules," the bioethicist continued.
In fact, the term "'pre-embryo' … has had very little to do with scientific rigor since its appearance," she warned.
"It was coined in 1979 by embryologist Clifford Grobstein, a specialist in the study of frogs, who admitted that in this way he wanted to 'reduce the status of the early human embryo," Navarini explained.
At that time, "the birth of the first test-tube baby, Louise Brown" in 1978 "caused the dizzying proliferation of centers of in vitro fertilization," she said.
Because of this, "the then U.S. secretary of health, Joseph Califano, arousing ethical concerns about what was presented as human experimentation, called publicly for research on the early human embryo," Navarini said.
Then "Grobstein tried to resolve the concerns by declaring the early human embryo a 'pre-embryo,' namely, a non-person," she continued.
According to Navarini, "Subsequently the term was used in two important international venues: the Warnock Commission in Great Britain, directed to establishing the licit realms of human experimentation and techniques of assisted reproduction, and the Ethical Committee of the American Society for Fertility, of which Grobstein himself was a member."
Then "the scientific literature, both the specialized as well as the popular, appropriated the term, which soon became a most useful persuasive instrument of public opinion on the ethical innocuousness of embryonic manipulation," she stressed.
In fact, "in all the documents favorable to manipulation of the 'pre-embryo,' one can identify some criteria that justified its distinction from the 'real embryo,' which would appear magically on the 14th day of life and after," Navarini continued.
"Such criteria were based on the observation according to which around the 14th day of life some substantial novelties would occur in the development of the tiny man," such as "the completion of implantation in the maternal womb, initiated around the fifth, sixth day after conception," or "the increase of cellular differentiation," the bioethicist noted.
But "in reality, biological research itself has established with certainty that such 'progress' in embryonic development does not represent substantial novelties, but is part of the uninterrupted evolution of the organism from the first instant, the fertilization, until the last, the person's death," Navarini clarified.
She added that from the moment of fertilization and after, "the human being has some fixed biological properties: coordination -- namely, the fact of presenting a functionally organized unit according to an established object and autonomously pursued by the organism's genetic program; gradualness -- namely, the progressive constitution through different phases of development of the final form of the individual, according to his own identity, individuality and uniqueness."
These arguments "have met with broad consensus in the scientific community, to the almost total prohibition of the ambiguous expression," Navarini emphasized.
Yet, "in recent years, the attempts at massive distribution of the morning-after pill on one hand, and the interest in furthering research with embryonic stem cells on the other, have re-established the old debate on the human individuality of the early embryo, this time not strictly at the scientific level, but cultural and political" as well, the professor said.
"In other words, we are before a great and conscious lie," she warned.
She added: "As C.W. Kisher states: The so-called pre-embryo is a false stage of human development invented by an amphibian embryologist for political reasons, only. It has no credible scientific justification. Thus, the inclusion of this term into the language of human embryology has become a hoax of gigantic proportion.'"
ZE04092003
9.18.2004
Pope Tells of Hopes for Eucharistic Year
Meets With 130 Newly Appointed Bishops
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, SEPT. 17, 2004 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II expressed the hope that the upcoming Eucharistic Year will help the faithful rediscover the importance of this sacrament.
The Pope mentioned this today in Castel Gandolfo, when meeting with 130 newly appointed bishops who attended a refresher seminar, organized by the Vatican congregations for Bishops and for Eastern Churches.
"With the consecration, the bishop becomes fully a teacher, priest and guide of the Christian community," the Holy Father said. "This is why Christ, the divine Teacher, must always be at the center of his [the bishop's] ministry, present both through the Word of Scripture as well as in the sacrament of the Eucharist."
"I very much hope that the Year of the Eucharist, which will begin on October 10 with the opening of the International Eucharistic Congress, will constitute a providential occasion to understand more profoundly the central importance of the Eucharistic sacrament in the life and activity of each local Church," he said. The congress will open in Guadalajara, Mexico.
"Bonds of fraternal charity are reinforced around the altar and the awareness is revived in all believers of belonging to the one people of God, of which the bishops are pastors," the Pope added.
John Paul II reminded the prelates of their duty "to watch over the celebration of the sacraments and worship in general, and that the desire of the faithful be respected to participate in worthy celebrations where nothing is improvised."
