Terri's Fight - (Daily Thread/Updates)

KDubRN, are those the same Schiavos who backed up MS's allegations about Terri's wish?

IIRC, Scott Schiavo was the brother and Joan Schiavo was the sister-in-law who backed up Michael's viewpoint. I don't think any of those Schiavos that KDubRN found are related to MS, at least not directly. His brothers are Bill, Jr., Scott, Brian, and Steven. MS was the baby of the family.

BTW, good sleuthing KDubRN. Hopefully there are more out there who can keep hunting down the info. I'll be doing what I can.

More prayers for Terri! She's rarely out of my mind. Especially now that Christmas is just around the corner. I know what Michael wants for Christmas, but I'm gonna keep doing everything in my power (limited though it may be) to keep him from getting what he wants. The best he deserves is a few lumps of coal.

Sounds like Mary Martin is one of MS' kindred spirits.

This is a Hospice Patients Alliance Action Alert for Dec. 15, 2003

A petition is being circulated to demand an investigation into the violations of law perpetrated by Michael Schiavo against Terri Schindler Schiavo. All of us are being asked to send it in to Florida State Attorney Bernie McCabe who has the authority and duty to investigate violations of Florida laws. We are asking you to send it in to Florida State Attorney Bernie McCabe by going to the following petition page at the Children of God for Life website:

http://www.cogforlife.org/mccabepetition.htm

Note: You MUST COPY the text of the petition at that page and PASTE IT into the "comments" box for it to go to Bernie McCabe. Just filling in your information and clicking "submit" will only send a blank email. The "comments" box is what your email will say.

Please send this action alert about the petition to all members of any email lists you have so that it is widely circulated.

You can also fax or mail in your comments to his office.

Bernie McCabe's fax number is:
727-464-6534

His mailing address is:

State Attorney Bernie McCabe
14250 49th Street North
Clearwater, FL 33762

His phone number is:
(727) 464-6221

If you want to send a copy to Gov Jeb Bush, his email address is:
jeb.bush@myflorida.com

Getting a criminal investigation going may be one of the best ways to protect Terri!

Sincerely,
Ron Panzer
for Hospice Patients Alliance

Thanks, will get right on it!

Thank you, KDubRn, for bringing the petition to our
attention. I have written a more comprehensive text
as an alternative to the sample given on the petition
page. http://www.cogforlife.org/mccabepetition.htm

All are free to use my text or part of it as you see
fit.

Dear Mr. McCabe,

We, citizens who were raised believing in the American
system of justice, demand to know why you continue refusing
to investigate Mr. Michael Schiavo’s criminal acts of abuse
and neglect against Terri, a vulnerable Florida adult.

Denying that these violations impact Terri’s rights,
amounts to obstruction of justice. If you as the State
Attorney feel unable to investigate and put an end to this
outrage, you must explain this to the citizens. If your
friendship with Justice Greer compromises the exercise of
your duties, you must forthwith ask Govenor Bush to appoint
a special prosecutor who is free from conflict of interest.

If you do not heed this call, we the voters will answer
your lack of integrity in the booths. Terri’s grassroots
supporters far and near have vowed to make this a red-hot
public issue at the polls. You, Mr. McCabe, and anyone
unwisely failing to politically disconnect from you will
realize too late that our tolerance has reached the
breaking point.

Rise to the occasion and remember to what office you have
been elected. You cannot refrain for one more moment from
acknowledging your mandate. Trusting that you will choose
wisdom, we have prepared this brief for you. To help you
understand what is required, we list some of Mr. Schiavo’s
most egregious violations of law within your jurisdiction.
Charges are in order now!

Fla. Statute 825.102(3) (a) clearly defines criminal
neglect and categorizes it as a prosecutable felony:

1. “A caregiver’s failure or omission to provide an elderly
person or disabled adult with the care, supervision, and
services necessary to maintain the elderly person’s or
disabled adult’s physical and mental health, including but
not limited to, food, nutrition, clothing, shelter,
supervision, medicine, and medical service that a prudent
person would consider essential for the well-being of
the elderly person or disabled adult;”

2. “A caregiver’s failure to make a reasonable effort to
protect an elderly person or disabled adult from abuse,
neglect, or exploitation by another person.”

3. “If the neglect results in great bodily harm, permanent
disability, or permanent disfigurement to the disabled
person, it is a second degree felony. If there is no such
harm, it is a third degree felony.”

In authorizing the removal of Terri’s feeding tube, Justice
Greer was prohibited by law to also deny the provision of
food and water by mouth. To circumvent this stricture, he
denied the Schindlers’ Petition for Immediate Therapy
necessary to re-habituate Terri to eating by mouth. Mr.
Schiavo then used Justice Greer’s extraordinary ruling to
justify his contravention of Fla. Statute 744.3215 (1) (I),
which identifies necessary services and rehabilitation as
retained rights protected by statute.

