North Country Gazette



Terri’s Legacy Lives–The World Remembers

Posted on Sunday, 30 of March , 2008 at 8:11 pm

COMMENTARY

By June Maxam

It hardly seems possible that it was three years ago today, March 31, 2005, that Terri Schindler Schiavo died at age 41. Thirteen days earlier, on March 18, 2005, the long, painful and barbaric process of the court-ordered execution by starvation of brain injured Terri had begun when her heavily conflicted husband, Michael Schiavo who had much to gain by her death removed her feeding tube which provided her nutrition and hydration. 

Terri Schiavo had committed no crime.  She was disabled, she just received food and water in an alternative manner than the norm. Judge George Greer, the executioner, had even refused to allow that Terri be given food and water by natural means after the feeding tube had been removed. Florida Statutes specifically prohibit anyone from denying an individual food and water.

Many called it court-sanctioned murder and it has set a dangerous precedent for the rest of the country that family members or guardians who believe an individual can no longer be productive in society can simply get a court order to end their life.

Terri Schiavo had collapsed at her home under suspicious circumstances in 1990 at age 26 after a day of argument with her husband. After he received more than $2 million from medical malpractice settlements, he withdrew all rehabilitation services from Terri and petitioned the Probate Court of Sixth Circuit Court Judge Greer to withdraw her feeding tube, willfully and intentionally causing her death by dehydration over a torturous 13 days as the whole world watched, preposterously claiming that it was Terri’s wish to die that way.

Although she left no living will, after he received the money, he suddenly remembered that 10 years earlier she had made a statement that she would not want to be kept alive by artificial means, a self-serving hearsay statement which Greer endorsed as clear and convincing evidence as the basis to sanction judicial homicide even though her family and close friends disputed the claim.

Her parents, Mary and Robert Schindler Sr., brother Bobby and sister Suzanne battled Michael Schiavo in court for nearly 10 years, arguing that she was not in a persistent vegetative state as Greer decreed and that she would not want to die in such a manner.

Although Congress passed a bill on Palm Sunday in 2005 and President Bush had quickly signed it into law that would grant Terri’s family a de novo review of their case in the federal courts, there was no de novo review. The legislative intent of the bill was for the feeding tube to be reinserted while the matter was reviewed in the federal courts.

However, the courts refused to grant an injunction to stop Greer’s death order and the family did not receive the full review of the case in the court as Congress and the President intended. Her parents repeatedly met with defeat in the courts in their efforts to save their daughter’s life.

Michael Schiavo said that she would not want to live by artificial means. However, Terri’s demonstrated will to live strongly dispelled that assertion and was grounds by itself for the reinsertion of the tube.

Terri’s brother explains that his sister’s case “was not about someone’s ‘right to die’ as it was portrayed by Schiavo, his attorney, euthanasia advocate George Felos, the mainstream media and others, nor was it an ‘end-of-life’ issue as is so often reported. “Heinous criminals on death row have more protection and are treated with more dignity than people like Terri”, Bobby Schindler says.  “Congress saw this and intervened to protect her.  Not only was it appropriate for Congress to try and help Terri, but it is what they are morally obligated to do in such cases”.

David Gibbs, one of the attorneys who represented the Schindler family in their efforts for their daughter, explains that “America needs to know what really happened to this lady because Terri’s death by dehydration should never have been permitted in a civilized society.  These candidates must understand the truth because if elected, they will be making policies that impact all of us.”  

There has been much mischaracterization of the role that Congress played in the case.  Congress didn’t intrude into a private family matter, Michael Schiavo had made it a public matter by taking it into the court system.  Congress was simply trying to ensure that the case got a second review in the federal court system before she was put to death, applying the purpose of a habeas corpus proceeding in a criminal matter to a civil case in which a death order had been issued.  The media has repeatedly misrepresented the Schiavo case, wrongly trying to convince the voters that government was trying to “interfere in a personal family decision” when realistically, in view of the heavily conflicted role of Michael Schiavo, lawmakers were simply trying to get a new review of the case to insure that the lowly probate court of Judge Greer had followed the rule of law and upheld the constitutional rights of the disabled woman before ending her life.  Courts do so in death penalty cases.  It should have been done in the Schiavo case.   The mainstream media has tried to make compassion a dirty word, to denigrate any politician or candidate to feel that in cases where there is no clearly stated wish of the patient or injured party that in such extraordinary circumstances as the Schiavo case, it is wise to always err on the side of life.

Terri’s siblings read a public statement three years ago today, in front of Woodside Hospice in Pinellas Park, sending a message to parents worldwide, encouraging parents to spend time with their children and to cherish each and every moment of each and every day with them as a precious gift from God.   They gave a message to Terri from her family, saying that “as a member of our family unable to speak for yourself, you spoke loudly. As a member of our family unable to stand under your own power, you stood with a grace and a dignity that made your family proud. Terri, we love you dearly, but we know that God loves you more than we do. We must accept your untimely death as God’s will”.Although it’s been three years since Terri’s death, more questions than ever exist about the days and months leading up to her sudden and still inexplicable collapse on Feb. 25, 1990, which resulted in brain damage and forever changed not only Terri’s life but the life of her family and in fact, changed the face of America in how it deals with the disabled, the elderly, the vulnerable.

As her siblings said three years ago, Terri’s life and legacy will continue to live on, as the nation is now awakened to the plight of thousands of voiceless people with disabilities that were previously unnoticed. Terri’s family stands up for the other “Terri’s” around this nation and have pledged to do all that they can to change the law so others won’t face the same fate that befell their beloved Terri who was and is loved worldwide.   3-31-08  All Rights Reserved.  This article may not be reprinted or republished in its entirety without the express written permission of the publisher and The North Country Gazette.

Category: Disabled, Family, Florida, Health, Media, Nationwide, Opinion, Religion, Schiavo

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