Open Letter to Focus on the Family

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this open letter to Focus on the Family are solely the opinions of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of Sollicitudo Rei Socialis or the opinions of any of the other contributing writers.

Dear Dr. Earll and Focus on the Family Staff:

I am writing to you regarding a troubling statement I read in an MSNBC news report. In that report, MSNBC said that Dr. Carrie Gordon Earll made the statement that Focus on the Family would continue to push for President Bush's judicial nominees. Apparently, this is offered to us as a remedy to the kind of euthanasia by omission that occurred recently in the case of Terri Schindler-Schiavo. I take exception to Dr. Earll's implicit assertion that President Bush's judicial nominees will do any good in reversing the dangerous precedent which has been set for legal euthanasia in our nation, and I'll tell you why.

Put very simply, the majority of judges who ruled against the reinsertion of Terri Schindler-Schiavo's feeding tube were either elected Republicans, as was the case with Judge George Greer, or they were appointees of Republican Presidents. One of these Republican appointees who ruled against the reinsertion of Terri Schindler-Schiavo's feeding tube was Judge William Pryor, given a recess appointment to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals by none other than President George W. Bush.

I offer the following facts for your review:

- That Judge George Greer is a conservative Republican, and former member of a Southern Baptist congregation;

- That the three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals which initially ruled against the reinsertion of Terri Schindler-Schiavo's feeding tube was made up of two judges appointed by President William Clinton and one judge appointed by President George H.W. Bush, and that one of the Clinton appointees ruled in favor of reinserting Schiavo's feeding tube while the other Clinton appointee and the Bush appointee ruled together that her feeding tube should not be reinserted;

- That when the full 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled not to reinsert Terri Schindler-Schiavo's feeding tube, those who ruled not to reinsert her feeding tube included six judges appointed by Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush and four appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton, and the two judges who ruled to reinsert Terri Schindler-Schiavo's feeding tube were appointed by Republican President Gerald Ford and Democratic President Bill Clinton;

- That when the Supreme Court ruled unanimously to uphold the appellate court's decision, seven of those justices were appointed by Republican Presidents Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush, and two of those justices were appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton;

- And that two of these Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices were Justice Antonin Scalia and Justice Clarence Thomas, whom President George W. Bush has proposed as the models for his judicial appointments.

While it is true that Judge James Whittemore of the Middle District Court of Florida was a Clinton appointee, and while it is also true that there are Clinton appointees throughout the history of this case, there are some basic facts which cannot be denied by Focus on the Family or by anyone else.

For instance, it cannot be denied that the judge responsible for it all, Judge George Greer, is not only a Republican, but also one of your own in that he was until very recently a member of a Southern Baptist congregation. It cannot be denied that if President George H.W. Bush's appointee to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled with Judge Wilson, a Clinton appointee, during the three-judge panel review of this case, Terri Schindler-Schiavo's feeding tube would have been reinserted at that time. It cannot be denied that if all of the judges appointed by Republican Presidents at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled to reinsert Terri Schindler-Schiavo's feeding tube, it would have been done. It cannot be denied that if all of the justices appointed by Republican Presidents at the Supreme Court had ruled to reinsert Terri Schindler-Schiavo's feeding tube, it would have been done.

And it cannot be denied that one of President George W. Bush's recess appointments to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals was included in the majority which ruled not to reinsert Terri Schindler-Schiavo's feeding tube, that he merrily went along with the rest of his Republican colleagues at the appellate court in sentencing Terri Schindler-Schiavo to death by starvation and dehydration.

Yes, some of these judges and justices were appointed by Democratic Presidents. No, scratch that -- they were appointed by one Democratic President. But the majority of these judges and justices were appointed by a total of four different Republican Presidents, including our current President, George W. Bush. At least three of these Republican Presidents -- Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush -- have told us that they are unabashedly pro-life. Why, then, have the judges and justices they appointed been responsible for the execution of Terri Schindler-Schiavo? It's a question that needs to be immediately answered by Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX), Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN), President Bush, and the rest of the Republican leadership. Wouldn't you say?

While we anxiously await an answer from the Republican Party, my suggestion to Focus on the Family would be to consider support for President Bush's judicial nominees a little more carefully in light of Judge Pryor's actions. Along with many other appointees of Republican Presidents, Judge Pryor has issued the response of Pontius Pilate: "I am innocent of this woman's blood. See to her yourselves." Focus on the Family may not wish to associate itself with such a response.

Thank You and God Bless,
Nathan Nelson
Editor - Fides, Spes, Caritas
Contributing Writer - Sollicitudo Rei Socialis


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Note: David Schrader from Catholics for Bush has pointed out that we cannot discern, from the court order alone, the number of judges on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals who ruled against the Schindlers and the number who dissented. Thus, from the court order taken by itself, we cannot discern whether or not Judge Pryor voted with the majority against the Schindlers or with the minority of dissenting judges. Although I have raised the possibility of other sources of information contributing to the 10-2 vote tally, in the absence of any such information, I must admit the possibility that Judge Pryor dissented from the majority opinion -- even though I still maintain that the available evidence works in favor of my original assertion.