Section 744.3215 (3) affirms that Terri retains this right
for the duration of guardianship. The law explicitly
extends no authority to the court to waive, remove or
delegate a retained right on the basis of a determination
of incapacitation. In the provision of guidelines for the
termination of life-prolonging procedures, Section 765.401
withholds authority from the guardianship court to prohibit
necessary therapy or permit the guardian to do so. Thus
neither the guardianship court nor Mr. Schiavo has the
legal authority to block Terri from receiving necessary
and rehabilitative therapies.

Nevertheless, Mr. Schiavo categorically forbade and
continues to forbid medical personnel to provide therapy
that could rehabilitate Terri’s swallowing function as well
as therapy to facilitate her speedy restoration as mandated
in Section 744.3215 (1) (c) of the 2003 Florida Statutes.
Mr. Schiavo’s reticence in honoring Terri’s rights
guaranteed by the law constitutes a punishable felony
under Section 744.3215 (1) (i).

In agreement with Florida Statutes, Federal Law also
protects Terri’s rights to the basic necessities of food
and water and to necessary medical services.

The Constitution fundamentally and without distinction
guarantees a person’s right to life. The Americans with
Disabilities Act, Subpart B, Section 35.130 states:
“Nothing in the Act or this part authorizes the
representative or guardian of an individual with a
disability to decline food, water, medical treatment,
or medical services for that individual.”

Declining food, water, medical treatment, or medical
services is, however, exactly what Mr. Schiavo, the
guardian has done and seeks to do again. Charges are
in order.

Federal law is clear in stating that necessary and
appropriate rehabilitation services and physical/motor
skill therapy may not be denied a disabled patient. Mr.
Schiavo’s attempts to disguise his unlawful denials of
Terri’s rights as the execution of her own wishes are
easily dismissed. The guardianship court’s deferral to
Mr. Schiavo’s anecdotal claims that his wife wished to
remain free of artificial life support cannot be construed
as indicating her wish to be deprived of the basic
necessities of food and water or therapy to facilitate
receiving these by mouth.

At the time of Terri’s alleged remark about aversion to
artificial life support—and for fifteen more years after
that—feeding tubes were not included in that definition.
It was only a 1999 amendment to the Florida Statutes that
made feeding tubes part of artificial life support. Terri
could not possibly have thought of a feeding tube when
referring to “anything artificial”. At the time of her
alleged remark to Mr. Schiavo, the withdrawing of a feeding
tube to hasten death would have been considered a felony
offense.

Whatever statement Terri may have made, it could not have
implied a wish for dying by starvation and dehydration.
Aside from recognizing that logical impossibility, you
must also be aware that new legal definitions cannot be
retroactively applied to prior situations, as Justice Greer
did in his rationale for ordering Terri’s feeding tube
removed.

The guardianship court is unable to show that Terri would
consider oral feeding a violation of her privacy, or that
she in any way relinquished her retained right to receive
rehabilitative therapy to facilitate it. By continuing to
deny such necessary therapy to Terri, Mr. Schiavo made
himself delinquent in the exercise of lawful guardianship
and subject to criminal charges for violations of federal
and state laws. These charges are yet to be brought by
you, because the violations have to date not been
adjudicated by the guardianship court. Charges are in
order, Mr. McCabe.

Besides denying Terri’s retained rights and rights
guaranteed by the Constitution and the Americans with
Disabilities Act, Mr. Schiavo has violated and continues
to violate numerous other Florida statutes. A partial
list follows.

Fla. Statute 825.103:

Mr. Schiavo misused funds that were awarded and placed in
trust for Terri’s care and rehabilitation. Of $700,000 in
Terri’s medical trust, $550,000 is said to have been paid
to Mr. Schiavo’s attorney George Felos, and $90,000 to his
attorney Barbara Bushnell. Both were for services in
connection with seeking Terri’s death. Of the remaining
$60,000 not one dollar has been used as stipulated by the
awarding court. Charges are in order.

Fla. Statute 825.102 (3) 2.:

Mr. Schiavo failed to request an investigation indicated
when a bone scan of Terri’s body revealed multiple
fractures and head trauma. Instead, he had the record of
these injuries sealed for over ten years, raising
widespread suspicions of his possible complicity in the
causation of Terri’s injuries.

While the statute of limitations for such a crime may
hinder prosecution, the related breach of Fla. Statute
825.102 (3) (2.) is not subject to such limitations. The
illicit hiding of the bone scan and the failure to protect
Terri against the unknown abuser continued until recent
times. In fact, the failure to protect is ongoing.

