Ms. Goodman:I would like to offer feedback on the column, "The Grim Lessons of Terri Schiavo," which is at: http://www.postwritersgroup.com/archives/good1104.htm and does NOT have the date of publication on the page. (PS: Dear WASHINGTON POST: Based on the web address, is it maybe 11-04-2004?)(--#1) You claim that "This is the ruling the Florida Legislature overturned so casually when it made Jeb Bush her judge, doctor and guardian." You are incorrect: The language of "Terri's Law" does not mention any particular court decision, ...but it **could** have:The 2004 Florida Statutes810.015 Legislative findings and intent; burglary.--(2) It is the intent of the Legislature that the holding in Delgado v. State, 776 So. 2d 233 (Fla. 2000) be nullified...Ah ha! This Florida Law, which has NOT been challenged, explicitly overturned a court decision, so Terri's Law, while is didn't ...could have! (Lawmakers can make law. Period. Judges must obey, like the little servants they are -and not violate separation of powers.)(--#2) You say: "Let everyone who has e-mailed or just wondered about biology or matrimony take a health-care proxy and pick your own decision-maker. Otherwise it could be a stranger named Jeb."My response would have been "I trust Jeb!" However, seeing he and his people FAILURE to enforce current felony abuse laws, that prohibit the act of starvation, I must admit I agree with you:825.102 Abuse, aggravated abuse, and neglect of an elderly person or disabled adult; penalties.--
3)(a) "Neglect of an elderly person or disabled adult" means:
1. A caregiver's failure or omission to provide an elderly person or disabled adult with the care, supervision, and services necessary to maintain the elderly person's or disabled adult's physical and mental health, including, but not limited to, food, nutrition, clothing, shelter, supervision, medicine, and medical services that a prudent person would consider essential... [editorial comment: Schiavo was denied basic antibiorics for a urinary infection, a violation of this section also, as this is medicine]
(b) A person who willfully or by culpable negligence neglects an elderly person or disabled adult and in so doing causes great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement to the elderly person or disabled adult commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided...
(c) A person who willfully or by culpable negligence neglects an elderly person or disabled adult without causing great bodily harm...commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided...
(--#3) Per http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/8/prweb146899.php press release, "Many citizens Decry Weaknesses in Florida’s “Terri’s Law;” Lakeland Resident Tries Untested Legal Approaches in Florida Supreme Court to Seek Compromise
Many citizens demand enforcement of State and Federal laws regarding abuse of both the elderly and disabled. They are speaking out against bias or lack of coverage in the press. 23 Outraged citizens give statements and sign with full contact information to validate."We gave an UNenedited statement at these URL's becasue the press release had to be edited for length:
http://hometown.aol.com/Gww1210/myhomepage/TerrisLawPressRelease.html
or
http://www.oocities.org/gordon_watts32313/TerrisLawPressRelease.html
"Will we be heard?"Gordon Wayne Watts
BS, The Florida State University, Biological and Chemical Sciences
AS, United Electronics Institute
821 Alicia Road
Lakeland, FL 33801-2113http://HomeTown.AOL.com/Gww1210 or http://www.GeoCities.com/Gordon_Watts32313
Home: (863) 688-9880 Work: (863) 686-3411 Voice&FAX: (863) 687-6141
Gww1210@aol.com ; Gww12102002@Yahoo.com
Truth is the strongest, most stable force in the Universe.
TRUTH doesn't bend to the will of tyrants.
Gordon Wayne Watts
Get Truth.
"First, they [Nazis] came for the Jews. I was silent. I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Communists. I was silent. I was not a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists. I was silent. I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me. There was no one left to speak for me." (Martin Niemoller, given credit for a quotation in The Harper Religious and Inspirational Quotation Companion, ed. Margaret Pepper (New York: Harper &Row, 1989), 429 -as cited on page 44, note 17, of Religious Cleansing in the American Republic, by Keith A. Fornier, Copyright 1993, by Liberty, Life, and Family Publications.
(Actually, they may not have come for the Jews first, as it's far more likely they came for the prisoners, mentally handicapped, and other so-called "inferiors" first -as historians tell us -so they could get "practiced up;" But, they did come for them -due to the silence of their neighbors -and due, in part, to their own silence. So the general idea is correct: "Speak up now, or forever hold your peace." --gordon)
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