"You are conscious that the mystery of sanctification requires the testimony of a holy life," he said. "The Spirit of God, which has sanctified you through the episcopal consecration, awaits your generous daily response. The testimony of our life is necessary to confirm what we teach."
The bishops, from the Churches of the East and West, arrived a week ago on pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Peter. They represent some 20 countries. The Pope said that such episcopal meetings foster "communication and communion among the Churches." The bishops' seminar ended today.
ZE04091705
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, SEPT. 17, 2004 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II expressed the hope that the upcoming Eucharistic Year will help the faithful rediscover the importance of this sacrament.
The Pope mentioned this today in Castel Gandolfo, when meeting with 130 newly appointed bishops who attended a refresher seminar, organized by the Vatican congregations for Bishops and for Eastern Churches.
"With the consecration, the bishop becomes fully a teacher, priest and guide of the Christian community," the Holy Father said. "This is why Christ, the divine Teacher, must always be at the center of his [the bishop's] ministry, present both through the Word of Scripture as well as in the sacrament of the Eucharist."
"I very much hope that the Year of the Eucharist, which will begin on October 10 with the opening of the International Eucharistic Congress, will constitute a providential occasion to understand more profoundly the central importance of the Eucharistic sacrament in the life and activity of each local Church," he said. The congress will open in Guadalajara, Mexico.
"Bonds of fraternal charity are reinforced around the altar and the awareness is revived in all believers of belonging to the one people of God, of which the bishops are pastors," the Pope added.
John Paul II reminded the prelates of their duty "to watch over the celebration of the sacraments and worship in general, and that the desire of the faithful be respected to participate in worthy celebrations where nothing is improvised."
"You are conscious that the mystery of sanctification requires the testimony of a holy life," he said. "The Spirit of God, which has sanctified you through the episcopal consecration, awaits your generous daily response. The testimony of our life is necessary to confirm what we teach."
The bishops, from the Churches of the East and West, arrived a week ago on pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Peter. They represent some 20 countries. The Pope said that such episcopal meetings foster "communication and communion among the Churches." The bishops' seminar ended today.
ZE04091705
9.16.2004
Did you check out this program last night?
This was a glimpse into the lives of C.S. Lewis and Freud, with a round table type discussion with a variety of influential people: a lawyer, a doctor, a Jungian psychologist, a cinematographer, to name a few.
The second half is on September 22 on PBS at 9 PM ET.
The second half is on September 22 on PBS at 9 PM ET.
9.12.2004
How many Catholics do you know that believe In-Vitro is OK?
Yes, there are Catholics who believe we should not impose our morality on others...you know the rhetoric. When a DRE I know started spouting about it, I offered my prayers for her and my expired NC Registers to her.
Enter Catechists teaching kids the faith and arguing vehemently in favor of any and all infertility treatments, with no thought to the Nazism of selective reduction, because of the heartbreak of not being able to conceive.
Our hearts go out to all who have struggled with this cross. May we be strong enough to pray as Jesus did in Gethsemane.
Please help us, Lord, to offer this suffering for the good of the Body of Christ...for the young girl who is being pressured into an abortion by her mother or boyfriend, even husband; for the single mothers struggling heroically; for the mothers choosing abortion-believing they cannot handle another child...the list goes on.
Enter Catechists teaching kids the faith and arguing vehemently in favor of any and all infertility treatments, with no thought to the Nazism of selective reduction, because of the heartbreak of not being able to conceive.
Our hearts go out to all who have struggled with this cross. May we be strong enough to pray as Jesus did in Gethsemane.
Please help us, Lord, to offer this suffering for the good of the Body of Christ...for the young girl who is being pressured into an abortion by her mother or boyfriend, even husband; for the single mothers struggling heroically; for the mothers choosing abortion-believing they cannot handle another child...the list goes on.
9.11.2004
How This Voter's Guide Helps You
Check out this Voter's Guide for Serious Catholics--
I just ordered 200 of these pamphlets. Our music ministry Revelation12 will distribute them at our next Living Rosary. It is not PC for us to mention any names, so we figured this would be a good way to get our point across.
