The court-ordered starvation death of Terri Schindler-Schiavo has begun.
Thumbing his nose at congressional subpoenas designed to launch an investigation into the case that has captured worldwide attention, Circuit Court Judge George Greer ordered on Friday that Terri's sustenance and hydration tube be removed, claiming there is "no cogent reason" why Congress should intervene. "I don't think legislative agencies or bodies have business in the court's proceedings," Greer told attorneys during a conference call, according to a Florida television station.
The decision came amidst a last-minute flurry of activity in the Florida Legislature and U.S. Congress to pass a measure that would save the brain-disabled woman's life. But despite efforts by countless lawmakers and citizens across the country, Terri's feeding tube was removed shortly after the 1 p.m. Eastern deadline imposed by Judge Greer in late February. Congress is scheduled to meet today to pass a bill that would put the case into federal court and ostensibly order the reinsertion of Terri's feeding tube.
"Perhaps for the first time in American history," commented Alliance Defense Fund attorney Michael Johnson, "we have a court ordering essentially the murder of an innocent person." The injustice is staggering. Today, a guiltless woman is being executed by the most inhumane method imaginable, while those who have tirelessly worked to end her life walk free.
The acts of Judge Greer and his cohorts in the Florida court system can only be called one thing: Judicial terrorism.
For decades, the government of the United States soft-pedaled around terrorist actions overseas. Such negligence emboldened foreign terrorists to finally commit atrocities on our own soil. Similarly, the executive and legislative branches of government have turned a blind eye over time to abuses of power in the judicial branch. Our nation has now reached a point at which an activist judge, aided and abetted by a corrupt judicial system, can terrorize an entirely innocent woman by condemning her to a death universally recognized as one of the most inhumane ways to expire.
Death by dehydration is anything but quick and peaceful; it can last as long as two weeks. Terri will suffer extreme thirst, drying out her mouth. She will experience nausea and cramping in her arms and legs. Her skin will become dry and wrinkled as fluids are drawn from the skin to hydrate the organs. The mucous membranes of her mouth and lips will crack. Her breathing will become labored and difficult. Her muscles will spasm, resulting in extreme agitation. She may suffer seizures. And finally, she will do what her estranged husband, Michael Schiavo, and the other fans of the Culture of Death want her to do – she will die.
Our nation is consumed with the threat of terrorism from the Middle East. We value our own lives and we expect our government to protect us from the bombs and dictatorial maniacs mankind has produced. There's only one problem: While we obsess over al-Qaida and North Korea as the greatest threats to our national security, judicial terrorism is destroying the soul of our nation. The slow, painful starvation death that Terri has been unjustly condemned to is merely one bad cell in a cancerous tumor that is eating away at the very core of American conscience.
Frighteningly, many Americans are not even aware that such an egregious miscarriage of justice is taking place on their own soil. Some don't even care. Living in a country that still recognizes many God-given freedoms, our senses have become dulled to what tyranny and wickedness really are. As long as evil is neatly tucked away in hospices or abortion clinics, we go on with our everyday lives. As long as the heinous injustice doesn't affect us, we refuse to think about it.
America considers herself a civilized nation. We eschew the barbaric practices of ancient Rome, the religious conflicts of the Medieval period, and the mass genocide that took place in wars throughout the 20th century. Yet now, a entirely innocent woman, one who committed no crime other than requiring more love and attention than most other Americans, is starving to death on our watch. Are we really any less barbaric than Rome, or have we simply learned new ways to veil our wickedness behind the curtain of science, choice and a so-called "right to die"?
It's a searching question.
The Bible has been discounted by the intelligentsia of our modern era as old-fashioned and outdated, yet its words still convict the human heart with Truth: "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20).
Sometimes, it takes a kick in the face for individuals to wake up and realize tyranny is on their doorstep. The ongoing starvation of Terri Schindler Schiavo should be a disturbing reminder of what an out-of-control judiciary can do when the executive and legislative branches of government are slow to deal with it. Having come this far, both branches must boldly step forward and use the fullest extent of their powers to counter-balance this tyrannical judiciary.
If we don't wake up, what may come next is the Final Solution at our very own door.
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David N. Bass is a 19-year-old Christian homeschool graduate who has written for World Newspaper Publishing and is a regular columnist at AmericanDaily.com, IntellectualConservative.com and RenewAmerica.us. While attending college, he interns at a pro-family public-policy organization. Bass currently is working on his first novel.