KRT Wire | 03/21/2005 | Law Bush signed as Texas governor prompts cries of hypocrisy: "In 1999, then-Gov. Bush signed the Advance Directives Act, which lets a patient's surrogate make life-ending decisions on his or her behalf. The measure also allows Texas hospitals to disconnect patients from life-sustaining systems if a physician, in consultation with a hospital bioethics committee, concludes that the patient's condition is hopeless.

Bioethicists familiar with the Texas law said Monday that if the Schiavo case had occurred in Texas, her husband would be the legal decision-maker and, because he and her doctors agreed that she had no hope of recovery, her feeding tube would be disconnected.

'The Texas law signed in 1999 allowed next of kin to decide what the patient wanted, if competent,' said John Robertson, a University of Texas bioethicist.

While Congress and the White House were considering legislation recently in the Schiavo case, Bush's Texas law faced its first high-profile test. With the permission of a judge, a Houston hospital disconnected a critically ill infant from his breathing tube last week against his mother's wishes after doctors determined that continuing life support would be futile."

Let's just let this sink in. When he was governor, Bush signed legislation that allows the doctors to take people off life support, and this law was used against the Mother's wishes. No spouse to blame here. If you read what the White House said in response, they said that ""The legislation he signed (early Monday) is consistent with his views," McClellan said. "The (1999) legislation he signed into law actually provided new protections for patients ... prior to the passage of the '99 legislation that he signed, there were no protections."

Hear that? Down is up. Right is wrong, and George Bush is a seriously committed Christian. Oh, and one of the factors used in the Texas case is if there is money for the treatment. When it is gone, and there is no hope for recovery.... Unless, of course, you can make political miles.

So, to sum up: the Republicans and their conservative christian handlers believe in life:

a) especially when it is politically helpful
b) unless that person is dying from a treatable disease and just needs health insurance
c) or unless on death row with dubious evidence

Other Republican policies will make the Terry Shiavo case moot in the future because they will cap medical malpractice cases and make it harder for families who endure a horrible medical catastrophy to declare bankruptcy. But in this case, they are all over this poor woman.

Oh, and remember when Republicans didn't want the state in your individual life? Those days are done.

And to be very clear. Bush will never be held accountable by anyone, and certainly not the Conservative Christians who believe somehow that God wants him in office to bomb other countries and act hypocritically about people like Terry Shiavo. Shame on all of you. Shame on everyone. And for God's sake, will one of you Christian conservatives call Bush on anything? Because you have embarrassed yourself to a point of no return. Shame.