Conservatives and libertarians are noted for championing states’ rights. However, the Terri Schiavo case in Florida has exposed deep-seated hypocrisy on the political right and illustrated how right-wingers from President Bush to his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, will do almost anything for political gain.

Republican Congressman Christopher Shays of Connecticut puts it best: “My party is demonstrating that they are for states’ rights unless they don’t like what states are doing.”

Conservatives have long complained of unwanted federal intervention and the purported abuse of individual rights. Now, the outsiders have become insiders, with Republicans controlling every branch of the government – executive, legislative and judicial. Instead of letting Florida handle what is essentially a state matter, President Bush and Congress interrupted their Easter recess to grandstand about “the right to life.” At 1:11 A.M. on March 21, Bush signed special legislation into law transferring the Schiavo case from state to federal jurisdiction.

This is a bunch that can’t pass a budget on time, yet they acted with extraordinary speed on an issue that more than 20 judges had reviewed and found that Schiavo’s husband, Michael, had acted legally when he decided that after 15 years, the feeding tube that preserved his wife in a vegetative state should now be removed.

Only three Senators, acting for the entire body, authorized the federal courts to take over the Schiavo case. Invoking unanimous consent rules, they were able to quickly pass legislation without debate that would allow Schiavo’s parents, who opposed removing the feeding tube, to again present their case in federal court. The House passed the measure 203-58.

When the parents returned to federal court, they were again rebuffed. The parents appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case. With no prospect of winning, they eventually gave up their fight.

The case of Terri Schiavo was tragic enough without the demagoguery of President Bush and the Congress. She suffered severe brain damage as a result of a heart attack 15 years ago and her husband, Michael, said his wife did not want to be kept alive by artificial means. Though initially united in their effort to seek medical help for Terri, the parents and the husband have since gone separate ways, with the parents lobbying to keep their daughter on the feeding tube and her husband opposed, saying she has become a vegetable, with no prospect of a reversal.

Into that fray, stepped Gov. Jeb Bush, who pushed a bill through the Florida legislature in 2003 that gave him the right to order reinsertion of the feeding tube. However, the Florida Supreme Court overruled the governor.

This is not the first time “states’ rights” proponents have forsaken their core beliefs for political expediency. In 2002, Republican officials successfully urged the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a Florida court ruling that ordered a recount in the presidential election between George Bush and Al Gore.

The National Association of State Public Interest Research Groups issued a report last summer titled, “Tying the Hands of the States: The Impact of Federal Preemption on State Problem-Solvers.” It concluded, “Over the last three decades, states have become increasingly active in passing strong state laws to protect the health, safety and well-being of their residents.”

However, the report continued, “The federal government has increasingly responded to state-level problem solving with its own powerful political tool – preempting the right of state governments to legislate on a given issue and establishing federal law as the ceiling.”

The Schiavo case is yet another example of federal officials trying to preempt local judges. They showboat about preserving life yet have recommended cuts in Medicaid, the very program that has sustained Schiavo this long.

The activity around Schiavo also exposed the inconsistency of those who oppose a woman’s choice to have an abortion. George Bush is Exhibit A. He now claims to be concerned about human life. Yet, as governor of Texas, he approved more executions than any other governor in the country. Bush and his fellow conservatives can’t have it both ways – they can’t be for life when it involves abortion or a high-profile medical case while simultaneously supporting the death penalty.

Comedian Dave Chappelle said it is tantamount to saying, “Let them live so that we can kill them.” And Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) says this crew believes life begins at conception and ends with birth.

What should end is politicians exploiting the grief and pain of families to further their political agendas.