First, this case has boiled down to Michael Schiavo’s testimony that it was Terri Schiavo’s wish not to be put on life-prolonging technologies, including feeding tubes.

He and his attorney said Terri made it clear years ago that she would not want to live in such a condition — even though she never made a living will. They said she once made the comment to her best friend after seeing a movie in which a character was in such a state. “She said, ‘No tubes for me,’ ” Michael Schiavo said.

Her feeding tube was inserted on February 25, 1990. Michael Schiavo petitioned the courts in May of 1998 to have the tube removed.

Wouldn’t that mean he was actually acting counter to her wishes for over 8 years?

In fact, it wasn’t until the settlement money from the original lawsuit was paid, that Michael Schiavo had a DNR placed in Terri’s medical chart. But if is contention is that this was her pre-injury wishes… why did he not object to the initial insertion of the tubes shortly after the injury?

Second, if starvation is not painful, why does she need morphine?

Third, despite the fact that courts have ordered the feeding tubes removed pursuant to the questionable wishes as relayed by Michael, why does that include surrounding the Hospice with armed guards and prevention of the parents from taking in their own food and water to supply to their daughter?

Even if the court is acting in a manner so as to follow her alleged wishes not to have life-prolonging technology, how on earth does this include preventing regular food and water from being given to her?

A living will only comes into effect when you are terminally ill. Being terminally ill generally means that you have less than six months to live. In a living will, you can describe the kind of treatment you want in certain situations. A living will doesn’t let you select someone to make decisions for you.

A durable power of attorney (DPA) for health care is another kind of advance directive. A DPA states whom you have chosen to make health care decisions for you. It becomes active any time you are unconscious or unable to make medical decisions. A DPA is generally more useful than a living will. But a DPA may not be a good choice if you don’t have another person you trust to make these decisions for you.

Living wills and DPAs are legal in most states. Even if they aren’t officially recognized by the law in your state, they can still guide your loved ones and doctor if you are unable to make decisions about your medical care. Ask your doctor, lawyer or state representative about the law in your state.

A do not resuscitate (DNR) order is another kind of Advance Directive. A DNR is a request not to have cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if your heart stops or if you stop breathing. (Unless given other instructions, hospital staff will try to help all patients whose heart has stopped or who have stopped breathing.) You can use an Advance Directive form or tell your doctor that you don’t want to be resuscitated. In this case, a DNR order is put in your medical chart by your doctor. DNR orders are accepted by doctors and hospitals in all states.

An interesting look at ground zero of the Terri Schiavo case. Our prayers our with you all.

Witnesses Could Only Describe Him as “Fat, Dumb and Smelling of Krispy Kreme”…

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/4307741/detail.html

It’s not surprising that there’s a report out today by the American Center for Voting Rights showing there were concerted efforts to circumvent the laws and register illegal voters during the 2004 campaign by third party groups. Even less surprising is the organizations being named in the report.

Third party organizations, especially ACT, ACORN and NAACP engaged in a coordinated �Get Out the Vote� effort. A significant component of this effort appears to be registering individuals who would cast ballots for the candidate supported by these organizations. This voter registration effort was not limited to the registration of legal voters but, criminal investigations and news reports suggest, that this voter registration effort also involved the registration of thousands of fictional voters such as the now infamous Jive F. Turkey, Sr., Dick Tracy and Mary Poppins. Those individuals registering these fictional voters were reportedly paid not just money to do so but were, in at least one instance, paid in crack cocaine.

I don’t know that this would constitute “news” to anyone with the mental capacity above a 3 year old. I was there, behind enemy lines on election day, and saw the fraud firstand.

The Democrats were successful in 1960. They were almost successful in 2000. It’s obvious they’ll keep trying until they succeed again. Remember what Hugh says…

(Hat Tip: Matt)

Her lawyers can’t even get her parents’ names right on the Habeus Corpus peitition.

And it appears someone in this case could face either a second- or third-degree felony according to Florida law:

765.1115 Falsification, forgery, or willful concealment, cancellation, or destruction of directive or revocation or amendment; penalties.–

(1) Any person who willfully conceals, cancels, defaces, obliterates, or damages an advance directive without the principal’s consent or who falsifies or forges the revocation or amendment of an advance directive of another, and who thereby causes life-prolonging procedures to be utilized in contravention of the previously expressed intent of the principal, commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

(2) Any person who falsifies or forges the advance directive of another or who willfully conceals or withholds personal knowledge of the revocation of an advance directive, with the intent to cause a withholding or withdrawal of life-prolonging procedures contrary to the wishes of the principal, and who thereby because of such act directly causes life-prolonging procedures to be withheld or withdrawn and death to be hastened, commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

It has been stipulated in court that Terri Schiavo did not have a formal written Advanced Directive. If she did, we wouldn’t be hearing about this case today. Acording to the definitions section of this statute:

765.101 Definitions.–As used in this chapter:

(1) “Advance directive” means a witnessed written document or oral statement in which instructions are given by a principal or in which the principal’s desires are expressed concerning any aspect of the principal’s health care, and includes, but is not limited to, the designation of a health care surrogate, a living will, or an anatomical gift made pursuant to part X of chapter 732.

