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<P>Scott,</P>
<P>From what I've heard and read, Ms. Schiavo's husband is her guardian, and has made his decision to pull the feeding tube in his role as guardian. There is an opportunity to oppose a person's bid to become guardian, but if people can't come to some sort of an agreement, the result is going to be a zero-sum game. The winner gets to make the decisions, the loser doesn't have a say. Since there's no room for compromise on this issue, it was going to end up in court with one side winning and the other losing. But how does this become an issue for the federal courts?</P>
<P>I agree with your statement that both her parents and her husband have legitimate positions. But don't you think that the Congressional hearings and participation isn't anything more than grandstanding? How many of these people would allow Terri Schiavo to end her own life if that were her position? We have an Administration that has abandoned the traditional conservative state's rights position to attack the decision of Oregon voters to allow physician-assisted suicide.</P>
<P>I won't pretend to know what the right decision is in Ms. Schiavo's case, and I'm glad I've reduced my own decision to paper. I would prefer that Congress spend a little less time deciding what should happen with Ms. Schiavo and more time looking at what how Rachel Corrie was killed in the West Bank.</P>
<P>Sunil Ramalingam<BR></P></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>>From: Scott Dredge <sdredge@yahoo.com>
<DIV></DIV>>To: vision2020@moscow.com
<DIV></DIV>>Subject: RE: [Vision2020] Terri Schiavo and the US Congress
<DIV></DIV>>Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2005 13:57:25 -0800 (PST)
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Then there really isn't a conflict with your
<DIV></DIV>>hypothetical scenario, is there Tom? Your kid's
<DIV></DIV>>spouse would make the final call on your kid's fate -
<DIV></DIV>>regardless of your position - and that would be the
<DIV></DIV>>end of it.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>However, in this case Terri Schiavo's parents want
<DIV></DIV>>their daughter alive. Hence Tom Delay's et. al.
<DIV></DIV>>involvement. You completely missed the point of my
<DIV></DIV>>post which is there are two legimate sides to this
<DIV></DIV>>battle and both the parents and the husband think that
<DIV></DIV>>they are fighting in Terri's best interest.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>And I completely agree. Having a living will would
<DIV></DIV>>avoid this mess.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>-Scott
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