DAY FOURTEEN Without Food or Water for Terri Schiavo
SUPREME COURT REJECT’S FAMILY’S FINAL BID
The United States Supreme Court has rejected one last bid by the Schindler family for legal intervention to save their daughter’s life.
Terri “Still with us.”
According to Terri’s father, Bob Schindler, Terri is weak but responsive. Her bodily functions are continuing, as of Wednesday, indicating that her kidneys are still functioning. Let’s keep praying for a miracle!
Fr. Frank Pavone Prays with Schindler family; Visits Terri
Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life visited Terri yesterday at her hospice and spent time witht he Schindler family. Pavone also appeared on several news shows making a case for Terri’s life.
Efforts In Washington DC
Led by Rev. Pat Mahoney, protesters continued lobbying efforts at the nation’s capitol. It was learned that the House has withdrawn their subpoena and it will not be reissued. It had been hoped that this subpoena would save Terri’s life, however, it was disregarded by Judge Greer, who has, to his shame, adamently insisted that Terri’s dehydration/starvation continue.
PLEASE FAST AND PRAY FOR TERRI’S LIFE- God can move hearts. We need a miracle in order to save Terri. We are calling on Christians around the nation and around the world to FAST AND PRAY for Terri’s life, as God gives you grace.
If you cannot come to Florida, you may still participate in prayer with Christians from around the nation in a Conference Call Prayer Vigil for Terri Schiavo sponsored by Pastor Wiley Drake in Southern California. The prayer vigil is held each morning from 5-7 AM in each time zone. Call 1-641-497-7302 and give the Access Code 399430. You may call in any time during the Conference Call and stay for as long as you like, from a couple of minutes to the whole two hours. (Long distance charges may apply.)
EVENTS SCHEDULE
24-hour Ongoing Prayer Vigil outside Woodside Hospice
6774 102nd Avenue No. Pinellas Park, FL
[Read story about Terri's attempt to communicate her desire to live..]
CLICK HERE TO READ THE RULING FROM 11TH CIRCUIT
CLICK HERE TO VIEW HOUSE SUBPOENAS ISSUED FRIDAY
CLICK HERE TO READ A COPY OF THE ‘COMPROMISE LAW’ PASSED BY THE US CONGRESS
Read the Empire Journal which has many interesting investigative articles about the Shiavo case.
Donate to help us continue the fight to save Terri’s life.
Read why your gift is urgently needed.
ACTION ITEMS
Please consider contacting the following people and respectfully ask them to spare Terri?s life and release her to the loving care of her family. You may wish to consider sending them a rose with instructions: ?No Food or Water.?
Michael Schiavo
(Terri’s husband who wants her feeding tube removed)
2807 Marie Court
Clearwater, FL 33761
Jodi Ann Centonze
(Michael’s live-in girlfriend who has borne him 2 children since Terri’s accident)
2807 Marie Court
Clearwater, FL 33761
Dominic D. Schiavo
(Michael’s brother)
8256 Ibis Cove Circle
Naples, FL 34119
Judge George W. and Patricia Greer
200 Dolphin Pt. #201
Clearwater, FL 34630
George J. Felos
2210 Harbor View Dr.
Dunedin, FL 34698-2526
Rose Rally for Terri Update
A rally, sponsored by 14 pro-life, pro-family groups was held at the State Capitol in Tallahassee, FL on Sunday to draw attention to the injustice of the court-ordered starvation of Terri Schiavo scheduled to begin on Friday, March 18.
One thousand red roses were placed on the steps of the Capitol with pink tags reading, “A Rose for Terri: Do not feed or water!” As the flowers wilt, they will silently testify to the lawmakers of the kind of death Terri will suffer, if she is denied food and hydration as Judge Greer has ordered.
Terri’s father, Bob Schindler read a statement from actor and director Mel Gibson, who supports efforts to save Terri’s life, to a crowd of 500 who gathered to support Terri. Other speakers included Dr. Gary Cass, Executive Director of the Center for Reclaiming America in Florida and Rev. Pat Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition of Washington, DC.
March 13th, 2005 at 4:27 pm
Hi,
i’m supposed to write an analysis of metabolism of molecules if the feeding tube is removed.
any ideas?
March 13th, 2005 at 8:53 pm
rock
looks as if you didn’t check out the next posted article, which gives the following link:
http://www.operationrescue.org/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album21
March 14th, 2005 at 11:21 am
I am praying for Terri however I cannot believe this is even happening! In my opinion this is only the beginning of the End..
God help us all ~~
March 14th, 2005 at 12:31 pm
Please send website for purchasing and sending roses to the above people in Terri’s behalf. Thank you.
March 14th, 2005 at 2:10 pm
As a Florida resident, I have been faxing and emailing my state legislators and the governor. The outcry has been enormous so our pleas are definitely being heard. We’ve also faxed and emailed our Senators and local Congressman to the Federal Legislature. We are blessed to have Senator Martinez and Congressman Weldon, who have stepped up to the plate to offer bills of protection for the future of our disabled citizens.
I think I’m going to go to 1800flowers.com and send some roses now.
March 14th, 2005 at 2:23 pm
I will pray for Terri. My grandfather was in a coma for about four months when they decided to take him off of the machines. They pumped so much morphine into his body for the pain that I believe the actual cause of death was overdose. God be with us all!
March 14th, 2005 at 2:46 pm
I would challenge anyone who lives down there to fast with Terri when her life support is pulled. The powers that be have to listen to us. Let the media know what you are doing. I wish I could but I have 4 children one who is under a year old. We are praying for everyone involved in this tragedy.
March 14th, 2005 at 4:50 pm
Please do not murder Terri!! My husband had a debilitating stroke and could not talk, walk, feed himself. After intensive therapy and multitude of prayers, he became fully rehabilitated. Give Terri the chance to rehabilitate and tell us what she wants. Jesus also had an unfair trial. Please save Terri!!!
Bonni Pando
March 14th, 2005 at 8:16 pm
She is NOT unconscious! She has limited speech, responds positively to family (NOT MERE MUSCULAR TWITCHES).
As for this being a ‘family decision,’ her husband has been living with another woman for years, and has two children by her. Instead of using the malpractice award to take care of her, he lavished it on himself, his lover, and his fancy lawyers.
Does Michael really want the best for her?
What about the bone scans taken of her, which indicated severe trauma? Michael also keeps her room dark and undecorated, threatens to sue when a priest does his duty to bring her COmmunion, on and on and on. Dear God, have you even looked at the case!!? Not just bumper-sticker slogans, but facts? At least, in an open-minded way, examine the facts on terrisfight.org
March 14th, 2005 at 9:04 pm
hanna
better to be lacking a ‘cerebral cortex’ than a soul and a heart, as in your case.
March 15th, 2005 at 11:52 am
Looks like hanna is one of those hit and run posters…no courage, no guts, probably goes along with no heart and soul, though.
March 15th, 2005 at 1:29 pm
Here’s a breath of fresh air (compared with Hanna’s heartless, gutless, mindless mantras; smells like she’s been eating prodeath excrement again…) from davidlimbaugh.com
MDs and attitudes
I’m getting a lot of e-mail on my column about Terri Schiavo, the overwhelming majority of it quite positive. But I’m getting some negative, of two general types: 1) people who assume that Terri wants to die and that those of us advocating protecting her are substituting our will for Terri’s; 2) from a few doctors who think Terri’s life should be ended.
As for the first category, I would repeat that none of us know whether she wants to die, and hearsay testimony of her adulterous husband to that effect is woefully insufficient. I guarantee you she didn’t specify that she wanted to die in precisely the circumstances she’s currently experiencing. But how do these people know what she wants? Have they witnessed her facial expressions, her joy, her sorrow, her desire to live? Do they love her like her parents do? Do they really believe — like many of them imply — that Terri’s parents would force her to continue to live if they believed that she was a) suffering and/or b) didn’t want to live? How arrogant is that? Why do these people have such a callous attitude about life? Why do they rush to the conclusion that someone like Terri has lost the nearly irrepressible human desire to live?
Concerning the second category, I wonder if doctors become a little desensitized about life. Several medically trained correspondents told me that there is no suffering or pain associated with starving to death under these circumstances. I’m not sure how they know, but you can be sure that they are sure. A little humility would be in order in my opinion.
Posted by David Limbaugh at March 15, 2005 01:20 PM
Recovered “Vegetative State’ Patient Kate Adamson Supports Terri
Here’s an intriguing story at LifeSite reporting that Kate Adamson shared the account of her own sufferings and recovery at a rally for Terry Schiavo. From the article:
Struck down in 1995 at the age of thirty-three by a rare double brainstem stroke, Kate, then a mother of two young girls, was completely paralyzed; she was unable even to blink her eyes. Like Terri Schiavo, the medical staff treating her questioned the merit of continuing granting Kate the most basic human right of food and water.
More from the story:
Kate Adamson’s feeding tube was at one point removed for a full eight days before being reinserted due to the intervention of her husband (also a competent lawyer).
Frequently described by medical authorities as a humane way to die, Kate - now as vibrant and beautiful as before her stroke - testified before the crowd of Terri’s family and supporters that this form of legalized execution was “one of the most painful experiences you can imagine.” Unable to respond or to indicate awareness, Kate Adamson asserts, “I was just like Terri…but I was alive! I could hear every word. They were saying ’shall we just not treat her?’…I suffered excruciating misery in silence.”
How chilling is this?
I love this final paragraph:
During her early-afternoon speech Kate declared that “If they want to kill Terri they should have the guts to put a gun to her head” rather than condemn her to such a slow and painful death. She finished off by summing up the full import of the Schiavo case, saying, “The measure of a society is how they treat the least of us. Life is sacred or meaningless, there is nothing in between.”
