Protests Outside Schiavo Hospice Chaotic

AP via Yahoo ^ | 3/26/05 | JILL BARTON,

[ma bell]

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 (news - web sites), 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.

[kingu]

Gee, perhaps families should move their loved ones out of the hospice. There are others out there, there's the option of home nursing.

If there is something happening at a place that people object to, it is their duty to remove their business from that place. They don't, then they have to deal with their own problems and stop complaining.

[Taggart_D]

Funny how when there's a million man march (that only produces 100's of men) the media are so excited about the voice of the people speaking up.....however, when any religious folk start shouting about what they think, suddenly activist are annoying.

Mr. Schaivo can not be trusted to tell the world the truth of what Terri said. Go get 'em protestors.

[sirchtruth]

.....I see both sides of this issue, many do not

I see the other side as clearly as you do and I disagree with "death by starvation of an innocent woman" how about you?

Don't be blind to COD attitude and say it's a good thing, because it's not!

[ma bell]

her parents can not be trusted either. they are selfish for prolonging her life when she has no hope to live a half normal life. those that want her to live a half-normal life are extremely selfish people that only self-serve their desire to be seen as "doing good" for selfish reasons only.

[atomicpossum]

from your comments, it is all about 'terri'... she is nothing special, people.

She's the only one being killed by the government.

[Palladin]

Yeah, sure.

Anyone who has their loved ones in this Felos-Greer-Euthanasia Hospice doesn't give a rat's patootie for them anyway.

[merry10]

stupid comment

[hleewilder]

As usual, you're spot on. The Shiavo situation didn't keep this woman from her grandfather's bed; the media-driven feeding frenzy did. Absolutely pathetic.

[Caravaggio]

You'd think this girl, after missing the chance to see her own grandfather in his last hours, would be SYMPATHETIC to the Schindlers in their plight to see their daughter in what could be her last hours. But it seems like she's blaming them in a way.

[ma bell]

you mean, the one you voted for, republican i assume? I voted for Republican, nearly across the board.

[the808bass]

those that want her to live a half-normal life are extremely selfish people that only self-serve their desire to be seen as "doing good" for selfish reasons only.

At the risk of pointing out the obvious, one wonders at which point does a life become "half-normal" as you put it? Is it a certain IQ? Is it characterized by being able to accomplish certain tasks or do certain things? What criterion or criteria should we use in weeding out those with a "less-than-normal" life? Do any of these questions sound like a slippery slope? They should.

I am reminded of an interesting scene in an otherwise forgettable movie, "The Beach," with Leonardo DiCaprio. There is a colony of young beautiful people on a remote island. When one of the members of the group becomes ill (I believe due to a shark attack), the members carry him off into the jungle so that he won't disturb their fun. Is that exactly what is happening in the Schiavo case? I believe intelligent people can disagree on that answer. Is that what some people are advocating and will use this case as their precedent? Absolutely. And that is what should scare every conservative.

[The Duke]

The importance of the Shiavo case dwarfs all these other considerations - it defines an entire nation.

[NorCalRepub]

I do not like the situation my friend but I also am not blind to the law, the appeals that have been denied, all the efforts of the Bush Boy's etc.......I have purposely not written my beliefs on the specific issue just cause you guys want to change the thread back to a "Terri is being murdered" thread.......this is about something else.

[merry10]

I agree with you. There are some clear thinking people at FR, thankfully, right now.

[mtbopfuyn]

"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.

What's not fair is Terri has been locked in there without seeing the outside world for years. Terri is not terminal, or at least wasn't before Friday. Terri should never have been there in the first place. Johnson and the other people who have family there should blame Greer and hino rather than those who peacefully protest. It's Greer's hired goons who are delaying visitors, not the protesters.

[ma bell]

oh please, you are an idiot for that statement, lightening.

[NorCalRepub]

death has a way of making one uneasy and belligerent....just listen to Terri's dad the other day blaming Jeb Bush for not doing enough.....well all lose it in the grips of losing someone.......

[Diogenesis]

The Duke is right. This defines our Nation.

'Thou shall not murder'

Exd 20:13

'Thou shall not murder'

Deu 5:17

---

Judgenfuhrer Greer: "Burn the 'b&tch'. Torture her parents. Degrade America.
Wow. With a flick of my pen I am bigger than the President and ...."

---

HEALTHFUL DRINKS AND WARM MEALS SINCE THE ORDER-TO-MURDER-AN-INVALID BY JUDGE GREER
Murderer-At-Will Judge Greer 35
......................... Terri Shiavo 0
.......................... Lee Malvo 26
.......................... Scott Peterson 25

---

SS-Obersturmbannfuehrer Adolf Eichmann   Nazi bureaucrat Author of the Final Solution

Pinellas County District Judgenfuhrer George Greer   American bureaucrat "Author" of 'THERESA MARIE SCHINDLER SCHIAVO, incapacitated ex rel, Robert Schindler and Mary Schindler, her parents and next friends, versus MICHAEL SCHIAVO, as guardian of the person of Theresa Marie Schindler Schiavo, incapacitated, JUDGE GEORGE W. GREER, THE HOSPICE OF THE FLORIDA SUNCOAST, INC. leading to slow death by dehydration and starvation of a human being, in the Greer-Way

Their Common Legacy:   Torture, Starvation and Death

[hleewilder]

You don't get it. She wasn't complaining about the Schindlers. She was complaining about all the protesters, who by virtue of threatening violence have made security so tight around the hospice that she couldn't be by her grandfather's side when he passed. She's blaming the nutjobs who are waving their signs in front of the cameras and quoting Scripture, then having their children get conspicously arrested 'trying to give Terri a drink of water'.

[ma bell]

exactly as i wish to god she'd have a chance. if so, then let her live. If not, she'll rest peacefully in heaven.