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How Terri was almost saved
March 26, 2005 | Cheryl Ford's blog

Posted on 03/26/2005 9:51:58 PM PST by exliberal

Here's what I found on Cheryl Ford's blog.

I had read and easily overlooked little paragraph in the LA times about plans to take Terri that didn't come through last night. I was determined to find out more, as that's all LA Times said about that. Here's the story from Cheryl Ford, RN who is a friend of the family and advocate for keeping Terri alive.

Saturday, March 26, 2005 Police 'showdown' averted Comments From Ford: I spoke to Mary Schindler last night. She is being forced to watch her daughter die. This mother will have in her memories, a daughter who was not taken from this earth by natural causes, instead was taken from this earth as a result of murder. How can our government not step in and stop judicial homicide?

Michael Schiavo won't allow Terri's cousins or extended family who have flown into the area in to visit Terri. He continues control over the visitor list. The family is understandably very upset. Michael has the Schindlers' leave their daughters bedside every time he arrives because he refuses to be in the room with them. Then, he takes his time in the room with Terri, so they have less time with her. They were not able to visit with Terri for 12 hours on Thursday. Will someone explain to me why is it that Jack Kvorkian is in prison, and Michael Schiavo walks away a free man?

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11233240.htm

Posted on Sat, Mar. 26, 2005

Police 'showdown' averted

BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER cmarbin@herald.com

Hours after a judge ordered that Terri Schiavo was not to be removed from her hospice, a team of state agents were en route to seize her and have her feeding tube reinserted -- but they stopped short when local police told them they would enforce the judge's order, The Herald has learned.

Agents of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement told police in Pinellas Park, the small town where Schiavo lies at Hospice Woodside, on Thursday that they were on the way to take her to a hospital to resume her feeding.

For a brief period, local police, who have officers at the hospice to keep protesters out, prepared for what sources called ``a showdown.''

In the end, the squad from the FDLE and the Department of Children & Families backed down, apparently concerned about confronting local police outside the hospice.

''We told them that unless they had the judge with them when they came, they were not going to get in,'' said a source with the local police.

''The FDLE called to say they were en route to the scene,'' said an official with the city police who requested anonymity. ``When the sheriff's department and our department told them they could not enforce their order, they backed off.''

The incident,known only to a few and related to The Herald by three different sources involved in Thursday's events, underscores the intense emotion and murky legal terrain that the Schiavo case has created. It also shows that agencies answering directly to Gov. Jeb Bush had planned to use a wrinkle in Florida law that would have allowed them to legally get around the judge's order. The exception in the law allows public agencies to freeze a judge's order whenever an agency appeals it.

CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS

Participants in the high-stakes test of wills, who spoke with The Herald on the condition of anonymity, said they believed the standoff could ultimately have led to a constitutional crisis and a confrontation between dueling lawmen.

''There were two sets of law enforcement officers facing off, waiting for the other to blink,'' said one official with knowledge of Thursday morning's activities.

In jest, one official said local police discussed ``whether we had enough officers to hold off the National Guard.''

''It was kind of a showdown on the part of the locals and the state police,'' the official said. ``It it was not too long after that Jeb Bush was on TV saying that, evidently, he doesn't have as much authority as people think.''

State officials on Friday vigorously denied the notion that any ''showdown'' occurred.

''DCF directed no such action,'' said agency spokeswoman Zoraya Suarez.

Said Bush spokesman Jacob DiPietre: ``There was no showdown. We were ready to go. We didn't want to break the law. There was a process in place and we were following the process. The judge had an order and we were following the order.''

Tim Caddell, a spokesman for the city of Pinellas Park, declined to discuss Thursday's events.

SHELTER FOR SCHIAVO

The developments that set Thursday morning's events in motion began the previous afternoon, when the governor and DCF chief Lucy Hadi held an impromptu news conference to announce they were considering sheltering Schiavo under the state's adult protection law. DCF has been besieged, officials say, by thousands of calls alleging Schiavo is the victim of abuse or neglect.

Alerted by the Bush administration that Schiavo might be on her way to their facility, officials at Morton Plant Hospital went to court themselves Wednesday, asking Circuit Judge George Greer, who ordered the removal of Schiavo's feeding tube last week, what to do.

''It's an extraordinary situation,'' said Beth Hardy, a hospital spokeswoman. ``I don't think any of us has seen anything like it. Ever.''

