Posted on 10/27/2003 8:29:28 PM PST by El Conservador
TAMPA, Fla. - The husband seeking to end the life of his severely brain-damaged wife said Monday that his in-laws have set out to block his actions because of money and the influence of conservative political causes.
In his first interview since the latest round of legal fighting in the highly publicized case, Michael Schiavo said on CNN's "Larry King Live" that he continues to fight to end his wife's life because her wishes were not to be kept alive artificially.
"This is Terri's wish," he said of the removal of her feeding tube. "And I am going to follow that if this is the last thing I can do for Terri."
Terri Schiavo, 39, has been in a persistent vegetative state since 1990 when a chemical imbalance, brought on by an eating disorder, caused her heart to stop and deprived her brain of oxygen.
Her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, believe their daughter could be rehabilitated and dispute the husband's contention that she did not want to be kept alive artificially.
Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed for six days earlier this month before the Florida Legislature and Gov. Jeb Bush enacted a special law to have it reinserted. The move touched off an international debate over the Schiavo case and right-to-die issues.
Terri Schiavo is being treated at a Pinellas Park hospice while her husband's attorney and the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites) prepare to challenge to constitutionality of "Terri's Law." The first filings in that legal fight are due Wednesday.
Appearing less than an hour later on Fox News' "On the Record with Greta Van Sustern," the attorney for the Schindlers countered that Michael Schiavo knew his wife never had end-of-life wishes.
"It's hard to know what to believe with him because he says whatever the occasion demands or what is in his financial interests," said the attorney, Pat Anderson.
Michael Schiavo said his relationship with the Schindlers soured after he was awarded a 1993 medical malpractice claim of about $1 million. Schiavo says the settlement was awarded because doctors misdiagnosed Terri Schiavo's health problems.
He said after that, his father-in-law asked him for a share of the money, and he refused to give him any.
"He's always wanted the money," Schiavo said of Bob Schindler. "He wants the money. He wants the control."
Schiavo denied that he has withheld therapy from his wife, saying he once took her to California for an experimental therapy in which a stimulator was implanted in her brain. It didn't work, he said.
"Now, they (his in-laws) are being fed all this information by those right-to-life activists who are feeding their little flame," he said.
He also answered criticism that he has abandoned his wife for a longtime girlfriend with whom he has one child and another on the way. Schiavo said his girlfriend is supportive of his care for Terri Schiavo.
"I'm fortunate to have two women in my life that I love very much," he said. "My girlfriend right now has done more for Terri than her own mother did. She shopped for her. She washed her clothes."
If they let a third party make the decision to starve her to death, then grandpa had better be careful when he starts getting a bit out of it.
That's where we're headed: the mentally handicapped will be not allowed to die, but rather deliberately killed even though they have no terminal medical condition of any kind--as in Terri's case.
This is what I just don't understand. How can a person's food and hydration be suspended absent these things? How can a person be literally starved and dehydrated to death based on nothing but the word of another person? We're not talking about "extraordinary" measures here. I mean, look at pictures of these people before all this -- they were a young good-looking couple. There's no way you can tell me these 20-something beautiful people sat around telling each other "don't feed me if I become incapacitated."
There it is again.
The guy's a freaking vampire.
Then give back the $1,000,000.00 you got for her care, and sign off on any life insurance.
No? (I didn't think so).
"he once took her to California for an experimental therapy in which a stimulator was implanted in her brain. "
And who was this experimenter in brain surgery and electro-shock therapy....enquiring minds desire to know..
I guess a resident of Marin county.
Supportive of what care? Removing her feeding tube and starving her to death? Gee, how sweet.
"My girlfriend right now has done more for Terri than her own mother did. She shopped for her. She washed her clothes."
How about keeping her alive and caring for her like her mother?
No? (I didn't think so).
He wore his passion for his woman like a thorny crown.
He said, "Terri, I live in fear:
My love for you's so overpow'ring I think I must make you...disappear.
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Oh, he doing it pro bono for her. We have a new attempted social cause in the making.
There it is again.
FOX had a doctor interviewed just today that said the neck injury is the same as a neck injury he saw in an attempted strangulation case.
To stay on the side of caution, I'd support a complete investigation into Terris condition and how she got the way she is today.
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This issue is one that has just been devised by Shiavo. Much of the money has been spent on Shiavo's lawyers. The Schindlers have long been described as independently wealthy. Doctors are offering the Schindlers free medical care.
How dare you suggest robbing Michael of closure?
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