Terri Schiavo

New Jersey Mayor and GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan today urged the House of Representatives to pass HR 1151, the Incapacitated Person's Legal Protection Act, otherwise known as "Terri's Law", that would provide an incapacitated person the same due process rights as a convicted murderer on Death Row.Bogota New Jersey Mayor Lonegan, who is currently conducting talk shows on this topic, said, "In less than 48 hours, Terri Schiavo's feeding tube that provides food and water will be cut off and she will begin starving to death in a process that may take three weeks or longer," Lonegan said. "Terri Schiavo is not in a coma. She is not 'brain dead'. She responds to the people around her and is very much alive."Lonegan noted that New Jersey Congressmembers Chris Smith, Scott Garrett, Mike Ferguson and Jim Saxton have all sponsored this critical legislation, which was referred last week to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution. "Even though Terri's parents are willing to take care of her for the rest of her life, the courts have rejected their pleas and at this point, it appears that all legal efforts to save her life have been exhausted," Lonegan said. "This bill is necessary to prevent this abhorrent situation from occurring again in the future. I want to thank Congressmembers Smith, Garrett, Ferguson and Saxton for supporting this important bill and hope the rest of the state delegation signs on as well."The Incapacitated Person's Legal Protection Act will give Terri Schiavo, and anyone else in a similar situation, the same Constitutional protection of due process as death row inmates. Present law does not explicitly recognize due process for an incapacitated individual and leaves the rights of disabled persons to the mercy of the courts. The bill will not apply to circumstances where an advance medical directive is in effect. The Act simply provides a final avenue of review of the case to insure that a disabled person's Constitutional rights of due process are maintained and that justice is done."Something is desperately wrong when the innocent incapacitated people are deprived of their right to life. I sincerely hope and pray that HR 1151 is passed by both the House and Senate forthwith and signed into law by President Bush before another person faces the same fate as Terri Schiavo. God bless her."