I also sent one anonymously to someone in my family(I won't mention any names!)who votes the other party out of habit, not realizing what they now represent.
I just ordered 200 of these pamphlets. Our music ministry Revelation12 will distribute them at our next Living Rosary. It is not PC for us to mention any names, so we figured this would be a good way to get our point across.
I also sent one anonymously to someone in my family(I won't mention any names!)who votes the other party out of habit, not realizing what they now represent.
9.01.2004
LIFE AND DEATH TUG OF WAR
Florida high court
hears 'Terri's Law'
Justices consider arguments in case of brain-disabled woman
------------------------------------------------------------------
September 1, 2004
By Sarah Foster
The latest act in the closely watched legal drama of Terri Schindler-Schiavo opened yesterday in Tallahassee as attorneys before the Florida Supreme Court debated the constitutionality of the emergency legislation that allowed Gov. Jeb Bush to halt the starvation death of the 40-year-old, brain-injured woman last fall.
Passed by the Legislature in October, "Terri's Law" gave the governor authority to override a court-ordered removal of the disabled woman's feeding tube.
The seven justices were not asked to decide if Terri should live or die, but whether the measure violated provisions enshrined in Florida's constitution: the doctrine of separation-of-powers between the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government and the right to privacy.
It was the first time the high court had agreed to consider any aspect of the contentious case, which began in 1998 when Terri's estranged husband and legal guardian, Michael Schiavo, sought permission from the court to withdraw the tube his incapacitated wife needs to receive food and water. His intentions were challenged by Robert and Mary Schindler, Terri's parents, and the two sides have been at loggerheads ever since.
The hearing began at 9 a.m. and lasted under an hour, with each side allotted 20 minutes to present its case and answer questions posed by the justices. The brief hearing was an opportunity for lawyers to summarize briefs filed with the high court in July and early August and perhaps score a few extra points.
Answering a question by Chief Justice Barbara Pariente, Bush attorney Robert Destro said the law did not violate the separation-of-powers principle nor was the authority given Bush by the Legislature a "super-appellate review power," as Pariente characterized it.
"The Legislature gave this power to the governor because the governor historically … [is] the ultimate defender of people's civil rights in the state of Florida -- he's sworn to see that the law's faithfully executed," said Destro, a professor of law at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and an expert on civil rights.
"This is the opportunity for the governor to raise the due process question on behalf of Terri Schiavo," he said. "The allegation here is that Terri Schiavo was denied due process in the proceedings below" [in the trial court].
Destro said it added "that extra level of protection" to Florida's statutes on civil rights for disabled individuals like Terri.
Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, argued that the fundamental issue was Terri's right to make her own decisions.
"In essence what the governor is trying to do … is re-litigate and force the re-adjudication of Terri's rights that have already been fully and finally litigated in the courts of this state," he said.
"The violation here is taking from the patient and giving to the state the power to make medical treatment choices."
Felos said the role of the courts had been "trampled," that it was "absolutely extraordinary for the governor to argue that the Legislature in 18 hours and the governor in a matter of hours somehow possess some wisdom regarding the matter of Terri Schiavo that could not have been ascertained by the justices of this state in six years."
Justice Charles Wells told Bush attorney Ken Connor he was "having trouble" because it seemed to him that the law applied only to this particular case and was an attempt by the Legislature to set aside the final judgement.
Connor said the law did not reverse the lower court's order, for reasons given by the appeal court in 2001 -- that as long as Terri is alive, the order is subject to recall and is executory in nature.
"The mandate of the court has been complied with," Connor declared. "The order of the court was not that Terri Schiavo should have nutrition and hydration withdrawn until she was dead. It wasn't like an order that said 'so-and-so should be hanged by the neck until dead.'"
The justices did not say when they would rule on the case.
Questionable circumstances
As WorldNetDaily has reported, Terri suffered severe brain damage in 1990, when she collapsed under questionable circumstances in the St. Petersburg apartment where she lived with her husband. For reasons never satisfactorily explained, oxygen to her brain was cut off for several minutes, leaving her severely brain-disabled, unable to talk, and dependent upon a feeding tube for sustenance.
