Posted on 04/20/2005 11:25:41 PM PDT by FairOpinion
Three weeks will soon have passed since Terri Schindler-Schiavo was forced to die an inhumane and tragic death. Thousands who were against Terri's killing claim they find themselves awake at all hours of the night trying to come to terms with what happened to Terri. Many state they are suffering from overwhelming depression, frustration, and feelings of powerlessness. Others find themselves struggling to understand how America stood by and allowed Terri to be publicly murdered and not receive judicial or police protection.
Only a few short weeks ago, we witnessed thousands upon thousands of people from all over the world rise in protest to the heinous crime involving the murder of Terri Schindler-Schiavo. During the long 14 day period, as Terri laid suffering from starvation and dehydration, members of the US Congress gathered in a weekend forum to vote on a bipartisan bill that would assure Terri's constitutional rights. The bill was aimed at saving her life. The President of the United States who was preparing for Easter with his family, was urgently flown from his vacation ranch home in Texas to the White House to sign a bill that was passed in a 203 to 58 vote. So, why now are we faced with feeling the unsettling side effects of Terri's murder? Why do many seek answers to questions such as: How does a nation justify, publicly watching the death of an innocent disabled woman while no one was capable of stopping her murder?
When trying to find any sense of understanding or acceptance regarding Terri's murder, we must discuss some aspects surrounding the topics of death. Death, as we all know, is defined as: "A permanent cessation of all vital functions." Due to its permanency, we find death very disturbing under any circumstance. Death creates a destabilization of our existence, knowing there is no turning back. Normally, we experience death when it results from illness, unexpected trauma, or old-age. We are seldom, if ever, confronted with the unique emotions associated with murder happening in our family. When we hear about a murder we usually find ourselves gasping at the crime as it makes headline news. The loss of human life is final and emotionally traumatizing on any society. Any way we wish to view it, the intentional infliction of death on a human being, will always be defined as murder. Our country bases its philosophy on the value of "preservation of all life," thus, creating its laws to say, under no circumstances should anyone take the life of an innocent human being. We ask then, why was Terri allowed to be murdered as the world stood by and watched?
Once we are subjected to loss of life, we naturally emerge into what is known as the grieving process. Grief as we know it, has limitless boundaries. Often when we are forced to grieve, we flail aimlessly and timelessly into what appears to be an open abyss. Dr. Elisabeth Kubler Ross describes in her book "Death and Dying," the 5 stages of grief as: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. In order to move through the grieving process, we must at some point encounter the 5 stages of grief. Many will vacillate between the phases of grief for an undetermined period of time.
We also know there are thousands of people who routinely struggle with the controversial issues surrounding the death penalty. It is not unusual, or unreasonable for people to find difficulty digesting the legal liberties that are given to man when they are authorized to inflict the finalities of death upon any human being. Be the death penalty right or wrong, those who struggle with it can often find some sense of rationale and acceptance in knowing that those on death row were convicted and tried for a crime which brought forth their death sentence. However, what happens to the thousands who are reaching for that same sense of understanding and acceptance when grieving for Terri's publicly inhumane murder? Terri, was not a criminal and never hurt anyone. She was not tried, or convicted of any crime. She was not terminally ill, or unhealthy. She was not taken off to the hidden ominous fields where victims are murdered by their unknown killers. Despite all, we had a nation that was forced to watched Terri's tragic and unnecessary death, making it difficult, if not impossible, to transition into the grieving phases of acceptance.
We recognize that Terri was not any more special to her parents, than any other child is to their parents who love them. It is a given that she will be just as missed by her family, as others tend to miss their family members when they die. However, once again, as we seek some rationalization and acceptance in dealing with Terri's death, like we do in the normal grieving process of others, we find ourselves reaching an emotionally unsettling and angry set of emotions to deal with. Perhaps,it is due to the disturbing visions of a Mother publicly pleading for the life of her daughter; a daughter who would not be dead if it weren't for an estranged spouse who intentionally starved and dehydrated her, to her death. These visions leave the sane population very distraught. We again find ourselves asking, how do we move into the acceptance phase of grief after watching an innocent member of our society be murdered and denied the right to receive help? We knew, and will remember Terri as the innocent woman who through her means of natural communications waited patiently each day for her loving and very dedicated family to visit her so she could smile and laugh with them. We knew how her biological family had struggled for years to be capable of providing her with the therapy and help that we all naturally reach for when we are hurting, or injured. We shall always recall the look of love and warmth on the faces of Terri and her Mother as they embraced each other. Was the love and unity of the Schindler family so wrong a bond that we had to remove one of its members?
