From terrisfight.org:

http://www.house.gov/writerep/
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

Other email contacts, i.e., house leadership:

http://www.conservativeusa.org/mega-cong.htm

Posted by: Resume Feeding at March 20, 2005 10:29 AM

You sound like there's a giant conspiracy throughout the media and the Democrats to kill Terri.

You give the media and the Democrats too much credit.

And, honestly, no one wants to kill Terri. I think people are just coming to different conclusions when they ask themselves, "What would I want if I were Terri?"

Still, this whole thing is a family matter. I just wish both sides of the family could sit down and work out a deal.

The way this is being handled right now is a travesty.

Posted by: Jesse at March 20, 2005 10:33 AM

Rescue those who are being taken away to death;
hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.
If you say, "Behold, we did not know this,"
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it,
and will he not requite man according to his work?

--Prov 24.11-12 (RSV)

Posted by: Resume Feeding at March 20, 2005 10:42 AM

Jesse,
We ALL wish it could be ironed out between the family members, probably no one more than the Schindlers themselves.
It's unfortunate (understatement of the century) that a family matter has had to come to this time and time again, and even more unfortunate that it's been politicized by people like Wexler and Blumenauer. Blumenauer's statement on his website is dripping with empty-headed partisan obstructionism. I'm glad those two aren't MY Congressional representatives--although I'd love to have the opportunity to vote them out.

Posted by: Beth at March 20, 2005 10:51 AM

To me, this struggle is about "justice". Just for the sake of argument, let's assume that Terri had indeed told Michael Schiavo that she would not want to live under this circumstance. But, given the sufferings and torture that Michael Schiavo has inflicted upon her throughout this year, ( http://www.zimp.org/stuff/ , see No. 22 Affidavit of Carla Iyer, R.N. and No. 23 Affidavit of Heidi Law, Certified Nursing Assistant), any reasonable person would come to a conclusion that Terri would want to see "justice" before closing her eyes peacefully. (I am saying "justice" here, not "revenge". They are totally different.)

This struggle is to seek "justice" for Terri. The involvement of Congress in this case is not to intrude our privacy nor to violate our rights. Instead, it is to bring justice to this case, since it is very obvious that there is absolutely no prospect for Terri to see justice under the judicial tyranny in Florida. The Congress has an obligation under the U.S. Constitution to assure Terri's right to due process.

Posted by: Miranda at March 20, 2005 11:09 AM

No one should be starved to death. Ever.

I am disgusted that many of these so-called "liberals" who have attacked the president over the past year because of the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib want to look the other way and say "it's none of our business" when a woman is being starved to death.

Posted by: JWL at March 20, 2005 11:28 AM

Has anyone else seen this?
http://www.residualforces.com/?p=52
It is very important for the public to know, spread it around

Posted by: triple_a at March 20, 2005 11:35 AM

As a liberal Democrat, I am appalled any Democrat in Congress would go anywhere NEAR the Schiavo case.

Wexler is going to lose his seat over this. He needs to back off.

Posted by: Susan Nunes at March 20, 2005 11:37 AM

Normally this case would be a "family matter," but Michael Schiavo has insisted it not be by REFUSING to relinquish his guardianship over his wife, despite all evidence to the contrary he is UNFIT.

If you want to blame anybody blame him, and blame the incompetent judge who refuses to hear any evidence contrary to his mistaken rulings.

Posted by: Susan Nunes at March 20, 2005 11:39 AM

Judicial conflict of interest apparently as a normal part of the judicial process was something I have not really understood. A case in point is how Judge Greer is able to consider appeals to his own rulings. How is that not a conflict?

Posted by: Resume Feeding at March 20, 2005 11:46 AM

In the meantime, Terri is still being starved, TORTURED.

Why isn't Congress/Jeb protecting Terri, and what can we do?

I am asking this question in the hopes that we can stir Terri's supporters to take some additional action that will result in PROTECTING Terri NOW.

All of this last minute flurry at the US Capitol is commendable, but Terri is STILL STARVING TO DEATH, RIGHT NOW.

I see 2 things:

1. The Congress must enforce its subpoena and move to protect Terri right now until the hearings are held. That means US Marshals with medical teams need to place Terri under their care IMMEDIATELY. We should be flooding Congress and esp. Sen. Enzi with this demand.

