Despite positing himself as Terri Schiavo's own personal governmental messiah, according to the Los Angeles Times, in 1988, DeLay's own father was in a similarly tragic situation with very dissimilar results. After being left brain-damaged and comatose following a freak accident, he was allowed to die by his family, without interference by the Governor, President, Congress or overzealous protestors.

Moreover, following the incident, the DeLay family sued the manufacturers of the tram that had crashed and injured his father. Of course, years later, DeLay would make a career of slamming "frivolous, parasitic lawsuits" that "kill jobs" and has worked to override state laws on product liability.