Greer signed an order Wednesday afternoon forbidding DCF from ''taking possession of Theresa Marie Schiavo or removing her'' from the hospice. He directed ''each and every and singular sheriff of the state of Florida'' to enforce his order.

But Thursday, at 8:15 a.m., DCF lawyers appealed Greer's order to judges at the Second District Court of Appeal in Lakeland.

That created the window of time to seize Schiavo. When DCF filed its appeal, it effectively froze the judge's Wednesday order. It took nearly three hours before the judge found out and canceled the automatic stay, shortly before 11 a.m.

Administrators of the 72-bed hospice, who have endured a withering siege of their facility by protesters since Greer ordered Schiavo's feeding tube removed on March 18, declined to discuss Thursday morning's events in any detail.

''I don't really know, or pretend to know, the specifics of what is going on behind the scenes,'' said Mike Bell, a spokesman for Hospice of the Florida Suncoast, which operates Woodside.

DCF INTENTIONS

According to sources, DCF intended to take Schiavo to Morton Plant Hospital, where her feeding tube had been reinserted in 2003 following a previous judicial order allowing its removal. But hospice officials were aware that the hospital was not likely to perform surgery to reinsert the tube without an order from Greer.

''People knew that taking [Schiavo] did not equate with immediate reinsertion of the feeding tube,'' a source said. ``Hospital officials were working with their legal counsel and their advisors, trying to figure out which order superseded which, and what action they should take.''

Hardy, the hospital spokeswoman, said she does not believe the hospital was made aware Thursday morning that DCF and state police planned to bring Schiavo in. ''We were not aware of that three-hour period,'' she said. ``It's not a discussion we even had, really.''

George Felos, Michael Schiavo's attorney, said he does not think DCF officials knew of the window of opportunity they had created until well after they filed their appeal.

''Frankly, I don't believe when they filed their notice of appeal they realized that that gave them an automatic stay,'' Felos said. ``When we filed our motion to vacate the automatic stay . . . they realized they had a short window of opportunity and they wanted to extend that as long as they could.

``I believe that as soon as DCF knew they had an opportunity, they were mobilizing to take advantage of it, without a doubt.''

posted by Fight4Terri @ 8:35 AM


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: dcf; schiavo; terri; terrischiavo
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To: Alissa
It just occured to me that Elian Gonzales was forceably taken by the Feds in 2000 - the day before Easter.

the irony is that Elian was taken - with a gun in his face - LEGALLY - they had a court order to DO IT.

Sp, corrupt judges and politicians issues horrendous, edicts to uphold evil - either way

21 posted on 03/26/2005 10:35:40 PM PST by maine-iac7 ("...BUT YOU CAN'T FOOL ALL OF THE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME." Lincoln)
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To: exliberal
" said they believed the standoff could ultimately have led to a constitutional crisis and a confrontation between dueling lawmen."

I believe we have a constitutional crisis right now. Better if two agencies duel it out than if the average citizens have to be the victims. Or a group of citizens feel they have to take things into their own hands now or down the road somewhere else. I would rather see uniformed servants of the people duel it out than anyone else. These men and women in uniform or robes are not God.

But of course I am not an authority on constitutional law. I have some basic workable knowledge. That's all.
22 posted on 03/26/2005 10:35:49 PM PST by Bittersweetmd ((But, for the grace of God there go I .))
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To: Zeroisanumber
The dead don't enrich anyone, save for the morticians.

Hospice is really good at getting people to remember their kindness in their wills. Some leave all they have to Hospice, who "helped them at the end."

23 posted on 03/26/2005 10:40:54 PM PST by concerned about politics (Vote Republican - Vote morally correct!)
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To: over3Owithabrain

Isn't it amazing how she has touched the hearts of so many people.


24 posted on 03/26/2005 10:41:22 PM PST by trussell (I am frowning today. God please save Terri, comfort her family. Grant them rest, and peace.)
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To: concerned about politics

"Boycott Hospice donations."


I'm not only boycotting Hospice donations but I have currently withdrawn all donations to organizations such as Feed the Children.

After all, didn't they say that dying of starvation is "peaceful and serene"? Why prolong the agony of those children....let them go peacefully.


25 posted on 03/26/2005 10:41:24 PM PST by MissouriConservative (Happiness is like peeing in your pants. Everyone can see it, but no one feels the warmth as you do.)
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To: Zeroisanumber
PS....I once got a spam e-mail from Hospice asking me to put them in my will.
I'm not even old or sick. I have no idea how they got my address unless they were just spamming every possible combination of numbers and letters known to man. I deleted it as the usual junk mail.
26 posted on 03/26/2005 10:44:28 PM PST by concerned about politics (Vote Republican - Vote morally correct!)
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To: Alissa
"It just occurred to me that Elian Gonzales was forceably taken by the Feds in 2000 - the day before Easter."

