Posted on 03/26/2005 12:05:54 PM PST by wagglebee
There is a tremendous amount of suffering in the world. In the United States the suffering of Terri Schindler-Schiavo and her family has been the lead news story for weeks. Now it's the Christian Holy Week, where the suffering of Jesus is the religious focus of Christians around the globe.
Even Terri's maiden name, Schindler, is a reminder of the millions who suffered under Hitler. If you'll recall, Oskar Schindler was the man who rescued a thousand Jews from Nazi persecution and death. On Fox News, the Schindler family's spiritual adviser, Brother Paul O'Donnell, drew a parallel between the plight of Terri and the suffering of Christ. He spoke of how Terri's mother, Mary, cannot comfort her child as she dies. She cannot even offer her an ice chip to ease her pain. An armed police officer stands guard at Terri's bedside to assure that no intervention is attempted, and the death process continues.
The similarities that Brother O'Donnell points out are intriguing. Of course, this is not to suggest that the Schindlers are the holy family, but to remind us that suffering is no different today than it was 2,000 years ago. And that the persecution of man by man continues.
The court-ordered death of a disabled woman makes me wonder if we've learned anything about compassion, caring and humanity in those 2,000 years. It appears we've become more barbaric, continuing to make the same mistakes time after time, and we should know better.
Is it even remotely humane that a court has order that Terri Schiavo must die a slow, agonizing death by starvation? And where is the humanity in forcing her family to sit idly by as she dies? We don't even allow animals to be starved to death, and in many instances would prosecute any individual who so mistreated an animal.
It's imperative to point out that Terri was not being kept alive by heroic medicine. She was not on a respirator or any other form of life support. Like many disabled citizens of our nation, Terri simply can't feed herself.
Dr. Bill Hammesfahr, a neurologist specializing in brain-damaged patients, spent ten hours with Terri. He also spent months examining Terri's case, all of this at no cost to anyone. In interviews with Sean Hannity, Dr. Hammesfahr stated definitively that Terri is not in a coma and she is not in a vegetative state. Dr. Hammesfahr said that Terri is very aware, understands what is said to her and is responsive. He also explained that she could be rehabilitated if allowed the necessary therapy.
Terri's estranged husband, Michael Schiavo, claims that she wouldn't want to live this way. This comes from a man who's fathered two children with his 10-year live-in, Jodi Centonze, while remaining married to Terri. It's interesting to note that Schiavo never mentioned that these were Terri's wishes until seven years into her disability.
Since 1991, Michael Schiavo has denied Terri any therapy. Thirty allegations of "abuse, neglect or exploitation" by Schiavo have recently been filed in court by the Department or Children and Families in Florida.
The imposed suffering and death of Terri will be an atrocity. If this can happen in the United States of America, then no one is safe, anywhere.
Michael Schiavo is denying Terri her life. And we're allowing it to happen.
SINCE YOU JUST JOINED UP TODAY - GO BACK TO DU.
YOU HAVE COME HERE ONLY TO BASH THE GOV AND THIS IS NOT THE PLACE OR THE TIME.
Status quo defenders simply say this is bad, but it does "not rise to the level" of Nazism.
No, George W. Greer said four years ago: cremation and no autopsy.
When and if Terri is finally murdered. That "Judge" needs to be arrested and treated like the Nazi he is. I doubt however, that anyone in the state of Florida has the intestinal fortitude to do that.
According to Mr. Felos - who says he was just in here to see her - that is not the case. She's serene and peaceful. Her skin is not flaking - the Schindlers are making it all up.
Just try to guess which family I believe ..??
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
When a court is allowed to label you legally with a diagnosis and that diagnosis is not changed or allowed to be challenged, then you are at the mercy of the accepted published studies and interventions for that diagnosis. The PVS diagnosis needs to be expunged, as it is a license to kill and allow slow suffering deaths IMHO.
To me, it's far worse than that - she's not even there at all.
Others will argue with me. Fine. That's why we all need to stay out of arguing one way or the other about her mental state - we don't know because we're too far removed from the situation.
All the uninformed hysteria is getting to be just a bit much.
You wish you could be the person Jeb Bush is.
Simple solution...allow a camera into the room. Her festering turd of a "husband" has disallowed that. Although I, for one, wouldn't look at the photos. This whole situation is ghoulish.
THE WILL TO LIVE Protects your own life and the lives of your family members when you cannot speak for yourselves
Yep, and when the chief executives have authority and power to act, they sit on their hands and beg off. The republicans are as guilty in this matter as the democrats.. From the Federal branch down to the state level, they all have blood on their hands. And there will be hell to pay for it.
Even the Nazi Commandant Fritsch, saw St. Maximilian Kolbe in person, before sending him and 9 others to the starvation bunker at Auschwitz.
Here is the answer I received from the ME's office:
Not all death cases come to the Medical Examiner's office. If a person has a medical condition and is being treated by a physician that will sign their death certificate they would not necessarily come to our
office.
I hope this information is helpful.
Respectfully,
Debbie Lewis
Records Custodian
District Six Medical Examiner Office
You are correct.
Extremely rare and unusual occurrence. Terri truly is blessed. We need to be in awe of her.
thanks for posting the link. I just read about that a couple days ago and had intended to print some up. Need to take care of that! I'm going to make sure it's in writing that if anyone takes away my nutrition and hydration, they will be guilty of my murder! (not that a judge like Greer would care...)
Ultimately, that's a reason but not an excuse.
Our side has consistently had a problem getting the word out into the stream of information. It's much better now than it was even 10-15 years ago, thanks to radio and the internet.
Ultimately, our side sometimes adopts a defeatist mentality - blaming our failures of communication on the media. While that is accurate to an extent, it doesn't excuse our failure of communication.
We need to develop more creative and effective ideas to communicate to the public at large. Like I said, there are reasons we can't communicate well, but there is no excuse for us to not communicate well.
But the governors office through the DCI certainly could mandate an autopsy couldn't they?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.