Both the physician who annotated the bone scan and a
nationally known forensic pathologist who reviewed it
deduced a high probability of deliberate violence as the
cause of the injuries. Mr. Schiavo’s failure to press for
an investigation to discover the perpetrator puts him in
breach of the statute mandating Terri’s protection.
Charges are in order.

Fla. Statute 744.3215 (1) (a):

Mr. Schiavo failed to provide the mandated guardianship
report and plan for the past three years. Charges are in
order.

Fla. Statute 744.3215 (f):

Mr. Schiavo moved Terri into hospice three years ago
without the mandatory certification by two physicians,
imprisoning her in an environment unsuited for recovery
and restoration. Mr. Schiavo’s act additionally violates
federal regulations concerning admission to hospice.
Charges are in order.

Fla. Statute 744.3215 (l) and 744.3215 (k):

By causing the dismissal of and failing to replace Terri’s
Guardian ad Litem, Mr. Schiavo deprived her of the retained
rights to counsel and access to the courts. Charges are
in order.

Mr. Schiavo also has been and is in the process of
committing class 3 and class 2 felonies under Sections
825.102 (1), (2) and (3) pertaining to abuse, aggravated
abuse and neglect of an elderly person or disabled adult.

Fla. Statue 825.102 (1):

Mr. Schiavo put Terri at risk of disfigurement and loss by
forbidding the administration of oral hygiene. He invited
further incapacitation by forbidding the standard joint
mobilization protocol. In October of this year, he put
Terri at risk of unlawful death by having his lawyer
threaten medical personnel, should they obey the Governor’s
executive order and reinsert Terri’s feeding tube. He
caused Terri spiritual and psychological loss by forbidding
the administration of the Last Rites of her faith. By this
he also violated Terri’s Constitutional right to the
practice of her religion. Charges are in order.

Fla. Statute 825.102 (2) (b):

Mr. Schiavo ordered the removal of a washcloth nurses had
placed into Terri’s hands to prevent fingernails from
cutting into her palms and causing painful lacerations and
infections. He blocked the repair of a broken wheel chair
that had been the means of taking Terri outdoors so that
she could have fresh air and sunshine. He unlawfully held
Terri in hospice for three years without meeting federal
requirements and without signs of impending death in
Terri. Charges are in order.

Fla. Statute 825.102 (3) (a) 1.:

Mr. Schiavo forbade the administration of antibiotics for
infections resulting in pain, possible disfigurement and
potentially fatal sepsis. By disallowing Terri’s
neurological examination, he denied her opportunities
to benefit from new therapies. By forbidding Terri to
receive treatment by a speech therapist, he denied her
opportunities to demonstrate consciousness and communication
facility. By removing all objects of her religion from
Terri’s room, he neglected her spiritual well being. By
removing pictures of loved ones, comfort-objects from her
past and even birthday cards from a school class of
disabled children, he blocked Terri’s opportunity for
stimulation to gain in responsiveness. Charges are
in order.

These and other felony offenses by Mr. Schiavo are
punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or
s. 775.084. In light of these multiple felony acts
by Mr. Schiavo, we insist that you investigate and
prosecute without delay.

Your inexplicable tolerance of these crimes in your
jurisdiction throw doubt on your understanding the
mandate of a State Attorney. It is of utmost urgency
that you protect Terri Schindler-Schiavo against further
neglect, abuse and other harm from Mr. Schiavo. There
is no other means for you, Mr. McCabe, to undo the damage
your past passivity in this case has inflicted on public
confidence in your office.

Signed with all intention to pursue this grave matter
until justice is served and all laws are satisfied,

............
............
............
............

Excellent letter, Terrasol! Thank you for permission to use it.

Keep those addresses coming! I have responded to Bernie McCabe. Also am working on the Florida legislature list.

Someone in an authoritative must speak up and see that Terri Shiavo begins receiving treatment now, regardless of her litigation status. She deserves what every other disabled person in America has a right to...therapy and treatment.

She does not belong in hospice.

You ought to consider running for McCabe's office, since he doesn't seem to get the idea of enforcing the law.
Outstanding letter. I sent it far and wide.

Update on Rus:
Pray for me folks...
I found out today that I may have hairline spinal fractures from that student attack I was (and am) still recovering from at the time the school noard fired me.

All your good thoughts would be most appreciated.

Rus

From Gordon Watts:

This is from Gordon Watts:

Here's a "Teaser" to my Health/Diet Research"

"Mettlin and Piver (1) recently reported that increased risk for ovarian cancer associated with [happening together with] milk consumption was confined to ...

"Because there is clinical and experimental evidence that galactose may be toxic to ovarian germ cells...

"This was a 12-year prospective study among 77 761 women... In our cohort [group], women consuming greater amounts of calcium from dairy foods had modest but significantly increased risks of hip fracture while no increase ...