Terri left no written instructions detailing what she would want if she were ever incapacitated, and is unable to communicate whether she would prefer being fed though a feeding tube or starved to death. But since 1998 Schiavo has insisted his wife, whom he refuses to divorce, told him before her collapse that she would never want to live "by artificial means."
During a weeklong trial in Jan. 2000, Schiavo persuaded probate Judge George Greer that Terri is in a "persistent vegetative state," or PVS, which under Florida law allows a feeding tube withdrawn from a non-terminally ill person.
Florida law also allows simple oral statements, recalled by friends and family members years after they're allegedly made, to be considered "clear and convincing" evidence of a person's wishes. Schiavo convinced the judge that his version his wife's wishes was correct.
Terri's parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, and her siblings dispute Michaels contentions. They claim that Terri is alert, has a strong will to live, and could be rehabilitated with therapy. Over a dozen physicians, therapists, and speech pathologists agree with the parents. The Schindlers also maintain that Schiavo's interests are conflicted since he has lived with another woman for at least nine years with whom he has had two children.
Through a series of legal maneuvers Terri's parents managed to keep the case and their daughter alive, but their options appeared to have run out last year when the 2nd District Court of Appeal made a final ruling in Schiavo's favor and the Florida Supreme Court refused to hear the case.
Last October, the brain-disabled woman suffered six days without food and water before state lawmakers, in response to enormous public outcry, passed "Terri's Law" and Bush was able to order her feeding tube reinserted. His action was immediately challenged by Schiavo and attorney George Felos, with the American Civil Liberties Union jumping in on Schiavo's side as co-plaintiff.
Circuit Judge W. Douglas Baird overturned Terri's Law in May, ruling that the law unconstitutional in that it allowing the governor to override a court decision he didn't agree with and to intervene in a private medical matter. Bush appealed the decision, and the case went directly to the high court.
The stakes are high and both sides know it.
"The issue for Terri is whether her constitutional rights will be honored or trampled; but for me, you and every other Floridian, it's who will control your body," Felos told the Orlando Sentinel before the hearing. "If this is allowed to stand, then whenever the governor and legislature don't like the medical decisions you make, they can send the police to your house and force you to have surgery or chemo or a medical procedure you don't want."
Connor sees it otherwise, though he agrees with Felos about the importance of the case.
"[The stakes] couldn't be higher," Connor said. "For Terri Schiavo, we are literally talking about life and death. Is she going to be starved to death? Is she going to be protected by the state? This case also could have enormous impact on the lives of other profoundly handicapped and disabled people."
Members of the disability community are fully aware of the ramifications of the case.
In anticipation of yesterday's hearing, representatives of seven of the 17 organizations listed on the friends-of-the-court brief filed in July by the advocacy organization Not Dead Yet held a press conference in Tallahassee to draw media attention to their concerns.
"We wanted to tell the press, which has ignored the disability interest in this case, who we are," Diane Coleman, president of Not Dead Yet, told WorldNetDaily.
"We believe that Terri's case is a landmark case that if wrongly decided could dismantle the constitutional protections that disabled people – particularly those in guardianship – depend on for their lives," she said.
The hearing drew many of Terri's supporters and members of her family to Tallahassee, but until the last minute it seemed that Connor – who had carried the banner for Bush almost from the minute Felos launched his lawsuit against the governor – wouldn't be at the big event.
When the Florida Supreme Court agreed in June to hear the case, the justices scheduled oral arguments for Aug. 31, stating there would be "no continuance" (postponement) unless there was a showing of "extreme hardship." It was a strange choice of dates, since it is the day for Florida's Primary Elections. Moreover, it was selected without consulting the attorneys – a highly unusual action.
Unfortunately, Connor had a prior commitment. He's lead trial counsel for an elderly plaintiff in Mississippi, who is suing a nursing home for neglect. The jury trial was scheduled to begin Aug. 30 and expected to last two to three weeks. He immediately requested a continuance, arguing his was a case of "hardship."
The plaintiff is a 70-year-old woman, "and as such, the importance of having her case tried as expeditiously as possible is manifest," Connor's co-counsel, Camille Godwin, told the high court in a written petition. She explained that because of the complexity of issues in the nursing home case, the trial had been postponed once already and the judge had made it clear that she'd grant no more continuances.