I’ve had some interesting e-mails in response to my column, mostly in complete agreement, but a few quite upset with the position I’ve taken. Some of these people just want Terri to get out of the way so that her hospital bed can be used by more “needy” people. What most disturbs me about the “unsympathetic” is that they think they are being sympathetic and compassionate. They believe — irreversibly — that Terri is suffering and does not want to live. Or, I suppose some of them believe she ought not be allowed to make the decision to keep living if to do so will inconvenience others. I can’t get over the devaluation of life that has occurred in this nation over the last 30 years.
Posted by David Limbaugh at March 15, 2005 11:45 AM
March 15th, 2005 at 1:37 pm
And another…
Prayers For Terri
March 15, 2005
Absent a further court order, Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube will be removed on Friday, and she will starve — painfully, many say — to death. Doesn’t it strike you as eerie that the court relied on the testimony of an “estranged” husband in making its decision?
Doesn’t it strike you as horrifying that Terri may very well want to live but they are going to cause her to die, not by removing a respirator, but a feeding tube?
Do you really believe that Terri’s husband, Michael, who is living with another woman with whom he sired two children, is refusing to relinquish guardianship of Terri to her parents because he is irreversibly committed to carrying out Terri’s wishes?
Do you believe that disabled, but conscious and self-breathing people who can’t physically feed themselves or verbally express their desire to live, but who have left no written legal directions as to their destiny in such circumstances, should be starved to death?
How likely is it that Terri, now only 41 years old, would have discussed her wishes as to life support with her husband in 1990, when she would have only been in her mid-twenties and with no inkling of life-threatening or disabling medical conditions?
Without question, even young people discuss these unpleasant matters when they go through the process of estate planning. But Terri didn’t even have a will, much less a “living will” or health care power of attorney. If Terri had been so strong willed and adamant on the subject, why didn’t she make sure to get her papers in order?
Even if Terri did tell her husband she wouldn’t want to be kept alive “artificially” in the event of her incapacitation, is it likely she would have been so explicit as to cover all possible scenarios (like she might have in a lawyer’s office), such as those in this case? If you actually believe she did express her wishes to Michael, do you think she was so thorough and unambiguous as to make clear her irrevocable desire to die even if it meant starving to death when she could breathe on her own?
What is the urgency, other than financial, to end Terri’s life, especially when her parents have expressed a desire that she be kept alive and have agreed to care for and assume guardianship over her? Do you really believe that Terri’s parents would insist on keeping her alive if they believed she were miserable and didn’t want to go on living?
Were you aware that some believe that suspicious circumstances surround Terri’s injuries and that discrepancies exist concerning her medical condition, such as whether she suffered a heart attack?
Did you know that not long ago the Florida Department of Children and Families sought the court’s permission to intervene in Terri’s case for the purpose of requesting a delay to give it time to investigate abuse allegations?
From what I’ve read, while Terri is severely disabled, she’s not in a so-called vegetative state, she’s not in a coma, and she’s not medically terminal — except by court decree of starvation. What if, as Terri’s parents believe, Terri truly does want to go on living but just can’t verbally express it? Would it be ethical in that event to starve her just because she can’t feed herself?
If not, then on what basis has the system decided to terminate her life? Surely we can agree that it’s entirely possible that Terri does want to live even in her current condition and even if she expressed a general desire 15 years ago that she would not want “heroic measures” performed to save her in certain circumstances.
Given Terri’s reported responsiveness, her ability to breathe on her own, and the doubt and suspicious circumstances surrounding this case, shouldn’t the question be resolved in favor of life, especially given what we’ve seen recently, for example, with the comatose patient regaining consciousness after 19 years?
I find it haunting that we live in a culture of death where the presumption seems to be against finding that a human being would want to go on living and the burden of proof is on those promoting life.
Terri Schiavo and her parents need and deserve our prayers.
All pages copyright David Limbaugh 1994-2005
March 16th, 2005 at 12:36 pm
I bet if all the protesters down there launched a hunger strike right in front of the hospice, that you’d all end up with involuntary I-
Vs stuck in your arms to feed you.
It just doesn’t make sense. What are we supposed to do, have ourselves tattooed with instructions not to remove feeding tubes if we cannot speak for ourselves?
March 16th, 2005 at 5:20 pm
To Hanna Greene:
If you will read the information at http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/johansen200503160848.asp, you will see that WITHOUT an MRI and PET tests, there is NO WAY that a diagnosis of PVS can be made. Michael Schiavo and Felos shopped around until they found a medical “expert” (Dr. Cranford) who would give them the diagnosis they wanted. (And I know all about lawyers shopping around for medical experts).
Insofar as your comment: “Stay out of the personal intimate family decisions of others unless you are willing to accept the intrusion of other individuals and legislative bodies if/when your family is making choices for themselves,” don’t you realize that this case will set a legal precedent and no one in this country is safe from being condemned to a death like this? My elderly mother, my brain-injured but functioning quite well brother-in-law . . . maybe you or your child in the future. That’s a future I cannot believe we’re even having a discussion about. This is NOT the American way . . . or even the human way.
March 17th, 2005 at 6:21 pm
Check out wnd.com for some great breaking news updates on Terri v. Hitler…
I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same
The Three in One and One in Three.
I bind this today to me forever
By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation;
His baptism in Jordan river,
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb,
His riding up the heavenly way,
His coming at the day of doom
I bind unto myself today.
I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of cherubim;
The sweet ‘Well done’ in judgment hour,
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word,
The Patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord
And purity of virgin souls.
I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the star lit heaven,
The glorious sun’s life giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea
Around the old eternal rocks.
I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward;
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.
Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility
I bind to me these holy powers.
Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart’s idolatry,
Against the wizard’s evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave, the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.
Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
By Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.
- St. Patrick’s Breastplate, set to verse by C.F. Alexander.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day, and keep up the Great Work, ORW & friends. Doesn’t look like I’ll be able to make it to Pinellas to join you, but you are all definitely in our prayers; looking forward to a good report…for life.
slainte!
March 17th, 2005 at 6:51 pm
Hanna,
Her family is begging for involvment from anyone who can help them.
You’re typical of most of the anti life that post on here - the basis of your arguments are so blinded by something that has happened in your life that has caused you to live in this state of denial that is so obvious by your strange arguments. You spend your time attacking caring, concerned people.
What’s with the comment “poor little Terri” - that’s just bizarre to say about someone you don’t even know. Very strange.
March 17th, 2005 at 9:03 pm
I am an atheist, and yes, I don’t believe in God. I live in Florida and helped protest yesterday to help Terri Schivao. What I found shocking is that every single march or protest in the area was related to some church or ministry cause. It seems that everyone is only trying to help her becuase of 1000 year old book says it is ommoral to kill her.
I am pro-life, and I know other atheists like me, who are pro-life. Abortion is wrong and it needs to be stopped. But almost all well known, or significant pro-life groups are from a church, or have Christian roots. It is hard to find people that are motivated to fight abortion and help people like Terri that don’t have a bible in their right hand.
http://www.godlessprolifers.org/
Please help Terri Schiavo.
March 17th, 2005 at 10:43 pm
kirstin
while we appreciate the additional support of prolifers who don’t know the Author of Life, you must recognize that you are a small minority, and will remain so. in addition, i wonder if you can tell us why you have determined that killing is wrong if your Creator did not instill a moral code in your heart and mind when He created you….
i suggest you read ‘mere Christianity’ by cs lewis, a former atheist, who later became a strong apologist for the Christian faith. he did his homework, and wrote this book to detail how the Bible and Christianity can be relied upon. he once thought exactly as you do, but found that the facts, when he finally decided to take a good look at them, devastated his atheistic views.
this little book will present you with some amazing, irrefutable facts that you are obviously reluctant to accept for some reason.
–
as far as lover of death hanna greene goes -
your posts contribute nothing to the discussion, because they are riddled with lies and deception. your obsession with seeing terri dead is almost as perverted as that of michael schiavo and prodeath lawyer pelos, and is beyond anything rational or even intelligent. statements implying that the ’sanctity of the family’ is being violated by the schindlers would make george orwell proud. because that is a gross perversion of the english langauge. you call michael schiavo “family”? he’s abandoned terri in all but name. her real family is her parents, and they love her, unlike michael ‘when is that
b-tch gonna die’ schiavo. you obviously have not seen the videos her family took of her, which clearly show that she is NOT in a pvs. you believe what you want to, because you love death.
if only you had half as much love for truth…
hanna, when and if you have something honest to impart, and when and if you actually express a humane point of view on this or any subject, then perhaps your posts will be welcome. but for now, your desire to see terri dead is nothing short of sick.
March 18th, 2005 at 11:28 am
to Hanna G.
You are truly amazing! “Doesn’t the sanctity of the family mean anything anymore?”…Gosh, Hanna, why not go ask Terri’s perfidious, abusive, tyrannical infidel of a “husband” about the sanctity of the family, if you honestly care about such matters.
Michael Schiavo is the one violating all that really is legitimately sacred and familial, but without the constructive intent/motivation of those you bash for “interfering”. Murderers always want “privacy” and “liberty”, that’s why they seek to discredit/destroy all testimony against their deeds, like you & M. Schiavo and his other legal/medical thugs are determined to do.
It seems to have escaped your notice, but family ties are best forged, maintained, and preserved by LIVING human beings; so a discussion about the sanctity of the family is meaningless without first respecting the sanctity of LIFE.
