Originally Posted - July 31, 2006

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The State of Florida has strict penalties for starving pets.

How then could a Florida judge using Florida law permit----in fact, order, Terri Schiavo to be starved to death, to become the first victim of a civil death order by a judge in the history of America?

It's the question we, as a nation, ought to ask, David C. Gibbs III and Bob DeMoss say in their new book, "Fighting For Dear Life: The Untold Story of Terri Schiavo and What It Means For All Of Us".

The passionate, riveting and insightful book is being released this week and reveals facts and details about the Terri Schiavo case that have not been disclosed previously and that were not allowed into the court record by Pinellas County probate court judge George Greer, certainly not by the appellate court and members of the federal judiciary who reviewed the case.

David Gibbs, attorney for Terri's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler for the last year and half of her life, gives a candid and personal perspective, telling the real story about Terri's condition and clearly dispelling the fallacy that she was in a persistent vegetative state. He dispels and attacks the "tremendous volume of misinformation that was circulated by some in the media" and the repetitive dissemination of the erroneous material.

"In general, the American public was, and continues to be, misled as to the true nature of Terri's medical condition prior to her death".

The book presents the truth that Michael Schiavo didn't want the world to know.

A private family affair?

Michael Schiavo is the one who brought the government into the case, petitioning the court for an order to end her life and then lobbying the Florida Legislature to change the law, categorizing a feeding tube life support rather than an instrument to provide basic needs of food and water.

"Michael Schiavo could have just allowed Terri to starve to death in the privacy of his own home", Gibbs says. "Of course, had he done that, Michael could have been charged with a crime under Florida statutes. Rather than take that chance, Michael sought the protection of the courts by enlisting them to sanction the action. By taking the matter to court, Michael invited the government into his "private family affair".

Lowly Pinellas probate Judge George Greer, who "held the very heartbeat of Terri's life in his hands…..refused to go and meet Terri" and Michael Schiavo shut her away in her hospice room, refused to allow her any social contacts, scared to let the public know how alive she really was, refusing to even allow her to breathe in fresh air or feel the warm rays of the sun, see the squirrels and birds. He refused to allow her outside of her room. Michael Schiavo took his vendetta and hate to an even lower level, refusing to allow the Schindlers' attorney to enter Terri's room after her death, refused to allow Gibbs to be with the Schindler family to offer comfort and solace when needed most. Michael Schiavo definitely did not want the media and public to know how alive and cognitive Terri really was, how she so valiantly tried to scream that she wanted to live. He didn't want the world to be aware of the great potential for recovery that existed had Terri been allowed to receive therapy for the last 12 years of her life or the potential ahead that was and is emerging with new medical testing and treatment options.

Gibbs had an "unmatched access to the truth of Terri's condition" and gives moving accounts of his numerous visits with the disabled woman and how she interacted with her family and in particular, her mother. Terri Schiavo definitely was not brain dead.

The desperate uphill battle that the Gibbs firm and the Schindlers fought is told by Gibbs in hope that what happened to Terri never happens again in a country that is supposed to protect, life, liberty and justice for all.

Although he doesn't identify him by name, Gibbs discloses the nefarious efforts by Sen. James E. King (R-Jacksonville) who had vowed to block proposed legislation in the Senate that had been designed to save Terri's life the second time her feeding tube had been removed in October, 2003. As the architect of the 1997 end-of-life legislation that had set the stage for Michael Schiavo and George Felos to kill Terri, King wasn't about to allow any new bill to "tamper with his legacy". Using tactics which could only be described as extortion, King watered down the bill and perhaps altered it deliberately so that it would be declared unconstitutional, telling Gibbs and the Schindler legal team to "take it or leave it" as Felos was already cawing to the world that he would fight any efforts that would allow Terri to live. Although King's redrafted bill was passed, ultimately it wouldn't pass muster with the court as no doubt King knew when he offered the deal, but it temporarily saved the life of Terri.