2. Jeb Bush MUST invoke the "Emergency Protective Services Intervention" section of Florida statutes Chapter 415.1051(2). Note the term "Emergency".

In my mind, legislative efforts are all well and good, but they take time and may still fail yet. Terri needs protection NOW if she is going to be called before Congress to testify. There is no telling what the "caregivers" may do to her between now and the hearings to impair her testimony and destroy evidence.

This is where I think our IMMEDIATE efforts and action are needed.

Contact Jeb Bush and Congress. DEMAND THEY TAKE TERRI INTO PROTECTIVE CUSTODY NOW.

Bryan

Posted by: Bryan at March 20, 2005 12:00 PM

Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Are you people insane?
Look, a bill written for just one person is unconstitutional. i think this is called a writ of attainder. So in order for the bill to pass a constitutional challenge, it must be written broadly enough to cover other citizens besides terri. Narrow scope? Delay's on crack if he thanks that's true.
Now think about that for a sec-- potential lawsuit generator? Will say, Medicaid/Medicare patients have to be kept alive on the taxpayers dime? We're voting for life over all, quality be damned!
And states rights be damned as well!

And then perhaps the supreme court will intervene, and we'll have the Roe v Wade decision for the right to die industry

Posted by: jinnderella at March 20, 2005 12:13 PM

Yeah, anything that the pro-death squad disagrees with is "unconstitutional", even if it isn't. We know that. That's why if Judge Greer is allowed to murder Terri, there will be sure a demand for replacing these activist judges that if the Democrats even think about filibustering the president's nominees, they'll be sorry they were ever elected.

This bill is doing nothing but applying the 14th Amendment to disabled people. Yeah, it's actually using the 14th Amendment CORRECTLY, isntead of using it to kill babies and take "God" out of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Posted by: JWL at March 20, 2005 12:23 PM

http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/128/7/559

Posted by: Research at March 20, 2005 12:24 PM

It is the charge of the Federal government to "provide for the common defense."

What's unconstitutional is sending this woman to her death, painfully, without her consent when she yelled Friday she wants to live.

Does that mean Congress should intervene in every case where a person is about to be denied life support? No, it doesn't. Terri isn't on life support, she is simply fed through a tube in her stomach. Just like thousands of people with, say, Colitis, or Krohn's Disease. Should we kill them as well? How about Alzheimer's patients? Dementia? What's going on here is an attempt to kill the damaged so as not to inconvenience the living.

If you think this is about one individual, you're wrong. This is about setting a precendent--for the euthanasia enthusiasts to LEGALIZE euthanasia across the country.

The Constitution is about protecting this country's citizens. Terri Schiavo is still a citizen of this country, and she was denied representation...Greer hasn't allowed her the simple right to an attorney!

And the medical expert in this case-Dr. Ronald Cranford is one of the most outspoken advocates of the “right to die” movement and of physician-assisted suicide in the U.S. today.

In published articles, including a 1997 op-ed in the Minneapolis–St. Paul Star Tribune, he has advocated the starvation of Alzheimer’s patients. He has described PVS patients as indistinguishable from other forms of animal life. He has said that PVS patients and others with brain impairment lack personhood and should have no constitutional rights.

But his definition of PVS is very different from that of Dr. Hammasfahr, a neurologist who treats patients who have brain injuries or strokes. I guess one's definition of PVS is if they've become 'inconvenient', while the other's definition is a medical evaluation.

Hammasfahr's 10 hour examination of Terri produced this conclusion: She is not PVS, and she is not in a coma and she would benefit from rehabilitation.

But that's not what the Greer Reaper is interested in. A perfectly healthy woman was admitted to Suncoast hospice 5 years ago; and there's only one reason you go into a hospice, folks. You go there to die.

Interestingly, Suncoast Hospice, according to the Empire Journal, owes the federal government around $14.8 million in fraudulent medicaire claims...for admitting people who were not terminally ill. Sounds to me like that place is a death factory for the "inconvenient".

Posted by: Cao at March 20, 2005 12:28 PM

No, JWL, a single person bill is unconstitutional. Even in the "narrow scope" version proposed by congress, it will still face a challenge on constitutional grounds. Umm, that will mean more delay in action even if it passes initially. Didn't you guys know that?