Michael Schiavo has testified that Terri Schiavo’s instructions were to reject “life-prolonging procedures” including nutrition and hydration.

Bob and Mary Schindler have testified that Terri Schiavo did not convey instructions to reject “life-prolonging procedures” including nutrition and hydration.

They can’t both be right. And if both parties are swearing under oath that they know the absolute truth, one of them is lying… and is “falsifying or forging” the oral advanced directive of Terri Schiavo.

Should we believe the loving parents who want to care for their child? Or do we believe a man who showed no respect for his wedding vows by committing adultery, who advised medical staff not to treat his ailing wife for a simple infection knowing that directive would likely result in her death, who is accused (in sworn testimony) of saying, “When is she going to die?,” “Has she died yet?” and “When is that bitch gonna die?”

Aside from the investigation that ought to ensue regarding how Terri was injured (is Michael Schiavo trying to cover up his own criminal behavior - he has demanded a cremation immediately after her death to prevent an autopsy…) there ought to be an investigation into who has been falsifying or forging the Oral Advanced Directive of Terri Schiavo.

Treating Women Like Cattle…

If we did, this would be a crime… just like this was…

(Hat Tip: Virginia - via email)

The top two stories this week involve cases that could’ve potentially been prevented if people had taken the right precautions.

First, the case of Terri Schiavo ought to encourage EVERYONE to prepare a Living Will (aka “Physician’s Directive” or “Advanced Directive”) as soon as possible. This will remove any misunderstandings or doubt about what you would or would not like to receive in the way of life-supporting medical care/treatment.

Second, the case of Jessica Lunsford, who was killed by a registered sex offender and predator of the worst kind. Parents should take a moment and search their states’ Registered Sex Offender List to see if such predators are lurking in their neighborhood. Some argue these folks should be left alone because they’ve either served their time or only received some probation or deferred adjudication in a deal with prosecutors. I disagree. These kind of people are not capable of rehabilitation. If their mind is so sick and twisted that they could engage in such unspeakable acts, they should forever live with the stigma and the rest of normal society should be alerted to their perverse presence.

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington State
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

Or yes, go to the site Michelle Malkin lists, since apparently they’ve already done the leg work of consolidating all of the registries before me and I didn’t find it soon enough. Ugh…

UPDATE: Apparently John Evander Couey is nowhere to be found on Florida’s Sex Offender Registry website (see UPDATE 2 below). A search of PublicData.com reveals his convictions and the address in Homosassa, FL (listed as Marie Dixon’s address) where he was released as an “inactive offender” on May 6, 1997. Other tidbits from his rapsheet include:

Burglary/Forced Entry - residence - July 30, 1977 - sentenced to 10 years
Burglary/Forced Entry - residence - July 31, 1977 - adjudication withheld
Burglary - February 28, 1981 - sentenced to 7 years
Lewd/Lascivious conduct with child under 16 - April 8, 1991 - sentenced to 5 years
Forgery - April 9, 1995 - adjudication withheld
Hot checks - February 22, 2001 - sentence unknown

This says alot about our system. A man can harm a child in the most disgusting way and get a sentence less than he would if he broke into a house. It also shows a spotty history of parole/probation supervision:

Supervision start-end dates:
Dec 07, 1977 to Jan 19, 1978
Jul 22, 1980 to Jul 21, 1982 - during this time he committed his 3rd burglary
Jul 16, 1993 to Apr 5, 1996 - during this time he committed forgery
May 6, 1997 to Dec 07, 1998
Apr 24, 2001 to Apr 23, 2003

UPDATE 2: Thanks to commenter Julie who provided a link to Couey’s former flyer in Florida’s Sex Offender Database. The address has been updated to reflect his current residence in Citrus County Jail as of March 20, 2005.

UPDATE 3: Couey charged with Capital Murder. He confessed. He led police to the body. I vote we skip the whole waste-of-taxpayer-money trial and grant Mark Lunsford his wish.

The good ol’ New York Times has a piece entitled, Experts Say Ending Feeding Can Lead to a Gentle Death detailing how the starvation death of Terri Schiavo is “gentle” and will cause “little discomfort”. But I wonder if the Times reporter will tell that to these people or these? (Hat tip: Michelle)

Maybe if Terri were an al-Qaida terrorist or Guantanamo detainee, these liberals would start taking an interest in her plight.