Table of contents
I. Why regular table sugar is better than the "diet" sweetener * NutraSweet * in most cases
II. Why Soy and Rice "Milk Substitutes" are better than * Cows' Milk * in most cases
III. New Research on * ~~~ STRESS ~~~ * ~*~
IV. Why eating * too many calories * can reduce your life span
Two studies: reducing caloric intake caused rats & mice to live at least 30% longer than usual and worms to live about nineteen! (yes, 19 !!!) times as long as usual. Details below.
V. What the * Holy Bible * has to say about eating meat and drinking milk
VI. What is Food Combining?
VII. My guess at the * Top 20 * HEALTH Risks (things to avoid)

The research I've done on milk, meat, and other little-known stuff - while I was a double major up at The Florida State University:

http://www.GeoCities.com/Gordon_Watts32313/consumer.html or

http://Gordon_Watts.Tripod.com/consumer.html

I misquoted the law in my e-note to you: the correct citation is s. 744.3215(1)(i), see below...

Notes to self: The top section is mainly "Stuff I left ouf of my lawsuits / petitions/" The bottom section is stuff that Governor's legal team is being asked to do ... some of the Quotes of Law may be duplicitave / Repetitive, but this "Petition to the Governor" had some stuff I missed altogether, especially the Federal stuff:

With respect to Terri Schiavo' s inability to be protected by *current* euthanasia law, I filed an Amicus defending "Terri's Law" and also petitions for writs to enforce the current law (not Terri's Law).

http://HomeTown.AOL.com/Gww1210 or http://GeoCities.com/Gordon_Watts32313

Wish List For Fla. Leaders:
* Order a DCF investigation (abuse of disabled individual s. 415.104(1), Florida Statutes)

* Order and FDLE investigation - failure of city police to prevent violation of mercy-killing laws, s. 765.309(1) ; 782.051

* Notes: s. 782.07(2) and s. 825.102(3) say something important about neglect and possible manslaughter charges. I looked them up, and they applied to Terri Schiavo condition, but I forget the exact language. From http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/OGC/Legal_Bulletins/lb9903_10-14.html I find:

Neglect Of Disabled Person - Constitutionality
The 4th DCA affirmed a defendant's conviction for neglect of a disabled person, rejecting constitutional challenges to the underlying statute.
The defendant's conviction for neglect arose from the death of her mother. On appeal, the defendant challenged the constitutionality of sections 782.07(2) and 825.102(3) on the grounds that the statutes lacked a specific intent requirement, are unconstitutionally vague and violated her mother's right to privacy in refusing medical treatment. Affirming the defendant's conviction, the DCA found it within the Legislature's power to dispense with the intent element and said the statutes are not vague because the defendant's conduct fell squarely within the conduct proscribed by the statutes. As to the defendant's argument regarding her mother's right to refuse medical treatment, the DCA said "constitutional rights are personal in nature and generally may not be asserted vicariously." [Sieniarecki vs. State, 724 So.2d 626 (4th DCA 1998)]

* Order an investigation by local City of Pinellas Park Police Department and prosecuted by State Attorney's Office (Bernie McCabe, Pinellas County's State Attorney) - Michael Schiavo should have been prosecuted by his local police for violoation of Chapter 798 -Adultury/Fornication sex crime statues, still current law. (s. 798.01 and 798.02 haven't been enforced in years, but should be to reduce veneral deiseased and domesticc violence, as the other "sex crimes" statutes are enforce.)

* (An appeal angle) The courts oversteeped their boundries by not allowing mandatory rehab, s. 744.3215(1)(-i-), Fla. Stats., thus asking for a Writ of Prohibition.

* Equal Protection: Terri did not receive special protection: The law could, theroetically, have applied to anyone in these circumstances.

* Ask the Fla. legislature to pass a resolution condemning the above parties for failing to follow the law -if they have backbone -your voice would be appreciated too, and you may follow my suggestions to the letter, if you like)

* Other things for which Michael Schaivo and hospice workers could get prosecuted are contained in my Court Briefs, posted online.

* Of note: s. 765.101(12) defines "Persistive Vegitative State" totally differently than what Terri Schiavo is, but even if she is "PVS," mercy-killing is prohibited per my suit.

* s. 765.101(10) Defines life prolonging proceedures, but it does not mean regular food and water.

* PS: Look up these laws at say, http://flsenate.gov/statutes -at, the public library, a law library, or another online source.

* Also, the examples of many others who have been eitehr (1) Misdaignosed as "PVS" - or (2) healed up, should also be considered. (If Terri Schiavo is to be put to death, do it humanely, but evil is not humane is it? -- If she IS PVS, then letting her live won't put her through any pain - if she is NOT "PVS," then she will feel pain -and fear -by being starved to death, which is "cruel and unusual" punishment for a criminal -and worse for her -and, certainly a violation of laws which prohibit discrimination based on disabilities, but I think the "criminal" argument is the better of the two - the "take home message.")

