Terri Schiavo, What About Her Rights?
by John J. McDougall
Feb 23, 2005
Retired Sheriff John J. McDougall of Ft. Myers, Florida originally sent this as a letter to the editor of the National Ledger:
Dear Editor:
I have written many "Letters to the Editor" concerning Terri Schindler Schiavo, and they have been ignored.
Terri is a disabled person who will be murdered if her feeding tube is removed by an order of the Court. That would be unlawful if it were carried out against a dog. Terri Schindler Schiavo is a "ward" of the Court -- not a person of worth, or family member in need of medical care -- but a ward of the court.
Most people would not challenge a controversial court decision because it is not in our culture to do so. There are in the Terri Schindler Schiavo case a host of civil rights violations that have been committed by the courts against Terri and her family. I write this letter because I am confident that there are some committed Christians across the country, along with others who have a sense of social justice, who will stand up and challenge the deafening silence concerning the impending death of Terri Schindler Schiavo.
I'm not talking about an editorial focus on the need to have a living will. I'm talking about the real story of Terri Schindler Schavio. The story that tells of an unspeakable act of violence about to be re-inflicted upon a defenseless and disabled woman in need of medical care. A story that tells how a gender biased and incompetent Judge violated the Civil Rights of this disabled woman in much the same manner as the Judge who benched the Sacco and Venzetti case 84 years ago.
This innocent and disabled woman who committed no crime, and had no jury, will be put to death by the most cruel and torturous process of starvation, which the Judge views as her “right to die†when there is no indication that this is true. Just because she had no living will, should the Judge err on the side of death? It is tough to write this, so I have taken off the gloves and decided to pour my heart out to you to try and convince you to take a closer look at the injustice being handed down by this court upon Terri Schindler Schiavo. I'm trying to save the life of an innocent woman. If you believe in God as I do, you will do everything in your power to help change this travesty of Justice because it is the right thing to do.
Most of us are familiar with the tragedy which befell Christopher Reeves when he fell from a horse in a riding accident. From the moment Christopher Reeves became paralyzed, he and his family fought against all odds to regain control of both his paralysis and his human dignity. His relentless quest to walk again was a testimony to his human endurance and courage in the face of all adversities. For years, he could not breathe on his own without the aid of a mechanical respirator or portable oxygen-tank. The World watched and prayed for his recovery, while he and his family pursued all necessary therapies that would eventually allow him to breath on his own. This is what life is about. Although paralyzed from the neck down and confined to an electric-wheel-chair in a frozen-like-posture, no one ever suggested pulling the plug on all the devises which were keeping him alive. Everyone of us has a primary instinct to stay alive and fight for our life.
Now we see a 41-year old woman by the name of Terri Schindler Schiavo, suffering from a similar fate as Christopher Reeves in that she, too, is a disabled person in need of rehabilitative therapy in order to swallow food and water on her own. However, unlike Christopher Reeves, she lives free of any life support machines, and receives the same nutrition of food and water that you and I and every other person on earth needs to sustain life. Because she has difficulty swallowing, this is accomplished through a small tube that is connected only at meal times. Terri's Mother, Father, Sister and Brother desperately want her to receive the therapy necessary to help her speak and swallow on her own. Her husband refuses to allow her to receive this rehabilitative care, and wants the feeding tube that is keeping her alive removed. He claims that his wife once told him [that] she would not want to live on life support. But Terri's Parents say that is a bold face lie.
A feeding tube is not an extra-ordinary means of life support, and Terri (a practicing Catholic) would never consent to her own assisted suicide or murder, says her family.
Terri's husband Michael, however, who is living with another woman with whom he has fathered two children, refuses to give Terri over to her parents, or to ensure she receives the help and rehabilitative care she needs. Michael Schiavo says, "NO" to Terri's Parents and has petitioned the Sixth Circuit Judicial Court of Florida to allow him to have the final say on stopping her food and water intake through a tube. He is, in essence, asking permission to kill his wife with Court approval.
Pinellas County Circuit Court judge George W. Greer was given the "Terri Schindler Schiavo Case". How convenient. In Florida, we call this "Judge Shopping" because this particular Judge has a tragic history of gender bias in responding to the valid pleas of a woman in fear of her life, especially from a husband who wants to [remove her feeding tube and] kill her.
Terri is a woman who is struggling with a medical disability and is in need of rehabilitative therapy. Because of that, she was awarded over a million dollars in an out of court settlement by an Insurance Company based on medical malpractice. This settlement was meant to insure a continued quality of care and rehabilitative therapy to Terri, in the hopes that she would recover enough to speak and swallow on her own. Judge Greer, however, has already decided her fate, which was obvious the moment he allowed Terri's husband to draw down funds from Terri's Medical Trust Fund. It seems to me that there is a law against insurance fraud, when you take money out of a trust fund for purposes of health care and use them to hire lawyers that will petition the courts to kill you. How can this judge reach into her trust fund and allow her husband to use that money to pay blood-sucking lawyers to find a way to kill her? So far, Michael Schiavo has paid his Attorney over $397,000 thousand dollars to insure that he wins his legal battle to starve his wife to death.
Now you tell me, what the hell chance does Terri Schindler Schiavo have at the hands of this arrogant Judge, along with his merry-band of ACLU lawyer buddies, and a husband who wants her dead? Governor Jeb Bush and the Florida Legislature, to their credit, had the courage to pass a special bill called "Terri's Law" to protect this woman's unalienable right to life. But the Supremes overruled this state law as “unconstitutionalâ€. It is a known fact that a defenseless pre-born child will instinctively fight to stay alive, even when being overpowered and tortured to death at the hands of a fully grown adult abortionist. The manipulation of this court has been used for the sole purpose of executing a fellow citizen, and human being, by judicial design. This pro-death ruling of the court, if carried out, will not stop with Terri Schindler Schiavo. There are millions of disabled people unable to speak for themselves, sitting in wheel chairs, lined-up against the walls of every nursing home in this country, maybe asking each person who walks by, are you my son? Are you my daughter? The answer is YES, we are their sons and daughters, and we will fight like hell to protect them from those who feel that they are not "good enough" to be living among our ranks.
[I believe] it's time to impeach Judge Greer, audit Terri's Trust Fund and demand an Investigation into the cause of her Terri's injuries. The Sixth Judicial Circuit Court of Pinellas County Florida has lost all legitimacy and is a rouge court. Please, for the love of God; speak out in defense of this woman and let her parents take her home.
John J. McDougall, Ft. Meyers, Fla.
THAT is a powerful letter. We need more politicians with his passion and strength of character.