Godwin emphasized that Bush had selected Connor to represent his interests in the Terri's Law case specifically because of his skills and experience as a trial attorney and his understanding of constitutional issues.
It was close, but the court voted four-to-three against a continuance.
Connor declined to comment on the denial. But attorney Patricia Anderson, who represents Terri's parents in the multi-year legal battle with their son-in-law, told WorldNetDaily it was "a first" in her experience.
"In 22 years of practicing law I've never seen an appellate court refuse to accommodate another court's earlier scheduled event and put the lawyer in a conflict," she said, even when the other court is in a different state.
"In other words, regardless of location, the courtesy extended by one court to another court is always observed and the latecomer (in this case, the Florida Supreme Court) always defers to the earlier."
Also, because it's difficult and expensive for the system to assemble a jury, a jury trial takes precedence over an appeal hearing, and this was a jury trial, she said.
'The Rule of Terri's Case' – reversed
Discussing the court's sidestepping of customary scheduling procedures, Anderson reminded WND of what she calls "The Rule of Terri's Case" – that "all rules and all laws will be suspended if this will hasten Terri's death."
Anderson says she doesn't know why this is so, only that it is. And it can be seen operating at every point in the court system, beginning at the trial court level and working right up the judicial ladder.
"If a statute or a rule or a procedure or a rule of law articulated in the case is followed in every other circumstance, it will not be followed in Terri's case if not following it will hasten her death.
"You can't ever forget the Rule of Terri's Case," she declared.
But the judge in Mississippi had an emergency, and on Monday afternoon recessed the court until 1 p.m. the following day.
There was just enough time for Connor to fly to Tallahassee for the hearing and be back in Mississippi after lunch.
It was a strange twist in the case – another first. For once, the Rule of Terri's Case didn't hold.
Tuesday's hearing was televised live on C-Span 2, and will be replayed on C-Span on Saturday.
Court documents and other information are posted on the Schindler family website.
Links to all "Terri briefs" are on the Florida Supreme Court website, public information.
Recent stories:
Disability groups back Jeb Bush on Shiavo case
Terri's parents fight on despite setbacks
Judge dismisses Schindlers' petition
Schiavo case to highest state court
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Read WorldNetDaily's unparalleled, in-depth coverage of the fight to save Terri Schindler-Schiavo.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Sarah Foster is a staff reporter for WorldNetDaily
hears 'Terri's Law'
Justices consider arguments in case of brain-disabled woman
------------------------------------------------------------------
September 1, 2004
By Sarah Foster
The latest act in the closely watched legal drama of Terri Schindler-Schiavo opened yesterday in Tallahassee as attorneys before the Florida Supreme Court debated the constitutionality of the emergency legislation that allowed Gov. Jeb Bush to halt the starvation death of the 40-year-old, brain-injured woman last fall.
Passed by the Legislature in October, "Terri's Law" gave the governor authority to override a court-ordered removal of the disabled woman's feeding tube.
The seven justices were not asked to decide if Terri should live or die, but whether the measure violated provisions enshrined in Florida's constitution: the doctrine of separation-of-powers between the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government and the right to privacy.
It was the first time the high court had agreed to consider any aspect of the contentious case, which began in 1998 when Terri's estranged husband and legal guardian, Michael Schiavo, sought permission from the court to withdraw the tube his incapacitated wife needs to receive food and water. His intentions were challenged by Robert and Mary Schindler, Terri's parents, and the two sides have been at loggerheads ever since.
The hearing began at 9 a.m. and lasted under an hour, with each side allotted 20 minutes to present its case and answer questions posed by the justices. The brief hearing was an opportunity for lawyers to summarize briefs filed with the high court in July and early August and perhaps score a few extra points.
Answering a question by Chief Justice Barbara Pariente, Bush attorney Robert Destro said the law did not violate the separation-of-powers principle nor was the authority given Bush by the Legislature a "super-appellate review power," as Pariente characterized it.
"The Legislature gave this power to the governor because the governor historically … [is] the ultimate defender of people's civil rights in the state of Florida -- he's sworn to see that the law's faithfully executed," said Destro, a professor of law at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and an expert on civil rights.
