Schiavo's Ex-Guardian Calls for Tests

Associated Press ^ | 1/27/05 | AP

[Dasaji]

Schiavo's Ex-Guardian Calls for Tests

By VICKIE CHACHERE .c The Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - A former court-appointed advocate for a brain-damaged woman at the center of a right-to-die battle says the woman should undergo new medical tests to put to rest lingering questions about whether she has any hope of recovery.

But first her warring husband and parents would have to agree to drop their legal fight in favor of whichever side the independent medical experts support, the former advocate told The Associated Press.

The comments by Jay Wolfson, a University of South Florida professor, were his first on the case since he served as Terri Schiavo's guardian ad litem. They came as the legal options of Schiavo's parents have dwindled to two pending matters in state courts that have ruled against them before in their effort to keep her on a feeding tube.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to take up ``Terri's Law,'' the measure pushed by Gov. Jeb Bush in October 2003 to keep Schiavo alive. The Florida Supreme Court struck down the law as unconstitutional.

Wolfson served as Schiavo's guardian for two months in 2003 under ``Terri's Law.'' He tried to broker an agreement between the two sides, but was unsuccessful.

Wolfson said it is not too late to revisit the original question in the long-running legal saga - is the 41-year-old woman disabled, or brain dead?

``There is so much at stake here, not just for Terri, but for the issue,'' said Wolfson, who is both a doctor and a lawyer.

``If we were serious about addressing this, we would say, 'What are the interests of the parties and how can we use science, medicine and good law to take away from the clouding factors in this case?''' he said.

Attorneys for her husband, Michael Schiavo, did not return calls for comment Tuesday. A new independent medical review has been suggested, and rejected, by both sides at different stages in the case.

Barbara Weller, an attorney for parents Bob and Mary Schindler, said the offer of an independent medical panel was made by Michael Schiavo as late as the end of last year, but the Schindlers were hesitant to accept such a suggestion.

``The problem is finding truly neutral doctors,'' Weller said.

Terri Schiavo suffered severe brain damage 15 years ago when her heart stopped beating because of a chemical imbalance.

She left no written directive and Michael Schiavo has said his wife would not have wanted to be kept alive artificially. Her parents dispute that she has no cognitive abilities and say she communicates with them and reacts to her environment.

Terri Schiavo breathes on her own, but requires a feeding tube for nutrition and hydration.

01/25/05 18:56 EST

[Dasaji]

Didn't see this after a search.

[Dasaji]

Sorry if this is somewhere else...I saw it in my e-mail this am and was thrilled that a voice of reason is coming forward. Wolfson appeard to be a wet noodle last year and I think his present comments are very important to get the truth out and in the open.

[newgeezer]

to put to rest lingering questions about whether she has any hope of recovery

Of course, this nonchalant, innocent sounding statement assumes there is no point to her living in her present state.

No wonder the average Joe on the street, if he's even heard of the case, thinks Terri Schiavo barely even exists in a vegetative state and is being kept alive only by machines.

[NYer]

USF Professor Jay Wolfson

EUTHANASIA - Often disguised by the name "mercy killing," euthanasia also is a form of homicide. No person has a right to take his own life, and no one has the right to take the life of any innocent person.

In euthanasia, the ill or elderly are killed, by action or omission, out of a misplaced sense of compassion, but true compassion cannot include intentionally doing something intrinsically evil to another person (cf. EV 73).

EV John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life)

Catholic Ping - please freepmail me if you want on/off this list

[NYer]

Man "finds" Wife unconscious.

Man keeps Wife unconscious.

Man gets malpractice money for Wife.

Man wants Wife's money.

Man wants Wife dead so Man can have money.

Man gets Lawyer.

Lawyer is/was Hospice Board Member.

Lawyer promises Man that Wife will die at the Hospice...

TERRI SCHIAVO PING! ­

[newgeezer]

I saw it in my e-mail this am

Next time, you might consider news.google-ing some key words and picking a story to post.

(No offense intended. Just offering some help. :-)

[pickyourpoison]

Terri ping

[Dasaji]

Well, I don't post articles very often and I did do a FR search on key words....didn't see it.

I suspect Wolfson, as her guardian for those short months, has commented because (I'm hoping) he *did* see that she's not what HINO/Felos/Greer are claiming her to be. And that maybe his conscience and a little whisper from God urged him to speak up.

I'm hoping, anyway.

This whole thing has my spirit weeping.

[freepertoo]

Praying.

[ladiesview61]

I can't believe what Terri's poor parents have to go through just to keep their daughter alive. For God sake, they love her beyond words; why can't they just be left alone to love and care for her until she dies naturally. This is just heartless!

[pc93]

Bttt

[windchime]

My inclination is to believe this is a diversionary tactic......with a predetermined outcome.  The call for a grand jury must be getting some attention.

The Perfect Murder: Florida Officials Must Impanel Grand Jury in Alleged Schiavo Abuse

[Theodore R.]

This is just heartless!

So, it is. I propose that we rename the lines in the national anthem to "land of the enslaved and home of the heartless!"

[freepertoo]

What's truly tragic about this is if they get away with murdering this woman in the name of "mercy", who is next? Alzheimer's patients? Folks in wheel chairs? Take a number in a nursing home? As urgent as it is to rescue Terri, it goes even further than that...this trend to kill our people needs to stop...now.

[penowa]

"He tried to broker an agreement between the two..."

Somebody please explain to me how you half-kill someone? What kind of deal do you make between somebody who wants a person dead and somebody who wants the person to live? She's already maimed and disabled so that can't be the point of agreement.

[Theodore R.]

Wolfson seems "fairer" now than he did at the time of his initial appointment. However, George W. Greer essentially ignored him entirely. I think that Terri should live as she is, whether she can swallow or not, and I think that she can probably swallow certain soft foods. I wonder if Wolfson has reentered the picture to make himself well-known or to offer a last-ditch hope for Terri. I don't think George W. Greer will listen to anyone or anything. That still small voice in his head is motivating George W. Greer, and it could not be the voice of GOD. Impossible Giatmaltyfor

[ruoflaw]

Thanks for the heads up. I don't trust this guy because he knows that her death isn't imminent and so it doesn't matter if she is disabled or brain dead....they are not supposed to hasten her death. Terri is only being fed through a tube. She should have never been unhooked from her feeding tube the first time

[Ohioan from Florida]

Terri ping ! If anyone would like to be on/off my Terri ping list, please let me know by Freepmail.

[tessalu]

Terri Schiavo caused me to get a new living will, for I would never want what has happened to Terri to happen to me.
Terri's so called "husband" abandoned her for another money, and has even fathered children, and he wants Terri dead, and look how far the law has allowed this mercenary to go.

Our laws are NOT protecting people!

[hattend]

BTTT