Scott Tibbs
blog post
March 23rd, 2005

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Our corrupt legal system

A federal appeals court refused to allow the feeding tube to be put back into Terri Schiavo.

Our court system becomes more corrupt with each unconscionable decision to starve an innocent woman to death. When our court system, which is supposed to be an instrument of justice, becomes an ally of someone wishing to murder his wife, where do we turn?

I have said previously that Florida Governor Jeb Bush should have simply ignored court rulings and used state law enforcement to protect Terri from those who have tried to murder her. Now that the case is in the jurisdiction of the federal courts, President Bush should do the same: send in federal marshals to make sure Terri's feeding tube is reinserted.

Why should the courts be ignored? Because they have ignored Terri's 14th Amendment right to equal protection under the laws. When the courts abandon the Constitution (which is supposedly the supreme law of the land) other branches of government have the right and responsibility to uphold the Constitution. President Bush took an oath just two months ago to uphold the Constitution; overriding the federal courts and saving Terri's life would prove he takes that oath seriously.

If someone treated a dog the way Terri is being treated, people would be appalled. If a dog is sick and can no longer care for itself, the animal is put down in a quick and humane manner. If a dog owner were to simply decide to allow his pet to starve and dehydrate until it dies, the owner would go to jail. We would hear People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals loudly denounce this cruelty. Why is it that a dog is somehow more worthy of humane treatment than a human being?

I understand the desire not to have "heroic measures" taken to prolong someone's life. If someone expresses in a living will that he or she does not want to be hooked up to a ventilator, those wishes should be respected. If someone is incapacitated, and his or her family makes that decision, those wishes should be respected also.

That is not the case here. Providing food and water does not qualify as "heroic measures". If you take away a ventilator, someone may breathe on his or her own. If not, he or she will die quickly. If you take away food and water, the patient has no hope of survival.

The cognitive dissonance of those lobbying to have Terri murdered is obvious. They claim she has no brain function, that she has no hope of recovery, and that she is an "empty shell" that has no idea what is going on. Then, in the next breath, they claim it is "cruel" to keep her alive. How is it "cruel" to keep an "empty shell" alive? What harm is done by allowing her to live?

Over two decades ago, a newborn baby was starved to death in Bloomington, Indiana with the approval of a corrupt judicial system. We are about to see the same tragedy take place all over again. When will it be time to say "enough"?

Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done? Proverbs 24:11-12.