That is why cold-blooded murder is not, has never been, and will never be the “primitive right” of families that you so cruelly and mendaciously claim it to be. For further insight on that matter, please see Genesis 4:1-16.
Speaking of rights, though, you may be further interested to learn that there is no such organization as the “religious right”. That term was coined by pro-death socialists for no other reason than to denigrate, dehumanize and belittle Christians who favor a constitutional republic over an American (or World) socialist state (think Third Reich on a world-wide scale)and who don’t think mutilated babies are the greatest advance for humanity since sliced bread. It’s hate speech, plain and simple, with no end but to destroy a comparatively innocent segment of society…just like all your pseudo-intellectual rants screaming like a vulture for Terri Schiavo’s blood. And while you may presume to take the liberty of indulging in it, it is not a legitimate right.
As twisted, unjust & sick as M. Schiavo, G. Pelos & Greer, et al, are in their efforts to torture an innocent woman to death, i do differ with Jerry in that your complicity in this is, if anything, more so; you are like someone crashing a family brawl just to stomp on the one losing. It’s that sort of gratuitous, blind, senseless cruelty that’s defies, rather than expresses, any thing remotely human or reasonable.
I think it’s been mentioned here before, but there is an appropriate venue for dumping loads of the toxic waste you post here. It’s called a toilet. If you’re not familiar with this phenomenon, go visit your nearest gas station and ask the attendant or clerk there to show you what & where it is & how to work it. I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to introduce you, for free, to a device and experience that countless millions of people have found a positive asset (no pun intended) in promoting a better quality of life. In any case, please use it, rather than people who are trying to save innocent human life and, ironically, the real sanctity of real families, as a dumping place for your excrement.
Cheers!
All the best, if you’ll have it…
March 18th, 2005 at 11:42 am
BREAKING NEWS
LIFE AND DEATH TUG OF WAR
House panel to probe Terri Schiavo case
Subpoenas order doctors not to remove feeding tube in meantime
—
Posted: March 18, 2005
9:44 a.m. Eastern
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
A House committee on Capitol Hill has decided to launch an investigation into the Terri Schiavo case, attempting an eleventh-hour end-run around the court-ordered removal of her life-sustaining feeding tube scheduled for 1 p.m. EST today.
The House Government Reform Committee has issued subpoenas which order doctors and administrators at the hospice facility where the severely brain-damaged woman resides not to remove her feeding tube and keep her alive until the investigation is complete.
Terri Schiavo responding to her mother in video clip available on terrisfight.org
Fox News reports the subpoenas were issued to Terri Schiavo, her husband, Michael, two of her attending physicians, and the hospice administrator.
The subpoenas direct the recipients to appear at the hospice facility — Hospice of the Florida Suncoast in Pinellas Park, Fla. — to give testimony to the House committee on March 25 at 10 a.m. EST.
“No things including those things reflecting data, information, or records called for by this request shall be destroyed, modified, transferred, disconnected, discontinued, or otherwise made inaccessible to the Committee,” the subpoenas read, according to Fox, which means the feeding tube must stay in place for another week.
Ignoring the subpoenas would amount to being in contempt of Congress and would incur penalties of fines and or imprisonment.
“This inquiry should give hope to Terri, her parents and friends and the millions of people throughout the world who are praying for her safety,” House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Government Reform chairman Tom Davis said in a joint statement. “This fight is not over.”
News of the Congress members’ intervention was well received by protesters gathered outside the hospice in support of Terri and her family.
“Bob and Mary Schindler have been praying for a miracle to save their daughter. We believe right now the miracle may come from the middle district, the federal court here in Tampa. The miracle may be these actions taken by the United States Congress,” said David Gibbs, the attorney representing Terri’s parents, who also asked a federal judge in Tampa to block the removal and review the actions of state courts. “We believe Terri’s is a life worth living.”
The move by the House panel comes as lawmakers in both Washington and Tallahassee failed in attempts to pass legislation to block Michael Schiavo, Terri’s husband, from having the tube pulled over the objections of her parents.
WorldNetDaily reported yesterday, Florida’s state House passed a bill 78-37 that would block withholding of food and water from patients in a persistent vegetative state who didn’t leave a written directive.
Terri Schiavo has no written directive.
A similar measure in the Senate was rejected, however, 21-16.
Also yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would delay removal of Schiavo’s feeding tube by moving such a case to federal court. Senate Democrats blocked the legislation, but Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said he would try to pass a separate bill. Lawmakers have postponed their Easter break in order to work on the legislation.
“If you’re going to put somebody to death, or have them starved to death, I would think that you would want a complete neurological exam in reaching that conclusion,” Frist said on the Senate floor. “In fact — this is what I’m told — that she hasn’t had an MRI or CAT scan which suggests she has not had a full neurological exam.”
Michael Schiavo won a court order in 2000 to have his wife’s feeding tube removed, claiming she was in a “persistent vegetative state” and had declared orally she wouldn’t want to live in such a condition.
The Schindlers, however, insist their daughter, while severely handicapped, is responsive and demonstrates a strong will to live. Their opinion is buttressed by nearly a dozen sworn affidavits signed by physicians disputing Terri remains in PVS.
Terri Schiavo is not hooked up to any machines, but she requires the small feeding tube for nourishment and hydration.
Terri Schiavo before suffering severe brain damage in 1990.
The 42-year-old collapsed under disputed circumstances Feb. 25, 1990, suffering severe brain damage when her heart stopped momentarily. Michael Schiavo attributes the collapse to an eating disorder, but the Schindlers strongly suspect he tried to strangle her.
The Schindlers have pleaded with Michael Schiavo to divorce their daughter, pointing out he has been living with another woman for 10 years, with whom he has two children.
WND reported a Florida judge rejected a request made earlier this month by the state’s social services agency to investigate alleged abuse by Terri’s estranged husband, who serves as her guardian.
The Department of Children and Families filed a petition containing 30 new allegations of “abuse, neglect or exploitation” the agency said came through its anonymous abuse hot line. The accusations include failure to investigate experimental medical procedures, denial of legal counsel, lack of communication and visitation and lack of therapy.
Michael Schiavo’s attorney, right-to-die advocate George Felos, said the DCF’s attemp to intervene “reeks of political arm-twisting.”
The Schindlers have long sought the removal of Michael Schiavo as Terri’s guardian. Among the family’s complaints are that Michael Schiavo:
Has not allowed therapy or rehabilitation since 1992, despite medical records indicating Terri is responsive.
Has prevented swallowing tests or swallowing therapy since 1993, despite medical testimony Terri can be taught to eat.
Ordered caretakers not to clean Terri’s teeth since 1995, resulting in removal of five teeth in April 2004.
Placed Terri in hospice in 2000, despite the fact she is not terminally ill.
Refuses to allow Terri to leave her room. She has not been outside since 2000.
Has refused to fix her wheelchair since 2000.
Refuses to allow Terri to practice her Catholic faith by attending weekly mass.
Ordered Terri’s shades down at all times.
Ordered doctors not to treat Terri when she had a life threatening infection in 1993 and 1995.
Removes family pictures from Terri’s room, denies flowers from family and friends, denies certain CDs to be played for Terri, and refuses to allow her to listen to music with headphones.
Refuses to release medical information to parents since 1993 despite court order requiring him to do so.
Has limited the visitors list, requiring they must first be approved by him and removes visitors at own discretion. Schiavo removed the Schindlers from the visitors list a total of eight months between 2001 and 2004.
Denies all requests for Terri to attend nursing home functions and refuses to allow therapeutic animals to visit with her, knowing that she is an animal lover.
“Michael claims he loves Terri, and he has said it on numerous occasions, but he treats her in a way I don’t think most of us would treat our own pets,” Bobby Schindler, Terri’s brother, told WND.
If neglect or abuse can be proved, the state can take over guardianship of Terri.
Should lawmakers’ efforts to intervene fail and the feeding tube be removed today, it would be the third time.
In 2003, “Terri’s Law” enabled Gov. Bush to intervene the second time Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube was removed, after she had endured six days of starvation and dehydration.
“Terri’s Law” was later ruled unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court, which said it violated the legal separation between the three branches of government.
March 18th, 2005 at 11:43 am
to Hanna G.
You are truly amazing! “Doesn’t the sanctity of the family mean anything anymore?”…Gosh, Hanna, why not go ask Terri’s perfidious, abusive, tyrannical infidel of a “husband” about the sanctity of the family, if you honestly care about such matters.
Michael Schiavo is the one violating all that really is legitimately sacred and familial, but without the constructive intent/motivation of those you bash for “interfering”. Murderers always want “privacy” and “liberty”, that’s why they seek to discredit/destroy all testimony against their deeds, like you & M. Schiavo and his other legal/medical thugs are determined to do.
It seems to have escaped your notice, but family ties are best forged, maintained, and preserved by LIVING human beings; so a discussion about the sanctity of the family is meaningless without first respecting the sanctity of LIFE.
That is why cold-blooded murder is not, has never been, and will never be the “primitive right” of families that you so cruelly and mendaciously claim it to be. For further insight on that matter, please see Genesis 4:1-16.
Speaking of rights, though, you may be further interested to learn that there is no such organization as the “religious right”. That term was coined by pro-death socialists for no other reason than to denigrate, dehumanize and belittle Christians who favor a constitutional republic over an American (or World) socialist state (think Third Reich on a world-wide scale)and who don’t think mutilated babies are the greatest advance for humanity since sliced bread. It’s hate speech, plain and simple, with no end but to destroy a comparatively innocent segment of society…just like all your pseudo-intellectual rants screaming like a vulture for Terri Schiavo’s blood. And while you may presume to take the liberty of indulging in it, it is not a legitimate right.
