An editorial in today’s Miami Herald chastises Florida lawmakers for intervening in the Terri Schiavo case; her feeding tube is currently scheduled to be pulled at 1:00 p.m. on Friday. The editorial characterizes the response of the lawmakers as an “emotional rush to judgment.”
William Donohue, president of the Catholic League, opined as follows:
“The Miami Herald is full of rage today, but curiously it is not directed at those who want an innocent woman to starve to death ASAP. And it certainly isn’t directed at the person who is leading this crusade, namely the woman’s cheating husband. Rather, it is aimed at those who are seeking to keep the woman alive.
“The Miami Herald is good at the ‘emotional rush to judgment’ game. On October 23, 2003, it used the identical language to slam the lawmakers for intervening in the same case. But it seems like its patience is dependent on its politics.
“For example, when the issue was Holocaust survivors cashing in on insurance claims, it said in 2000 that an ‘immediate and comforting remedy’ was necessary. Just this month it said that Medicaid reform needed ‘immediate action.’ But when, in 2000, the issue was limiting appeals on the death-penalty, it counseled against a ‘rush to judgment.’ And just two months ago it urged Miami-Dade officials to exercise patience in deciding what to do about tearing down ‘a charming coral-rock home’ that was falling apart. Why? Because the Miami Herald likes the house—it’s one of only four coral-rock homes that remain on Miami Beach—and therefore wants it to survive.
“But not all is lost. To get the Miami Herald’s support, lawmakers could quickly pass a Medicaid reform bill that has a rider allowing food and water for Terri Schiavo. If this doesn’t work, then maybe the newspaper could be persuaded to think of Terri as if she were a death-row inmate, or even ‘a charming coral-rock home.’ That might keep her alive.”
