PACKET EDITORIAL, March 25
By: Packet Editorial
We have no doubt that U.S. Rep. Rush Holt accurately represented the wishes of his constituents here in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District when he voted to keep the House of Representatives out of Terri Schiavo’s hospice bed.
Regrettably, a majority of his colleagues in both houses of Congress did not do likewise.
Remarkably and shamefully, in our view Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Jon Corzine did not utter a word when the Senate gave unanimous consent, by voice vote, to a measure that insinuated the legislative branch of the federal government into the clear domain of a state’s judiciary. New Jersey’s senators stood mute while politics rode roughshod over biomedical ethics, with federal lawmakers moving to substitute their own doctrinaire ideology for the rule of law established by the Florida Legislature and carried out by the Florida courts.
It’s a shame our senators didn’t have the courage to follow the example set by Rep. Holt, who stood up on the floor of the House and spoke the plain truth:
"Doctors sometimes make the wrong decisions, Mr. Speaker. Families sometimes make the wrong decisions. But the wisdom of the founders of this government in not putting these decisions in the Congress is that they understood that most of the time we would make the wrong decisions. We do not know the facts of this case or thousands of others that are out there today despite assertions to the contrary tonight.
"That is why we should not substitute our judgment for the courts. Congress should not play doctor, certainly not by long-distance video or hearsay diagnosis, nor should we be the judiciary."
Rep. Holt knows a thing or two about the decisions made by doctors and lawmakers. His wife is a physician. His father was a U.S. senator. He understands that the body of law, dating all the way back to the New Jersey Supreme Court’s landmark 1976 ruling in the matter of Karen Ann Quinlan, leaves difficult and emotional end-of-life decisions to patients, doctors and their families. When a conflict arises, as it has in the Schiavo case, it is resolved in the state courts, as this one has been in Florida.
For Congress to jump in at the last minute is, as Rep. Holt points out, an ill-advised attempt not only to play doctor but also to usurp the jurisdiction of the judiciary. What makes this all the more repugnant is that its only apparent purpose is to appease the religious right, which sees in the Schiavo case an opportunity to undermine nearly three decades’ worth of legal precedent and broad public support for the right of patients, doctors and families to make deeply personal medical decisions without interference from meddling ideologues.
And the inconsistency here is striking. The Republican leaders in Congress, whose party has stood so steadfastly over the years for the rights of individuals and states to be free of intrusive interference from the big bad federal government, are now spearheading a movement to impose their own ethical and moral judgments over individuals and states. And any GOP lawmaker who dares to differ with the leadership on matters such as these can look forward to taking an uncomfortable seat on the party’s back bench.
In fairness, we observe no inconsistency in Rep. Mike Ferguson, who represents New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District (which includes Montgomery and Rocky Hill). Though we believe his views are not at all representative of his constituency, he has never sought to hide his advocacy for "pro-life" causes, of which the Schiavo case is plainly one. And while we strongly disagree with him on this matter, we know he voted his conscience which is more than can be said for many of his faint-hearted colleagues.
"We are turning a sad family tragedy into a grotesque legislative travesty," Rep. Holt warned on the House floor. We know of no one who has summed up this whole disgraceful episode more succinctly or accurately.