A person can die of dehydration in four to twenty days. Terri survived six days of having her tube removed before. How many days has it been?

Posted by: jinnderella at March 20, 2005 12:30 PM

TOO MANY

Posted by: Bryan at March 20, 2005 12:46 PM

It has been 47 hours, as of this writing....I have been counting as I am fasting too.

Why does the left complain if detainees are interrogated, calling it torture, and fight to cause the torture by starvation of an American citizen?

The left is full of hypocrites that hate our country and have no respect for life....unless that life is criminal and about to be executed.

Did you know that it is being reported that there are three cops IN terris room and two outside the door?

What, I wonder, must be going through her mind as she lies there slowly dying, knowing what is happening and seeing three officers of the peace, men that are sworn to uphold the law, serve and PROTECT, simply watching her die, not even lifting a finger to help her.

I wonder what is going through the minds of those officers as well.

Posted by: Kender at March 20, 2005 12:49 PM

There normal operating hours are between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. M-F. Tried leaving message; mailboxes are full.

Now what?

Posted by: TNP at March 20, 2005 12:50 PM

To Editor,

Byran is absolutely right. Terri's life is in imminent danger. Could you please post an "Urgent Acton" message to ask Terri's supporters to do as Byran suggested. That is,

(1) Request the Congress, especially Senator Enzi, to enforce the subpoena and take Terri into protective custody.

(2) Request Governor Jeb Bush to take Terri into protective custody.

(See Byran's message above.)

Posted by: Miranda at March 20, 2005 12:50 PM

Kender: FAX THEM A LETTER.

Posted by: Bryan at March 20, 2005 12:53 PM

Ok...I've emailed them yet again. But I'm not sure whether they're listening any more. What subject did y'all choose from the drop down list? Nothing seemed appropriate.

At any rate. I'm not sure our gov't is a representative one any more. Fixation on process and form appears to have superceded function. People just need to be creative and not get hung up on process. Do what their own individual moral compass tells them is right....process be da*ned. To let someone die a potentially heinous death (if she has consciousness, she will indeed suffer) just because you can't figure out a way around legal process is a cop out. Sometimes life ain't convenient and doesn't follow the rules. That doesn't mean you toss your morality out the window because the legal process is convoluted. So far, I hear the people against helping Terri predominantly mention that the law doesn't allow it, or the due process has been followed. Those arguments are irrelevent. the relevent questions are: Will she suffer dying by dehydration? Have the neccessary tests to definitively prove she's PVS been run? If you can't answer clearly on both counts, then by anyone's internal moral code, you'd have to find a way to spare her life until you clearly know both answers.

This country isn't about causing someone suffering needlessly, nor should it be simply about due process. I agree that this case has dragged on way too long and could have been answered years ago and for much less money than has been spent on it. It did so because of a court that was hung up on process and not willing to listen to alternate data. When peoples voices aren't heard, they will fight. That's why it's dragged on so long. The Schindler's voice has yet to be given it's day in court. Their alternative doctors views and bone scan data have met with deaf ears, due to fixation with previous judgements disallowing them.

Anyway, here's hoping that a few confused senators don't allow someone to die because they are concerned about legal process and paperwork. Sometimes individual rights are so important that one must intercede no matter what the consequences. Do what you have to and clean up the mess later.

Posted by: Ceci at March 20, 2005 1:00 PM

Ceci,

I picked "Health," since the subpoena was issued by Senator Enzi's Committee of Health, Education, Labor, and Pension.

Another subpoena was issued by House Representative Tom Davis' Government Reform Committee.

I believe sending to the following Congressmen would also be helpful because they support Terri and are influential:

Tom Delay (House Majority Leader)
Dennis Hastert (House Speaker)
Bill Frist (Senate Majority Leader)

Also:

Mike Martinez (Senator)
David Weldon (House Representative)

Posted by: Miranda at March 20, 2005 1:34 PM

The starvation death of anyone is appalling. You tell me what the reacton would be if this was being done to a a convicted prisoner, or one of the people held at Guantanamo Bay. It would be headlines in every paper and people would be screaming in the streets.

I will continue to call, email and get the word out.

It's disgusting that we've come to a point where we even have to 'discuss' what the right thing to do is.

Posted by: Mo at March 20, 2005 2:06 PM

Senate is on CSAN 2 right now!

