Catholic Sen Mel Martinez says he was mistaken on Schiavo debate

From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

Nearly a year after calling for federal involvement to keep a brain-damaged woman artificially alive against her husband's wishes, Republican U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez has said it was a mistake to become involved.
Martinez, who has just completed his first year in office, led the Senate charge pushing a bill that would have given federal courts jurisdiction to reinstate Terri Schiavo's feeding tubes.

"If I had to take one lesson away, it's perhaps decisions of this nature really belong in state courts, not federal courts,'' Martinez said in a taped interview for Political Connections that aired Sunday on Bay News 9.

"Perhaps this was not in the realm of federal concern. It may have been better left to state courts to deal with it,'' Martinez said.

...

The effort to keep Schiavo alive proved unsuccessful and was vigorously opposed by a large segment of the public.

...

Martinez had previously stood by his role in the Schiavo controversy, but his new position comes two weeks after Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist recounted the lessons he learned from the Schiavo controversy: "The American people don't want you involved in these decisions.''

When I read stories like this I agree with Mark Shea's description of the Republican Party as the "Stupid Party", but this is more troubling to me because Sen Martinez is Catholic.

The Catechism instructs us that it is permissible to discontinue medical procedures "that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome" (# 2278). At the same time, even if a patient is expected to die soon, "the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted" (#2279). Would "ordinary care" include food and water? Yes! Catholics must form our consciences on the basis of Church teaching (cf. CCC #408, #1811) not on the basis of an expediency which tells us that life is ours to terminate whenever we find it to be socially or financially convenient. Our lives-and our deaths-are ultimately God's decisions.

Congress and the President merely asked the federal court with jurisdiction to look at this case again. Why was that so wrong? And as a Catholic, given the circumstances of Terri's situation why would you not want this to be looked at again if there was a chance that the courts had missed something in the law? Because polls show that is what folks think? Hence the "stupid" label.

One would hope our Catholic pols would exhibit leadership and work to help their constituents understand why they voted as they did. And one would also hope that they act like the Catholics they purport to be on this issue rather than succumb to polling numbers. Am I overreacting? Maybe, but this just really bugs me.

UPDATE: The Schindler family responds to Sen Martinez:

Bobby Schindler, spokesperson for the Foundation states: “I am hopeful that Senator Martinez is not reacting to mixed news reports over the public’s view of Congress’s actions in protecting my sister’s life. Though some news outlets have reported that poll responses did not favor Congress’s involvement, there are others that greatly support protections of disabled and vulnerable people like Terri.”

According to an April, 2005 poll, 80% of likely voters said that a disabled person who is not terminally ill or in a coma, and not being kept alive by life support should not, in the absence of a written directive to the contrary, be denied food and water (Source: Zogby International).

An additional Zogby poll showed that 74% of those participating believed that it is proper for the federal government to intervene when basic civil rights are being denied.

“It has always been my family’s position that Terri was denied her basic rights,” states Schindler, “Our family and our foundation want to encourage those in Congress to uphold the basic principles of our Constitution and ensure that people with disabilities, our aging communities and the vulnerable are not stripped of their voices or denied fair and just treatment, based on hearsay. A more sensible standard of proof should be compulsory before a life is ended in this way.”

“Senator Martinez has an opportunity to stand up for the vulnerable,” said Schindler, “Our Foundation hopes he will not be swayed from acting as a public servant.”

Recent comments regarding the Schiavo matter from Martinez and Senate Majority leader, Bill Frist, have prompted the Foundation to again call for protections for incapacitated persons.