Originally Posted - July 29, 2006

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Linda Evans Shepherd is a nationally-booked speaker, the author of some 20 books and the host of a daily radio program. She is also the mother of a profoundly disabled, 20-year old daughter by the name of Laura. To hear Shepherd talk about her daughter is to hear a mother beam with unconditional love and devotion to her child.

At the age of only 18 months, young Laura was thrown from a car in a violent traffic accident. Serious and widespread brain injury was the result and, after a time in the hospital, her doctors told her mother there was no hope that she would ever recover. Linda and her husband were sent home with their disabled daughter and little more than "good luck" from the doctors.

For the past 18 or so years, Shepherd has become an outspoken advocate of disabled people. She took to the airwaves in 2003 and again in 2005, speaking to the value of the life of Terri Schiavo, the Florida woman who died of marked dehydration in March of 2005, after her feeding tube was removed under court order.

Shepherd drew comparisons between Schiavo and her own daughter, cautioning anyone who would listen that euthanizing or depriving disabled people to death would cause a deterioration in public attitudes towards vulnerable people, bad case law and the inevitable erosion of rights for people who could no longer speak for themselves.

While attending a bookseller's conference in Denver recently, Shepherd learned that Terri Schiavo's former husband, Michael, was scheduled to appear at a press conference on behalf of State Representative, Angie Paccione. As the head of a newly-formed political action committee, Schiavo has taken to publicly supporting and denouncing politicians and candidates, based solely on their positions in the highly-publicized court case over his late wife's fate.

Though she found it ironic that Schiavo would be presenting at the same facility as the tradeshow she was attending, Shepherd took her press credentials and went in to the presentation to listen.

She told me that Schiavo was passionate, angry, and almost belligerent in his speech. To him, the government had violated his rights by trying to allow Terri's parent federal review protections on a court battle over her life. He said he would hold any politician accountable for their support of the action.

According to Shepherd, Schiavo neglected to disclose that it was actually he who involved the government in the first place by petitioning the courts in 1998 for the authority to remove Terri's feeding tube - without ever discussing the matter with her parents or siblings.

"It really seemed like a control issue for him," Shepherd told me. "It was as if he was saying, 'You tried to tell me what to do so, now, I am coming after you'."

After the presentation, the floor was opened for questions from the press and the media. Shepherd raised her hand.

"I'm the mother of a handicapped child. What about Terri's mother and father -- weren't they her family too?"

In a letter to the Rocky Mountain News, Shepherd recalls that Schiavo's response was both angry and passionate and took the stance that, because their daughter married him, Terri's parents gave up any say in her life and death.

This response puzzled Shepherd, who told me that her daughter has a yes-no protocol for responding to questions, is liked by the community, enjoys hearing stories about strong women like Harriett Tubman, enjoys outings to places like Starbucks and smiles and laughs in the presence of others.

Shortly after the press conference, Shepherd was interviewed by a reporter from local Channel 9. She received an anonymous email, containing the interview's transcript and a number of nasty remarks, prior to the segment even airing. It aired later and was then pulled.

"I think the media probably tries to paint people like Michael Schiavo in a positive light," she told me. "It's as if everyone has forgotten what happened in Europe 60 years ago. I can't forget because I see it happening all over again. It starts small, but it grows fast."

She's probably not far off the mark. Shepherd told me that neurologically disabled people, who come to hear her speak, will often approach her afterwards and tell her that they fear for their own lives.

"Public awareness and just a little empathy could make such a big difference," claims Shepherd. "If only the public understood the dangers of devaluing these peoples' lives."

Shepherd has an unusual perspective, but it's not at all entirely exclusive. For years, disability rights advocates have been saying precisely what she is saying: dehumanizing those with different circumstances will lead us to a standpoint society shouldn't embrace.

While Michael Schiavo claims that his rights and his privacy were violated by the government, it is inescapable that it was the government -- by way of the circuit court -- that ordered a disabled woman to forego food and fluids of any means in order to cause her death. Most disability advocates see the privacy argument as being in favor of allowing Terri Schiavo to receive nourishment -- not to remove it.

Terri Schiavo was not dying and most people get that. What Shepherd fears they are missing is the point that people with great challenges can have happy, fulfilling lives if they are simply afforded the same rights and respect you and I have.

"We are all in the same boat," she says. "Anyone could be affected tomorrow, whether by a stroke or an accident, we all could face a life-changing disability. When we forget that, we're no better off than the people who murdered the disabled in Germany in the 1930s."

She knows what she's talking about.

In 2000, her daughter became seriously ill with an infection. Her treating physician told Shepherd, "Here's your opportunity to let her go."

Shepherd insisted treatment be continued and, shortly thereafter, Laura was once again alert and oriented, responding to people and overcoming the infection. The doctor, who suggested letting Laura ago, apologized to Shepherd. "I get it now and I'm sorry."

These are simple but powerful words.

Shepherd is hopeful to coax a few more people into those words. By speaking out about the rights of disabled people, working against euthanasia and deprivation and reminding people of their rights as patients, Shepherd might just change a few minds.

It won't come easy.

What she needs is an army of people behind her, doing the same things, expressing the same fears and affording our vulnerable citizens caring, compassion and their essential rights.

With people like Michael Schiavo politicizing the issue of euthanasia as if it's a privacy issue or a right you're entitled to, the work of disability and elder advocates increases. If we're to ensure that no human being is denied basic rights because they haven't the power to fight for them, we must look upon vulnerable people with the same tenderness and compassion that Linda Evans Shepherd looks upon her beloved daughter, Laura. 7-29-06

© 2006 North Country Gazette