On a previous post it was mentioned that Martin Luther King,Jr. was put in jail on Good Friday and that the Waco show down was also right around Easter or on Good Friday? It happened on April l9th, 1993. The wicked powers that be love to do their evil deeds around Easter time it seems.
27 posted on 03/26/2005 10:45:48 PM PST by Bittersweetmd ((But, for the grace of God there go I .))
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To: maine-iac7
I think you may have misread

Yep. Oops.
Sorry. It's @2:00 AM here. I have no idea why I'm still at this computer. I should really call it a night, aye?

28 posted on 03/26/2005 10:47:48 PM PST by concerned about politics (Vote Republican - Vote morally correct!)
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To: Samwise

Call me stupid, but I don't get that cartoon!

"Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, You did not do for me"...?


29 posted on 03/26/2005 10:49:47 PM PST by lionstar
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To: exliberal
Greer signed an order Wednesday afternoon forbidding DCF from ''taking possession of Theresa Marie Schiavo or removing her'' from the hospice. He directed ''each and every and singular sheriff of the state of Florida'' to enforce his order.

Wow. This guy is as powerful as Hitler was!

30 posted on 03/26/2005 10:50:42 PM PST by Lancey Howard (....tick.... tick.... tick.... tick....)
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To: exliberal

By the way, I read the whole thing but I must have missed the part about "How Terri was almost saved".


31 posted on 03/26/2005 10:52:19 PM PST by Lancey Howard (....tick.... tick.... tick.... tick....)
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To: Zeroisanumber
"The dead don't enrich anyone, save for the morticians."

Oh yeh? Then why did they hire two "Right To Die" diehards as administrators of the Hospice where Terri Schiavo was staying? To make sure she would the treatment to maintain her life? HA!!!

32 posted on 03/26/2005 10:52:27 PM PST by Iam1ru1-2
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To: Lancey Howard

33 posted on 03/26/2005 10:55:28 PM PST by PhilDragoo (Hitlery: das Butch von Buchenvald)
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To: concerned about politics
Death is more lucrative

Sorry, but you're wrong.

Life is more lucrative, in most cases. Feeding tubes and ventilators, tests and intervention are much more lucrative than palliative care.

34 posted on 03/26/2005 10:56:29 PM PST by dawn53
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To: Lancey Howard

Yeah.

This is a despicable lie, preposterous on the face of it.

Fact is, if two state troopers and a nurse showed up at the hospice with an order from the Governor, an IV would be in both of Terri's arms in five minutes.


35 posted on 03/26/2005 10:58:04 PM PST by EternalVigilance ("I thirst.")
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To: EternalVigilance
Were you down there? If so, what stopped you, and the others there from going in? What stopped Randall Terry from going in himself and rescuing?

Hundreds of people can overpower a few cops, and all you need then is a couple of friendly doctors, which I doubt would be that hard to find.

36 posted on 03/26/2005 11:05:48 PM PST by Dan from Michigan ("Mama, take this judgeship off of Greer, he can't use it, anymore")
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To: Dan from Michigan

I've been here all week.

Getting arrested is a fruitless exercise. The place is an armed camp, with guns, tasers, K-9 dogs, a Swat Team and snipers on the roofs.

No kidding.

I'd rather spend my time trying something, anything, to convince the Chief Executive to do his sworn duty than sitting in one of Greer's Goons cells.


37 posted on 03/26/2005 11:10:49 PM PST by EternalVigilance ("I thirst.")
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To: Bittersweetmd

I forget which poet, but the quote is "April is the cruelest month" seems to be true.


38 posted on 03/26/2005 11:16:17 PM PST by Alissa
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To: EternalVigilance

They've transformed the hospice from a place where terminally ill people can die to a killing facility where non-terminal people can be exterminated.

This is a monstrous crime, whether it be "legal" or not.


39 posted on 03/26/2005 11:17:20 PM PST by tomahawk (If we can't stand for life, what can we stand for?)
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To: tomahawk

It is. Everything about this case stinks to high heaven.

Night...


40 posted on 03/26/2005 11:21:24 PM PST by EternalVigilance ("I thirst.")
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