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Protests Outside Schiavo Hospice Chaotic
Stockton Record ^ | March 26, 2005 | JILL BARTON

Posted on 03/26/2005 4:40:38 AM PST by tessalu

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. (AP) -- Jennifer Johnson, barefoot and in her pajamas, ran to her grandfather's bedside once a hospice worker said his death was moments away.

She got there - one minute too late.

Johnson said the chaos outside the hospice where Terri Schiavo is dying kept her from saying goodbye. When Johnson arrived, a police officer demanded identification; she had none. And after a hospice employee cleared her, another officer halted her for a search with a metal detector.

The delays lasted three to four minutes - the last of her grandfather's life.

"It's a terrible, extra obstacle to put in front of a family. ... Everything is about Schiavo," Johnson said. "It's all about her and in my family's case, it cost us dearly."

Woodside Hospice has 70 patients besides Schiavo, whose parents are desperately trying to have her feeding tube reconnected. Dozens of protesters have arrived from across the nation since the tube was removed March 18, and at least 15 have been arrested, prompting a police barricade around the facility and unprecedented security.

Family members visiting patients must pass through a police checkpoint to park, then show identification outside the door before another security screening inside. They also must walk by scores of signs decrying Schiavo's "crucifixion," "torture," and "starvation," plus navigate around hordes of media who have been camped outside.

"To have to maneuver through all of this and have a hostile environment outside when all they want is peace and quiet and to enjoy those few days they have left with a loved one is a horror," said Dr. Morton Getz, executive director of Douglas Gardens Hospice in Miami.

Getz said many people with a family member in a hospice have to make the same excruciating decision that courts have made for Schiavo.

"It's causing a lot of grief and questions in their own mind on whether they did the right thing," he said. "It's unconscionable to have a family member to be near the end stages of life and to get there, you have to walk through signs that say, 'Murderer.'"

Most protesters direct their signs and their chants against the courts and Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband, who insists she would not want to be kept alive artificially.

But walking through a hostile environment can only add stress to what's already an emotionally draining situation.

"It probably has the same psychological effect on the residents' families as it does on someone who is walking into an abortion clinic and facing signs and aggressive behavior," said Elizabeth Foley, a Florida International University law professor who specializes in bioethics.

Over the past few days, as Schiavo's parents' attempts to have their daughter's feeding tube reinserted repeatedly failed, signs outside the hospice have grown more desperate. Doctors have said Schiavo would probably die within a week or two of the feeding tube being removed.

Messages compare Michael Schiavo to Scott Peterson, convicted of killing his wife and unborn child in California, and John Evander Couey, who allegedly murdered a 9-year-old girl in Homosassa.

One woman in a wheelchair regularly moves up and down sidewalks in front of the hospice yelling in a megaphone, "We're disabled, not disposable!" and "Terri is a person, not a vegetable!"

Relatives of hospice residents say the clamor - intended to rattle Michael Schiavo - rattles their patience.

"It's a real pain in the neck," said Bill Douglass, whose mother-in-law is a resident. He said the only consolation is that she is "oblivious" to the outside scene.

Police and hospice officials say they are trying to minimize the intrusion on hospice residents and their families, and that the security measures are meant to protect the privacy and safety of all residents, not just Schiavo.

But Johnson, 24, said her 73-year-old grandfather, Thomas Bone, was restricted from moving freely around the hospice grounds during his final days. He died just hours after Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed and protests intensified.

"They've taken away hospice's greatest quality, that it is peaceful and serene and quiet and calming - and it's not fair," Johnson said


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: 2killwiththelaw; courtapprovedmurder; crimecoverup; petasilentontorture; schiavo; terri; terrihysteria; terrischiavo; terrischivo; theperfectcrime; whereispeta
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To: RadioAstronomer
Codswapllop.

What the heck is Codswapllop.

Anyway Michael could end this all by just giving her another overdose of insulin as he did before.

Suddenly a bunch of people who care nothing about Terri are so worried about a bunch of other dying people.

What would John Kerry have done?

nothing at all
181 posted on 03/27/2005 4:24:18 AM PST by OKIEDOC (LL THE)
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To: texasflower

Who's calling who a hypocrite?

What would john Kerry have done.

nothing at all


182 posted on 03/27/2005 4:28:26 AM PST by OKIEDOC (LL THE)
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To: RadioAstronomer

You got to be kidding me.

Suddenly a bunch of contrived compassion for the dying.

How convenient.

What would John Kerry have done.

Nothing at all.


183 posted on 03/27/2005 4:32:32 AM PST by OKIEDOC (LL THE)
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To: HiTech RedNeck
"This is just silly whining."

Yes -- maybe setting up for a lawsuit?

Carolyn

184 posted on 03/27/2005 4:36:42 AM PST by CDHart (The world has become a lunatic asylum and the lunatics are in charge.)
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To: CDHart

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1371677/posts


185 posted on 03/27/2005 4:40:46 AM PST by expatguy (http://laotze.blogspot.com/)
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To: Edward Watson
Take a Prozac and go to bed.

Lots of people out of control and out of touch with their emotions.

