The Indy Star has an article entitled, Lugar, Bayh support Schiavo law. From the article:
Lugar “believes it’s important to allow for the due process (of Schiavo’s case),” said Mark Hayes, a spokesman for the senator. “This is a very special case, and he simply wants to make sure that all of the details are examined before any decision is made.”
“Senator Bayh and every other senator agreed to allow the federal courts to intervene in this tragic case,” said Meghan Keck, a spokeswoman for Bayh.
Neither senator was on the floor when the bill came up for a vote Sunday afternoon. Hayes said Lugar was in Florida on vacation.
I’ve gotta say, I’m extremely disappointed in Bayh and Lugar. I guess it’s a good example of hard cases making bad law. Let’s be clear about the bill that Bayh & Lugar supported. It altered federal jurisdictional rules for the parents of Terri Schiavo and only the parents of Terri Schiavo so that the federal District Court could consider whether the federal rights of Terri Schiavo had been violated. Lugar’s statement that he wants to make sure that ll of the details are examined is mindblowing. This case has been litigated for years and years. Federal judges have already been asked to overturn the state court’s decision, and declined to do so. Schiavo’s parents have had more than due process, they’ve had extraordinary process. Then Congress comes along and passes a law because they don’t like the result.
I know “science” isn’t exactly popular in the halls of power these days, but the woman is gone; her empty husk lives on because Ms. Schiavo has become central to the lives of others who fear death so much that they refuse to recognize it when it arrives. Her rights have been well looked after by the legal system. Her husband is apparently trying to carry through with her wishes as best he can.
Congress has no business tampering with well settled legal principles on a one-time-only basis for the sake of making an excruciating marital decision even more difficult. Some things just aren’t Congress’s business, and Bayh and Lugar should know better.
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