As twisted, unjust & sick as M. Schiavo, G. Pelos & Greer, et al, are in their efforts to torture an innocent woman to death, i do differ with Jerry in that your complicity in this is, if anything, more so; you are like someone crashing a family brawl just to stomp on the one losing. It’s that sort of gratuitous, blind, senseless cruelty that’s defies, rather than expresses, any thing remotely human or reasonable.
I think it’s been mentioned here before, but there is an appropriate venue for dumping loads of the toxic waste you post here. It’s called a toilet. Please use it, rather than people who are trying to save innocent human life and, ironically, the real sanctity of real families, for the purpose for which it, not they, were designed. I think you’ll find that this will improve quality of your life significantly, as well as that of others!
All the best, if you’ll have it.
March 18th, 2005 at 1:01 pm
Dear Operation Rescue West,
We wish that we could be with you in Florida and, if the worst happens, at least one of us will probably come asap. In the meantime, know that you are so in our sympathies, our hearts, and our prayers. A choir director Pat knew and worked with years ago used to say that when you sing hymns, you pray twice. We aren’t sure if that is literally true, but we do know that God inhabits the praises of His people. In that spirit, as we cry, pray, and hold you, the Schindler family and our Nation in our thoughts, we offer a bouquet, as it were, of prayer and praise hymns for you, the Schindler family, and our nation, especially as we approach Holy Week.
We hope that this informal but heartfelt collection blesses you as you are such a blessing to us!
—
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise; be thankful unto Him, and bless His name, for He is good, and His mercy endures forever.
Hail to the Lord’s anointed, great David’s greater Son!
Hail in the time appointed, His reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression, to set the captive free;
To take away transgression and rule in equity.
He comes in succor speedy to those who suffer wrong;
To help the poor and needy, and bid the weak be strong;
To give them songs for sighing, their darkness turn to light,
Whose souls, condemned and dying, were precious in His sight.
By such shall He be fearèd while sun and moon endure;
Beloved, obeyed, reverèd; for He shall judge the poor
Through changing generations, with justice, mercy, truth,
While stars maintain their stations, or moons renew their youth.
He shall come down like showers upon the fruitful earth;
Love, joy, and hope, like flowers, spring in His path to birth.
Before Him, on the mountains, shall peace, the herald, go,
And righteousness, in fountains, from hill to valley flow.
Arabia’s desert ranger to Him shall bow the knee;
The Ethiopian stranger His glory come to see;
With offerings of devotion ships from the isles shall meet,
To pour the wealth of oceans in tribute at His feet.
Kings shall fall down before Him, and gold and incense bring;
All nations shall adore Him, His praise all people sing;
For He shall have dominion o’er river, sea and shore,
Far as the eagle’s pinion or dove’s light wing can soar.
For Him shall prayer unceasing and daily vows ascend;
His kingdom still increasing, a kingdom without end:
The mountain dews shall nourish a seed in weakness sown,
Whose fruit shall spread and flourish and shake like Lebanon.
O’er every foe victorious, He on His throne shall rest;
From age to age more glorious, all blessing and all blest.
The tide of time shall never His covenant remove;
His Name shall stand forever, His Name to us is Love.
–James Montgomery
(The hymn is a loose paraphrase of Psalm 72, a so-called “Messianic” psalm because it describes a king of such noble character that it can only point to the Messiah. The psalm bears the heading “Of Solomon,” which has been translated to mean written by, written about, or dedicated to Solomon. The King James translation Montgomery used assumes not only that it was written about Solomon, but that his father David wrote it. The Davidic lineage is the focus of the hymn, reminding us that though Solomon would surpass his father David’s reign, a greater Son of David would one day eclipse them both.
Background paragraph © 1996, Greg Scheer. Used by permission. If you’d like permission to use this text in church publications, please call him at (412) 247-7364.)
Especially for Terri, and all who suffer severe afflictions;
O Jesus, King of Glory,
Both David’s Lord and Son!
Thy realm endures forever,
In Heav’n is fixed Thy throne.
Help that in earth’s dominions,
Throughout from pole to pole,
Thy reign may spread salvation,
To each benighted soul.
The Eastern sages, bringing
Their tribute gifts to Thee,
Bear witness to Thy kingdom
And humbly bow the knee.
To Thee the star is pointing,
And the prophetic Word;
Hence joyously we hail Thee:
Our Savior and our Lord!
Thou art a mighty Monarch,
As by Thy Word is told,
Yet carest Thou but little
For earthly goods or gold;
On no proud steed Thou ridest,
Thou wear’st no precious crown
Nor dwell’st in lordly castle,
But bearest scoff and frown.
Yet art Thou decked with beauty,
With rays of glorious light;
Thy works proclaim Thy goodness,
And all Thy ways are right.
Vouchsafe to shield Thy people
With Thine almighty arm
That they may dwell in safety
From those who mean them harm.
Ah, look on me with pity
Though I am weak and poor;
Admit me to Thy kingdom
To dwell there, blest and sure.
I pray Thee, guide and keep me
Safe from my bitter foes,
From sin and death and Satan;
Free me from all my woes.
And bid Thy Word within me
Shine as the fairest star;
Keep sin and all false doctrine
Forever from me far.
Help me confess Thee truly
And with Thy Christendom
Here own Thee King and Savior
And in the world to come.
– Martin Behm
O God, be merciful to me,
My soul for refuge comes to Thee,
Beneath Thy wings I safe will stay,
Until these troubles pass away.
To God Most High shall rise my prayer,
To God Who makes my wants His care,
From Heav’n He will salvation send,
And me from every foe defend.
Great foes and fierce my soul alarm,
Inflamed with rage and strong to harm,
But God, from Heav’n His dwelling place,
Will rescue me with truth and grace.
Be Thou, O God, exalted high,
Yea, far above the starry sky,
And let Thy glory be displayed
O’er all the earth Thy hands have made.
My soul is grieved because my foes
With treacherous plans my way enclose;
But from the snares that they devise
Their own undoing shall arise.
My heart is steadfast, O my King,
My heart is tuned Thy praise to sing;
Awake, my soul, and swell the song,
Let vibrant harp the notes prolong.
Yea, I will early wake and sing,
A thankful hymn to Thee will bring,
For unto Heav’n Thy mercies rise,
Thy truth is lofty as the skies.
Be Thou, O God, exalted high,
Yea, far above the starry sky,
And let Thy glory be displayed
O’er all the earth Thy hands have made.
Paraphrase of Psalm 57; author unknown
O hear my cry, be gracious now to me,
Come, Great Deliverer, come;
My soul bowed down is longing now for Thee,
Come, Great Deliverer, come.
Refrain
I’ve wandered far away o’er mountains cold,
I’ve wandered far away from home;
O take me now, and bring me to Thy fold,
Come, Great Deliverer, come.
I have no place, no shelter from the night,
Come, Great Deliverer, come;
One look from Thee would give me life and light,
Come, Great Deliverer, come.
Refrain
My path is lone, and weary are my feet,
Come, Great Deliverer, come;
Mine eyes look up Thy loving smile to meet,
Come, Great Deliverer, come.
Refrain
Thou wilt not spurn contrition’s broken sigh,
Come, Great Deliverer, come.
Regard my prayer, and hear my humble cry,
Come, Great Deliverer, come.
Refrain
– Fanny J. Crosby
For Bob and Mary Schindler, and all other parents whose children suffer all manner of injustice, affliction, injury, and any other handicaps:
Gracious Savior, gentle Shepherd,
Our little ones are dear to Thee;
Gathered with Thine arms and carried
In Thy bosom may they be
Sweetly, gently, safely tended,
From all want and danger free.
Tender Shepherd, never leave them
From Thy fold to go astray;
By Thy look of love directed,
May they walk the narrow way;
Thus direct them, and protect them,
Lest they fall an easy prey.
Let Thy holy Word instruct them:
Fill their minds with heav’nly light;
Let Thy love and grace constrain them,
To approve whate’er is right,
Take Thine easy yoke and wear it,
And to prove Thy burden light.
Cleanse their hearts from sinful folly
In the stream Thy love supplied;
Mingled streams of blood and water
Flowing from Thy wounded side;
And to heav’nly pastures lead them,
Where Thine own still waters glide.
– John Keble
Are all the foes of Sion fools,
Who thus devour her saints?
Do they not know her Savior rules,
And pities her complaints?
They shall be seized with sad surprise;
For God’s revenging arm
Scatters the bones of them that rise
To do His children harm.
In vain the sons of Satan boast
Of armies in array;
When God has first despised their host
They fall an easy prey.
O for a word from Zion’s King,
Her captives to restore!
Jacob with all his tribes shall sing,
And Judah weep no more.
– Isaac Watts
Heal us, Emmanuel, hear our prayer
[originally, Heal us, Emmanuel, here we are]
We wait to feel Thy touch;
Deep wounded souls to Thee repair,
And Savior, we are such.
Our faith is feeble, we confess
We faintly trust Thy Word;
But wilt Thou pity us the less?
Be that far from Thee, Lord!
Remember him who once applied
With trembling for relief
“Lord, I believe,” with tears he cried;
“O help my unbelief!”
She, too, who touched Thee in the press
And healing virtue stole,
Was answered, “Daughter, go in peace;
Thy faith has made thee whole.”
Concealed amid the gathering throng,
She would have shunned Thy view;
And if her faith was firm and strong,
Had strong misgivings too.
Like her, with hopes and fears we come
To touch Thee if we may;
O send us not despairing home;
Send none unhealed away.