***

Petition to Governor Jeb Bush to Remove Michael Schiavo as Terri's Guardian
And Open a Full Criminal Investigation.

Dear Governor Bush:
Thank you for implementing Terri's Law and your ongoing support for her right to life. In light of the evidence in this case, we believe your actions were both heroic and necessary. In light of the evidence of criminal action by her husband, we respectfully request that you immediately commence proceedings to remove Micahel Schiavo as Terri's legal guardian and open a criminal investigation based on the following:

1) Bone scans and medical records from 1990 indicate severe trauma, numerous broken bones; no criminal investigation has ever been conducted. A review of these records by top US Forensic Pathologist Michael Baden concluded that a criminal investigation should be conducted

2) Michael Schiavo defrauded the courts by promising to care for Terri for the rest of his life and then used the jury awarded $700 thousand specifically designated for Terri's rehabilitation for his own personal gain and to end Terri's life. This also violates Fl Statute. 825.103 "Exploitation of an elderly person or disabled adult" which prohibits the misuse of a disabled person's funds by the guardian.

3) Further, Section (2)(a) states that If the funds, assets, or property involved in the exploitation of the elderly person or disabled adult is valued at $100,000 or more, the offender commits a felony of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

4)The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. Sections 12101 provides that necessary and appropriate rehabilitation services and physical/motor skill therapy may not be denied a substantially disabled patient in the United States of America.

5) Cf 28 CFR, Ch 1, Subpart B, Sect 35.130 States "Nothing in the Act or this part authorizes the representative or guardian of an individual with a disability to decline food, water, medical treatment, or medical services for that individual."

6)Failure to Discharge His Duties under FS § 744.474 (2) requires that the guardian protect the rights of the ward, provide for her health and safety, properly manage her financial resources and help her regain her abilities to the maximum extent possible.

7)The initial move to Hospice was done in violation of the annual plan and without court permission in violation of FS § 744.3215(4)].

8) Terri has the right to receive visitors and communicate with others. FS § 744.3215

9) Terri has the right to receive "palliative care" which is the comprehensive management of the physical, psychological, social, spiritual, and existential needs of the patient. FS. § 765.102.

10) In 1990, Michael took Terri to San Francisco for experimental medical treatment, without the necessary prior approval of the Court. FS. § 744.3215(4).

11) The guardian is required by law to prepare and present an annual plan. FS § 744.3675.Repeatedly, the annual plans have been filed late or not at all

12) In his annual reports, Schiavo has failed to prepare and present any plan for the provision of medical, mental health, and rehabilitative services in the coming year as required by FS §744.3675 (1)(b)(3)

13) The Adult Protective Services Act (Chapter 415 of the Florida Statutes) affords protection to disabled persons from abuse, neglect and exploitation

14) Fla. Stat. § 415. 102(1)(2002). Schiavo’s isolation of Terri and refusal to provide adequate physician attention, rehabilitative services, dental care and other medical services constitutes abuse under the Adult Protective Services Act as well as the guardianship statutes.

15) Schiavo’s decision to hold Terri at Hospice after it was clear that she was not "terminal" within Medicare guidelines was an improper use of the ward’s assets. In order to receive federal payment for hospice care, the facility must obtain a certification from the attending physician within two calendar days of initial admission that the patient’s "prognosis is for a life expectancy of 6 months or less if the terminal illness runs its normal course." 42 C.F.R. § 418.22 (2001) Terri has been in Hospice 3 years.

Governor Bush, the Florida courts, DCF and Adult Protective Services have failed to do their job of protecting Terri's rights. Please exercise your executive power to remove Michael Schiavo as Terri's legal guardian at once, appointing her as a ward of the State under your care and demand a full investigation through every possible legal authority, including Federal Investigative Assistance if necessary. Thank you.

Please Fill In Fields Below

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IMPORTANT: This form is being sent directly to Governor Bush. In order for him
to receive the facts presented, YOU MUST either copy and paste part or all of the text
of the above letter into the comments box below or add your own personal letter.

COMMENTS BOX

Online McCabe petition, etc. Please take action. Also please let others know.

On December 17, 2003, two hearings were held in the Sixth Circuit Court in Clearwater, Florida.

Case Update:

Regarding the guardianship of Michael Schiavo, a hearing in front of Judge George Greer was held to ask that a visitor’s list for Terri be expanded. Additionally, Judge Greer was asked to transfer the case to St. Petersburg, Florida where its true jurisdiction should be. Judge Greer delayed ruling on either matter and a ruling should be made in a day or so.

