Terry Schiavo: How Can This Happen In This Country?

How is it possible? How could it happen in the United States of
America? We could understand it if this happened in Nazi
Germany or in Stalin’s Russia or in Mao’s China, but how could it
happen in America?

How can a nation whose core principles protect the rights of life
and liberty for every citizen allow (even condone) a woman to be
slowly and painfully starved to death? This is beyond
comprehension.

There are so many elements to this story that it is very difficult to
deal with them all, especially in one column. Let me try to
highlight a couple of the more glaring lessons that come out of this
tragic story.

Under Florida statutes, Terri’s husband, Michael, is legally
authorized to make life or death decisions on behalf of his wife.
These statutes are, no doubt, rooted in the principle that the
marriage relationship of a man and a woman is the cornerstone of
the family and of all society. In principle, this is a very good thing.
No one, at least not me, wants the state meddling in the affairs of
the family except under dire and extreme circumstances.

However, are not the circumstances surrounding the Terri Schiavo
affair dire and extreme? Does not the state intervene in family
matters hundreds, even thousands, of times every year for matters
much less severe than those surrounding Terri Schaivo?

Obviously, state laws recognizing the authority and right of a
spouse to speak for his or her mate in life-threatening matters
hinges on the presupposition that the spouse truly loves his or her
mate and seeks the mate’s best interest. Unfortunately, too many
times, a spouse will prove by his or her actions that he or she does
not have the mate’s best interests at heart, and the state is forced to
intervene.

Can any objective person who is even vaguely familiar with Terri’s
story not readily admit that there is more than ample evidence of
misconduct and mismanagement of Terri’s care and oversight by
husband Michael Schiavo? This part of the story is a no-brainer!

Where is the curiosity for truth and the desire for justice on the part
of local and state law enforcement, state attorneys, and local and
state judges located in Pinellas Park and in the State of Florida? Is
there not plenty of circumstantial evidence to suggest that Michael
is acting out of motives that are unclear, uncertain, and perhaps
even unscrupulous?

Somewhere within the vast bureaucracy of law enforcement and
the state judiciary, there must be mechanisms in place to
circumvent state ordered starvation! Yet, despite all the hullabaloo
of Florida politicians, Terri Schiavo is slowly dying of starvation
and dehydration! I cannot imagine a more painful death.

Does anyone in their right mind really believe that the starvation of
a young woman whose medical condition is anything but certain
(after all, more than 30 physicians, including numerous specialists,
have emphatically declared that Terri Schiavo is not in a
“persistent vegetative state”) is what lawmakers had in mind when
they created the state laws that are now being used to justify
Terri’s tortuous death? Get real!

Another glaring lesson is that of how the executive and legislative
branches of government (both state and federal) are ceding power
to the judiciary at a frightening pace! For all practical purposes, we
do not have three “separate but equal” branches of government
anymore. Instead, we have an all-powerful judiciary with no
checks and balances provided by the other two branches. The Terri
Schiavo case shines neon lights upon this reality.

There is no question to anyone who understands the Separation of
Powers doctrine that Governor Jeb Bush has the discretionary
authority and obligation to faithfully execute his state’s laws
protecting the right to life. This same authority is given to all state
governors. And in matters relating to the federal government, this
same authority is granted to the President of the United States.

In Governor Bush’s case, Article I, Section 2, of the Florida State
Constitution clearly says, “[a]ll 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.” Furthermore, Article
I, Section 2, states that no person shall be deprived of any right
because of “physical disability.”

Further still, Article IV, Section 1, of the Florida State Constitution
emphatically says that “the supreme executive power” of the State
of Florida is vested in the “governor, who shall take care that the
laws be faithfully executed.”

Neither is any chief executive bound by the opinions of the
judiciary. Thomas Jefferson said in 1819 that “[E]ach of the three
departments has equally the right to decide for itself what is its
duty under the constitution without regard to what the others may
have decided for themselves under a similar question.”

President Andrew Jackson agreed with Jefferson. He once
observed that “[judicial] precedent is a dangerous source of
authority, and should not be regarded as deciding questions of
constitutional authority.” Jackson also categorically stated that a
president (or governor) is bound by his oath of office to decide
matters of constitutional right and power according to the
executive’s interpretation of the constitution, not according to the
judiciary’s interpretation!

Consider also that Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist No. 78
that the exercise of judicial power is subject to the check and
balance of the executive branch, which, alone, has the power to
enforce a judicial order.

Thus, if a court order is contrary to the law of the inalienable right
to life, as the order in the Schiavo case surely is, then Governor
Bush has the vested authority to intervene and stop any action
pursuant to that court order. In other words, Jeb Bush could have
taken custody of Terri Schiavo and seen to it that her feeding tube
was not removed at anytime, all the political rambling and double-
speak notwithstanding!

However, instead of faithfully executing the laws of Florida, which
protect people such as Terri Schiavo, Jeb Bush decided to wash his
hands of the matter and turn Terri over to the will of the judiciary.
Shades of Pontius Pilate!

It should be clear to anyone willing to see that while Terri Schiavo
suffers what must be an agonizing death, Lady Liberty is also
dying. Her feeding tube, the feeding tube of constitutional
government and bedrock principle, has been removed, and she is
starving for want of the fundamental fluids that maintain her health
and vitality.

Oh! I’m sure readers will be pleased to know that the same State of
Florida that has given its blessing to the slow starvation death of
Terri Schiavo has just arrested a rancher in Immokalee, Florida, for
starving his cows. According to press reports, his remaining cows
were seized and fed by Domestic Animal Services. How
comforting!

© Chuck Baldwin

NOTE TO THE READER:

Chuck Baldwin’s commentaries are copyrighted and may be
republished, reposted, or emailed providing the person or
organization doing so does not charge for subscriptions or
advertising and that the column is copied intact and that full credit
is given and that Chuck’s web site address is included.

Radio or television Talk Show Hosts interested in scheduling an interview with Chuck should contact
chuck@chuckbaldwinlive.com.

Please visit Chuck’s web site at http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com.
When responding, please include your name, city and state. And,
unless otherwise requested, all respondents will be added to the
Chuck Wagon address list.

To subscribe to these columns, send a message to
majordomo@chuckbaldwinlive.com with the words      subscribe
chuck-wagon      in the body of the message.