For Terri, sadly, the help that we normally would have expected to come her way, never did arrive. Where does this leave the thousands of civilized people who are now in shock, remembering the agonizing expressions on Mary's face as she pleaded for someone, anyone, to help rescue her daughter? How do we as a nation cope with Terri's unnecessary and brutal murder; a murder that we not only heard about over and over again though out every media source, but were also forced to watch as it appeared on national television for 14 long days? How do we justify the murder of a woman who was healthy and did not have to die, yet, we did nothing to stop it? When did America begin denying a family the right to care for one of its members? Who will be next?
I personally refuse to accept the notion that we have become a barbaric society living amongst many others like George Felos, Michael Schiavo, George Greer, and Deborah Bushnell. The four people who comfortably watched Terri slowly have the life sucked out of her, and then later rationalized Terri's death as merciful. Terri's death cannot be defined as anything but cold, callous, inhumane, unnecessary, wrong, and against all the laws that our country was founded upon. Laws that still read, MURDER is illegal! Assuming the majority of our world still believes murder is wrong, we must ask ourselves what can we do to prevent Terri's situation from happening to another individual? How can we seek justice for Terri and see to it that the four people who are responsible for the 14 days of her inhumane killing are brought to legal justice? We must also ask ourselves, is it more reasonable to suggest that the thousands who supported Terri, who were appalled and against her death, the emotionally unstable religious zealots that George Felos suggested they were? Or, is it more reasonable to say that rather it was Terri's estranged spouse, his euthanasia attorneys, and the judge in Pinellas County, who are the emotionally unstable death zealots who need to be convicted for their criminal actions?
More importantly, as a civilized society, we must question, are we going to challenge the inhumane laws that killed Terri, or, are we willing to allow her death to be in vain and chalk it up to becoming the new season preview for Reality Guardianship Murders? I do believe that it is vitally important for every person who grieves Terri's tragic death to have these questions answered, all in an effort to enter into the Acceptance phase of grief.
Terri ping! If anyone would like to be added to or removed from my Terri ping list, please let me know by FReepmail!
The current silence of the President and The Congress who first tried to save her life speaks volumes.
Are they ashamed that they merely did their duty to protect every innocent American from murder???
This has changed my life.
It will NEVER be the same. I thank Terri for this, but am ashamed that she had to suffer in order for my life to change and for me to wake up...
I put up a media email list on the Baby Charlotte thread in case anyone is interested in helping the family alert the media about her....
Thanks- You Freepers are GREAT!
Unfortunately some hopitals are rewarding their medical staff with bonuses by saving money. What saves the most money?
Amazing - the Italians understand life and death issues far better than Americans.
Usually America is the shining star leading all the other countries in the right way. Now, some other country will need to lead America.
Tom Delay is not part of the death culture. Are you from DU?
When a person is dying (this is the difference you see - Terri was not dying), family often do not further the dying process IF IT IS ACCORDING TO THE WISHES OF THE DYING ONE.
I cannot imagine the heart ache of those of you who championed Terri Schiavo on the scene with so much personal devotion. You bought her a little more time, encouraged so many and importantly, you gave Terri Schiavo who had no voice a presence in the national consciousness.
Even though it is a change of course, it remains critical that the story of Terri Schiavo remains whole. In surfing for articles about her, I have found journalists wanting to parse her story to fit their own needs about living wills or bulimia, etc. The media wants to make it a conservative/liberal issue.
The circumstances of Terri Schiavo's life and death cut across a spectrum of beliefs and connected many disparate people. As you have time, continue to write or blog or call when her story is watered down.
Though I want changes in judges and representatives and laws and will continue to advocate for that, my biggest fear is that the story of Terri Schiavo will become distorted. I work the hardest at maintaining the issues surrounding her.
As I continue to send letters to media, journalists, bloggers, etc. I have narrowed the facts of what happened to Terri Schiavo to a few lines. I know there are more facts but sometimes people won't read the whole thing.
This is my primary body of a letter:
"1. She was awarded 1.4 million dollars by a jury for treatment and therapy. Court records indicate NONE of those funds were expended to that purpose. Court records indicate $350,000 of those funds were expended to litigate her death.
2. She was sentenced to death without representation. The closest representation was the guardians ad litem, both of whose recommendations for further investigation of her wishes were dismissed by the court.
3. She was placed in a hospice for five years without a terminal illness. Hospice laws, policies and procedures require a terminal diagnosis and short life expectancy prognosis. A hospice is equipped to assist the dying. It is not equipped or purposed to provide for the living – the disabled living.
4. Terri Schiavo was declared indigent at some point during that time. Taxpayers funded her stay at a facility not purposed to her needs.
Thus, there is now legal precedence to obtain a jury award on behalf of a disabled individual for one ostensible purpose and use it for another. Treatment and therapy to disabled individuals who have funds allocated for that purpose can be denied by guardianship powers in complete disregard of the disabled individuals entitlement to those treatments and therapies. Laws and guidelines regarding appropriate facility placement have been ignored, thus making them ineffective. Furthermore, erroneous placement can be at taxpayer expense.