Posted by: Caryn at March 20, 2005 2:15 PM

CSPAN 2

Posted by: Caryn at March 20, 2005 2:16 PM

My point is that only a judicial activist would claim that this bill only applies to one person. It clearly applies to all disabled people in this situation, and it gives them the same rights that murderers get. Oh, how terrible. How un-American and un-constitutional, giving disabled people the same rights as murderers. Let's allow the monster who just murdered Jessica Lunsford to appeal, appeal, and appeal some more for decades, but complain "It's already been 15 years for Terri, isn't that enough??"

Posted by: JWL at March 20, 2005 2:24 PM

JWL, the schindlers have had ten years of appeals, nineteen judges, four trials, umpteen neurologists, etc.
None of which resulted in the outcome they desired, so on it goes. Nothing will give them back their daughter, you cannot regenerate cortical tissue! And we are about to invite the Vamphyre of the federal government into our house, to involve the feds in the most personal of family decisions, forever!
I'll admit i'm biased by my own desires here. I can concieve of NOTHING more horrible then being trapped in a flesh prison with no interface for 16 years. Do you think she is psychicly screaming "please let me die" or "please let me live"? If there is anything of terri left in there. The law says the husband decides, the courts have seen no merit in all the claims of mis-diagnosis, spousal abuse, potential treatments, etc.
Do you think the opinion of one more judge will honestly make a difference? What if the federal court concurrs with the florida state court? what will you all do then?

Posted by: jinnderella at March 20, 2005 2:46 PM

Bunk. The appeals judges have ruled on matters of law, not on matters of fact.

The problem is with Judge Greer, who is in the pocket of Schiavo and Felos. He refuses to even consider ANY of the Schindler's claims.

This is about Terri's civil rights, nothing more and nothing less.

You and the other Michael supporters are SO wrong about this case.

Posted by: Susan Nunes at March 20, 2005 2:50 PM

I am not a michael supporter. i think he should allow the tests.
I am actually a registered republican, although i have strong libertarian tendencies.
The other thing that i am is a SCIENTIST and a PRAGMATIST.
1) terri has spinal fluid where her neo-cortex should be. trust me, there is nobody home. if there was any significant cortical function the schindlers would have been able to teach terri a yes-no protocol like eye blinks in the past fifteen years. they haven't because they can't.
2) We have NO TREATMENT FOR MISSING CORTICAL TISSUE. We cannot regrow it. So there is no hope.

Posted by: jinnderella at March 20, 2005 3:04 PM

Jinderella,
As a scientist and a pragmatist, you may be interested to know that the only reason it is said she has spinal fluid instead of cortical tissue is because all she was given was a CT scan, which is hardly an accurate measurement of the condition. Even to have a 40% accuracy in PVS diagnosis, she should have an MRI or PET scan. Furthermore, the clinical diagnosis is very weak--the doctors spent very little time with her in making the assessment, and far less than is commonly expected.

Please read this for more details:

http://www.blogsforterri.com/archives/2005/03/medical_facts_a.php

Not propaganda, it has the words of neurologists who know about these things.

You agreed that she should have the tests; then why should she be killed before she has them? The tests and a complete and accurate assessment might just prove all of the previous assumptions exactly wrong. If she doesn't have the tests and dies... Surely you see how wrong that is!

Posted by: Beth at March 20, 2005 3:54 PM

I am outraged that Terri's feeding tube was removed and this country is going to let her starve to death!! If this is the case where does it end? Dog's Tree's and even our cars are treated better then this. This is not a free country! It is Hitler all over agin!!!! And someone needs to stop this slaughter imediately!!! Or are you going to wait until it is too late? Do something NOW!!! Terri is an innocent human being and NO ONE has the right or the say to put her to her death!! She needs extra attention yes but in NO WAY does she deserve death!!! May GOD help her and the people who agree with the MURDER of Terri.....

Posted by: Sharon Johnson at March 20, 2005 3:59 PM

This is the Roe Vs Wade of Euthanasia.

Who will be next?

When our founding fathers wrote the constitution, do you think they could imagine this? Abortion, Euthanasia, etc? I doubt it. They died so we could be free and help the helpless.

And our country can't even get the real facts reported so everyone knows the truth.

I'm still praying for a miracle.

Posted by: ElizabethV at March 20, 2005 4:19 PM