| Terri's
Law is Constitutional
June 7, 2004 By Janice Sanford http://journals.aol.com/shjusticeforall/SavingTerriSchiavo/ The Fourteenth amendment declares: "No State {including any subdivision thereof} shall ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The US Constitution doesn't prevent federal or state government from making distinctions among citizens (because neither could legislate without doing so). But. The United States Constitution does forbid unreasonable classifications. A classification is unreasonable when it is in direct conflict with the goals laid down in the Constitution. For example: Laws denying the right to life to disabled Americans would be unreasonable, because it was not the goal of our nation's founders to penalize persons because of their individual physical and/or mental conditions. When a law involves a disabled American, the normal presumption of constitutionality is reversed. It is not sufficient that Michael Schiavo, by way of his attorneys, may continue to ask for and get the 'death sentence' for his disabled wife. Starving Terri Schiavo to death serves no "compelling public interest." "It's enough that the state action be rationally based and free from invidious discrimination. ... It does not offend the Constitution because the classification is not made with mathematical nicety or because in practice it results in some inequality." (Dandridge v. Williams,397 U.S. 471 [1970]) Terri's Law is rationally based. This law protects persons with disabilities, that have no living will, when family members seek help in preserving their loved one's right to life. The right to life is a "natural right." Terri is not dead. (If she was, there would be no need for permission from state courts to end her life.) The fact that she is mentally disabled (brain damaged) does not mean that her life is not still important to her. The Florida Courts have, to date, denied Terri Schiavo her day in court -- or any kind of "protection of the law." It shall be interesting to see how the Florida Supreme Court rules on Terri's Law, since the United States Constitution does not "explicitly" or "implicitly" uphold the deliberate killing of any disabled American.
Ocilla Georgia Saving Terri Rally
When: June 26, 2004 Where: Ocilla, Georgia (Ocilla Highway, northeast of Tifton and an hour north on Interstate 75 of the Florida/Georgia border) Time: 1-5 PM (EST) Contact: Lisa stir_crazy_angel@yahoo.com or Janice SHjusticeForAll@aol.com |