FLORIDA HOUSE PASSES BILL ON TERRI'S SHIAVO'S BEHALF

Florida House of Representatives ^ | Oct. 20, 2003 | Varina Davis

[varina davis]

Just now on live thread from the Florida House of Representatives: passes, 68 to 23, bill to give Gov. Jeb Bush authorization to issue a stay in the case of Terri Shiavo.

[Saundra Duffy]

Unfortunately, these legislators (including the gov) had a nice, peaceful, restful weekend with their families WHILE TERRI WAS BEING MURDERED WITH MASSIVE DOSES OF MORPHINE AND BY STARVATION. I hope it's not too late. Please God help Terri to survive.

[isrul]

That's an insult to Cain.

[SerpentDove]

:-)

[ladyinred]

Just read where Schiavo, writing from his hideout, says he too finds it difficult to accept the court ruling ordering the g-tube removed. Truly bizarre.

The slimey jerk is most likely aware of the firestorm this outrage has created across the entire country, and is shaking in his boots !!!!

[isrul]

That's exactly why I will say thank you only when and if Terri is saved.

No thanks just for effort on this one. Especially since they did wait for 6 days.

[Coral Snake]

If you are looking for the nature of the work that has to be done in the next 15 days it can be found at this thread.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1004242/posts
It is NOW Time for CRIMINAL PROSICUTION for Michael Schiavo

If we continue to allow this scumbag to "skate" like we did with Bill Clinton we will be right back HERE again in 15 days according to the bill that passed.

[ordinaryguy]

Eight more hours?

[trussell]

He probably wants the family to believe he is reformed so they wont try to take away his guardianship of her.

[isrul]

It will seem like an eternity, particularly for Terri's parents and siblings.

[ordinaryguy]

And especially for Terri herself.

[trussell]

Schiavo's Spouse Explains Side, Tells Of Struggle
By DAVID SOMMER dsommer@tampatrib.com
Published: Oct 21, 2003





CLEARWATER - Michael Schiavo faxed a statement to news organizations Monday in which he said he has difficulty accepting a court ruling allowing him to have his wife's feeding tube removed.

``Some people do not agree with the decision the court made to remove Terri's feeding tube,'' the three-page letter states. ``I struggle to accept it myself.''

Schiavo asked a probate court for permission to remove Terri Schiavo's feeding tube in 1998, saying that she would not have wanted to live in her current condition. He spent more than five years in courtroom battles with his in-laws seeking permission to remove the tube.

On Oct. 15, the tube that has supplied Terri Schiavo with sustenance since 1990, when she suffered unexplained heart failure at age 26, was removed.

Michael Schiavo was not available for comment Monday. His attorney, George Felos, said the letter reflects the self-examination that people typically go through when making the decision to remove a loved one from life support.

``Even when you decide to remove a loved one's life support, you continually struggle to accept it,'' Felos said.

Schiavo says in the letter, ``The reality is that Terri left us 13 years ago, and none of us can bring her back.''

Felos said his client decided to send the open letter Monday evening after days of hearing ``attacks and misinformation'' from his wife's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, and their supporters.

The Schindlers, who are maintaining a vigil outside a Pinellas Park hospice where Schiavo placed their daughter several years ago, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The couple want their daughter kept alive. They say she reacts to them and could improve with therapy.

In his letter, Schiavo states that for the first seven years of his wife's illness he provided her with experimental therapy and made sure she received stimulus in the form of outings to parks and museums. He said tests were done to see whether she could be weaned from the feeding tube, and they failed. He also apologizes to nurses and aides he states he scolded for offenses such as failing to apply his wife's makeup or not combing her hair.

The Schindlers say their son-in-law cut off all therapy and banned nurses from trying to stimulate his wife in 1993, after winning about $300,000 for himself and more than $700,000 for his wife's perpetual care in a medical malpractice lawsuit. The $700,000 has been spent, with much of it going to legal fees incurred in the battle to remove the feeding tube.


Reporter David Sommer can be reached at (813) 259-7600.


Go to TBO.com to read the statement issued Monday by Michael Schiavo.

[isrul]

I actually hope that Terri's parents can speak to her and give her some strong words of encouragement. But, you know, I really wonder if the guars or staff would let them say such things.

[supercat]

//He probably wants the family to believe he is reformed so they wont try to take away his guardianship of her.//

He's trying to dampen the outrage when Judge Greer continues to declare him an adequate guardian who has no conflict of interest in either caring for Terri or managing her affairs.

[MarMema]

No video, but hoping....

[MarMema]

A doctor yesterday said Terri "had begun the dying process". That means body functions are beginning to shut down. Heart, lungs, kidneys.

Ouch, I hate hearing this, but am not surprised. All the same her peripheral blood supply will be shunted in a divers reflex to her internal organs. That is probably what they noted in her - some coldness and peripheral shutdown. She probably has 24 hours. Wish I knew her heart rate, which would tell us a lot.

If Terri should need dialysis to remove built up toxins, Schiavo can deny that.

She should be ok on this if they can give her an IV. I have seen kidney function zoom with some fluids in some pretty dehydrated people. In a matter of days....what is essential is how badly her kidneys are being damaged. But the kidneys can take a lot of abuse and come back to enough function easily. In fact people live on one all the time because of this.

Lord this makes me so ill.

[Sandy]

Florida's Constitution allows the legislative branch to authorize the executive branch to overrule the judicial branch? That's highly doubtful (and seriously screwed up, if true).

[ordinaryguy]

The Two-Against-One clause.

[Deo volente]

"Schiavo says in the letter, ``The reality is that Terri left us 13 years ago, and none of us can bring her back.''



NO, NO, NO!!!

The TRUTH is that "some of us DON'T WANT TO BRING HER BACK."

Isn't that right, Michael??

[deannadurbin]

Hurry!

[Deo volente]

Why those Senators aren't ordering out Starbucks and burning the midnite oil at the Statehouse
is totally beyond me.

Praying that Terri will survive one more day.

The waiting is beyond maddening. My mind and heart are numb at this point.