Terri Schiavo's Next to Last Day: A Look Back, "I Want to Live"

Life News ^ | 3/30/07 | Steven Ertelt

[wagglebee]

St. Petersburg, FL (LifeNews.com) -- Terri Schiavo's family will never forget the next to last day of her life two years ago. It started with a Supreme Court ruling and a judgment by a federal appeals court, and ended with the knowledge that their daughter wanted to live.

The U.S. Supreme Court, on that Wednesday, issued a decision allowing Terri Schiavo's painful starvation death. It wound up being the last legal decision in the long battle between Bob and Mary Schindler and Terri's former husband Michael.

The once-sentence ruling was issued just hours after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals again voted 10-2 not to get involved in the case and reviewing a decision by a local judge to have Michael kill Terri.
The Supreme Court offered no explanation for turning back the latest request and provided no vote tally of members to determine if any wanted to take the case.

"We're watching a black mark in American history," David Gibbs, the lead attorney for the Schindlers, said afterwards.

The Schindlers also faced another setback that day when the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Florida upheld Judge George Greer's ruling preventing the Florida Department of Children and Families from taking Terri in to protective custody.

The state agency hoped to do that while it investigated allegations of abuse and neglect against Michael.

CBS News also angered its viewers and Terri Schiavo supporters that day.

It came under fire for prewriting and posting to its news web site a story claiming Terri Schiavo had died.

The article, penned by Christine Lagorio, claimed Michael was with her when she died and was posted on the CBS News web page three days before her actual death, according to radio talk show host Glenn Beck, who discovered it.

CBS News spokeswoman Sandy Genelius told LifeNews.com that the story was "a draft that was stored on the web site" but not intended to be accessible to the public.

The day before, euthanasia advocate George Felos, Michael's attorney, said Michael had changed his mind and would allow an autopsy to be conducted on Terri. The altruistic statement declared Michael wanted to exonerate himself on accusations he abused Terri and to show Terri is very severely brain damaged.

Yet, the decision to conduct an autopsy had already been made when Felos spoke with the media -- and not by Michael or Felos.

Jon Thogmartin, medical examiner for Pinellas and Pasco counties, told the St. Petersburg Times newspaper he made the decision to conduct an autopsy if necessary and said it had nothing to do with Michael's change of heart.

Terri's parents ended the day before Terri's death with the knowledge that their daughter wanted to live.

Just before representatives of Michael's removed her feeding tube Terri Schiavo reportedly told an attorney for her parents that she wanted to live.

"Terri, if you would just say, 'I want to live,' all of this will be over," Barbara Weller, one of the attorneys for Terri's parents Bob and Mary Schindler, said.

Weller said Terri desperately tried to repeat her words.

"'I waaaaannt ...,' Schiavo allegedly said. Weller described it as a prolonged yell that was loud enough that police stationed nearby entered the hospice room.

"She just started yelling, 'I waaaannt, I waaaannt,'" Weller explained.

Terri's parents filed a legal motion to try to get her planned euthanasia death reversed, but to no avail.

Related web sites:
Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation - http://www.terrisfight.org

[donna]

>> I don't understand. No one is working to change the law?

As politicians and journalists have taught us: Solving a problem through hard work is less fun than editorializing about it.

It certainly seems as if all the talk and outrage is empty.

[TAdams8591]

I cared for a number of people in PVS and a coma. I agree. They could not respond the way Terri did.

What was done to Terri was abhorrent,revolting and evil. It shouldn't have been done to her even if she were in one of the above states, which she wasn't.

[bjs1779]

It certainly seems as if all the talk and outrage is empty.

Show me a law that a judge can strave someone to death. I am not speaking of just a feeding tube, but the denial of oral nutrition. Show us that law.

[donna]

Show us the law you are proposing to stop it.

[bjs1779]

Show us the law you are proposing to stop it.

Now isn't that a little silly in light of that that you can't even strave your own dog? Your problem is you can't show us a law to strave a human being.

