I've was following the Terri Schiavo case a bit ... not for the tragedy that it was already, but for the way that it has been turned into such a political issue.
I read recently that a memo circulated among Senators to help Republicans politicize Terri Schiavo's case was recently proved as being real, and not faked as Republicans claimed.
I was curious to read the memo, which ABC first reported, so I did some googling. I found a reference to it on ABC's site. What is interesting is that the full text, which used to be on their, is not there anymore. The story has been changed. Is it standard to change an existing news story?
Here's the scoop. Do a Google search for schiavo memo full text and the top hit is titled "ABC News: GOP Talking Points on Terri Schiavo". If you click on the cache for the story, you see a story called "GOP Talking Points on Terri Schiavo". But if you actually go to the link itself, you get a different, but related, story, titled "Senator Says His Aide Wrote Terri Schiavo Memo".
I'm not suggesting there's any conspiracy to hide the original story, but it seems a bit weird, doesn't it?
FWIW, for posterity's sake, here's the full text of the Schiavo memo (boldfacing emphasis mine), from Google's cache:
S. 529, The Incapacitated Person's Legal Protection Act
Teri (sic) Schiavo is subject to an order that her feeding tubes will be disconnected on March 18, 2005 at 1p.m.
The Senate needs to act this week, before the Budget Act is pending business, or Terri's family will not have a remedy in federal court.
This is an important moral issue and the pro-life base will be excited that the Senate is debating this important issue.
This is a great political issue, because Senator Nelson of Florida has already refused to become a cosponsor and this is a tough issue for Democrats.
The bill is very limited and defines custody as "those parties authorized or directed by a court order to withdraw or withhold food, fluids, or medical treatment."
There is an exemption for a proceeding "which no party disputes, and the court finds, that the incapacitated person while having capacity, had executed a written advance directive valid under applicably law that clearly authorized the withholding or or (sic) withdrawl (sic) of food and fluids or medical treatment in the applicable circumstances."
Incapacitated persons are defined as those "presently incapable of making relevant decisions concerning the provision, withholding or withdrawl (sic) of food fluids or medical treatment under applicable state law."
This legislation ensures that individuals like Terri Schiavo are guaranteed the same legal protections as convicted murderers like Ted Bundy.