I'm doing a paper on passive euthanasia so obviously the whole Terri Schiavo case is included. I have a bunch of information, but I can't seem to find why it took so long for the judge to rule in favor of Michael. If he was her legal guardian, why was there such a fuss? Shouldn't he have just been able to decide, as her parents were no longer considered her legal guardian? I can't find the answer to this anywhere, so please help!
Thanks!
2007-11-29 08:12:01 · 6 answers · asked by heatherr 3 in Politics & Government ➔ Other - Politics & Government
Alright, I'm not asking for opinions here. The law states that the legal guardian decides in such a case. Whatever they believed his motives to be, he was still the legal guardian. Why did it take 15 years for that to be recognized?
2007-11-29 08:29:08 · update #1
The judges kept ruling in his favor, but the parents, conservative religious groups and Republican members of Congress kept trying to keep the right thing from happening. If the law had just been followed from the beginning, it would have been over quickly and quietly. Instead, certain special interests turned it into a circus sideshow.
OK, the reason it took so long was that her parents claimed that she was still a functioning human being and that she had not expressed a desire not to be kept alive by machines. So even though Michael said she had said this, and he was her legal guardian, it kept going through the courts simply because of the political charade it had become. The courts consistently came down on the husband's side, but the parents kept filing appeals. Even the federal government took time to try to block him.
2007-11-29 08:27:54 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
You don't understand where the issue of passive euthanasia would be hard to accept for the parents of their child when the (ex)husband gets to make the decision so they go to court to stop it???? O.K.
There were some other points here also....
Mr. Schiavo was due to receive insurance money upon her death. If I remember correctly he also claimed that all was already spent on her continual care while on life support. Another issue was Mr Schiavo had starting dating another women and wanted to marry her as he couldn't while his current wife was still alive. some people saw it as him wanting money and ridding himself of her so he could have someone else.
There were other issues as well. I'm sure a "search" will yield many news reports available so you will be able to see all the issues that both sides had and why "pulling the plug" becasue the law says the guardian has the right to decide is not as easily done as written. The biggest fight and decision was whether or not she was vegetative and not going to recover. They brought in many doctors with different opinions thus this took forever to decide.
Believe it or not it even comes down to the liberal vs conservative political issue that we face everyday with other things such as late term abortion, global warming, universal health care. Not every person is the same and will see views differently from others. It has always been this way and always will.
I don't think that it took 15 years for the actual decision. I believe that about after 10 he started to persue the issue and it took 5 years for the ultimate result. just because the law says something doesn't make it unstoppable nor right in the eyes of certain people and groups.
2007-11-29 16:30:09 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Parents have lots of money and a real good lawyer.
All you need to do is file a motion with the courts and nothing can be done untill it is resolved, dont like the answer go to a higher court or appeal the ruling.
2007-11-29 16:15:24 · answer #3 · answered by Fuzzybutt 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
He already had wanted out of the marriage so what was to stop him from just "finishing" her off to get done with it? Her family had her interests in mind and not just letting a husband get rid of a problem. They had heaps of information on that story all over the news and news story shows but I was so sickened by it that I didn't watch it very closely.
2007-11-29 16:21:28 · answer #4 · answered by bellgoddess1 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Because there are laws against killing people in this country, even if you are a legal guardian.
Death is forever, and if he really believed she was a vegetable, what's the rush?
She had become an inconvenience for him. All he wanted was the insurance money and the movie rights.
2007-11-29 16:20:30 · answer #5 · answered by righteousjohnson 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
the wheels of justice grind slowly.
2007-11-29 16:19:53 · answer #6 · answered by theo c 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