– William Cowper
For our nation, because we see our own plight figured in Terri’s sufferings and plight:
Have mercy on us, God most high,
Who lift our hearts to Thee;
Raise up the fallen, cheer the faint,
Most holy Trinity.
Most ancient of all mysteries!
Before Thy throne we lie;
Have mercy now, most Merciful,
Most holy Trinity.
When heaven and earth were yet unmade,
When time was yet unknown,
Thou, in Thy bliss and majesty,
Didst live and love alone.
Thou wert not born; there was no fount
From which Thy Being flowed;
There is no end which Thou canst reach;
But Thou art simply God.
How wonderful creation is,
The work that Thou didst bless;
And oh, what then must Thou be like,
Eternal Loveliness!
How beautiful the angels are,
The saints how bright in bliss;
But with Thy beauty, Lord, compared,
How dull, how poor is this.
O listen, then, most pitiful,
To Thy poor creature’s heart:
It blesses Thee that Thou art God;
That Thou art what Thou art.
Most ancient of all mysteries!
Still at Thy throne we lie;
Have mercy now, most Merciful,
Most holy Trinity.
- F.W. Faber (slightly altered)
O God of earth and altar, bow down and hear our cry,
Our earthly rulers falter, our people drift and die;
The walls of gold entomb us, the swords of scorn divide;
Take not Thy thunder from us, but take away our pride.
From all that terror teaches, from lies of tongue and pen,
From all the easy speeches that comfort cruel men;
From sale and profanation of honor and the sword;
From sleep and from damnation, deliver us, good Lord!
Tie in a living tether, the prince and priest and thrall;
Bind all our lives together, smite us and save us all;
In ire and exultation aflame with faith and free,
Lift up a living nation, a single sword to Thee.
- G.K. Chesterton
Great King of nations, hear our prayer,
While at Thy feet we fall,
And humbly with united cry
To Thee for mercy call;
The guilt is ours, but grace is Thine,
O turn us not away;
But hear us from Thy lofty throne,
And help us when we pray.
Our fathers’ sins were manifold,
And ours no less we own,
Yet wondrously from age to age
Thy goodness has been shown;
When dangers, like a stormy sea,
Beset our country round,
To Thee we looked, to Thee we cried,
And help in Thee was found.
With one consent we meekly bow
Beneath Thy chastening hand,
And, pouring forth confession meet,
Mourn with our mourning land;
With pitying eye behold our need,
As thus we lift our prayer;
Correct us with Thy judgments, Lord,
Then let Thy mercy spare.
– John H. Gurney
—-
For the Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world; Have mercy on us.
Refrain
All glory, laud and honor,
To Thee, Redeemer, King,
To Whom the lips of children
Made sweet hosannas ring.
Thou art the King of Israel,
Thou David’s royal Son,
Who in the Lord’s Name comest,
The King and Blessèd One.
Refrain
The company of angels
Are praising Thee on High,
And mortal men and all things
Created make reply.
Refrain
The people of the Hebrews
With palms before Thee went;
Our prayer and praise and anthems
Before Thee we present.
Refrain
To Thee, before Thy passion,
They sang their hymns of praise;
To Thee, now high exalted,
Our melody we raise.
Refrain
Thou didst accept their praises;
Accept the prayers we bring,
Who in all good delightest,
Thou good and gracious King.
Refrain
Translator J.M Neale noted “another verse was usually sung until the 17th Century, at the quaintness of which we can scarcely avoid a smile”…:)
Be Thou, O Lord, the Rider,
And we the little ass,
That to God’s holy city
Together we may pass.
Blessing and honor and glory and power,
Wisdom and riches and strength evermore
Give ye to Him Who our battle hath won
Whose are the kingdom, the crown, and the throne.
Into the heav’n of the heav’ns hath He gone,
Sitteth He now in the joy of the throne,
Weareth He now of the kingdom the crown,
Singeth He now the new song with His own.
Soundeth the Heaven of the heavens with His Name;
Ringeth the earth with His glory and fame;
Ocean and mountain, stream, forest, and flower
Echo His praises and tell of His power.
Past are the darkness, the storm, and the war,
Come is the radiance, that sparkles afar,
Breaketh the gleam of the day without end,
Riseth the Sun that shall never descend.
Ever ascendeth the song and the joy;
Ever descendeth the love from on high;
Blessing and honor and glory and praise,
This is the theme of the hymns that we raise.
Life of all life, and true Light of all light,
Star of the dawning unchangingly bright,
Sun of the Salem whose light is the Lamb,
Theme of the ever new, ever glad psalm!
Give we the glory and praise to the Lamb;
Take we the robe and the harp and the palm;
Sing we the song of the Lamb that was slain,
Dying in weakness, but rising to reign.
– Horatius Bonar
—
The King shall come when morning dawns,
And light triumphant breaks;
When beauty gilds the eastern hills,
And life to joy awakes.
Not as of old a little child
To bear, and fight, and die,
But crowned with glory like the sun
That lights the morning sky.
O brighter than the rising morn
When He, victorious, rose,
And left the lonesome place of death,
Despite the rage of foes.
O brighter than that glorious morn
Shall this fair morning be,
When Christ, our King, in beauty comes,
And we His face shall see.
The King shall come when morning dawns,
And earth’s dark night is past;
O haste the rising of that morn,
The day that aye shall last.
And let the endless bliss begin,
By weary saints foretold,
When right shall triumph over wrong,
And truth shall be extolled.
The King shall come when morning dawns,
And light and beauty brings:
Hail, Christ the Lord! Thy people pray,
Come quickly, King of kings.
– Author unknown; translated from Greek to English by John Brownlie, in Hymns of the Russian Church, 1907.
Lo! He comes with clouds descending,
Once for favored sinners slain;
Thousand thousand saints attending,
Swell the triumph of His train:
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
God appears on earth to reign.
Every eye shall now behold Him
Robed in dreadful majesty;
Those who set at naught and sold Him,
Pierced and nailed Him to the tree,
Deeply wailing, deeply wailing,
Shall the true Messiah see.
Every island, sea, and mountain,
Heav’n and earth, shall flee away;
All who hate Him must, confounded,
Hear the trump proclaim the day:
Come to judgment! Come to judgment!
Come to judgment! Come away!
Now redemption, long expected,
See in solemn pomp appear;
All His saints, by man rejected,
Now shall meet Him in the air:
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
See the day of God appear!
Answer Thine own bride and Spirit,
Hasten, Lord, the general doom!
The new Heav’n and earth t’inherit,
Take Thy pining exiles home:
All creation, all creation,
Travails! groans! and bids Thee come!
The dear tokens of His passion
Still His dazzling body bears;
Cause of endless exultation
To His ransomed worshippers;
With what rapture, with what rapture
Gaze we on those glorious scars!
Yea, Amen! let all adore Thee,
High on Thine eternal throne;
Savior, take the power and glory,
Claim the kingdom for Thine own;
O come quickly! O come quickly!
Everlasting God, come down!
– Charles Wesley
Hoping for the best and preparing for the worst…and praying that the hope is vindicated and the preparation needless.
Praying without ceasing, with all psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs,
March 18th, 2005 at 2:50 pm
Take this with a grain of salt. I can’t believe if all of this is, in fact, true, that this judge hasn’t already been impeached, tried and put in jail a long time ago. This is judicial tyranny at its finest hour.
Linda
Exclusive
Schiavogate—The Big Cover-up
By June Maxam and Ginger Berlin
© The Empire Journal
“People may die during the course of abuse investigations and the investigation may become moot”.
Apparently that’s what Florida’s Sixth Circuit Court George Greer is hoping. Maybe even the judges in the 2nd District Court of Appeals at Lakeland have the same mindset.
It appears that Greer has a vested interest in the death of Terri Schindler-Schiavo. Her death may make moot the warranted and overdue investigations of Greer’s own complicity in the case—alleged violations of guardianship laws and well as the alleged cover-up of criminal wrongdoing in the matter—an obstruction of justice—a prosecutable offense for which culpability will only increase with judicial homicide.
Saying that that death will render the alleged decade-long abuse of Terri Schiavo, aided and abetted by the court as moot, Greer denied the motion of Florida’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) to intervene in the case of Terri Schiavo, sentenced to die March 18 by Greer because she requires food and water to live.
The plethora of alleged improprieties in the Schiavo case gives immediate cause for the appointment of a special prosecutor into not only the alleged wrongdoing of Michael Schiavo but of George Greer. The longer that Florida authorities resist in removing Greer from the case and bench, the greater the miscarriage of justice.
Conspiracy, collusion, fraud.
Not only has Greer unlawfully become a party to the action by acting as both jurist and guardian ad litem in the case but he, like Michael Schiavo and his attorney, George Felos, may need to insure that Terri Schiavo dies and her body immediately cremated in order to destroy evidence of not only the alleged criminal wrongdoing of Michael Schiavo but perhaps by Greer himself in impeding and interfering in valid abuse investigations.
And then there’s the guardianship issue.
According to an investigation conducted by The Empire Journal, not only has Michael Schiavo allegedly egregiously violated the guardianship laws of the State of Florida, but so has Greer. By refusing to act on the petitions submitted by Terri’s parents to remove the estranged husband as the guardian, Greer has violated his statutory duties as well as aided in the alleged abuse, neglect and exploitation of the ward.
Greer has steadfastly dodged the guardianship issue, refusing to rule on petitions to remove Schiavo as guardian of the person of Terri Schiavo, abdicating the duties of the judicial office as well as his position on the Sixth Circuit Committee on Guardianship Monitoring.
