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
You are without words? It would be for the first time in weeks.
Anyhow, the visitor didn't bring ID with her. That would have been required anyhow. Maybe they could have fed her grandpa a little so he didn't die before she showed up on the scene? /sarc
Precisely...she's interfering with the rights of others by being at Woodside. If she were moved to a private Federal facility nearby her supporters would no longer be an impediment to the peace of the patients or family members of patients at Woodside.
Moved? To where exactly? You honestly think moving her is going to keep the protest groups away from where ever she is moved to? Alrighty.
I'm sure Bush would like to remove her - but are we ready for the Pinellas Co. police to shoot the DCF team and probably a bunch of the protestors as well? According to the Miami Herald, the police announced that the DCF team would not be allowed into the hospital unless accompanied by Judge Greer.
Talk about judicial tyranny.
The tone of this piece is chilling.
Heavenly Father - We beseech Thee to cause Judge George Greer, Michael Schiavo, George Felos, and all other pathetically puny human beings hell-bent on hurting our little Sister, Theresa Marie Schindler, to back off and stop tormenting her. Please place a hedge of protection around Terri. Please open a door for Governor Jeb Bush to walk through in order to save Terri's precious innocent life. In the Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Master. Amen.
Judge Greer... in IRONS!
The barf alert is for the writer of this article who wants us to feel guilty because other people might be INCONVENIENCED by Terri's slow, cruel murder. That's worth a couple of barfs.
prayer bump
Please don't use the term "we".. To me it is "they". I am, nor ever will be, a party to unjustified murder no matter who does it. Murder should not go unpunished.
Sadly, I think more Americans are concerned about who will be the next American Idol than the fact that an innocent, disabled woman is being killed by court order.
" Do not expect any peace as long as our courts are sanctioning the deaths of innocent people! "
There should be no peace as long as the courts are not only sanctioning Teri's death, they are actively taking part in her MURDER by denying her any food and hydration she could take without the tube.
SHAME ON GREER!
You may be right.
Is there anything that can be done to make people care about where the US is heading?
Agreed 100%. What the heck did the hospice THINK was going to happen when this all came down? While I truly feel for the other patients/families in the hospice, it is the hospice's own dam fault for accepting Terri ('cause, like, SHE WASN'T DYING) and also for being so stupid as to think there wouldn't be this kind of huge protesting going on out front. They got a taste the last time - they knew what was coming down. And for that reason, I hope other patients' families sue the hell out of the hospice for "aggravated death" because of their failure to secure a quiet and peaceful dying place for their loved ones. That's what they are paying for, right?
The attitude of the article is 'Why don't these stupid protestors go away and stop making trouble for everyone?'
Maybe go down in history with "borked" and "lewinskied".
I wonder what your response would be if these were antiwar protesters making noise and causing police to check every ID outside of a military hospital.
Could you imagine the outrage on FR if a military family arrived one minute to late to see a solder before he died because of a police presence due to the protesters?
One day, somebody will figure out how this situation was used by both sides to further their agenda. (And just so you know, I'm on Terri's side-- this is murder) The parents who sent their kids, knowing they would be arrested...come on!! That was all for the cameras. Most of these "arrests" are just shameful. I really can't believe God wants us to send our kids to jail, give them a record more permanent than the one in their middle school files, and teach them to scream at strangers.
Oh, and don't get me going on the lawyers!! The one who's trying to get a hearing today, who says Terri spoke....that just reeks of last minute fiction and desperation. And, an attempt to keep this in the public eye. Of course, the lawyer who manages to get Michael brought up on charges of abuse...now that'll be a GOOD lawyer!
If I had a patient at that hospice, I'd be filing suit, saying the protesters were infringing on MY rights to help my loved one have a peaceful death.
Also, there's this priest who keeps commenting to FoxNews. Every time I see him, I think "Ick! Could he be any ___er??" At this time in the Church's history, I would think a spokesman could be found who doesn't' lisp (standard NotThatThere'sAnythingWrongWithThat disclaimer applies)>
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