Parents Appeal to Governor to Help Schiavo
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James Joyner | Monday, March 28, 2005 |
Apparently, reports that Terri Schiavo’s parents had resigned themselves to her death and were going to begin handling themselves with dignity were premature.
Parents Appeal to Fla. Governor to Help Schiavo (Reuters)
Terri Schiavo’s parents appealed desperately to Florida governor Jeb Bush on Monday to intervene as their brain-damaged daughter slipped toward death 10 days after her artificial feeding was halted by court order. But the last-ditch effort by the parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, seemed unlikely to succeed as Bush has already ruled out such action. Their appeal came after the Schindlers ran out of judicial options over the weekend in their bitter seven-year legal fight against Schiavo’s husband to prolong her life. “Bob and Mary Schindler are begging Gov. Bush to step in and take custody of Terri,” said Father Paul O’Donnell, a Franciscan monk who is a spiritual adviser to the parents. “We’re begging the governor to step in, to be a man of courage and to put an end to this barbaric practice that’s taking place in Florida,” he told reporters outside the Florida hospice where Schiavo is being cared for.
The parents’ case has become a cause for Christian conservatives and drawn in the U.S. Congress, President Bush and his brother the Florida governor. But Jeb Bush, who tried unsuccessfully last week to get the state welfare agency to take custody of Schiavo and to push the state legislature into intervening, has made plain he does not have the power to do anything more to prolong Schiavo’s life although he remains an active supporter of the Schindlers. “From a personal perspective it just breaks my heart that we have not erred on the side of life,” Bush said on CNN.
What exactly they expect him to do at this point is a mystery.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia.
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Well, if he were a man of courage he'd get the Florida National Guard to storm the hospice and rescue Terri with bottled water and a cases of Ensure.
"handling themselves with dignity"
You've made your feelings about the case and the Schindlers known, not sure how appropriate it is to comment on the "dignity" of parents whose daughter is dying.
Is this comment really necessary?
So, fighting for a life isn't "Dignified"?
You know, her parents believe what is happening to her is wrong. I honestly don't blame them for trying to do what they think is right in this situation. I don't think Bush can really do anything-nor should he at this point, but I don't see any evil in them trying to get help.
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