"This is the opportunity for the governor to raise the due process question on behalf of Terri Schiavo," he said. "The allegation here is that Terri Schiavo was denied due process in the proceedings below" [in the trial court].
Destro said it added "that extra level of protection" to Florida's statutes on civil rights for disabled individuals like Terri.
Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, argued that the fundamental issue was Terri's right to make her own decisions.
"In essence what the governor is trying to do … is re-litigate and force the re-adjudication of Terri's rights that have already been fully and finally litigated in the courts of this state," he said.
"The violation here is taking from the patient and giving to the state the power to make medical treatment choices."
Felos said the role of the courts had been "trampled," that it was "absolutely extraordinary for the governor to argue that the Legislature in 18 hours and the governor in a matter of hours somehow possess some wisdom regarding the matter of Terri Schiavo that could not have been ascertained by the justices of this state in six years."
Justice Charles Wells told Bush attorney Ken Connor he was "having trouble" because it seemed to him that the law applied only to this particular case and was an attempt by the Legislature to set aside the final judgement.
Connor said the law did not reverse the lower court's order, for reasons given by the appeal court in 2001 -- that as long as Terri is alive, the order is subject to recall and is executory in nature.
"The mandate of the court has been complied with," Connor declared. "The order of the court was not that Terri Schiavo should have nutrition and hydration withdrawn until she was dead. It wasn't like an order that said 'so-and-so should be hanged by the neck until dead.'"
The justices did not say when they would rule on the case.
Questionable circumstances
As WorldNetDaily has reported, Terri suffered severe brain damage in 1990, when she collapsed under questionable circumstances in the St. Petersburg apartment where she lived with her husband. For reasons never satisfactorily explained, oxygen to her brain was cut off for several minutes, leaving her severely brain-disabled, unable to talk, and dependent upon a feeding tube for sustenance.
Terri left no written instructions detailing what she would want if she were ever incapacitated, and is unable to communicate whether she would prefer being fed though a feeding tube or starved to death. But since 1998 Schiavo has insisted his wife, whom he refuses to divorce, told him before her collapse that she would never want to live "by artificial means."
During a weeklong trial in Jan. 2000, Schiavo persuaded probate Judge George Greer that Terri is in a "persistent vegetative state," or PVS, which under Florida law allows a feeding tube withdrawn from a non-terminally ill person.
Florida law also allows simple oral statements, recalled by friends and family members years after they're allegedly made, to be considered "clear and convincing" evidence of a person's wishes. Schiavo convinced the judge that his version his wife's wishes was correct.
Terri's parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, and her siblings dispute Michaels contentions. They claim that Terri is alert, has a strong will to live, and could be rehabilitated with therapy. Over a dozen physicians, therapists, and speech pathologists agree with the parents. The Schindlers also maintain that Schiavo's interests are conflicted since he has lived with another woman for at least nine years with whom he has had two children.
Through a series of legal maneuvers Terri's parents managed to keep the case and their daughter alive, but their options appeared to have run out last year when the 2nd District Court of Appeal made a final ruling in Schiavo's favor and the Florida Supreme Court refused to hear the case.
Last October, the brain-disabled woman suffered six days without food and water before state lawmakers, in response to enormous public outcry, passed "Terri's Law" and Bush was able to order her feeding tube reinserted. His action was immediately challenged by Schiavo and attorney George Felos, with the American Civil Liberties Union jumping in on Schiavo's side as co-plaintiff.
Circuit Judge W. Douglas Baird overturned Terri's Law in May, ruling that the law unconstitutional in that it allowing the governor to override a court decision he didn't agree with and to intervene in a private medical matter. Bush appealed the decision, and the case went directly to the high court.
The stakes are high and both sides know it.
"The issue for Terri is whether her constitutional rights will be honored or trampled; but for me, you and every other Floridian, it's who will control your body," Felos told the Orlando Sentinel before the hearing. "If this is allowed to stand, then whenever the governor and legislature don't like the medical decisions you make, they can send the police to your house and force you to have surgery or chemo or a medical procedure you don't want."
Connor sees it otherwise, though he agrees with Felos about the importance of the case.
"[The stakes] couldn't be higher," Connor said. "For Terri Schiavo, we are literally talking about life and death. Is she going to be starved to death? Is she going to be protected by the state? This case also could have enormous impact on the lives of other profoundly handicapped and disabled people."
