Bush signs law to keep Terri Schiavo alive after having signed the law that allowed Sun Hudson to die 


Bush signed a law at 1:11 a.m. this morning giving a federal court jurisdiction in the case of Terri Schiavo, presumably so that it will order the reinsertion of a feeding tube to continue keeping her alive while the court deliberates on her situation. She has no hope of recovery and Florida courts have repeatedly agreed with her husband that she should be allowed to die. 

The Washington Post quotes Bush as saying, "I will continue to stand on the side of those defending life for all Americans, including those with disabilities."

A week ago, the Houston Chronicle reported that Texas Children's Hospital "gently removed the breathing tube that had kept Sun Hudson alive since his Sept. 25 birth [with a fatal and incurable form of dwarfism]. Cradled by his mother [who opposed removal of the breathing tube], he took a few breaths, and died."

The Dallas Morning News reported, "The hospital acted under a Texas law passed in 1999 that allows attending physicians, in consultation with a hospital bioethics committee, to discontinue life support when a patient's condition is hopeless. The law gives a parent or guardian 10 days to find another hospital or institution."

The 1999 Texas law was signed by then Governor George W. Bush. It allows Texas hospitals to remove futile life support from patients who can't afford to pay for it.

The two cases are similar. Neither Terri Schiavo nor Sun Hudson could survive except on life support. Life support could not improve what was wrong with either of them. It could only keep them "alive". 

Posted: Monday - March 21, 2005 at 09:28 AM          


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