An open letter to Lee Terry re: Terri Schiavo

Representative Terry,

As a constituent of yours, I feel a responsibility to voice my serious displeasure in your vote for H.R. 1452, “For the relief of the parents of Theresa Marie Schiavo”. Words cannot express the grief that I am sure the parents of Theresa Marie Schiavo are going through, and I can certainly understand the desire to use legislative powers to assist them in every way that you can.

That being said, being a participant in the legislative system, I would most certainly expect you to understand what it means to have a separation of powers in our federal government. When legislators intervene with decisions that have been consistently made at the court level, it brings a severe constitutional crisis forward by blurring this separation of powers. Judges have long been questioned by their decisions, by the labeling of neo-conservative, fundamental, or activist. However, in this scenario, there was no such case. Every single court and appellate judge had sided with one decision -- the side that the bill you signed did not support. Thus, congress had absolutely NO right intervening to have it heard at a federal level. The states had already decided.

Which leads me to another point. States’ rights. There was a point in time that the Republican party had stood strong on the platform of states’ rights. I cannot think of a single way that this does not blatantly infringe on those rights. If there ever were to be a intervention with states’ rights, perhaps the Texas Health and Safety Code, chapter 166 would be a place to start. Under that chapter, the health care administrator can make the decision of the life of the patient after getting approval from an ethics board --- regardless of what the guardian, spouse or power of attorney may desire. That would be a much better place to start overriding state decisions.

There is also the question of political motivation for this bill. I, as a Republican, have heard quite a bit from “talking heads”, Democratic leaders, and just the general public regarding the “religious and moral right”. I have to say, I am slowly losing faith that my party of small government and states’ rights truly is embracing social conservatism thus including itself with several personal issues. A woman’s right to choose is against the party platform, letting people choose whom they marry is against the party platform, and now, a right to choose to die is also against the party platform? Please, tell me what in the world happened to my Republican party?

Representative Terry, there was no reason for you to sign that bill. Whether in a libertarian ideology wanting less government involvement, whether it be a legal reading celebrating the separation of powers, or whether it be a republican ideology of supporting states’ rights. The only reason to sign the bill that you did, was to "protect life", a life that courts agree she wanted taken if in a permanent vegetative state. While I do understand that there are several doctors in congress (such as former heart surgeon Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist), however, I feel more than comfortable thinking that all of doctors that have actually treated Mrs. Schiavo certainly know more about the situation than any congress person from afar.

I understand that because of your recent fairly large victory over Nancy Thompson, suggesting that you have lost my vote by consistently voting to enforce government intervening with personal issues is not enough to sway your position at all, but, please understand Rep. Terry, that I have great displeasure with these actions, and have serious ethical and constitutional concerns.

Thank you for your time, and please consider these arguments in your future votes.

Sincerely,



Matthew Jareske

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