When the Schindlers asked David Gibbs to represent them in their battle to save their daughter's life, in essence, the legal battle had already been lost and Greer had the attitude that no one and nothing was going to reverse his order, his decision that an innocent disabled woman would die.

Gibbs and his legal associate Barbara Weller watched Terri's family interact with Terri in ways nobody in the media ever saw, saw Terri respond to her mother's love and father's humor. Gibbs was with her in the room the day her feeding tube was removed as well as shortly before Terri took her final breath.

David Gibbs relates how the Pinellas County Sheriff's office with one of Greer's best friends, Sheriff Everett Rice in command was less than cooperative in serving the signed order of Gov. Jeb Bush on Woodside Hospice to reinsert Terri's feeding tube in October 2003 after Terri's Law was enacted. Even though sheriff's office personnel knew that a woman's life was hanging in the balance, an agent from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement had to be enlisted to assist in saving her life that time.

Gibbs questions why Michael Schiavo and his family members remained silent for nearly 10 years about Terri's alleged wish to die and asks why, if she had really made such an oral declaration, why Michael Schiavo never mentioned it when she was first injured or at the malpractice trial instead of seeking $20 million, vowing that he would take care of her the rest of his life.

He discusses the inadequacy and unreliability of the testimony presented at the 2000 trial which resulted in the death order and opines that Greer violated part of the due process test for life and death cases. Gibbs points to the article written for the National Review by attorney Andrew C. McCarthy in which McCarthy observes "Due process mandates that no person may be deprived of life by state action unless ever factual predicate legally necessary to validate the state action has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt".

Reasonable doubt is a higher legal standard of proof than the clear and convincing standard set by the Florida legislature and used by Greer in Terri's case, Gibbs says.

He gives revealing and revolting details concerning the actions of Michael Schiavo, George Greer and the strange, almost obsessive acts of Schaivo's attorney, George Felos, angrily treading the corridors of Morton Plant hospital and threatening staff with litigation if they complied with Gov. Bush's order to reinsert Terri's feeding tube in 2003. Gibbs gives a disturbing account of the telephone hearing conducted with Greer after a Congressional committee had issued federal subpoenas for Terri's appearance and that of Michael Schiavo in Washington, how Greer boldly defied the federal order and dictated that nothing was going to overturn his decree that Terri would die.

Gibbs candidly discusses the motives and actions of Michael Schiavo and takes issue with Michael's claim that he "kept his promise".

"He promised the Schindlers and a jury in a court of law that he intended to care for Terri for the rest of his life. He also said that he had promised Terri on their wedding day before God and man to remain faithful to her "in sickness and in health".

Gibbs says that after Terri died, the Schindlers asked him to tell what really happened---specifically the tragedy of this landmark case---so that many others would be spared from a similar fate.

"I make no apology for that, from my perspective, what happened to Terri was wrong. Very wrong. Maybe you agree. Then again, maybe you disagree or the jury is still out in your mind".

"Fighting For Dear Life" is a must read for every person, especially George Greer, Michael Schiavo and George Felos as well as each and every Florida and federal judge who denied Terri her right to life and a set a dangerous precedent for the elderly and disabled in our country, establishing a throw-away society and instilling real fear for that segment of our society. The book gives an unprecedented inside and firsthand view of what really happened and helps you learn how you can protect yourself and your family against a similar tragedy.

Gibbs says that Terri's case become the Roe v. Wade of our generation.

Truly, life itself was on trial in the Terri Schiavo case. 8-1-06

"Fighting for Dear Life: The Untold Story of Terri Schiavo And What It means for All of Us" by David Gibbs with Bob DeMoss is being released Aug. 1 and will be available in bookstores and other selected locations throughout the country. It may be purchased through Amazon and this website by going to the home page at www.northcountrygazette.org and clicking on the book cover image or above.

© 2006 North Country Gazette