Condoned Medicare Fraud
In addition, with the knowledge that Terri Schiavo is not terminal, Greer has actually condoned and participated in a fraud of the federal and state governments, becoming partners with Michael Schiavo and others to allegedly engage in Medicare and Medicaid fraud by allowing the placement of Terri in a hospice without proper certification. He has also repetitively allowed Michael Schiavo to violate the statutory filing requirements under guardianship laws regarding the physical and mental condition of his ward, Terri Schiavo. Although he claims that he has ruled on the subject previously, each year that Schiavo fails to file the requisite reports and accountings constitutes a new violation, grounds for his removal as guardian.
At an evidentiary hearing before Greer in October, 2002, Dr. Victor Gambone, former attending physician of Terri Schiavo, testified under oath that his patient was not terminal and that was not in any sort of health crisis. At that time, Terri Schiavo had been a resident of Hospice of Florida Suncoast for over two years unlawfully as the requisite certification of her terminal illness had not been filed.
But instead of reporting the alleged fraud, Greer allegedly became an accomplice to it, granting the husband’s petition to enroll Terri into a Medicaid program for her stay at the hospice.
On Nov. 15, 2002, Patricia Anderson, attorney for the Schindlers, filed with Greer a petition to remove Michael Schiavo as guardian. The petition included a declaration of adversary proceedings charging that the husband had violated a dozen or more Florida Statutes. As of this date, more some 2 ½ years later, Greer has never ruled on the motion—in violation of state law. But then there if a hearing was conducted as required, there would be only one way to rule on the motion—to remove Schiavo as guardian.
On Jan. 10, attorneys for Mary and Robert Schindler Sr. renewed their petition for the removal of Schiavo as guardian of their daughter and as this date, Greer has failed to rule on that motion too, in direct contravention of Florida Statutes. By refusing to conduct the required hearing on the issue and addressing the blatant violations of state law, Greer is not only aiding and abetting Michael Schiavo and George Felos but he is a lawbreaker himself, a violation of public trust and the oath of office that he presumably took and filed.
“My oath is to follow the law and if I can’t follow the law, I need to step down”.
According to review of Greer’s handling of the Schiavo case conducted by The Empire Journal, Greer has consistently failed to follow the law and needs to hang up the black robe.
Instead of serving to protect the assets of incapacitated persons such as the disabled and the elderly, the existing guardianship system in Florida and particularly in Pinellas County presents the opportunity for unscrupulous guardians to loot the assets of their wards and enrich themselves with the complete blessing of the court.
No Report, No Authority
Pursuant to Chapter 744 of Florida Statutes, each guardian, whether non-professional or professional, is required to file an annual guardianship report, plan and accounting. By law, the court retains jurisdiction over all guardians. The court, and that includes Greer, is required to review “the appropriateness and extent of a guardianship annually and if an objection to terms of the guardianship has been filed, if interim review requested, if the guardianship report has not been received and the guardian has failed to respond to a show cause order”.
Unless the court requires filing on a calendar-year basis, each guardian of the person, such as Schiavo, is required to file with the court an annual guardianship plan within 90 days after the last day of the anniversary month the letters of guardianship were signed, and the plan must cover the coming fiscal year. If calendar year filing is required, the guardianship plan must be file within 90 days after the end of the calendar year—or in the case of 2004—-on March 30, two weeks after Greer has decreed that the death order be executed.
The annual accounting must also be filed at this time by the guardian of the person.
The guardian of the property, who in the Schiavo case is Alyson Carpenter according to Ken Burke, clerk of the Sixth Circuit Court, must also file an annual accounting. The annual report of a guardian of the person of an incapacitated person must consist of an annual guardianship plan. The annual report is required to be served on the ward and on the attorney for the ward. The guardian is required to provide a copy to any other person as the court may direct. Unless the ward is a minor or has been determined to be totally incapacitated, the guardian is required to review a copy of the annual report with the ward, to the extent possible. Within 30 days after the annual report has been filed, any interested person, including the ward, may file written objections to any element of the report specifying the nature of the objection.
Section 744.3685 states that if the guardian fails to file the annual guardianship report, as it is alleged in the Schiavo case, Greer is required to order the guardian to file the report within 15 days after the service of an order on him to show cause why he shouldn’t be compelled to do so. If the guardian fails to file the report within the time specified without good cause, the court may cite him for contempt.
However, in the case of Greer, he has failed to exercise his mandate and instead of ordering Schiavo to comply with the law or show cause why he shouldn’t have to, Greer ignores his responsibility under the law and allows Schiavo to escape the filing requirement.
If an annual report is not timely filed, the law states the court “shall”, not permissive but mandatory, order the guardian to file the report or show cause why it is not timely filed. The court is required by law to review the initial and annual guardianship report to determine that the report meets the needs of the ward, authorizes a guardian to act only in areas in which the adult ward has been declared incapacitated and conforms to all other requirements of law.
In the case of Schiavo, Greer has allegedly taken no steps as required to force Schiavo to file the requisite reports and obviously in the absence of the reports being filed, Greer fails to exercise his statutory duties of reviewing the report. Without the report being filed or being reviewed as required, Greer in essence is not only allowing Schiavo to violate the guardianship laws but he himself is actually becoming a party to allowing the abuse, neglect and exploitation to occur and continue unaddressed.
Greer has consistently refused to consider the allegations of abuse even in light of the massive evidence presented to him.
By law, if an objection is filed to a report, (or the lack of the guardian to file the mandated report) the court is required by law to set the matter for hearing and conduct hearing within 30 days after filing of objection.
Greer Violating Guardianship Law Too
Greer is in violation of this section of guardianship law too as he has failed to conduct a hearing on the Nov. 2002 motion or the Jan. 11, 2005 motion. http://www.terrisfight.org/documents/PetitionToRemoveGuardian.pdf http://www.terrisfight.org/documents/Mot%20Dism%20Pet%20Rem%20Guard%20120602.pdf
Among the issues in the petition for the removal of Schiavo is his abandonment of the marriage, failure to provide the ward with her rights including independent legal counsel, palliative care and rehabilitation services; failure to file valid guardianship plans and mismanagement of the ward’s assets.
There are a number of reasons provided for the removal of a guardian. Among those in the case of Michael Schiavo are a material failure to comply with the guardianship report by the guardian; failure to comply with rules for timely filing the initial and annual reports; failure to fulfill guardianship education requirements; fraud in obtaining her or her appointment; failure to discharge her or his duties; abuse of his powers; wasting, embezzlement or other mismanagement of ward’s property; development of conflict of interest between ward and guardian; improper management of ward’s assets
After the mandated hearing is held, the court shall enter a written order either approving or ordering modifications to the report. Greer has failed to do this too.
By law, the approved report constitutes the authority for guardian to act in the forthcoming year. The powers of guardian are initiated by terms of the report. The annual report may not grant additional authority to guardian without a hearing as provided. In the absence of Schiavo and Felos filing an annual report and accounting, Schiavo has no legal authority to act as a guardian in that yeara ongoing violation which seems to have been unlawfully endorsed by Greer. By failing to take action against Schiavo to force him to comply with the law, the court is aiding and abetting Schiavo in violating the law—-hardly a role that a judge should play—particularly when the stakes are a sentence of death..
Any initial, annual or final guardianship report is subject to investigation only by the court, clerk of the court or clerk’s representative, the guardian, the guardian’s attorney, the ward and the ward’s attorney. By failing to appoint independent counsel for Terri, Greer has also violated that law.
According to Section 744.3715, at any time any interested person, including the ward, may petition the court for review, alleging that the guardian is not complying with guardianship plans or is exceeding authority under guardianship plan, and that the guardian is not acting in best interest of the ward. The petition must state the nature of objection to the guardian’s action or proposed action. Upon the filing of such petition court is required by law to review the petition and act on it expeditiously.
Greer has consistently refused to do so, violating the law himself while allowing Michael Schiavo to violate numerous sections of state law, using the auspices of his judicial power and resources to allow an individual to break the law which in the case of Terri Schiavo, is against the best interests of the ward, the interests that Greer is sworn to protect. Instead, he has ordered her death to allegedly cover-up the wrongdoings of not only Michael Schiavo and others involved in the case, but himself.
Terri Schiavo collapsed amidst mysterious circumstances at her home on Feb. 25, 1990, during a time when witnesses say there had been on ongoing situation of argument and strife and possible domestic violence. The only person at the home at the time of her collapse which resulted in a lack of oxygen to the brain, causing serious brain damage, was her husband.
Within 48 hours after she had been admitted to the hospital, her husband’s employer, the owner of a restaurant, arrived at the hospital. Daniel Grieco, also an attorney, consulted with Terri’s parents outside the Intensive Care Unit waiting room, recommending that they sign documents that would allow Schiavo to handle Terri’s medical affairs on the pretense it would expedite Terri’s emergency treatment.
The attorney’s rationale was since Terri was barely clinging to life, vesting Michael Schiavo with this power would expedite her medical care. Grieco did not mention that Schiavo would have exclusive power to dictate Terri’s medical treatment and the authority to control the release of any medical information concerning Terri.
Another Greer Contributor
Since there are no documents in Terri’s legal case files regarding this meeting with Daniel Grieco, that agreement may have been designed as a short term control solution. Notably, the document allowed Schaivo to conceal Terri’s hospital admittance records and the ability to filter all of the doctor’s information. (Daniel Grieco was a $300 contributor to the 2004 election campaign of Judge Greer)
As an example, on March 5, 1991, just 53 weeks after Terri’s collapse, a bone scan taken of Terri revealed a healed broken right femur bone and healed bone fractures in her ribs, pelvis, spine and ankle. The radiologist, Dr. Walker, concluded that “Terri has a history of trauma” and presumed “that the other multiple areas of abnormal activity also relate to previous trauma”. WALKER PDF & Bone Scan
Despite testimony and sworn affidavits by caregivers attesting to the alleged abuse, neglect and exploitation of Terri Schiavo allegedly at the hands of Michael Schiavo, Greer has steadfastly refused to consider any of the allegations.
An orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Hamilton, initially saw Terri a few months after she collapsed. Schiavo never disclosed this information to any of the Schinder family.
On June 18, 1990, after a conducted investigation declaring Terri incapacitated, a hearing was held in a St. Petersburg courtroom appointing Michael Schiavo as Terri’s legal guardian.
The St. Petersburg court files state that Terri’s parents were notified by mail of these events, including the hearing, and had no objections to Michael Schiavo being appointed legal guardian.
Terri’s parents emphatically state that they did not know of the investigation which concluded that Terri was incapacitated or the subsequent court hearing and were never notified.
Additionally, there is no evidence of any documentation in Terri’s legal case files verifying that Terri’s parents supported Michael Schiavo’s guardianship appointment, other than a reference that Terri’s parents were in agreement. It should be noted that during this 1990 time frame, Terri’s parents were in daily contact with Michael Schiavo and nothing was ever mentioned regarding these court proceedings by Schiavo or his attorney. The entire legal guardianship transaction was handled by attorney Daniel Grieco who later contributed to Greer’s election campaign as did each one of the attorneys representing Michael Schiavo.
In fact, not only did Hamdin Baskin III contribute the maximum of $500 to Greer’s campaign, but so did his law partner, Joseph Fleece, thereby the law firm of Baskin and Fleece contributed a total of $1,000 to Greer’s reelection at the time Baskin was representing Michael Schiavo in the guardianship proceeding before Greer.
In 1993, the Schindlers filed a petition in Pinellas Circuit Court, to have Michael Schiavo removed as Terri’s guardian, claiming he was compromised by the money he had been awarded as the result of medical malpractice claims against doctors who had been treating Terri prior to her collapse, and that he was no longer acting in her best interest.
In August, 1992, Terri was awarded $250,000 in a settlement by the insurance company of Dr. Joel Prawer who was later cleared by the state Department of Health of all negligence in the case. In November, 1992, she was awarded $1.4 million following the malpractice trial of Dr. Stephen Igel and Schiavo himself was awarded $600,000 for loss of consortium, giving him a sum of $2.25 million.
A probate judge dismissed the case after an independent guardian ad litem issued a report stating that he was acting in her best interests.
For the next five years, the Schindlers were unsuccessful in their legal maneuvers to get Terri’s medical records and take over their daughter’s guardianship. Meanwhile, Michael Schiavo became involved with another woman. They became engaged in 1996 and have two children together.
In 1998, Schiavo filed a petition to have Terri’s nutrition and hydration tube removed. The case when to trial in February, 2000 before Greer as the probate judge handling guardianship matters. Based on self-serving hearsay evidence by Michael Schiavo, inadmissible by law, Greer ruled that there was “clear and convincing” evidence that Terri Schiavo would not want to receive assisted feeding and on Feb.
11, 2000, signed her death order allowing her guardian, Michael Schiavo to remove the assisted feeding which will cause her death by starvation.
Circuit Investigates Guardians Annually
According to the newsletter of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, the circuit investigates guardians at least once a year as part of the court’s responsibility in ensuring that the best interests of the wards are being met. For non-professional guardians, such as Michael Schiavo, the reinvestigations are due at the time of filing of the annual accounting or if the time to file has been extended, then when the annual accounting is filed with the annual plan.
However, there is no indication that the court has ever conducted an annual investigation of Michael Schiavo.
The court—and that includes Greer—is required by statute to review both the guardianship accounting and plan. The monitoring of a guardianship begins at the initial filing with the court. Following the initial investigation and filing by the guardian, according to the newsletter, the court conducts a follow-up investigation on an annual basis to insure that parties remain qualified under the law to protect the rights, health and safety of the individual. A $50 statutory annual fee is required for the initial investigation and annually thereafter for the guardian of the person and property and guardian of the property alone. The fee for guardian of the person, such as Schiavo, is $ $25 upon filing and annually thereafter. Professional guardians are required to pay the fee annually and not for every case.
The court is also required to audit all guardianship reports—-therefore, the court must insure that all reports are filed. In addition, the court must also conduct random comprehensive filed audits to ensure that the guardians are acting appropriate regarding their activities to court accurately. It is the court role of protecting citizens and assist state in meeting the needs of elderly and incapacitated population but apparently in the case of Greer, not only has allowed Michael Schiavo to violate the guardianship laws by not filing the requisite accountings, plans and reports, but Greer himself has failed to comply with the law.
The guardianship court monitor investigates when appointed by the probate judge to look into a particular guardianship case. The monitor reviews al internal, annual and interim guardianship rights and reports the findings to the court.
Even though Greer has failed to comply with the law in ensuring that Michael Schiavo is accountable to the court in protecting the interests of the ward by his required annual filings, Schiavo is also accountable to the clerk of circuit court who is now Ken Burke.
Burke took office Jan. 1 after Karleen DeBlaker retired after more than 20 years in the position.
Clerk Required To Do Annual Review
Burke as clerk of the Sixth Judicial Circuit is required by law to review each initial and annual guardianship report to ensure it contains information about the ward; physical and mental health care, personal and social services, the residential setting, application of insurance, private benefits and government benefits, and physical and mental health exams.
The clerk also undertakes an initial verified inventory of the annual accounting and is mandated by law within 30 days after the date of filing of initial or annual report of the guardian of the person complete his or her review of the report.
Within 90 days of the filing of the initial or annual guardianship report by the guardian, he is required to audit the verified inventory or annual accounting and is mandated to advise the court of the results of audit. The clerk shall report to the court when a report is not timely filed.
Therefore, by law, not only is Michael Schiavo required to file an annual guardianship plan and accounting, but the court clerk is required to audit same and that audit is part of the public record and subject to public scrutiny and review. http://myfloridalegal.com/ago.nsf/Opinions/0CAC9D4B79C9A8B985256EC5005D3AED
“Guardianship is an area ripe for fraud and where most fraud abuse has in fact occurred”, DeBlaker has said. Particularly critical of the way that the Sixth Circuit Court judges handle guardianships is Robert W. Melton, chief deputy director internal audit division, certified public accountant, certified fraud examiner with the Pinellas County Circuit Court. During public hearings conducted by the Florida Guardian Task Force appointed by Florida legislators to address guardianship reform, Melton testified that in his office was being “stonewalled” in their attempts to audit guardianship.
According to a report appearing in the April, 2004 issued of the Gulf Coast Business Review by Francis Gilpin, associate editor, Melton told the task force that “In Pinellas County, attempts are being made to limit the clerk’s authority”, a county where George Greer is the Administrative Judge of the Probate Division. “This ranges from guardians that refuse to submit to an audit unless a court order is received, to judges that question the authority of the clerk to use professional auditing staff to conduct the audits”.
While Melton advocates opening the guardianship process to public review, Greer is opposed to that practice. Melton said openness would be one way to prevent improprieties, making public the initial inventories of wards’ estates and the annual accountings of assets that guardians are required to file with the court. “The lack of public scrutiny breeds misdeeds and misappropriations because people who may know the truth would not have access”, according to Melton.
Greer has reportedly said that he sees more potential for financial abuse by immediate family members who create guardianships or gain power of attorney status than by professional guardians. Melton told the task force that there have been times when a Pinellas judge, whom he did not name, has prevented clerk’s auditors from examining the entire record of a guardianship case.
Melton told the task force that the assets of wards are being transferred into pooled trusts that he says operate imprudently outside the supervision of the courts. He adds that the real estate of wards is being sold at below-market prices to land trusts whose owners don’t have to be disclosed. Pooled trusts are promoted as a legal method for wards to maintain Medicaid eligibility in nursing homes, according to Melton.
“When we have both guardians and judges trying to keep auditors out, we have a system ripe for corruption and fraud”, Melton said.
Former chief Judge F. Dennis Alvarez of the 13th Circuit, Hillsborough County, says that Pinellas County has historically resisted guardianship reform. Perhaps that’s because there’s big money to be made among lawyers and other players in guardianships—particularly in the disposition of assets of wards including real and personal property including real estate, juelry and antiques in addition to the guardian fees.
Melton says that Pinellas judges, which include George Greer, not only keep court records hidden from public view but are anxious to extend the cloak of secrecy to the audits. In February, 2004, Melton recommended to Chief Judge David Demers that he take a closer look at guardianships in the Sixth Circuit.
Greer recently unsuccessfully challenged Demers for the position of chief judge of the circuit.
In 2002, the same year as Schindlers filed their previous petition before Greer for the removal of Schiavo, ignored by Greer, court auditors concluded that court officials had failed to monitor guardianships carefully. The clerk’s office, which systematically reviews about 2,400 guardianships in Pinellas County annual, set up a fraud hotline. Te report suspected fraud in a guardianship to county auditors, call 727-453-3728.
While conducting audits of guardianship reports, the Pinellas clerk’s office discovered serious irregularities. Pinellas County state attorney Bernie McCabe confirmed in 2003 that a preliminary inquiry had been initiated by his office into selected Pinellas guardianships. However, despite the by then well-publicized failure of Michael Schiavo to file his required guardianship plans and accountings, McCabe took no action in that case. He opened an inquiry into Adult Comprehensive Protection Services which managed the assets of 300 of the county’s elderly and infirm and which had allegedly mismanaged the funds of some of the county’s most vulnerable residents.
