The following link will allow you to contact your Senator to encourage him/her to give favorable consideration to the Incapacitated Persons Legal Protection Act. The new version is HR 1332 and the Senate is expected to hear this matter today.

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Senator Mel Martinez writes about this habeas corpus bill that will protect the rights of diabled individuals, such as Terri Schiavo:

... Last week, I introduced my first piece of legislation in the Senate: The Incapacitated Person’s Legal Protection Act of 2005. This bill would ensure that incapacitated individuals — like Terri Schiavo — would have their due-process rights of habeas corpus when a court orders their death by removal of nutrition, hydration and medical treatment. My colleague from Florida, Congressman Dave Weldon has introduced identical legislation in the House of Representatives.

“Habeas Corpus” refers to the legal rights available under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution that “No State…shall deprive any person of life…without due process of law…nor to deny any person within its jurisdiction equal protections of the laws.”

In essence, this legislation would give incapacitated individuals like Terri, who have been given what amounts to a death sentence by the courts, federal habeas corpus protections to ensure that she receives the same due process protections as convicted murderers given the death penalty.

This bill is very narrowly written and a balanced approach to acknowledging the rights of individuals to refuse consent to medical treatment with the right to consent to treatment to preserve life. The Incapacitated Person’s Legal Protection Act would only apply when the following criteria are met:

• There is a contested judicial proceeding because of a dispute about the expressed previous wishes or best interest of a person currently incapable of making a choice about lifesaving treatment;


• There is no valid prior written directive on wishes from the now-incapacitated individual; and


• There is a court order authorizing or directing the withholding of food, fluids, or medical treatment to sustain the individual’s life.

This is not a right-to-life or right-to-die issue — it is about proper legal representation for individuals with no voice for themselves. It’s about giving a last avenue of legal refuge to disabled individuals when their lives hang in the balance.

This is a narrowly tailored, compassionate piece of legislation to ensure that Terri Schiavo has all legal due process available to her before following through on a court order that, in all seriousness, is a death sentence.

Before you click onto another screen or go back to work, please contact your senators and contact your congressman to let them know that you support this bill — that Terri Schiavo deserves the same rights as criminals to equal protection under the law.

[more from the National Review]

• National Right to Life Honors Schindler Family - Sep 19, 2007
• Was she killed or not? - Jul 14, 2007
• Schiavo Attorney Speaks Out - Jul 01, 2007
• Another Schiavo Judge is Honored - Jun 14, 2007
• Since When Does Pro-Life Mean Killing the Disabled? - May 07, 2007
• Operation T-4? - Mar 31, 2007
• Not Dead Yet's protest of Terri's murder - Mar 31, 2007
• Lest We Forget! - Mar 31, 2007