On Jan. 24, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to step in and keep Terri Schiavo alive.

Gov. Jeb Bush had successfully lobbied the Legislature to pass a law to keep Terri Schiavo alive. But the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the law was an unconstitutional effort to override court rulings. Now the U.S. Supreme Court has refused without comment to disturb that decision.

I agree with Terri's father in that this is a "judicial homicide." Terri deserves a chance. She can breathe on her own but depends on a feeding tube to stay alive because she cannot swallow on her own. Her parents believe she can recover.

NO DUE PROCESS

Ken Connor, one of the lawyers who represented Bush at the high court, said, "The reality is that in Florida, convicted capital felons receive more due process protection than Terri Schiavo has received in this case."

A person who needs health care should at the least come under the congressional protection of the Americans with Disabilities Act. How can these people call themselves judges when they are violating the Constitution and The Bill of Rights they pledged to uphold?

Because evil has no reason, we once again see its ugly head in the shameful decision by people dressed in black like the Gestapo of Nazi Germany, giving way to the execution by starvation without a jury trial, required in all capital death cases.

The unprotected and seemingly unimportant life of an American citizen has been denied the most basic tenets of our Constitution. The third branch of our government, the judiciary, has failed all of us again and has given the green light to carry out her execution by thirst, starvation and physical neglect.

OUR FIRST RIGHT

If this manner of death were carried out against a dog or turtle, it would be a crime of animal cruelty in Florida, and punishable by imprisonment. Where are all the women's liberation organizations? Where is the ACLU, the self-proclaimed protector of civil liberties? Is not life a civil liberty?

Without that first and foremost right to life being protected by our courts, no other rights are afforded us. Without the sacred right to life, no other rights can be bestowed on us by any government. We have met the enemy and the enemy is certainly hiding behind black robes in courthouses across America.

They can write their psychobabble opinions all day long, but in the final analysis, it comes down to one Divine Law, "Thou shall not kill." The U.S. Supreme Court has betrayed the most innocent and helpless among us and the very God who created Terri Schindler Schiavo in his likeness, endowing her with a soul and certain unalienable rights, the first of which is life.

-- John J. McDougall is a former sheriff of Lee County. He lives in Fort Myers.

Cross posted at BlogsforTerri