Regarding Schiavo v Bush, the case to determine the constitutionality of “Terri’s Law” (the law that allowed Florida’s Governor to order the return of Terri’s sustenance), Judge W. Douglas Baird allowed a continuance until Tuesday, December 23, 2003. At that time, Judge Baird may decide to allow a full trial or to issue a summary ruling without a trial. At the moment, Governor Bush and his legal team are not being permitted to call witnesses or present evidence that might support their case.

Action Item:

Florida’s State Attorney for Pinellas County, Bernie McCabe, has refused to investigate allegations of abuse, neglect and exploitation against Terri by her guardian. These are serious crimes under Florida law and they require full investigation.

You can read a comprehensive outline of the related statutes here:

http://zimp.org/berniemccabeletter.html

You can also sign an online petition to Mr. McCabe demanding that he investigate here:

http://www.zimp.org/mccabepetition.htm

If you are a citizen of Florida, please try to let your voice be heard in this matter.

Thank you again for your interest in the well-being of Terri Schindler-Schiavo and for supporting those who work for her safety and human rights.

Tuesday, eh?

The possibility that he may rule arbitrarily, without witnesses or testimony, is as frightening as anything from Stalin's era of "show-trials."

I am not on ANY TERRI PING LIST. It's kind of ironic since I am right here where the action is. If anyone with a ping list to Terri's Daily Thread sees my post, PLEASE PUT ME ON YOUR PING LIST. I can never find it on a sidebar, etc. I'm of no help to the cause if nobody pings me. lol

NO DUE PROCESS FOR JEB BUSH, Citizen of Florida AND NO DUE PROCESS OF TERRI! WELCOME TO NAZI FLORIDA. I still have my Nazi Florida sign if I need to drag it out. floriduh voter

Rus, I saw you on public access last night. You were wonderful. They were bureaucrats without common sense. I wish you luck. Did you consider contacting the EEOC yet?

On another note. HERE'S TERRI'S NEW ADDRESS FOR NOW: Parkside Assisted Living, 2750 Drew St., Clearwater, FL

Terri's about twenty minutes further northeast of Hospice Woodside on the 4th floor of Parkside.

Felos stated in today's paper that JEB BUSH "would have his day of reckoning." Excuse me? Since when did Felos become god?

I need a ping list can anyone provide me with one? I would like anyone who is interested in Terri's plight to be on it.

State Long Term Care
Ombudsman Program
Florida State LTC Ombudsman Council
Holland Building, Room 270
600 South Calhoun Street
Tallahassee, FL 32301
Phone: (850) 488-6190
FAX: (850) 488-5657

The Long -Term Care Ombudsman Program (LTCOP) takes complaints from or on behalf of residents of long-term care facilities (such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities) and advocate on their behalf - at no charge! View all our free services. Request complimentary information or file a complaint online, or contact us toll-free at 888-831-0404.

http://www.myflorida.com/ombudsman/services.html

Everybody please contact the Ombudsman and file a complaint.

Mail to David Sommers at Tampa Tribune

Mr. Sommer,
You contacted me back in October when I first became proactive in Terri's fight and right to live. At that time, I knew basic facts, and very little inside information. I felt very strongly about 1st Amendment Rights and murder of a disabled woman. These are the glaring issues in Terri's case. These issues are what the case is infringing upon, and not Terri's right to privacy as the husband says. From a common sense viewpoint, what takes priority; right to privacy stated by an estranged husband, or murder and 1st Amendment Rights?

These two issues, the law of our land, have been ignored, debased, violated, and misconstrued, not only by the husband and his attorney in their killer culture, but by the entire 6th judicial circuit, LE, and many of the citizens in this country, particularly, those in Pinellas-Pasco.

When did so many people make a conscious decision that murder of a disabled American is normal behavior? When did people make a conscious decision that the judiciary makes and changes law? People complain about the PATRIOT ACT and our rights violated. Reality check is in order here. What about allowing justices to legislate? Legislating judges violate more of our rights than any PATRIOT ACT ever could. This is judicial tyranny. Are people so blind they cannot see this conflict?

People need to know there is controversy within the medical profession regarding diagnosis and prognosis of PVS. People need to know Terri had no documents stating her end of life wishes. People need to know there are other cases in this country struck down by the courts to remove feeding tubes, as the right to life far outweighs court mandated killing.

Judge Greer has made numerous statements saying Terri wants to die. How does he know this? Since he did not know Terri prior to this case, did she come to him in a dream? Did he connect with her spirit as Felos says people do with him? If this is what a murder is based on, and upheld by the courts, and condoned by the public, every citizen in this country is at risk for the same mandated death sentence.

At the same time, our Constitution means nothing, as a state court, and a handful of judges who carry some weight, can trash the Constitution and all Amendments made by our forefathers. This has become a political issue by virtue of the rulings made by the judges in Pinellas County. For every American who reads about Terri Schiavo, and for those who are intelligent enough to realize basic Constitutional Rights have been violated in this case, each should take a proactive role in petitioning their elected and appointed officials to stop these violations now. For if we do not, we only have ourselves to blame for loss of those precious rights.

