Parents of Terri Schindler-Schiavo Told to Pay to See Their Daughter

The Terri Schindler Foundation ^ | May 7, 2004 | Terri Foundation

[amdgmary]

Parents of Terri Schindler-Schiavo Told to Pay to See Their Daughter

Clearwater, FL May 7, 2004: In yet another bizarre twist of the Terri Schindler-Schiavo case, the Schindler family was informed that they must now pay a fee for “security” each time that they want to visit their daughter.

On Wednesday, May 5, 2004, Deborah Bushnell of Dunedin, an attorney representing Michael Schiavo, faxed a letter to attorneys representing the parents of Terri Schindler-Schiavo.

In her communication, Ms. Bushnell recommended that Ms. Schiavo's parents could be permitted to visit their disabled daughter if they would agree to hire an off-duty police person to accompany them. This comes after attorney Patricia Anderson, who represents Ms. Schiavo's parents, filed a Writ of Quo Warranto, demanding that Mr. Schiavo demonstrate what authority he has to deny his wife visits from her immediate family. Should the Schindlers fail to pay, they would be denied visitation rights.

Ms. Schiavo currently has an off-duty police person, paid for by Hospice of the Florida Suncoast, assigned to her on a 24 hour a day basis. Additionally, the Schindlers have reported that, during their visits, nursing staff frequently enter their daughter's room.

Ms. Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, have not been permitted to visit her since March 29, 2004 (39 days), when attorney George Felos of Dunedin issued a press release stating that suspicious marks were found on her arm. A toxicology study conducted on Ms. Schiavo concluded that no unauthorized chemicals were found in her system. Ms. Schiavo's parents, along with her siblings, had attempted to visit her the following day at Park Place Assisted Living and were turned away by nursing staff in compliance with "Mr. Schiavo's orders".

Statement of Attorney Patricia Anderson:

By recommending that the financially-strapped Schindlers may only visit Terri if they pay yet another off-duty police person to accompany them, is an effort to inhibit them from freely seeing their own daughter. A couple of years ago, Michael Schiavo contacted Terri's parents and offered to give the balance of Terri's money over to charity. He and his attorneys used this a talking point for the media - claiming that Michael had no financial interest in Terri's death. What they neglected to mention was that that particular offer was predicated upon the Schindler's agreeing to Terri's dehydration and starvation death.

This latest tactic from Ms. Bushnell is really no different. I will not be surprised if Ms. Bushnell uses this as another talking point with the media in an attempt to make her and her client appear less cruel.

No mother should have to pay an admission fee to see her child on Mother's Day. Perhaps Ms. Bushnell has forgotten how most people spend Mother's Day."

[Ohioan from Florida]

On the contrary, they think we DO HAVE @%&* for brains!! LOL!!

[floriduh voter]

check out my new tag line before the jack booted thugs come to take me away.

[TOUGH STOUGH]

WOW!!! Very interesting. What say you about the information in post #218, William Terrell?

Are you the Honorable William Terrell Hodges?

[Politicalmom]

(Well, not VERY "honorable"!!!)

[TheSpottedOwl]

I guess all we can do is pray for her. Unfortunately, Chuck Norris is an actor...not a soldier of fortune.

One million hits on terri's site? Good! Everyone needs to be educated on what can happen to them.

[William Terrell]

Sorry, I missed the post, there are so many of them.

Do you think that if God deemed that it was Terri's time to die, that there would be any thing man could do that would keep her alive?

It's a very controversial gift from God called human agency or free will. People go against God's purposes all the time. It comes to naught or has very uncomfortable consequences, but they still do it.

In other words, do you think man could ultimately trump God's will to take Terri home with Him?

No ultimately of course, but ultimately can be a long, long time. And then, naturally, one one lives forever.

[Ohioan from Florida]

I like it! Though your post makes me think of that song...They're coming to take me away, ha ha, they're coming to take me away, ho ho, to the funny farm, ha ha, ho ho....

OK, I must be getting giddy seeing as what time it's getting to be! And I gotta wake up in a few hours anyway, so I'd better get on to bed soon.

[TOUGH STOUGH]

Not to down play your amazing discovery, and to that I say BRAVO,STANDING OVATION AND TAKE A BOW, but WT's been on here for six years and no one knew he was Judge Hodges?

[William Terrell]

Since the odds are 50/50, the payout should work in your favor, right?

No, it will neither work in my favor, or against me.

Tell you what, let's forget the Illinois Lottery and calculate the chances of feeding Terri, by hand, only when she orders it to see what the odds are on her lottery, using your words and your analogy.

[XenaLee]

Yeah, but it's too bad he's not going to hell soon enough to help Terri or her parents. Wouldn't it be nice if some 'Charles Bronson' type came along and solved the problem? Only in the movies, I guess. But what justice that would be! The husband is pondscum/slime and I suspect he's the one that caused her brain damage in the first place.

[William Terrell]

Given her religion, her family, her Catholic school education,her childhood friends, several of whom have had masses said on Teri's behalf (praying Terri wins and her life is spared), and the fact that she is alive despite her appalling abuse and physical illnesses, the chance that Terri WANTS to die, are almost nil.

Nothing you've said in that paragraph has anything to do with what she wants now.

[William Terrell]

Killing a person and not devoting time, resources and labor to keeping them alive are not the same thing.

[supercat]

Killing a person and not devoting time, resources and labor to keeping them alive are not the same thing.

Into which category does "devoting huge amounts of time and resources to ensure nobody else can give a person food or water" fall?

[Chocolate Rose]

Hellooooo? Is that you??? See post #218

Inquiring Minds Want to Know.

[floriduh voter]

whatever. It may be a very funny coincidence. It's late and I have nothing further. We had a few laughs.

[Ohioan from Florida]

No ultimately of course, but ultimately can be a long, long time.

Thank you! That's what I thought, too!

So, if Terri hasn't died yet, it could be for the two reasons I mentioned before. That either Terri has a strong will to live or God isn't ready for her life to be over.

Now, keeping that in mind, it is my opinion that if "man" tries to take Terri's life before God wills it, it's murder, no matter what "man's" law may say about it!

[William Terrell]

You didn't answer the question I asked.

Sorry, let me try again.

There are countless adults who couldn't live without the physical help of others; Christopher Reeves and Stephen Hawking are two of the most notable. Are you suggesting they really don't want to live?(TS)

I'm suggesting that if food were to be served to Terri only on her request, she would starve to death. Christopher Reeves and Stephen Hawking have nothing to do with that. They are obviously conscious, aware and direct their own lives, and make the production to keep them going.

There is no possible comparison.

[floriduh voter]

[iowamomforfreedom]

I agree, but once again you show your ignorance about this situation.

Michael Schiavo refuses to let Terri's family take care of her. He can run off and marry Jodi and live happily ever after, BUT HE WON'T. HE wants her to die.

Get it?

[William Terrell]

But Christopher Reeves and Stephen Hawking also cannot survive without physical help from others. Therefore, according to you, they must not want to live and therefore shouldn't

That's a rather silly interpretation of what I said, given the many different ways I've said it.