Members of the disability community are fully aware of the ramifications of the case.
In anticipation of yesterday's hearing, representatives of seven of the 17 organizations listed on the friends-of-the-court brief filed in July by the advocacy organization Not Dead Yet held a press conference in Tallahassee to draw media attention to their concerns.
"We wanted to tell the press, which has ignored the disability interest in this case, who we are," Diane Coleman, president of Not Dead Yet, told WorldNetDaily.
"We believe that Terri's case is a landmark case that if wrongly decided could dismantle the constitutional protections that disabled people – particularly those in guardianship – depend on for their lives," she said.
The hearing drew many of Terri's supporters and members of her family to Tallahassee, but until the last minute it seemed that Connor – who had carried the banner for Bush almost from the minute Felos launched his lawsuit against the governor – wouldn't be at the big event.
When the Florida Supreme Court agreed in June to hear the case, the justices scheduled oral arguments for Aug. 31, stating there would be "no continuance" (postponement) unless there was a showing of "extreme hardship." It was a strange choice of dates, since it is the day for Florida's Primary Elections. Moreover, it was selected without consulting the attorneys – a highly unusual action.
Unfortunately, Connor had a prior commitment. He's lead trial counsel for an elderly plaintiff in Mississippi, who is suing a nursing home for neglect. The jury trial was scheduled to begin Aug. 30 and expected to last two to three weeks. He immediately requested a continuance, arguing his was a case of "hardship."
The plaintiff is a 70-year-old woman, "and as such, the importance of having her case tried as expeditiously as possible is manifest," Connor's co-counsel, Camille Godwin, told the high court in a written petition. She explained that because of the complexity of issues in the nursing home case, the trial had been postponed once already and the judge had made it clear that she'd grant no more continuances.
Godwin emphasized that Bush had selected Connor to represent his interests in the Terri's Law case specifically because of his skills and experience as a trial attorney and his understanding of constitutional issues.
It was close, but the court voted four-to-three against a continuance.
Connor declined to comment on the denial. But attorney Patricia Anderson, who represents Terri's parents in the multi-year legal battle with their son-in-law, told WorldNetDaily it was "a first" in her experience.
"In 22 years of practicing law I've never seen an appellate court refuse to accommodate another court's earlier scheduled event and put the lawyer in a conflict," she said, even when the other court is in a different state.
"In other words, regardless of location, the courtesy extended by one court to another court is always observed and the latecomer (in this case, the Florida Supreme Court) always defers to the earlier."
Also, because it's difficult and expensive for the system to assemble a jury, a jury trial takes precedence over an appeal hearing, and this was a jury trial, she said.
'The Rule of Terri's Case' – reversed
Discussing the court's sidestepping of customary scheduling procedures, Anderson reminded WND of what she calls "The Rule of Terri's Case" – that "all rules and all laws will be suspended if this will hasten Terri's death."
Anderson says she doesn't know why this is so, only that it is. And it can be seen operating at every point in the court system, beginning at the trial court level and working right up the judicial ladder.
"If a statute or a rule or a procedure or a rule of law articulated in the case is followed in every other circumstance, it will not be followed in Terri's case if not following it will hasten her death.
"You can't ever forget the Rule of Terri's Case," she declared.
But the judge in Mississippi had an emergency, and on Monday afternoon recessed the court until 1 p.m. the following day.
There was just enough time for Connor to fly to Tallahassee for the hearing and be back in Mississippi after lunch.
It was a strange twist in the case – another first. For once, the Rule of Terri's Case didn't hold.
Tuesday's hearing was televised live on C-Span 2, and will be replayed on C-Span on Saturday.
Court documents and other information are posted on the Schindler family website.
Links to all "Terri briefs" are on the Florida Supreme Court website, public information.
Recent stories:
Disability groups back Jeb Bush on Shiavo case
Terri's parents fight on despite setbacks
Judge dismisses Schindlers' petition
Schiavo case to highest state court
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Read WorldNetDaily's unparalleled, in-depth coverage of the fight to save Terri Schindler-Schiavo.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Sarah Foster is a staff reporter for WorldNetDaily
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