"All I Ever Wanted to Do..."
"Update"
International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
Year 2003 Volume 17 Number 3
page 6

All I ever wanted to do was live, have a child and teach since I was five years old.
But events in the mid-1980s almost stop all of that from happening.

Due to being wildly misdiagnosed, garden variety lupus spun out of control. I sank into nearly continual seizures. That earned me an extended stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a prestigious east coast hospital. It was so sad. I couldn't think, talk, bear children or have a meaningful life again. I had to be allowed to die with all basic treatment and stimulation stopping since I wouldn't notice anyway. Of course I would never be able to write again. The prevailing opinion was simply that my death would be better than my adequately treated disability. My husband sided with the physicians.

So I obliged the staff and died. NOT!

Here's the real story -- I could actually hear all these conversations about my futile care and demise held in my room.

I desperately started trying to communicate. When talk of my pointless life would commence first I tried moving to show the topic really mattered to me. In response I got sedated for seizures.

Then I tried vocalizing. It sounded like moans. I got more sedation for my efforts.

I switched to writing in the air, begging for my life. They didn't get it. So, I began writing my plea backwards hoping they could get it that way. Nope.

At that point I also started memorizing the ICU gossip shared over my body. I heard a lot 24/7 since I was treated like a piece of furniture. As I was not "really there," it was okay to complain about my care while "having" to "move and dust me." I heard that last phrase more than once.

I also heard allegedly funny staff arguments over what kind of vegetable I was in the intensive care garden patch.

In absolute terror at that point, I noticed a wall calendar across from me that didn't say the month, but did say the date. I picked up that the top page read "TODAY IS 21." I immediately started drawing in the air what the date was during rounds. No one noticed -- not even when I changed the number as the week rolled around.

Except for a single nurse ...

She began to work with me by my blinking. When she brought this up to the medical staff, the response was that my blinking did not fit the diagnosis. She couldn't record my budding conversation.

We continued after her shift with ink on my fingers, a clipboard and increasingly complex communication boards made from old file folders and markers.

Her loving work earned me a final session as to whether I was already "gone" or not. I was asked if there was anything I wanted to say. I replied that I needed a divorce to get therapy.

No one ever doubted my presence again.

I still had to struggle for the most basic things like trips for follow-up care, food, water, getting stitches out, counseling, and maternity care. Yes, not too long after that I found out my sterile problem was going to be born in the fall. That son started college this past fall. I earned another master's degree. Obviously I am thinking and writing for you to be able to read this now.

I believe Terri Schindler Schiavo is in a very similar situation to mine back before my son was born.

Anyone who is or knows a woman should be very concerned. Disability can happen any time and anywhere due to illness, accident, or genetics. It is an equal opportunity minority - one that people can involuntarily join instantly.

Women who lose their caretaker status are particularly vulnerable when they need that same level of attention themselves. Indeed, most wards of public guardians are women with cognitive-impairments, precisely the group mostly likely to be starved and dehydrated across all institutional settings.

Therefore, know that supporting Terri's right to live is in your own best interest. I am very proud to say I became an exceptional education teacher as a direct result of Terri's inspiration during the October 2002 hearing when, once again, Judge George Greer ordered her death by starvation and dehydration.

Rus

"Fearrogance in the Vegetable Patch"
National Right To Life News
December 2003
by Rus Cooper-Dowda
pp. 8-9

As a young doctor's wife I frequently heard my husband and his pals discuss "The Vegetable Patch", that part of the Intensive Care Unit where the comatose and the neurologically damaged were treated. I cringed inwardly every time they would refer to their patients as "The Turnip", "The Carrot", "The Eggplant", but I kept it inside. Only a few months after one such party I wished I had broken the omerta rule (Remember "The Godfather?). I suddenly awoke to find myself in the same position as those labeled ICU patients.

I learned in the mid-1980s that my medical circle's callous disregard for their patient's humanity (and then my own) was really an extreme form of what I now call the common "Fearrogance" of living with a disability.

My new word combines the Arrogance of believing one will never be disabled with the Fear of the real and great odds it will really happen someday.

How else to explain how the Hemlock Society (with their new euphemistic name) and the ACLU refuse to stop labeling all people concerned about Terri's civil rights as the fringe element? The members of such groups (that I belonged to before the onset of my disability) need to believe that Terri's and my experience stays rare and will never happen to anyone they know.

But it isn't rare and it can happen -- to you or someone you know. What people don't realize is that there are more people with disabilities in America than the entire population of Canada. Genetics, accident, injury, and aging will push most of us into the disabled community before the end of our natural lives.

That rampant "Fearrogance" is why my experience is such an important (yet missing) piece in the debate over Terri Schindler-Schiavo's "right" to be killed for having a disability.