[donna]

http://www.blogsforterri.com/archives/2005/05/progress_in_lou.php

May 17, 2005
Progress in Louisiana
Topics: Legislative Action Items

House committee OKs bill to restrict removal of feeding tubes

(House Bill 675)

A House committee approved a bill Monday that would restrict families' ability to remove a feeding tube from a terminal patient, despite objections that the measure would force many people with living wills to rewrite them.

Under current law, the term "life support" in living wills includes such tubes - they can be removed if that is the doctors' recommendation, family members agree and the patient's living will indicated that he did not want to be kept alive on life support.

Under Rep. Gary Beard's bill, the tubes would not be considered "life support." People whose living wills don't make a distinction between life support and feeding tubes would have to be kept alive with the tubes, even if their living will says a patient does not want to be kept alive on life support. (snip)

[bjs1779]

And what does that have to do with holding oral nutrition? That would be illegal, right?

[Lesforlife]

Ron Paul's candidancy won't be helped by your cold, hard hearted
remarks about a beautiful woman who became disabled because
of some very suspicious activity the day she collapsed.

Her dear family wanted to take her home to shower her with
the love and compassion she deserved and which was
denied her at Hospice Woodside.

A few good nurses tried to violate Michael's cruel orders to
keep her isolated and in a dark room with few, if any, visitors.

[donna]

Good for you. You hold that line.

[Lesforlife]

No, you're insane because you are wasting your precious
brain cells on Hildy the death cultist!!

:)

[MHGinTN]

As a trained nurse (what a shocker, eh?), Michael S. knew that deprivation would cause her to decline more rapidly. He was growing really impatient don'tchaknow. He and his next woman were already having children and he didn't want to divorce Terri and lose access to her funds or the funds to follow her death.

[bjs1779]

Good for you. You hold that line.

I'll try. You have been most courteous.

[now you people out there]

It is amazing what sin they use to incite people to their cause which supposedly was someone elses sin.

[wagglebee]

Michael was motivated by greed and hate.

And he is evil.

[wagglebee]

As with most things, I'm going to stick with the side of science on this one.

Do you mean the "esteemed" scientists who just over thirty years ago were wanting to melt the polar icecaps to stop "global cooling," but are now terrified of "global warming"?

Or the "esteemed" scientists who changed their minds last year about Pluto's status as a planet?

Or are we just talking about eugenicists like Peter Singer and others who follow in the traditions of Charles Darwin, Margaret Sanger and Adolph Hitler?

[Zeroisanumber]

Do you mean the "esteemed" scientists who just over thirty years ago were wanting to melt the polar icecaps to stop "global cooling," but are now terrified of "global warming"?

No, I mean Dr. Jon Thogmartin, the Chief M.E. of Florida's Sixth district.

Or are we just talking about eugenicists like Peter Singer and others who follow in the traditions of Charles Darwin, Margaret Sanger and Adolph Hitler?

You're taking this rather personally. Perhaps you should step back and examine your motives.

[wagglebee]

So, are you saying that you DO support the euthanasia agenda, but don't think that Terri's case was about euthanasia or are you saying that you DON'T support euthanasia and don't think Terri's case had anything to do with euthanasia?

[Zeroisanumber]

So, are you saying that you DO support the euthanasia agenda, but don't think that Terri's case was about euthanasia or are you saying that you DON'T support euthanasia and don't think Terri's case had anything to do with euthanasia?

I think that if a person with a terminal disease and of sound mind decides that they want to die, then they should be allowed to do so. Since Terri Schiavo was not terminal, not of sound mind, and left no living will, I didn't support removing her from life support.

That said, I didn't like the fact that the federal government tried to intercede on the family's behalf in what was a transparently cynical political play to religious conservatives. I was also turned off by the way that religious conservatives turned what was a very complicated case into a good vs. evil pantomime, and by their using children to try to score some good photo ops in the media.

[tioga]

Now THOSE are the comments of a loving president for the least among us.

[wagglebee]

That said, I didn't like the fact that the federal government tried to intercede on the family's behalf in what was a transparently cynical political play to religious conservatives.

However, regardless of how you feel about it, do you believe that a state probate judge should be permitted to ignore a Congressional subpoena?