Bush himself flies halfway across the country to sign the bill into law, cutting short his pre-Easter holiday (and we all know how much they mean to him -- he's taken enough). It is a shame he did not do the same when he got the August 6, 2001, memo titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." Nor, for that matter, was the Tsunami considered important enough to forgo a few days holiday when it struck last December. Nice to know he has his priorities right.
Bush stated he intervened in the Terri Schiavo case because "our society, our laws, and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life." That explains why, in his five years as governor of Texas, he executed 131 prisoners -- far more than any other state. He also said this was "a complex case with serious issues, but in extraordinary circumstances like this, it is wisest to always err on the side of life." That explains why Bush did not give the same presumption to death row inmates in Texas, where he used his power to grant an execution stay only once.
Nor is that the end of the matter. In 1999, when he was Texan governor, Bush signed a law which allowed hospitals to withdraw life support from patients, over the objections of the family, if the patient could not pay and there was no hope of revival. It is called the Texas Futile Care Law. Under this law, a baby was removed from life support against his mother's wishes in Texas just the week before Bush took to the skies. So if you happen to have been born a poor black child shutting off support against the mother's wishes is fine.
"This is about defending life," said Scott McClellan, the White House spokesman. Unless you are poor. Then defending life is less important than the price tag. Or a foreigner. Then defending life means bombing a country and killing over 100,000 people. Or if you are a soldier. Bush has yet to attend a single funeral of the 1,500 soldiers who have died in colonising Iraq for him and his buddies in Big Business.
That is not all. The Republicans also voted en masse to end the medicaid funding that pays for the kind of care that someone like Terri Schiavo and many others who are not so severely brain damaged need all across this country. They have also thinking about "tort reform" that would preclude malpractice claims like that which has paid for her care thus far. They have also introduced a bankruptcy bill which will make it even more difficult for families who suffer a catastrophic illness like Terri's because they will not be able to declare bankruptcy and get a fresh start when the gargantuan medical bills become overwhelming.
All of which shows that while the Republicans say they care about a woman who is a vegetable, they hardly show a concern for life when they do all in their power to cause pain and suffering as a result of their political actions by attacking the sick and poor. They are not "pro-life." At best they are "pro-birth."
So why the concern? Easy. It is a political move designed to appease America's Taliban, the religious right. This coalition of is key component in Bush's Republican Party and, consequently, Bush must keep them happy. As a consequence, such self-proclaimed conservative ideas as "state's right" go out the window, along with the rights of individuals and families to decide upon important personal matters. Ironically, the 2000 and 2004 Republican Platforms both talk about "putting patients and doctors in charge of medical decisions."
Moreover, this "right to life" cult is part of a wider Christian evangelical assault on individual liberty. As its members have made clear -- they believe the case may help inject new life into their long campaign against abortion (i.e. women's autonomy).
Yet, ironically, this case shows the strange logic of the Christian Right. They say that it is up to god whether Terri should live or die yet it is doctors who have ensured the former for the last 15 years. If they really believed that is a case that god should decide her fate then they should side with her husband. That they do not suggests they know that without human intervention Terri would die. So much for "God's will."
Such hypocrisy if all part of the Bush Junta's America. In which the desires and dogmas of a particular religious constituency is what matters, the "anti-government" Republicans get to tax people in order to dictate to individuals what acceptable personal decisions are and where the rights of the individual are being destroyed in favour of the rights of religious and political elites to control individuals -- particularly if they are women.