Jeb Bush Could Save Terri Schiavo’s Life…If He Wanted

The following is a guest article submitted to the Bloggers' Best for Terri Schiavo. It was written by Doc Washburn, a Florida radio talk show host.

The following is copyright 2005 by Doc Washburn and used by permission.

By Doc Washburn

Recently, the US Supreme Court paved the way for the execution of Terri Schiavo beginning February 22. She is the brain-damaged woman whose husband has been trying to starve and dehydrate her to death for years. Florida Governor Jeb Bush should have responded, "You better believe I’m not going to allow an innocent woman to be executed in the most cruel way imaginable in my state! We wouldn’t do that to a dog, and I’m not about to let it happen to Terri Schiavo! No sir, not on my watch!" Instead, we got: "I will do whatever I can do within the powers that have been granted to me by law and by statute. I will do whatever I can. I'm not going to do more than that," and "I really don't know what options we have available, but I will take whatever options I think there are."

Perhaps I can help. Florida’s state constitution says "All natural persons, female and male alike, are equal before the law and have inalienable rights, among which are the right to enjoy and defend life and liberty, to pursue happiness...No person shall be deprived of any right because of race, religion,
national origin, or physical disability." The fact that a Circuit Judge continues to ignore Florida statutes does not change the state constitution. Jeb Bush took an oath to uphold that constitution and yet
(despite receiving 120,000 e-mails begging him to save her), he let Terri Schiavo starve (and dehydrate) for six days back in October 2003 until the Florida legislature passed a law that gave him political cover. Now that the courts have struck down "Terri’s Law", don't be surprised if Jeb behaves as if the constitution he swore to uphold is still not relevant to Terri Schiavo. Don't be surprised if he allows her husband to slowly starve and dehydrate her to death.

As you know by now if you’ve seen the videos, Terri tries to communicate and is fully aware of what is
going on around her. There is also medical evidence to suggest that a criminal investigation should be
launched to try to determine whether her husband may have caused her current disabled state back in 1990. What you probably don’t know is: (A) there never was a local criminal investigation of Terri’s case in Pinellas County; (B) I personally handed the medical evidence to Jeb at a public appearance he made at a nursing home dedication on August 21, 2003: and (C) former federal prosecutors (now with the Thomas More Law Center) gave Jeb all the legal justification he would have needed to personally intervene on Terri's behalf on the first two days of her six-day ordeal!

Consider his track record. On Day Two of Terri’s starvation (October 16,2003), Jeb said his legal staff
could find no statutory justification to intervene in the court decision that approved Terri's death.
Richard Thompson (chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center) shot back: "Nobody is asking the Governor to intervene in the civil case. We are asking him to initiate an independent criminal investigation based on a list of facts that suggest criminal wrongdoing. We have outlined for the Governor some of these facts, and confirmed his Constitutional authority to act. The fact that he has chosen to confuse the public by referring to the civil case, completely ignoring the request that we presented, reveals a lack of moral courage and political will. We expect the Governor to do the right thing, and so far, he has refused to do so."

In the ensuing 16 months, Jeb has steadfastly refused to order the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to do an investigation. Is he more concerned about how he is perceived by the editorial boards of Florida’s big daily papers (most of whom want Terri dead) than with saving an innocent woman's life? Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family recently "renewed his call for the preservation of the life of Terri Schiavo." If we really want that to happen, we need to put the heat on
Jeb. E-mail him at [email protected].

P.S. Did you catch what the swiftvets did to John Kerry? For that matter, have you noticed the growing influence of blogs? If Jeb lets Terri die, it probably would not be wise for him to run for office again.

Doc Washburn is a radio talk show host in Panama City, FL.

Comments

[Beth]

FYI: I posted this on Thursday. LINK

Note from Dory: Beth, Doc Washburn, who owns the copyrights to this article, also sent it to me on Thursday as his entry for inclusion in the Bloggers' Best for Terri Schiavo, and I was happy to oblige him.

[Paul Deignan]

The Florida Constitution, as I read this excerpt, will not help Terri directly. However, it does give power to those who wish to intervene by otherwise unlawful means to "defend life".

It appears that the parents could remove Terri from the threat of her husband and the hospital to kill her. When I say "remove", I mean to physically remove her from Florida.

France might be nice.

That's what I would do under these circumstances.

[Bud Brown]

It isn't too late, yet. There are still solutions to this problem. But where has the moral courage of our Christian bloggers been? And where are those Christian people in Florida who will stand up in civil disobedience if necessary, to do the RIGHT thing, regardless of what the LAW says?

[Sue Bob]

I have been e-mailing Jeb Bush. Even after reading your post, I am confused about what, logistically and legally he can do. I want to include it in e-mails. I understand the post--but what could he actually do?

Can he call for a criminal investigation and take Terri into custody? Can he issue an executive order?

[Dory]

Sue Bob, I don't have the expertise to answer your question. (This post was written by a guest writer, by the way, so I can't agree or disagree with his conclusion that Gov. Bush can do something. I just don't know.)

But he sure raises some interesting questions. Just what are the options when the courts rule in a way that fails to protect a person's rights?

Paul, in his comment, suggests removing her from Florida. But can the parents really do that when they are not her guardian? I sounds like a good idea, but I have a feeling they wouldn't get very far.

It seems that at least someone ought to be looking into the situation that caused Terri's injuries in the first place, especially in light of the bone scan that shows she "has a history of trauma," including broken and injured bones all over body.

[democrat]

This was reported in the San Jose Mercury News today (3/26/05):

"For a brief period, local police, who have officers around the hospice to keep protesters out, prepared for what sources called a showdown.

"In the end, the state agents and the Department of Children and Families backed down, apparently concerned about confronting local police outside the hospice.

``We told them that unless they had the judge with them when they came, they were not going to get in,'' said a source with the local police."

Martin Luther King Jr.'s powerful words spoken long ago still are relevant today:

"I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law."

Local law enforcement is taking orders from the Florida judiciary. America has not prepared herself to send her state or federal agents or military in a show of force to confront competing armed law enforcement departments, and no executive leader, so far, has shown the moral courage to order it.

Terri would have to be taken out of the United States, out of the reach of the judiciary. And until we get our judiciary back under our control no one will be safe, least of all the most vulnerable.

It's time we all wake up to this reality.

[PC]

What happened to Terry was a shame. But seeing this is a place where scripture is important and quoted. You also need to know that Doc Washburn is no longer a talk show host has not been since 2004 when he was fired. It would be wise when someone like him submits an article that it should have been checked to make sure he was telling the truth and not a lie.