Posted on 03/15/2005 3:07:28 PM PST by ntnychik
March 15, 2005 — Fifteen years ago, Terri Schiavo's heart stopped due to a chemical imbalance, and she suffered severe brain damage as a result. Tonight in an exclusive interview: her husband, Michael Schiavo on his fight to have her feeding tube removed.
CLEARWATER, Fla. Feb 26, 2005 — It's been 15 years since Terri Schiavo's heart stopped beating for several minutes, causing severe brain damage that put her into what doctors call a persistent vegetative state. For almost seven of those years, her husband Michael has been fighting to stop her feedings, arguing that she didn't want to be kept alive artificially.
Terri Schiavo is now 41 and still in a hospice after myriad twists and turns in a dramatic legal and ideological battle that has pitted her parents against their son-in-law. Whether there's an end in sight is anybody's guess.
"It seems like the same news over and over," acknowledged Pat Anderson, a former lawyer for Terri Schiavo's parents. "It must be quite incomprehensible (to the public) that she is still alive."
There have been countless lawsuits, court hearings, appeals, news conferences and tears shed by her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, who promise to keep fighting. The case file at the Pinellas County Courthouse now fills 45 volumes.
"I don't regret a second of what we've been through," said Terri's brother, Bobby Schindler, 40. "I'll make up for it when we save my sister."
Twice, Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed by court order, and both times it was restored. The last time, in 2003, Gov. Jeb Bush pushed through a state law later ruled unconstitutional that authorized him to resume the feedings six days after they were stopped.
On Friday, state Circuit Judge George Greer set a new date for removal of the feeding tube for March 18, prompting the Schindlers' attorney to promise yet another flurry of legal filings.
Greer's ruling came on the 15th anniversary of Terri Schiavo's collapse on Feb. 25, 1990, when a chemical imbalance believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder stopped her heart, cutting off oxygen to her brain for five minutes.
Michael Schiavo said his wife never wanted to be kept alive artificially, but she left no written directive. He says he's fulfilling a promise he made to her, and he has spent most of a $700,000 medical malpractice award given to his wife for her care to pay his attorney.
The title is biased.
What a coincidence that one person has three persons in his family who, in his opinion, need to have their feeding tubes pulled. Just wondering, how much he inherited from his parents.
Lets guess who, but since he didn't commit murder yet, just has tried too many times to count, each attempt should be good for at least ten years in prison. This man is so evil and vile, hopefully the prisoners will take care of him the way he took care of Terri. God Bless Terri and her family and please Save them from the HINO.
I agree. An accurate title would read,
Sure there is. Figure out all the things you'd have to believe in order to believe everything Michael has said, then figure out what you'd have to believe if you accept the proposition that he's a liar. The latter batch of stuff is much easier to swallow than the former.
All this inuendo from some people that he somehow has caused her condition is disgusting... there's not one shred of evidence to support that "theory".
Michael's behavior is entirely consistent with that of a guardian who has committed crimes against his ward and wants to cover them up via the ward's death. I can come up with no other explanation that fits it as well.
It is quite common for abusive people to discourage investigations by claiming they'd infringe upon the "privacy" of their victims. Michael claims he doesn't want anyone to see Terri because of concerns over her "privacy", and yet he has no trouble talking indelicately about the difficulties of her gynecological exams on national television.
Does that sound like a man who's concerned about his wife's privacy? A simpler answer would be something like "I've not checked the exact schedule, but I think she gets an exam every two years", or "Giving such exams is difficult for a patient in Terri's condition, but I think she had one in 2002." Note, btw, that he didn't actually answer the question of whether Terri's most recent exam was within the last ten years.
BOB SCHINDLER: The ramifications of this neglect has to be taken care of. Medically, she hasn't had a gynecological test in 10 years. Her teeth were never cleaned in 10 years. So we're going to have to restore her physically first, and then go after her brain damage. And it's not as bad as people think, or are saying that it is. KING: Is that wrong?
SCHIAVO: Yes. Terri's had perfect care. She just had her teeth cleaned three months ago. And to touch on the gynecological, the gynecologists that took care of her told me -- and I'm only following what doctors tell me to do -- because it's so hard -- and I'm sorry to be so explicit -- to open her legs. She doesn't open them like you and I would at a gynecological examine.
KING: You to pry them apart?
SCHIAVO: Yes.
KING: So it's hard to do a gynecological exam?
SCHIAVO: Right. Right. So unless there's blood, or if there's foul smelling -- I'm sorry to be so explicit, but that's what it's all about.
BTW, can anyone explain Michael's line "...like you or I would..."? When was the last time he or Larry King had a gynecological "examine"?
You may read things differently, but my read is that Michael was more than happy to embarass his wife on national television. So much for valuing her "privacy".
Michael Schiavo is a snake.
"I for one would want my feeding tube yanked if I were in Terrri's condition"
Oh, so if a burglar comes to you tonite, konks you out, you wake up unable to swallow tomorrow, and your family wants to care for you, but your spouse who has been engaged to SOMEONE ELSE SINCE 1996 and has two children by her, won't let them, and makes the decisions not to give you therapy and instead starve and dehydrate you to death??? That's what you want?
Well that Is Terri's condition.
It's hard when your sick,yes. But does the state have the right to disregard its own and federal laws and deprive anyone of their life?
I hope he talks about offing his parents again. I think that was the most convincing part of his LK interview. There were other things too, like when he went into disgusting details about Terri's gynocological exam, while claiming her right to privacy is all-important.
Reading the transcript from that interview can be very enlightening. Compare his statements to documents that are readily available online. How many lies can you identify? But there's nothing like seeing him in action. I can't explain the aura of evil he emits. You'll just have to watch for yourself.
Very good point. She is NOT being kept alive by "artificial" means.
WHAT? He removed his parents' feeding tubes too? That guy is TOAST.
The "courts" IS Judge Greer, and Judge Greer ONLY! HE has been making ALL the decisions.
Most of us who don't care for repetition, or a particular topic, just ignore them.
If you are drawn to the Terri threads to act "trollish", expect to be treated as such.
This is all about a liberal judge rushing to say that the abusing husband has the right to kill Terri.
It has zero to do with the right to die.
And if he does kill her, I would hope he gets sentenced to a "painless" death by starvation/dehydration. Won't happen of course, but I don't see how such a thing could be declared cruel in Michael's case since he himself has declared it "painless".
That is what Michael said on Larry King. One of the threads here a while back also carried the transcript of that part.
AND Terri's cats, when his first girlfriend objected to them.
Yanked? Or not put in in the first place? If Terri didn't want a feeding tube and had told her husband so, why did he wait so long to request the removal?
Pro-Terri people, wait, please. Give IJR a chance to reply first.
I guess since you say it, it must be so. However, there are lots of insane reasons not to believe what he is saying, like: Why is she still alive fifteen years after she supposedly said she wouldn't want to live like that? Could it be that she wants to be alive? And, why in the heck would someone sue for 700 K-bux to keep someone alive? If she wanted to die, he shouldn't have been seeking money to care for her. And then he spends the care money on lawyers? I must be crazy to think that there is anything fishy going on here.
And what of her parents? Are we to believe that this man loves Terri so much that he is willing to tell her parents to stuff it, but yet he has already started another family with wife and kids to boot. He should divorce her, and let the people who brought her into the world help her through her last years, rather than putting her into a morgue for 15 years.
This is where I get my problems with this situation: The money, his other family, and her parents. This guy is just being a d**k.
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