The inquiry was stonewalled when the ACPS attorney denied access to minutes of the agency’s board of directors. The attorney was Richard Pe(a)rse, the former guardian ad litem in the Terri Schiavo case Pe(a)rse had recommended that the feeding tube not be removed in his GAL report to Greer in 1999. Thereafter, Schiavo petitioned Greer for Pe(a)rse’s removal as GAL and Greer complied. Since then, Greer has refused to appoint a new guardian ad litem, acting in the role himself—prohibited by Canon 3 of the state Code of Judicial Conduct. No judge may serve as a guardian unless the ward is a member of his own family.
Melton and other critics say the court system favors the guardian. When court challenges are raised to a guardianship as in the Schiavo case, the proof needed by the petitioner is in documents which are sealed by the court—and Greer—-claiming its for the protection of the ward. When complaints are made to law enforcement agencies such as in the Schiavo case, officials such as McCabe—with a prohibited conflict of interest with Greer, and former Sheriff Everett Rice who also had a prohibited conflict of interest with Greer as well as being a member of the board of directors of the Hospice Foundation of Florida Suncoast, a subsidiary of the corporation operating the hospice where Terri Schiavi is a resident, claim it’s a civil matter being handled by the courts.
According to critics, guardianships are based on the assumption that the court will provide oversight, the guardian will be honest and discharge his duties toward the ward responsibly.
“When we have both guardians and judges trying to keep the auditors out, we have a system ripe for corruption and fraud”, De Blaker and Melton told the task force. “The practices I have seen in the short time I have been involved in guardianships is shocking”, Melton said. “It’s time to put an end to unscrupulous practices at the expense of our state’s most vulnerable citizens”.
Politically connected attorneys who stand to profit handsomely from guardianship fees are involved with alleged guardianship abuse. In Greer’s 2004 reelection campaign, a massive $144,000 was raised in campaign contributions, said to be the largest amount ever raised in a judicial campaign. More than half of those contributors were attorneys—-attorneys whose practices in real estate, probate, wills and elder law stand to profit greatly from guardianships to which they are court appointed by probate judges such as George W. Greer. .
http://www.theempirejournal.com/0313055_schiavogate_the_big_cove.htm
March 18th, 2005 at 9:01 pm
I AM A STATE CORRECTIONAL OFFICER. I MUST SAY THIS IS JUST APALLING. HERE YOU HAVE A BEAUTIFUL LADY THAT DID NOT ASK FOR WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO HER. YOU HAVE CRIMINALS WHO ARE PUT IN PRISONS BECAUSE THEY CANNOT LIVE AMONG CIVILIZED PEOPLE. SOME OF THESE CRIMINALS WILL NEVER WALK THE STREETS AGAIN. BUT THESE CRIMINALS HAVE MORE RIGHTS THEN THIS POOR GIRL. THIS TRULY IS INJUSTICE. WHERE ARE ALL THESE POLITICIANS THAT WE THE PEOPLE HAVE PUT INTO OFFICE. WE THE PEOPLE HAVE VOICED OUR OPINION AND THESE POLITICIONS MUST LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY. PLEASE LETS ALL PRAY FOR HER. THANK YOU
March 19th, 2005 at 7:11 am
Nearly three decades ago, I sat in rapt attention as Father Michael Moriarty conducted instruction classes for those joining the Roman Catholic Church. When the inevitable subject of the sanctity of life arose, he had much to say. Father Moriarty was a witty, highly intelligent and sprightly cleric, as prone to wit and wisdom and he was given to solemnity and pathos. One of his attestations has remained with me…..
“There’s something gravely wrong with this country when we have abortion on demand - concurrent with protracted court fights over allowing those kept artifically alive to return to God peacefully,” he said. Father wasn’t referring to individuals like Terri Schiavo, however. He was referring to extraordinary measures (such as machines forcing the heart to beat when the patient’s brain had ceased to function) being used to provide a semblance of life - not its continued viability.
For several reasons, I cannot regard Terri’s case in the same light. Were Father alive today, I’m sure he would lend his voice (and his commentaries) to the pro-life voices heard around our nation this week.
Furthermore, I’m sure Father would share my healthy disdain for the precedence of Terri’s husband - over the loving and selfless parents who gave her life. Yes, marriage is a sacrament and its supremacy is surely mentioned in the Bible. However, what if the husband (or wife) fails to live up to its sacramentality? Since Terri cannot speak for herself and her beleagured spouse has obviously moved on, difficult questions arise.
As most of us who no longer live in fairy tales surely know by now, romantic love can fade, wither and sometimes perish on the vine. However, a parent’s love is eternal. To wit: I love my Mother, now, more than ever - more than I ever dreamed possible. (And I’ve told her so, believe me.)
I certainly hope my Mother will never face the same tragedy as has Terri. But if she does, I will know this much: As a dedicated Catholic, my Mother would wish to adhere to Pope John Paul II’s recent proclamation regarding this matter. He makes a critical distinction between artificially prolonging life - and the removal of feeding tubes to the severely brain-damaged individual.
How unfortunate that our courts cannot discern the enduring truth in the Pope’s words - and grant supremacy to the wishes of Terri’s parents. In this case, they deserve it. Terri’s husband probably does not.
March 19th, 2005 at 12:33 pm
Feeding tubes are not artificial means of life support. My daughter uses one every day. She is my precious one and she has blessed everyone who knows her. Starving someone to death is cruel and unusual punishment!!!
Feeding tubes are no more artificial than cups, plates, or any other way of eating. It’s just another way to eat. Many people are on them. Do they all deserve to die this way too?
I can’t believe people are so inhumane to think that this is okay. Get real people. Would you want to starve to death?
March 19th, 2005 at 2:00 pm
I am a foster mom for the last 20 years to a profoundly retarded developmentally disabled young man who now has a feeding tube and a trach tube.He is enjoying life to its fullest and brings such joy to everyone by his famous smile. Some people have looked at his handicap and looked away. They have missed so much.God has a purpose for his life, however limited it is, just as he has a purpose for Terri Schiavo’s life. If it is just to teach the rest of us to love, then their lives serve a purpose. Think about it.
March 19th, 2005 at 2:18 pm
hanna
why do you want terri dead? what is it to you?
your obsession with trying to make her out to be some sort of subhuman is nothing short of bizarre.
the definition of death is the cessation of brain waves, not the contrived definition you’ve invented.
it may be true that terri’s quality of life is much less than that of most of us, but she is human and she is alive. i’m sure like most prodeath advocates, you have certain categories of people who do not fit your definition of “human”, such as the unborn. but we must always err on the side of life, if we possess any sort of empathy or compassion.
furthermore, are you blind to the obvious abuse that is going on? terri is not allowed to go outside, or even have the sun shine into her room. she isn’t allowed to have her teeth cleaned, or have communion. even death row murderers are given a last meal, but starving them to death would constitute cruel and unusual punishment. somehow, hanna, you seem like the type who would camp out at some prison (where a mass murderer who’s appealed his case for about 25 years is about to be electocuted), and cry rivers of tears for him. and you seem like the type who belongs to PETA and fights for the rights of animals as if they were as valuable as humans.
but you callously and coldly dismiss terri’s life as if she’s some sort of cockroach.
other than demonstrating that you are a cruel and uncaring person, i don’t know what purpose your posts serve.
March 19th, 2005 at 2:22 pm
hanna greene
so let me get this straight….the hearsay of one man is clear and convincing evidence that terri’s “wishes” are being honored? that kind of evidence isn’t allowed in any other court of law.
funny how michael didn’t remember that terri wanted to die until AFTER he got the 1.7 million….
as far as judges following the letter of the law, what planet do you live on anyway? judges have been inventing, twisting and perverting law for decades. get real.
March 19th, 2005 at 2:39 pm
BARBARITY IN AMERICA
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
I never believed that I would live in a country that would, in effect, execute a brain-damaged woman who never hurt anyone in her life. The story of Terri Schiavo should outrage every decent American. While our soldiers valiantly fight and die across the sea so complete strangers can enjoy human rights, here at home an American woman who suffered severe brain damage 15 years ago is being subjected to death by dehydration and starvation by order of a judge. Today, her feeding tube was removed.
The humanity of every society is determined first and foremost by how it treats its most helpless citizens, and a nation that is prepared to murder a feeble and vulnerable woman who can breathe but not eat on her own must take a deeper look at the source of its ethics.
Before Hitler came for the J(e)ws and the gypsies, he first came after the mentally handicapped. He offered this rationale for euthanasia: “In nature, there is no pity for the lesser creatures when they are destroyed so that the fittest may survive. Going against nature brings ruin to man. It is only J(e)wish impudence to demand that we overcome nature.” Hitler, who was a committed evolutionist and applied the ruthless principals of natural selection to the human species, opposed “artificial” means of keeping the infirm alive. The species was strengthened when its weakest constituents perished, just as nature decreed.
Charles Darwin expressed his own belief in stronger and more feeble parts of the human family when he famously wrote, “The more civilized so-called Caucasian races have beaten the Turkish hollow in the struggle for existence. Looking to the world at no very distant date, what an endless number of the lower races will have been eliminated by the higher civilized races throughout the world.”
Thankfully, the United States does not derive its ethics from Darwin, but from Sinai. We do not believe in the quality of life, but in its sanctity. Since Hitler was the enemy of life, he despised not just Judaism, but Christianity, which in turn embraced the biblical idea of the infinite value of every human life and how each individual, regardless of the degree of brain cognition, was possessed of the divine.
Hitler famously said, “The heaviest blow that ev