In the mid-1980s I was 29 years old when my quiet and long-simmering lupus broke forth with seizure activity of increasing frequency. I lapsed into the state where I couldn't talk, move much or see very clearly.

How deeply I was in a coma-like state will always be a matter of dispute between the players at the time. But I was probably only truly "out of it" for a few weeks at the most.

What I will remember forever is waking in the ICU, a feeding tube inserted into me, to the sight of a school of doctors standing at the end of my bed. I was very glad then that they were going to save me since I was really and truly "back." I was sure they were going to be my much needed life-preserver.

I was sure their attentiveness would include noticing major movement and noise from me when a hypothetical question was asked about me. But to my great horror, after each of my monumental efforts to communicate, the medical team just continued planning an ending for how me that included stopping all care of any kind and sending me to a nursing home to die.
I was supposedly was in a "persistent vegetative state." As a result each improvement in my condition and my ability to reach out only made them nervous. My life was in great jeopardy.

I tried frantically move and making noise during those dreaded "rounds." This intermittent activity was interpreted as evidence of more "repetitive seizure activity ." My cry for help earned me more heavy sedation.

I tried blinking, nodding, hand signs, finger spelling, facial expressions, and pointing to symbols, letters and words on the side of an old file folder. All to no avail.

When I heard they were going to remove life support, I went into a total panic. I tried writing in the air. I spelled "don't." That got me more sedation. I then wrote "don't" it backwards. Their response was to consider tying my arms and hands down to protect me from self-injury. This taught me to stop writing "Don't."

With great difficulty I figured out that there was a "page a day" calendar on the wall across from my bed. Using hand motions, I devised a plan to start spelling out the words on the calendar.

it was my repeated efforts to spell out the same sentence (changing only the last number) that caused one nurse to pick up that the motion of my hands was an attempt to tell them what was on the calendar that day. This insight on her part saved my life!

She put ink on the end of my finger, so I could write the letter "Y" or "N" for yes and no. She started staying after shifts to talk to me -- the only staff person to ever do that. Even after I heard her being warned not to record the results of her visiting and being warned to stop, she still continued to visit. She reached out and facilitated my communication in every way possible.

Out therapeutic meetings had to be brief, late, and very quiet to avoid the notice of most of the rest of the staff who were adamant that all my behavior was nothing more than seizures or reflex. But she knew I was in "there" and took it upon herself to prove it.

Why was she literally forbidden to document my growing and increasingly effective alternative communication styles? They did not fit the existing diagnosis: I was "non-communicative."

This is the same situation Terri Shindler-Schiavo is in now. Only when they took time to listen to the nurse, who pointed out that I was understanding the calendar and also spelling out answers to questions, did they get past the labels.

I sincerely believe, as do many other anonymous and public health care professionals who have worked with Terri, that she is communicating her heart out and has been for years. But the filter of learned "Fearrogance" stands in the way of allowing Terri Schindler-Schiavo the same freedom to exist that you and I enjoy.

"Fearrogance" of that state where you need help with a spoon and that daft ham sandwich the husband's attorney keeps citing.

The question is, Who's next? If people with disabilities can be starved, how about others who are not able to communicate in the "right" way? Toddlers? Nursing home residents with varying degrees of dementia?

What I have come to understand is that my life was threatened by medical and legal obsession with the myth and idea that we can control all aspects of life for ourselves and others. I know this belief as the most absurd stance possible. I used to hold it myself.

Then experience taught me that life with a disability is fully living, including for people like Terri and me. People often say things like, "I wouldn't want to live like that," because they believe it will never happen to them.

When it does, it's not a bad life or a useless life. It's a changed life. I live a changes and different life now as a person with disabilities with loss of some control and a remaining need for help.

Terri Schindler-Schiavo needs such basic help, too. For example, she uses a feeding tube -- a straw device designed in the 1880s -- to take in her nourishment. Her straw, and the ones we use at McDonald's both work by air pressure and gravity. What's the big deal?

The national disabled community recently sent a statement to the press, saying that Terri has the constitutional right to live. It parallels the Right To Life movement;s efforts on behalf of Terri. Some of us are in both groups, others not.

At the end of the day, members of both movements believe that everyone has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This includes people with disabilities, who some may not believe represent the physical "norm." There's that "Fearrogance" assumption again.

But, contrary to their preconceptions, I not only survived, I earned a graduate degree. My son recently began college.

I know in my heart and through my own experience -- then and since -- that there are desperate "non-communicative" people with disabilities everywhere who, even now, are blinking, nodding, and pointing to try to communicate. I could do that when medical staff was convinced I could not.

Terri can do that, too. But the powers that be doubt her in the same way they doubted me.

Welcome to a land full of "Fearrogance."