Many disabled organizations, religious organizations and prominent Democratic party members intervened on Terri Schiavo’s behalf for these real and documented issues. The treatment of Terri Schiavo was unconscionable bordering on the illegal. Terri Schiavo could not speak for herself and her fate was in the hands of journalists and media who highlight the left wing/right wing feud and distort the core of issues surrounding Terri Schiavo that motivated hundreds of thousands of individuals from all ideological spectrums to activate en masse before it became a media event. Congress, Governor Bush and President Bush responded to activists informed and passionate about these issues despite a lack of organization and media coverage. "
I know it's cold language in light of our emotions but the strength of my emotions is a result of the fact filled list of wrongs and indignities visited on Terri.
I don't mean to be presumptious, but I exhort everyone to continue to respond to the prayer requests, the calls to action and find opportunities to get Terri Schiavo's story out clearly to the media and public. As I have a few minutes everyday, I try to contact some government official, media source, blogger, journalist - anyone. I want to put some facts on their file.
Best wishes.
Yes, and her husband was determined she was going to die and totally disregarded the wishes of the family.
One could not help but question the motives. A man who was afraid of what his wife might say should she be able to communicate - would act exactly like MS.
A man who stood to gain financially if the unwanted wife was dead, might act the same.
And, is it fair for a woman to be given the death penalty based on what a man with ulterior motives would claim she said?
It just was not right from so many different points and will be so damaging for the future of others who happen to come after.
Where are the Florida freepers? First and foremost, there needs to be a huge outcry to the Florida legislators and demand that the laws be changed. Especially any end-of-life panel dreaming up revisions to who is expendable and what criteria is needed to do away with them.
Where is the outrage from Floridians? I don't see it on FR.
(From a post by mercyme)
"They also state that advanced directives providing for treatment should not carry the same weight as directives withdrawing care, and advanced directives should not compel the physican to provide them, regardless if the patient needs them (Doty). Doty is part of the Florida Bioethics Network as well as Project Grace. One of the changes in the law in CB/CB/SB 2228 includes the Bioethics Network as part of the process of withdrawing care. " Now, I would be outraged if my state was writing such garbage.
But, there is also NO PROOF that Terri told him she would not want to live like that and it meant that Terri was killed. Because of the law changes instigated by the Florida end-of-life panel allowing "hearsay" evidence to be accepted in these situations. I think I also read that one on that panel had ties to Felos' hospice where Terri was.
I would think that we should error on the side of life rather than death.
I'm basically not thinking about it.
Yes, and in Mae's case her granddaughter wanted her to die.
This is the problem.
How do we protect people from medical power of attorney in the hands of relatives that want them dead - for money, or other reasons?
How do we protect those without relatives from being at the mercy of medical facilities and death dealers?
What about preventing a medical facility from making a death decision without due recourse for the victim - such as a court review or having a court appointed representative give approval?
There has to be a solution to all of this that will be fair to all - we just have to find it. No way we stand by and allow any of us to be slaughtered at the whim of those who want us dead instead of alive for whatever reason.
Remember, we will be facing organ demands in the future and the profitability of an organ becoming more valuable to a medical facility than the life of someone.
What are the people of Florida doing with regard to the legislature that turned over lawmaking on end-of-life issues to an end-of-life panel?
Is there any expressed outrage that the Florida legislature was unable to save Terri? Is there a massive anger?
I would think the Florida people would be up-in-arms demanding that the laws allowing this travesty be changed.
Hopefully, the state will not murder me.
If I see the thread about the legislation, I'll ping you there.
Meanwhile, thousands of Americans and foreign nationals and foreigners are demanding an investigation of what happened to Terri and why.
The State of Florida is rearranging the chairs on the deck of the ship of state which is in sad condition except Fla had a surplus. Yay!
The trouble is that if you catch one bad guy, a whole row falls with them. Florida would have to start over to weed out everyone who was dereliect in their duties and they know who they are. They can do a law in Terri's name but she's not coming back and that's their fault. Senator Jim King should get voted out of office. He shares equal blame with J. Greer and the other judges.
It is going to take the Schindlers a LONG while to digest, let alone accept, what AMERICA LAND OF THE FREE AND HOME OF THE BRAVE did to their daughter/sister and thus to their family. It is going to take a long while for many of us as well.
I meant to say, "Terri's family" not "Terri and her family."
Where are the Florida freepers? Well, there were tons of them at the Vigils and ya think that because we're not posting, we have given up????? That will be the day. We will never forget having been witness to these dark days of American History. Shame on our leaders, not shame on the freepers. Our leaders could have saved Terri because they had executive authority to go in there and get her out of Hospice. THEY DID ZIP.
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