Justice Tom Parker, of the Alabama State Supreme Court, issued the following statement:

Terri’s unjust death is the result of public officials fearing man more than God.

The most fundamental duty of civil government is to defend life, especially for those most vulnerable and least able to speak for themselves. The forced starvation of disabled Terri Schiavo — ordered and upheld by appointed judges and aided and abetted by elected officials — represents the ultimate violation of this duty.

The Declaration of Independence, the founding document of the Unites States of America, states that “we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights,” including the right to “life.” An inalienable right is one that may not be taken away — not by a husband and not by a judge — so those condemning Terri to death, and those supporting that condemnation, have perpetrated a great injustice.

Some public officials who refused to act to stop Terri’s unjust killing are claiming “the rule of law” kept them from acting. But the rule of law is not whatever a judge says it is; that would be the rule of man. The unpopular truth is that when a judge issues an order contrary to a higher law such as the Constitution, that order is void and should be resisted by the leaders of other branches of government who took their own oaths before God to defend the Constitution. Whether directly involved or not, every branch that refuses to act in such case becomes culpable too.

Terri’s forced starvation, what one critic called “the longest public execution in American history,” directly violates the Constitution of the State of Florida which mandates that “No person shall be deprived of any right because of race, religion, national origin, or physical disability,” (Article 1, Section 2). No judicial order can change that.

By unduly exalting the judiciary and excusing the executive and legislative branches of government from their constitutional duty to protect life and the most vulnerable members of our society, the Schiavo case establishes a dangerous precedent of judicial supremacy.

Thomas Jefferson warned us of the dangers of judicial supremacy: “[T]o consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions [is] a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy.” Sadly many elected officials are content to accept such despotism because it helps them avoid controversial issues.

Ultimately, Terri’s unjust death is the result of public officials lacking moral courage and fearing man rather than God. But He sees their deeds and will call them to account: “Woe to those judges who issue unrighteous decrees,” the Scripture says in Isaiah 10:1, “and to the magistrates who keep causing unjust and oppressive decisions to be recorded.”