By JONI B. HANNIGAN
Managing Editor
Published March 12, 2005
Speaking at a prayer vigil in front of the Woodside Hospice in Pinellas Park where Terri resides, her father, Bob Schlindler, told participants in the rally that Mel Gibson telephoned him Mar. 11 and said he supported the family's efforts to save their daughter. In addition he prepared a statement to be released later today.
"I fully support the effort of Mr. & Mrs. Schlindler to save their daughter, Terri Schiavo, from a cruel starvation," Bob Schlindler read from Gibson's statement.
"Terri's husband should sign the care of his wife over to her parents so she can be properly cared for," Schlindler continued reading Gibson's statement.
The prayer vigil was still in progress as the time of this report. A "rose rally" at the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee will take place 3 P.M. EST Mar. 12.
Bob and Mary Schindler, are the parents of Terri Schiavo, the 41-year-old brain damaged woman and the center of a debate over what some say is the most definitive case yet for legalized euthanasia in the United States.
Terri’s husband and legal guardian, Michael Schiavo, nearly a decade ago petitioned the court to halt the dispensing of nutrition and hydration through a feeding tube to his disabled, but otherwise healthy wife.
In 1990 Terri suffered brain damage after her heart stopped. Since then, some doctors have said she is in a persistent vegetative state, but her parents and supporters contend she is in a minimally conscious state. She could improve were she provided rehabilitation services, her supporters say, but Michael Schiavo has refused to do so in recent years.
Although Michael Schiavo says his wife would want to die, no written request from Terri exists and only he and his relatives have testified saying she would not wish to live. Terri’s parents and supporters have cited a conflict of interest in an ongoing court challenge to his continued guardianship of their daughter on several points--one of which is that Michael has lived with his girlfriend, with whom he has fathered two children, for 10 years.
Sixth Circuit Judge George W. Greer ruled Feb. 25 that Terri’s nutrition and hydration be discontinued March 18, and in a flurry of decisions since that time also has ruled Terri cannot undergo more medical testing and cannot be fed by mouth. Greer also rebuffed a request by Florida’s Department of Children and Families for a 60-day stay of his motion to begin the starvation process, so that they could investigate allegations that Michael Schiavo has abused and neglected Terri.
Greer also refused to move forward a motion challenging his ruling that a witness who testified about Terri’s end of life wishes was not credible.
The motion asked Greer to vacate his original Feb. 11, 2000, order that Terri’s feeding tube be withdrawn. The tube has twice been withdrawn and reinserted at the direction of the court and Florida’s legislature. [For more information, go to www.FloridaBaptistWitness.com and go to the Special Reports section and look for the timeline in: “Terri Schiavo: A Life at Stake.”]
From google alerts: Florida Baptist Witness ON SCENE AT SATURDAY'S TERRI VIGIL AT HOSPICE WOODSIDE.
