Terri Schiavo Before dehydration
Posted on 03/28/2005 6:41:56 PM PST by Former Military Chick
PINELLAS PARK - 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 surrounding the hospice where Terri Schiavo lies 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 metal-detecting search.
The delays lasted three to four minutes - the last minutes 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 in addition to Schiavo, whose parents have been desperately trying to have her feeding tube reinserted. Dozens of protesters have arrived from around the nation since the tube was removed March 18; at least 22 have been arrested, prompting a police barricade around the facility and unprecedented security measures.
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 the facility.
"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. "And unfortunately, that is the price you have to pay in a free society."
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. Messages compare Michael Schiavo to the likes of Scott Peterson, convicted of killing his wife and unborn child in California, and John Evander Couey, who has been arrested on charges of kidnapping and murdering a 9-year-old girl in Homosassa.
sorry.......a poor choice of words that I didn't even think about.....hope it does not offend
CALLING ALL LAWYERS!!!!!
Another lawsuit, for sure.
Litigation Nation.
You know why the cops are there, right?
They've been reading Free Republic.
Certainly glad you have access to my mind. :)
Yes, I have noticed the acrimony between people who usually don't disagree. I have only been here since 2004 but I've never seen FR threads like this before. It makes my band of merry infidels and our diatribe against the shills for CAIR look almost amicable.
Echo my agreement to your comments above ...
let me guess.....you think she is pro death or maybe a Nazi?..that is all I've heard over the weekend.....in fact, I've heard more insults, name calling, hysteria and rampant anarchistic thoughts from "Christians" than ever in my whole life.......when Dems and liberal activist do this crap, we scorn them.....when we do it, well I guess we are morally superior????????.........
I agree with you. I posted before that the protestors were out of line! A quiet, candle vigil praying would have been fine...and a gracious compassion to let the other families have easy access. The protestors' behaviors in many cases was downright self centered.
This pastiche of semi-lucid gibberish stands on its own, reeking of innuendo and it's author, and needs no further commentary from me.
Welcome to America. Protesting is legal.
Also, the metal detectors had nothing to do with the people outside the building. They did not make the decisions for others to require metal detectors.
Not at the expense of others who are in a similar situation, this responsibility falls on the protestors.
FMC.....see my post #68.....some here really need to brush up on our military history....to compare this to Nazi Germany is emotional ranting bordering on hysteria....seems like those victims didn't have a day in court and the vile and tyrannical SS and Gestapo make this issue look like a Sunday School picnic......keep posting....we know your true intentions are honorable though some here have huge emotional blinders on
Your background is not accurate, and the answer is yes.
Most die from pneumonia. By the time the feeding tubes go in they are in a very weakened state already.
The analogy to Terri Schindler is weak. Very different circumstances.
Still, the issue is do we face up that we commit euthanasia or not?
If so, just do a lethal injection.
It is odd, isn't it..
"You are only supposed to be in a hospice if your death is imminent in the next 6 months."
Each hospice defines the criteria for admission. Normally that criteria is flexible.
"George Felos, a death lawyer, is on the board."
No, George Felos WAS a board member. Get your facts straight.
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