![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
A few words about the sadness of Terri Schiavo's situation...
One word is is actually two: Living Wills.
Otherwise, these comments from several AP articles might interest you. The *** shows where AP broke the stories in the version I saw.
It is unclear whether federal courts have authority to hear the Schiavo case after Congress, in hopes of sidestepping state rulings siding with Michael Schiavo, passed an extraordinary law last weekend allowing federal court review in Schiavo's case only.
Legal experts said while the law is unusual, it's not unprecedented. The Constitution authorizes Congress to create federal court jurisdiction, and lawmakers frequently pass legislation that benefits one person or one corporation, such as provisions in the tax code.
The legislation makes clear it establishes no precedent beyond the Schiavo case. Justices typically are loath to intervene for cases with narrow impact, although Pepperdine law professor Douglas Kmiec argued the ramifications are much greater in this case.
"What Congress has said is, 'We can take that away from you. We can make the decision not yours, but that of a federal judge,'" Kmiec said. "That is a profound thing to say, and not just for the Schiavo case."
***
Fortunately, many of the American people also see a problem with the decision of Congress:
About seven in 10 Americans say Congress inappropriately intervened in the case of a brain-damaged woman whose relatives disagree over whether she should be allowed to die, according to a new poll.
About six in 10 said they agreed with the decision by a Florida judge to remove the feeding tube from 41-year-old Terri Schiavo, according to two polls out Monday.
Her husband wants her taken off life support after more than 14 years in which she has lived in a vegetative state. But her parents want her kept alive in case she responds to treatment someday.
Congress voted to shift her case into federal court for review after a state judge in Florida decided that her feeding tube should be removed. President Bush rushed back from a vacation in Texas to sign the emergency legislation.
***
Poll: Congress Should Sit Out Schiavo Case
About two-thirds in an ABC News poll said the political leaders who are trying to keep Schiavo alive are more concerned with using her case for political advantage than with her or the principles involved in keeping her alive. Some Republicans have suggested keeping Schiavo alive would be politically popular with their conservative base.
Almost that many in a CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll, nearly six in 10, said they think the feeding tube should be removed and felt they would want to remove it for a child or spouse in the same condition.
Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly. She can breathe on her own but has relied on the feeding tube to keep her alive.
The ABC News poll of 501 adults was taken Sunday night and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. The CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll of 909 adults was taken Friday through Sunday and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Update I read up on the details of the case, and found this:
"The brain scans clearly show that the entire cerebral cortex has been replaced by spinal fluid. No mindreading is needed to know that someone who no longer has a cerebrum is no longer with us."
This is from http://www.markarkleiman.com/ .
Tragic.
Otherwise, these comments from several AP articles might interest you. The *** shows where AP broke the stories in the version I saw.
It is unclear whether federal courts have authority to hear the Schiavo case after Congress, in hopes of sidestepping state rulings siding with Michael Schiavo, passed an extraordinary law last weekend allowing federal court review in Schiavo's case only.
Legal experts said while the law is unusual, it's not unprecedented. The Constitution authorizes Congress to create federal court jurisdiction, and lawmakers frequently pass legislation that benefits one person or one corporation, such as provisions in the tax code.
The legislation makes clear it establishes no precedent beyond the Schiavo case. Justices typically are loath to intervene for cases with narrow impact, although Pepperdine law professor Douglas Kmiec argued the ramifications are much greater in this case.
"What Congress has said is, 'We can take that away from you. We can make the decision not yours, but that of a federal judge,'" Kmiec said. "That is a profound thing to say, and not just for the Schiavo case."
***
Fortunately, many of the American people also see a problem with the decision of Congress:
About seven in 10 Americans say Congress inappropriately intervened in the case of a brain-damaged woman whose relatives disagree over whether she should be allowed to die, according to a new poll.
About six in 10 said they agreed with the decision by a Florida judge to remove the feeding tube from 41-year-old Terri Schiavo, according to two polls out Monday.
Her husband wants her taken off life support after more than 14 years in which she has lived in a vegetative state. But her parents want her kept alive in case she responds to treatment someday.
Congress voted to shift her case into federal court for review after a state judge in Florida decided that her feeding tube should be removed. President Bush rushed back from a vacation in Texas to sign the emergency legislation.
***
Poll: Congress Should Sit Out Schiavo Case
About two-thirds in an ABC News poll said the political leaders who are trying to keep Schiavo alive are more concerned with using her case for political advantage than with her or the principles involved in keeping her alive. Some Republicans have suggested keeping Schiavo alive would be politically popular with their conservative base.
Almost that many in a CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll, nearly six in 10, said they think the feeding tube should be removed and felt they would want to remove it for a child or spouse in the same condition.
Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly. She can breathe on her own but has relied on the feeding tube to keep her alive.
The ABC News poll of 501 adults was taken Sunday night and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. The CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll of 909 adults was taken Friday through Sunday and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Update I read up on the details of the case, and found this:
"The brain scans clearly show that the entire cerebral cortex has been replaced by spinal fluid. No mindreading is needed to know that someone who no longer has a cerebrum is no longer with us."
This is from http://www.markarkleiman.com/ .
Tragic.
no subject
no subject
The problem is, no doctor in their right mind would get between two siblings, for example, concerning their father having a massive stroke and flat-lining. If one can't bear to turn off the machines--then they won't turn off the machines.
It can get ugly, as the Schiavo case shows. And Schiavo will be sued by her family after Terri dies--bet on it. He won't be able to donate the rest of the money to science, if he had the inclination--he'll need it to pay for lawyers. So if he's greedy, as they claim, he still won't get it. If he sincerely is trying to follow her wishes, he's still screwed.