What would John Kerry have done.

nothing at all
186 posted on 03/27/2005 4:41:20 AM PST by OKIEDOC (LL THE)
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To: Aussie Dasher; Miss Marple
After what we've seen this past week, what might be going on in some hospices does not bear thinking about.

The disucussion this past week convinces me that this is standard operating procedure in some places. Taking non-terminal bodies and terminating them with starvation. I am sure of it, in my heart.

It is a horrible thought, for some, horrible knowledge. And I see that the horror will be used to advance active euthanasia, in contravention of sanctity of life.

187 posted on 03/27/2005 5:13:06 AM PST by Cboldt
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To: OKIEDOC

I suppose we just expect too much from our side of politics...


188 posted on 03/27/2005 5:15:04 AM PST by Aussie Dasher (Stop Hillary - PEGGY NOONAN '08)
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To: Aussie Dasher
...but as a physical sign of my solidarity and Christian love for Terri. I hope those who are present are there for that reason.

The vast majority absolutely have been.

189 posted on 03/27/2005 5:24:44 AM PST by EternalVigilance ("I thirst.")
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To: EternalVigilance

I'm pleased to hear it.

God bless them.


190 posted on 03/27/2005 5:26:08 AM PST by Aussie Dasher (Stop Hillary - PEGGY NOONAN '08)
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To: OKIEDOC

exactly....not one damn thing....probably even less....


191 posted on 03/27/2005 5:59:30 AM PST by MikefromOhio (Terri is going to die and then the mob is going to blame both Bush brothers. Realism is dead on FR)
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To: OKIEDOC
Suddenly a bunch of contrived compassion for the dying.

My compassion is contrived? What a mean thing to say to someone on Easter. Thanks!

192 posted on 03/27/2005 7:42:10 AM PST by RadioAstronomer
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To: OKIEDOC
What the heck is Codswapllop.

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=codswallop

What would John Kerry have done?

Who cares. He lost.

193 posted on 03/27/2005 7:44:57 AM PST by RadioAstronomer
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To: OKIEDOC

What does John Kerry have to do with this? That was an idiotic thing to say.


194 posted on 03/27/2005 10:25:33 AM PST by texasflower ("America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one." President George W. Bush 01/20/05)
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To: Aussie Dasher

I would say that since this is a hospice, many people are dying in there because their feeding tube has been discontinued.

Each death is significant and for you guys to be so callous about the others, including this granddaughter who rushed in her pajamas to see her grandfather is just sick.

It's hypocritical and disgusting.


195 posted on 03/27/2005 10:29:40 AM PST by texasflower ("America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one." President George W. Bush 01/20/05)
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To: texasflower

Texas Flower, Hum! Dandelion perhaps.


196 posted on 03/27/2005 5:33:52 PM PST by OKIEDOC (LL THE)
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To: texasflower

Texas Flower, Hum! Dandelion perhaps.


197 posted on 03/27/2005 5:33:55 PM PST by OKIEDOC (LL THE)
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To: OKIEDOC

You sure have some "out there" posts. What did you mean about Kerry?

What does Kerry have to do with ANYTHING?

Also, I guess I don't get your dandelion post either.

I take it you were trying to insult me, but I missed it. Would you care to try again?


198 posted on 03/27/2005 9:45:22 PM PST by texasflower ("America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one." President George W. Bush 01/20/05)
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To: texasflower
Do I want to insult you, not really.

As for john Kerry, had he been elected I doubt that he would have done a darn thing to help.

He, Kerry would have consulted the polls and followed what the majority wanted.

Remember, he ran his election based on daily polling.

At least President Bush showed some of us he has a heart.

He did not have to take the time to try and save this woman but he did and that makes a big difference to me.

Whether or not we agree on what is going on in Florida thats a different question.

In my profession death is something to be dealt with.

My wife on the other hand gets quite a bit involved in the final decision as a family practice doctor.

Thats why it is so hard to get into 9 to 5 specialties such as Ophthalmology or Dermatology.

However, many people deal with life and death on a daily basis and I feel for them.

Many have gone through the loss of a family member.

I did and it was an extremely hard decision, but in that case my 80 year old father went into a comma and just never woke up.


In cases of incurable diseases such as Cancer family members are better able to accept termination of life.

They encounter the daily suffering of the individual and in the end are grateful that the suffering is finally over.

Making rounds at the rest home you can see lots of Terri Shivos. Most family members say they would rather have someone to touch than rely just on memory.

Death is such a permanent thing and except in a few cases in the bible, almost always irreversible.

I fear that this case is just opening a Pandora's box of real problems to come.

As for my posts being out there: lots of frustration and emotion and caring for the society that we live in.

Being a Christian I have prayed for all on this forum who have genuine differences of opinion with me.

God bless and have a nice day.
199 posted on 03/28/2005 12:39:44 AM PST by OKIEDOC (LL THE)
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To: OKIEDOC

You have prayed for those who disagree with you?

How nice. Is that so we can come to know the truth? By that I mean the truth as YOU see it?

Don't bother to answer that. I already know that's what you mean.

Well, in my opinion YOU are wrong.


200 posted on 03/28/2005 11:09:16 AM PST by texasflower ("America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one." President George W. Bush 01/20/05)
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