Reply #7: Dean commented up Schiavo during the Dem Prez Primary campaign... [View All]

[Larkspur]

From a Nov. 2003 question, Dean comments on Shiavo case

Dean 'Appalled' That Florida Lawmakers Saved Schiavo
http://www.cnsnews.com/Politics/Archive/200311/POL20031107a.html>http://www.cnsnews.com/Politics/Archive/20...L20031107a.html

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Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) - Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean, who begins his campaign website greeting with the phrase, "As a medical doctor...," claims Florida Republicans should be "embarrassed" for intervening to save the life of Terri Schindler Schiavo last month. Earlier in the year, Dean publicly expressed his support for physician-assisted suicide.

Dean accused Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Republican state lawmakers of interfering in a "private matter" when they passed "Terri's Law," which allowed Bush to have the 39-year-old disabled woman's feeding tube reconnected after it was removed under court order at her husband's request. The former Vermont governor said he was "appalled" by Bush's intervention.

Terri suffered a brain injury in 1990 under questionable circumstances that left her severely disabled. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, his brother and another brother's wife claim Terri verbally expressed her desire not to be kept alive "artificially" should she ever require life support. Terri's parents and siblings, along with her former co-workers, friends, priests and fellow church members dispute that claim.

"I'm tired of people in the legislature thinking that they have an M.D. when what they really have is a B.S.," the Miami Herald quoted Dean as telling about 200 business and community leaders at the Capital Tiger Bay Club in Tallahassee Tuesday.
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Somehow, I don't think Howard Dean's views on this issue have changed much.

Oh, but Pharisee Lieberman supports the Repukes
Pamela Hennessy - spokeswoman for Terri's parents, Robert and Mary Schindler - called Dean's comments "a monumental display of bad taste in every way imaginable.

"Obviously, he doesn't know every aspect of the case," Hennessy said, "and I think he's using it as platform just to take a swing, verbally, at Gov. Bush."

Hennessy said she is not surprised, however, at Dean's lack of compassion for Terri.

"Mr. Dean is on record as being in favor of physician-assisted suicide," Hennessy explained.

During an Aug. 20 appearance on Oregon Public Radio, interviewer Colin Fogarty asked Dean, "In general, where do you stand on physician-assisted suicide and Oregon's vote on that issue?" Dean said the question posed "a very difficult moral problem," which he believes should be decided by the states.

"I as a physician would not be comfortable administering lethal drugs," Dean explained, "but I think this a very private, personal decision, and I think individual physicians and patients have the right to make that private decision."

By contrast, Hennessy praised Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), who is competing with Dean for the Democratic nomination and who also commented on Terri's case.

"He was smart enough and man enough to see that not everything that happens in life is a question of politics," Hennessy said. "He recognized that, and he didn't turn it into a political fight."

Lieberman, who drew criticism during his 2000 vice presidential bid for waffling on pro-life issues, told the Associated Press in October that he supports Terri's Law.

"I feel very strongly that we ought to honor life, and we ought not to create a system where people are being deprived of nutrition or hydration in a way that ends their lives," Lieberman said.
Pharisee Lieberman honors live, except when it's Palestinian lives.