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From the report to Jeb Bush in 2003 HTML copy

Testimony provided by members of the Schindler family included very personal statements about their desire and intention to ensure that Theresa remain alive. Throughout the course of the litigation, deposition and trial testimony by members of the Schindler family voiced the disturbing belief that they would keep Theresa alive at any and all costs. Nearly gruesome examples were given, eliciting agreement by family members that in the event Theresa should contract diabetes and subsequent gangrene in each of her limbs, they would agree to amputate each limb, and would then, were she to be diagnosed with heart disease, perform open heart surgery. There was additional, difficult testimony that appeared to establish that despite the sad and undesirable condition of Theresa, the parents still derived joy from having her alive, even if Theresa might not be at all aware of her environment given the persistent vegetative state. Within the testimony, as part of the hypotheticals presented, Schindler family members stated that even if Theresa had told them of her intention to have artificial nutrition withdrawn, they would not do it. Throughout this painful and difficult trial, the family acknowledged that Theresa was in a diagnosed persistent vegetative state.

Their stance has changed since apparently..

No, that is NOT evidence of their changing their mind. That was a TRICK QUESTION. They would do ANYTHING to keep their daughter alive; amputation of a limb does not place a lesser value on a human being's life. OR WHAT WOULD YOU SAY ABOUT ALL THOSE IN SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY WHO HAVE HAD THEIR LEGS EXPLODED BY BOMBS? Let them rot, because their life no longer is worth saving? Would you not do anything within your power to save your child from death? I would. I would gladly have my daughter's leg removed, should it turn gang green, than let her die!

The "evidence" that Terri would want to be starved and dehydrated to death is so sketchy (in light of what's at stake), that how Terri's parents would act if Terri had left a living will is not relevant. Also not relevant are hypotheticals such as "if Terri had gangrene" or "If Terri were on a ventilator". These things aren't the case, so it doesn't matter. Even if Michael Schiavo is to be believed, Terri made an off-hand remark about not wanting to be kept alive by a ventilator and she made this remark when she had no expectation said remark would determine her own fate. This is the justification for starving and dehydrating Terri to death? What does anyone think Terri would have said if asked what she'd want to happen in light of her parents' love and suffering over the last fifteen years? Are we supposed to believe Terri would say, "I regret my parents would feel bad watching me dehydrate to death, but my feelings come first?" Give me a break.

The family never acknowledged PVS - that is completely untrue. What happened was a dumb attorney accidentally stipulated to that early on. They are trying to correct the early mistake made by an attorney from years ago. Attorneys can correct the record. It should be the Schindler's fault that their first attorney made a boo boo.