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In a tragic irony, September 11 was supposed to be the death-ordering date. But St. Petersburg, Florida attorney Pat Anderson, attorney for Terri's family, may have struck legal gold in her and her clients' heroic struggle to save Terri's life. She may have found a legal argument that should, at least for now, prevent Terri's demise. This is the gist
of Anderson's approach: Terri should be allowed reasonable rehabilitation attempts before Judge Greer orders her dehydrated to death. Refusing this clearly humane and merciful request would be to intentionally cause Terri harm. Some might even argue that refusing Terri any chance to live would be a non-voluntary euthanasia homicide. Judge Greer may just be listening. Rather than ordering the food tube immediately clamped as had been widely anticipated, he has taken the matter under advisement. Greer is expected to render his decision later this week. If Pat Anderson's motion is denied, I know she will appeal. And well she should. Her approach is not a ploy to stall for time; it is a serious and credible legal argument that deserves careful consideration. During any appeal, Terri's dehydration should be put on hold until these crucial legal issues that affect each and every cognitively disabled person on a feeding tube in Florida are sorted out. If Greer orders the dehydration to proceed without giving Terri a chance to rehabilitate, he will have demonstrated that he views her as a less than complete person. In such case, Floridians should begin to ponder their legal and political options against Judge Greer (recalling him or voting him out of office). Now, about Governor Jeb Bush: When I recently wrote about Terri's case, I reported that Bush had received more than 27,000 e-mails and other communications demanding that he intervene to save Terri's life. I also reported that he had responded by writing a letter to Judge Greer requesting that he appoint a guardian ad litem. Gov. Bush meanwhile has received up to 34,000 citizen communications. The governor, however, has so far refused to do more than write a letter. He continues to refuse his administration's formal intervention or make her a ward of the state — or even explain why Florida law prevents him from at least trying. Fortunately, Judge Greer's hesitation and Pat Anderson's advocacy give people concerned about Schiavo's case more time to continue pressuring Governor Bush to stand in the breach. Here's the 411:
— Wesley J. Smith is a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute and an attorney and consultant for the International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. His revised and updated Forced Exit: The Slippery Slope From Assisted Suicide to Legalized Murder was recently published by Spence Publishing. |
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eptember
11, 2003, was to be the beginning of the end for Terri Schindler Schiavo.
Last Thursday, a judge was scheduled to order the intentional dehydration
of the cognitively impaired Florida woman, at the request of her husband.
Mercifully, however, the law got in the way. (For more background on the
case, 
Ending a
patient's life by dehydration involves not one, but two, discreet acts:
