Pence talks about Schiavo case (3/31/05)

U.S. Rep. Mike Pence took the opportunity at a town hall meeting in Portland Wednesday afternoon to address two controversial issues — the legal battles surrounding Terri Schiavo and the proposed overhaul of Social Security.

Schiavo, a 41-year-old Florida woman who suffered catastrophic brain damage in 1990, died today at a hospice in Pinellas Park, Fla.

Pence was in Bluffton this morning and was unavailable for comment.

Schiavo’s husband Michael was successful in his battle to remove her feeding tube, which was done 13 days ago. Her parents Bob and Mary Schindler contend their daughter would want to be kept alive and have pursued exhaustive legal means to have her feeding tube re-inserted.

The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected their latest attempts Wednesday afternoon, and the U.S. Supreme Court again refused to intervene Wednesday night.

Pence told those gathered in the Jay County Courthouse auditorium Wednesday afternoon he fully backed recent action by Congress and President Bush that gave Schiavo's parents the right to file suit in federal court over the withdrawal of nourishment and medical treatment needed to sustain their daughter.

Schiavo “is dying as the result that she is being denied food and water,” Pence said, adding, “It was incomprehensible to me” that her parents and family have to stand idly by and watch her die.

“One in this country cannot be denied the inalienable right to life without due process,” he said.

He cited Scott Peterson, who was sent to California’s death row for the murder of his wife Laci and their unborn son, as an example. Peterson, Pence said, can seek appeals in court, whereas Schiavo cannot because she is incapacitated.

“Food and water is not artificial means ... like unplugging a respirator,” he said. “It’s a profoundly different thing.”

Pence, a Republican who represents Indiana’s District 6, said he has been disappointed by the court rulings against Schiavo’s family. “We’ve got some work to do on laws to better protect our weakest citizens,” he said. “This is an important moment — a small one — in our nation ... We were all created in the image of God. Thus, every human life is sacred.”

He stressed, “Incapacitated people should have access to the federal courts when their constitutional rights are threatened....As your congressman, I’m going to work hard to correct what I think is a hole in the law.”

The Rev. Jesse Jackson prayed with the Schindlers on Tuesday and joined conservatives in calling for state lawmakers to order her feeding tube re-inserted.

“Not often do I wake up in the morning and agree with Jesse Jackson. But I did this morning,” Pence said of the former Democratic presidential candidate.

Pence also shared his views on Bush’s proposed reform of Social Security, which would give younger Americans the option of placing funds in private investment accounts.

“That’s what’s exciting about the president’s vision” — giving people the option of how they want to handle their retirement funds.

“You don’t dictate to people that they have to get out of the current system,” he said.

If taxpayers choose to stay in the existing program, they should get all their money back. But, Pence said, Americans who opt for private accounts should be willing to forfeit what they have paid into the current system because they will likely reap a greater return.

Reforming Social Security “is a work in progress,” he said, adding he’s not sure when Congress will achieve its goal.

Although he backs Bush’s plan and will support the planned overhaul, Pence said repeatedly, “I will not vote to cut benefits or raise taxes” as part of the bargain.

Also Wednesday, Pence recognized Air Force senior airman Alan Shawver and Army reservist Dara Taylor, both of Portland, who were in attendance. Taylor served in Mosul, Iraq, and Shawver served in Kirkurk and at Balad Air Force Base, south of Baghdad.[[In-content Ad]]