City Man arrested outside Fla. hospice (College Prof Tasered after trying to bring Terri water)

Dr. Dow Pursley, Ed.D, returned home from teaching an ethics class Monday night at Baptist Bible College and Seminary and told his wife Joanne he was flying to Florida to protest against Terri Schiavo's impending death.

The family counseling professor booked the first flight out of town -- a 4 a.m. red-eye Tuesday -- and the couple of 37 years then spent the balance of the night praying.

Advertisement Click Here! Later Tuesday morning Dr. Pursley, 56, was shocked with a Taser stun gun and arrested by Pinellas Park (Fla.) police on charges of attempted burglary and resisting arrest without violence after he tried to bring two bottles of water to Mrs. Schiavo's hospice room.

Dr. Pursley, of the city's Hill Section, never reached Woodside Hospice's doors, police said.

"He said he needed to be there, and I said 'I understand,' " Mrs. Pursley said of the couple's conversation late Monday night.

They never talked of any specific actions, and she figured he was going to protest with prayer, she said.

She did not know of her husband's arrest until a Times-Tribune reporter called her Tuesday afternoon seeking comment.

Still, she said the arrest hardly surprised her. She described her husband as a "passionate" man of "conviction" and "action" and said he was "overwhelmed" Monday night about Mrs. Schiavo's impending death.

Of his decision to bring Mrs. Schiavo water, she added, "He was compelled to do what he did. That was between him and God."

Dr. Pursley is the 47th protester to be arrested, and the first to be shocked with a Taser stun gun since Ms. Schiavo's feeding tube was removed 13 days ago. Efforts to reach Pinellas Park Police spokesman Sanfield Forseth about the use of force were unsuccessful.

Mrs. Pursley said she spoke with her husband Monday afternoon from Pinellas County Jail, where he was remanded in lieu of $20,500 bail. Police said a hearing on his case is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today.

A supporter in Florida has since posted Dr. Pursley's bond, and he will be released later today, Mrs. Pursley said.

The father of three and grandfather of six has received full support from his family, Mrs. Pursley said, as well as numerous calls and prayers from faculty and staff at the Clarks Summit college where he has been a full-time professor in its graduate school of Counseling Ministries for the past five years.

Mark Robbins, spokesman for the college, said Dr. Pursley's actions did not reflect the college's position on the Terri Schiavo case.

"He was not representing the school at all," Mr. Robbins said. "He was acting on his own behalf."

Mr. Robbins said Baptist Bible College and Seminary has no official position on the right-to-die case.

"It's a complicated issue," he said. "We certainly pray for and have sympathy for the Schindler and Schiavo families."

Asked if Dr. Pursley could be reprimanded for his arrest, Mr. Robbins said it was too soon to tell.

"It's hard to speak to what may be discussed a week or a month from now," he said. "We encourage our faculty to be involved in the community. Obviously each person takes that to a matter of degree. Dr. Pursley is a man of action and conviction."

Dr. Pursley is the clinical director of counseling programs at Baptist Bible College and Seminary. He received his master's degree in psychology from the University of Central Arkansas and his doctorate in education from the University of Arkansas.

First, the phrase "starved to death" shouldn't be thrown around loosely.

If the shoe fits...

Those other residents are passing away and their families are suffering grief and loss of a loved one.

And?

It is pretty callous to marginalize their suffering for Terri's cause.

That their relatives may have to use an adjoining parking lot? I've had plenty of relatives die, including my parents. If these people were protesting outside at the time, I would have been high-fiving them on the way in to visit.

If you, your spouse, parent or child were dying in hospice, how would you feel about the circus going on outside.

See above.

I live around the corner from the hospice. It's on a dead end street. Only one way in and out. The visitors and guests have to get through the protestor throngs and the herds of news trucks.

That's a very small price to pay, considering that they're trying to prevent a woman from being murdered.

Yesterday, one woman was called because her grandfather was about to pass away. She rushed out the door and got hung up in the protestors by security for 30 minutes. There are so many people trying to get in to save Terri, security doesn't know people with legitimate business from the Terri supporters. In the mean time, she could not keep her promise to be with her grandfather when he passed away. When she did finally get in, he was already gone.

That's too bad. But the blame falls on the murderers, not the protestors.

I understand the heartfelt desire to help Terri, but the people there need to back off and let the hospice help its other residents, too. On top of that, its so bad that the elementary school kitty-corner to the hospice was closed.

Who cares?

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