Judge in Terri Schiavo Case Ignored New Federal Law, Pro-Life Group Says

Judge in Terri Schiavo Case Ignored New Federal Law, Pro-Life Group Says

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 22, 2005

Tampa, FL (LifeNews.com) -- The federal judge who issued a ruling today refusing to stop Terri Schiavo's painful starvation death ignored the new federal law in the special bill Congress passed over the weekend, a pro-life group says.

Burke Balch, J.D., the director of the medical ethics department at the National Right to Life Committee, said, "Judge Whittemore’s ruling refusing to feed Terri while a full trial is conducted in federal court flouts the clear intent of Congress in passing the Federal Terri’s Law."

Balch says the ruling is based on a "clear legal error" that the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals must reverse.

The new federal law instructs the federal district court to examine and violation of Terri's rights "notwithstanding any prior State court determination and regardless of whether such a claim has previously been raised, considered, or decided in State court proceedings.”

Balch says Judge Whittemore's conclusion that the Schindlers do not have a “substantial likelihood of success on the merits” is "based entirely on his judgment about the adequacy and accuracy of the state court proceedings."

In fact, the judge wrote that, "This court concludes that Theresa Schiavo's life and liberty interests were adequately protected by the extensive process provided in the state courts."

According to Balch, that's exactly what the Congressional bill required him not to do.

Balch said that Judge Whittemore, a Clinton appointee, should have allowed the injunction to stop Terri's painful starvation death and taken the time to conduct a trial on the merits of Terri's parents' lawsuit.

"The inconceivable has happened, and obviously should immediately be corrected by the appellate court," Balch concludes.