Originally posted by Captain Virgil Hilts
This should never have reached the Federal level. Nonetheless, it has. The problem lies in florida's legal system.
Greer is in contempt of Congress, and I hope they nail him on it. He cannot okay having the tube removed if she has been called before Congress, he's overstepped his authority (not uncommon since judges now get to legislate from the bench). He needs to be removed from the bench and disbarred.
There is something seriously wrong going on. Her husband is obsessed with having her die. She had no living will. His word is not legal authority on which to discontinue life support, especially since life support ONLY includes the feeding tube.
It is a sad commentary on our society as a whole when murderers and child molesters cannot be executed without 20 years of appeals, but a helpless woman can be painfully starved to death over a period of days or weeks. This woman is going to die in a way that could only be classified as cruel, and equal to torture. You can't treat criminals or terrorists the way they will now treat her.
Personally I hope that her husband chokes on a freakin Big Mac this evening and ends up in the hospital needing the kind of care he refuses to allow his wife to have.
Judge Greer and Michael Schiavo should be locked in the room with her until the tube is reinserted or she dies. They need to bear personal witness to the results of their actions for however long it takes. Give them 4 ounces of water and a multivitamin per day and nothing else while they're there.
I'm not defending anything, and I'm not saying this to take a side. But for one second, stop and think. You are saying the husband is obsessed over seeing her dead. What if he is telling the truth though, and he really believes his wife is in her own personal kind of Hell trapped inside her own head. What if he believes truly that the best way to show his love for her is to end her torture?
While I cant claim to know what anyone in this family is going through, I've been faced with the possibility of being invalid. Not nearly as serious as this poor woman's case, and I was capable of making my own decisions and speaking. Its still depressing as hell to have a doctor tell you there is a damn good chance you will spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair. Lucky for me, he was wrong (or I was too stubborn to accept it, either way it worked out in my favor). It definitely changed my outlook though, and gave me some sympathy for people who have been handicapped or made invalid who seek death. I never understood it before.
All I'm saying is, if it truly was her wish not to live if machines were required, it should be honored. And no matter what anyone thinks of him, without proof he is the monster you all claim he is, as her husband HE should be the one to make that decision, not her parents. Not us. Not politicians who want to get a vote out of appearing humanitarian. Even if she is not in a PVS, she is still severely brain damaged.
That said, you guys are probably right, he probably is a POS and this whole thing is probably just a sham for him to get the money. But it might not be, and then you are sticking your nose into the private life of a husband and wife and her wishes regarding her death. IMO thats just not something the public needs to be in.
