Feeding tube removed from comatose woman at center of long-running legal battle

Associated Press ^ | 10-15-03

[secretagent]

Doctors have testified that she is in a persistent vegetative state, which means she is essentially unconscious though her eyes are open.

And other doctor's have denied the vegetative description and the unconscious description, apparently. And denied the persistence of her present condition, should rehab proceed.

It is great to have a choice. Which is why there is such a thing as a living will.

Terry didn't leave a living will, and has demonstrated no agony or chronic distress. With rehab, she might make a tremendous improvement, and have a whole new range of choices.

[EggsAckley]

But Terri has had no ventilators, only the feeding tube. And she is NOT in a vegetative state. I understand what you are saying, having just watched my own mother waste away for six months, no tubes, no resusitation.

THAT, however, is NOT Terri's situation.

[ladyrustic]

'Not artificially prolonging life is not the same as putting someone to death. Death is the result of her being unable to eat/drink.'


So by your logic, if I have both my arms suddenly amputated, then I should be allowed to die, since I could no longer feed myself. Ridiculous.

Moral people care for the sick or injured. Immoral people withold food from them to kill them.

[bonfire]

"boogerhead" Hysterical!!!! LOLOL

[MeekOneGOP]

:O) You bet ! ...

[Bluebird Singing]

Oh, please! If its in USA Today, it must be so! (sarcasm)

[Old Professer]

Fear of death is the most hard-wired of all emotions.

[huck von finn]

My mother had a living will, and I thanked God for it when it was time for her to go. We knew just what she wanted.

[Campion]

My question is NOT the reason the Nazis did what they did. They were not killing them for the cost savings

That's not what they said at the time. In fact, they specifically said it cost too much to feed the "useless eaters" and "lives unworthy of life".

Hitler won the war. Obviously.

[Route66]

You are right and I did not mean to imply that she would not experience suffering and a bad death despite sedation. I brought it up because heavy medication can hasten death I think the length of time they are stating it will take for her to die has been greatly overstated at 10 days to 2 weeks. Taking dehydration and medication into account, I think she has has far less time and any effective intervention will have to come soon. I pray it does.

[cateizgr8]

Well then, here are some quotes from Foxnews:

She has been in a vegetative state since 1990, when her heart stopped because of what doctors said may have been a chemical imbalance.

Doctors have testified that the noises and facial expressions Terri Schiavo makes are reflexes and do not indicate that she has enough mental capabilities to communicate with others.

[Coleus]

Flood the Florida Legislature with E-Mails:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1001737/posts?page=204#121

http://www.highway2health.net/
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1000627/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1001568/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1000938/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1000680/posts
Help Save Mrs. Terri Schiavo's Life
http://www.seattlecatholic.com/article_20030820.html
http://www.highway2health.net/

From NYer: Wednesday, October 15, 2003 is the Feast of St. Therese of the Infant Jesus, Terri Schiavo's patron saint.

Let's begin our own Rosary chain for Terri and her family. I simply cannot believe that we as a society have sunk so low. May God have mercy on all of us!

http://www.oksister.com/Images/Carmelite%20Saints/St.%20Teresa%20of%20Avila.jpg

Help Save Mrs. Terri Schiavo's Life
http://www.seattlecatholic.com/article_20030820.html

 

http://www.seattlecatholic.com/images/misc/Terrisfightorg.jpg

www.terrisfight.org

Catholic Media Coalition Launches Nationwide Appeal to US Bishops to Intercede on Behalf of Florida Woman Condemned to Die by Starvation
http://www.catholiccitizens.org/press/contentview.asp?c=8322

http://news.tbo.com/news/MGAB2KKKTLD.html

MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH
WorldNetDaily Exclusive
Terri Schiavo wants to live
Secret therapy given to disabled woman who starts judge-ordered starvation
--WND

WorldNetDaily
Husband protests video showing alert Terri  
Schindler in desperate move to save daughter facing deadline today
--WND

WorldNetDaily
Jeb Bush: No intervention for Schiavo
Case 'in court's hands' on eve of woman's judge-ordered starvation
--WND

WND POLL
Life, or something like it
What can be done at this point to save Terri Schindler-Schiavo?
--WND

[stands2reason]

Remember, you used to have to get it in writing that you don't want life-saving measures, but now it looks like you have to get it in writing if you don't want to be killed. THis is just sick.

[bonfire]

Sad that the news today is devoted to Kobe and the baseball fan who touched the ball.

[sweetliberty]

The woman who wants to marry him must be dumber than a rock. I certainly could not see myself getting interested in a man with such questionable "priorities."

[MattGarrett]

Personally, if I was Schiavo's Dad, I'd be loading up the Glock and removing hubby from the equation.

[First Amendment]

I will have to check on the Nazis and abortion. As far as I know, in the Weimar Republic it was allowed big time, and as far as I know the Nazis did not forbid it. I have a book spefically detailing the Nazis and their love affair with death, and I'll get back with the info.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

People in Florida are not allowed to fly the American flag on their own property because it is a "public nuisance", but they're allowed to kill their family members when taking care of them becomes too much of a burden. Very nice.

[Lovergirl]

Moral people care for the sick or injured. Immoral people withold food from them to kill them.


BINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[EternalVigilance]

---

---

MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH
Jeb Bush: No intervention for Schiavo
Case 'in court's hands' on eve of woman's judge-ordered starvation

---

Posted: October 14, 2003
2:30 p.m. Eastern


By Art Moore
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

One day before Terri Schindler Schiavo's court-ordered starvation is set to begin, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's office says it can do nothing more to save the brain-disabled woman's life.

"This is in the court's hands," Bush's press secretary Alia Faraj told WorldNetDaily. "Our government has committed these decisions to the judicial branch, and we must respect that process."


Gov. Jeb Bush

Faraj noted Bush presented his opinion on this case twice, in "fulfillment of his duty to make sure the laws are faithfully followed.

As WorldNetDaily reported, Bush wrote a letter to the probate judge who ordered Terri's feeding tube be removed and filed a friend-of-the-court brief in an unsuccessful motion to bring the case under federal jurisdiction.

The governor felt compelled, Faraj explained, "to present an opinion on this very difficult matter involving the rights of one of the state's most vulnerable citizens."

"But we do have to respect the separation of powers," she emphasized. "The courts have made their decision."

As WorldNetDaily reported, Terri's parents, Robert and Mary Schindler have been locked in a decade-long legal struggle with their son-in-law over the care and custody of their daughter, who suffered massive brain damage when she collapsed at her home 13 years ago under unexplained circumstances at the age of 26.

Five years ago, Schiavo petitioned the court for permission to remove his wife's feeding tube, claiming she is in a "persistent vegetative state" and had told him years ago she would not want to be kept alive "by tubes" and "artificial" means. Although Terri breathes on her own and maintains her own blood pressure, she requires a simple tube into her abdomen to her stomach for nourishment and hydration.

Last Friday, a federal judge in Tampa, Fla., refused to take jurisdiction of a lawsuit filed by the Schindlers to take over guardianship from Schiavo, clearing the way to remove the feeding tube.



Bob and Mary Schindler (courtesy Bay News 9)

The Schindlers also sought a temporary injunction to delay removing the tube until Terri could receive sufficient therapy and training to enable her to be spoon-fed.

In his ruling Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Richard A. Lazzara said Gov. Bush's input was only a friend-of-the court brief, and he had no power to intervene.

Fighting to the end

Vowing to fight to the end, Robert Schindler has urged Gov. Bush to intervene by ordering Florida's Department of Children and Families to investigate whether Michael Schiavo mistreated and withheld therapy from Terri. Schiavo denies those charges.

The basis for that request is the suggestion of some attorneys that Gov. Bush, as the state's chief executive, can order the DCF to carry out its statutory authority to remove a guardian in an emergency situation, according to Florida statute Title III, Chapter 415, Section 105 (2).

That statute allows intervention if the state has "reasonable cause to believe that a vulnerable adult is suffering from abuse or neglect that presents a risk of death or serious physical injury to the vulnerable adult and that the vulnerable adult lacks the capacity to consent to emergency protective services."

The agency can forcibly enter a private premise to carry out its duties.

Bush's spokeswoman, Faraj, maintained, however, the governor does not have the authority to order such an intervention, restating that the courts have made their decision.

Bill Spann, a spokesman for the Department of Children and Families, would not answer directly whether the agency has the statutory power to intervene at this point in the process, stating only "the issue has already been decided by the courts of the state of Florida."

At a press conference today at the Pinellas Park, Fla., hospice where Terri resides, the Schindlers claimed they have evidence that shows "beyond any reasonable doubt that Terri is the victim of gross neglect by her caregivers, and may provide the grounds for Governor Bush to intervene on her behalf."

Could such evidence prompt the DCF to respond?

"The issue has been decided," Spann told WND. "Any new evidence would have to be vetted through the appropriate legal channels."

Pamela Hennessy, spokeswoman for the Schindlers, told WND the governor's office probably is correct when it says it cannot intervene in a case in which a judge has jurisdiction. But she contends the DCF's division of adult protective services has an obligation to protect the ward of a guardian.

"They are a state welfare agency that deals with the well being of children and familes," she said. "To say they have no jurisdiction to investigate allegations of abuse simply because a judge doesn't remove a guardian is bogus."

She said, for example, "If I knocked my son's teeth down his throat, they would put an emergency guardian on him and investigate."

A formal complaint against Michael Schiavo was filed with the DCF about two years ago, Hennessy said. An investigation was carried out and the resulting report was given to Circuit Judge George W. Greer, but he did not allow it to be read it court.

Meanwhile, a well-known pro-life activist is leading a 24-hour vigil in front of the hospice where Terri resides.

Randall Terry, who headed Operation Rescue in the 1980s, insists Bush does have the power to intervene, contending along with her parents and many witnesses, Terri has responded to therapy, communicated verbally and physically with her family and is not in a "persistent vegetative state."

Therefore her husband is in "dereliction of his duty," Terry concluded.

"Are you telling me that the chief executive officer of a state does not have the authority to save someone's life?" he asked in an interview with WND. "That he has to bow his knee to a tin-pot judge?"

The Schindlers' legal team said a last-minute emergency motion filed to block removal of the feeding tube was denied today by the 2nd District Court of Appeals in Lakeland, Fla.

The motion, arguing Terri deserves therapy to determine whether she can swallow on her own, previously was denied by Judge Greer.

The case has been denied twice by the Florida Supreme Court and also has been rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court.