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

[wagglebee]

In all reality, Terri has long since left the collective conscience of the average US citizen.

Yet you still consider her to be important enough for you to come onto the threads and ridicule people who understood the injustice of her murder?

[RadioAstronomer]

Actually I meant to say get stuffed you FUCKING MORON.

I know I will be banned, but in all reality I really don't give a shit with folks like you here.

[RadioAstronomer]

Actually I meant to say get stuffed you FUCKING MORON.

I know I will be banned, but in all reality I really don't give a shit with folks like you here.

[T'wit]

The best reason not to curse in Free Republic is that it tells the world about yourself.

[wagglebee]

The best reason not to curse in Free Republic is that it tells the world about yourself.

It's the norm on DU and, I'm guessing, Darwin Central.

[T'wit]

Today's reading is from the book of Ephesians, Chapter 4. It's a good rule for forum, for us as well as for our guests.

29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

[betsyross1776]

This was one of the worst examples of what America does or never should stand for. I bet the husband never even went back to her grave yesterday. he is now happy saying he got rid of her. A damm shame when the liberal left convinces the country it is ok to pick who should live or die,not only that to starve that person like the Holocaust and say oh she looked so great when she was dying. They never even let her mother and father hold her hand. Proud day for Fl and her husband.

[wagglebee]

You are so right!

[T'wit]

>> But terribot ignorance and lies are just so massive that the only emotion I can muster toward them is contempt

That's no good, you'll raise your blood pressure. Ignorance begins at home.

>> As Terri’s surrogate, Michael had the power to discontinue treatment on his own lawful authority...

False.

He did not have to ask a Judge to intervene

True, but that would have been murder. Otherwise, false.

>>... but did so out of respect for her parents wishes.

Even Michael would laugh his head off at that one. He loathed her parents, never spoke to them after February, 1993, didn't inform them of Terri's medical situation over the years, didn't inform them that he meant to kill their daughter, said in sworn testimony that he was killing her BECAUSE they "put him through hell," and even after he'd killed her, he threatened to spite them one more time by not telling them where she was buried.

>> The Schindlers kept the litigation in the courts once it was there...

Well, of course! Michael was trying to kill their daughter.

>>... and if Terri’s settlement had anything left after 10 years of Nursing Home care then the Schindlers forced the trust that was holding her funds to squander them them on the numerous appeals of the decisions against them.

That's absurd. Nothing the Schindlers did forced Michael to do anything in court. The truth is, Michael, with Judge Greer's permission, was misusing Terri's trust fund, which was awarded only for her therapy, not for lawyer's fees to put her to death. That constitutes "fraud on the [malpractice] court." If Judge Greer had prevented this outrageous misuse of the award money, Terri's trust fund would have remained intact.

>> Add to that the 10 million dollars Michael Schiavo turned down from a Pt. St. Lucie millionaire and another 3 million from another source,

TEN million?? It was $1 million -- far less than what Michael expected Terri's estate to be worth if he succeeded in killing her without divorcing her. Here's a quote from the lead of one of many similar stories:

"Businessman Offers $1 Million to Keep Terri Schiavo Alive

"SAN DIEGO, March 11, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – California businessman Robert Herring, Sr., offered Terri Schiavo’s husband, Michael Schiavo, $1 million Thursday, in exchange for her life."

>> I am convinced that he took the high road in this case.

Then surely you can give us an innocent explanation of how she went from healthy and asleep to face down on the hallway floor, nearly dead, right after Michael got home late one Saturday night? Nobody has explained that. It does look a bit suspicious, you know. A body where it has no reason to be and almost dead. Only one suspect. No alibi.

[KDD]

As Terri’s surrogate, Michael had the power to discontinue treatment on his own lawful authority...

False.

He did not have to ask a Judge to intervene

True, but that would have been murder. Otherwise, false.

How is that statement false?

Did you not read the link I provided to the Browning case and the Florida Supreme Court ruling on this issue?

Please pay attention.

VIII. CONCLUSION We have previously held that competent and incompetent persons have the right to determine for themselves the course of their medical treatment. Today we hold that, without prior judicial approval, a surrogate or proxy, as provided here, may exercise the constitutional right of privacy for one who has become incompetent and who, while competent, expressed his or her wishes orally or in writing. We also determine that there is no legal distinction between gastrostomy or nasogastric feeding and any other means of life support. This case resolves a question of an individual’s constitutional right of self- determination. We are hopeful that this decision will encourage those who want their wishes to be followed to express their wishes clearly and completely.

Michael Schiavo did not make the decision to discontinue life-prolonging measures for Terri. As Terri's husband, Michael has been her guardian and her surrogate decision-maker. By 1998, though -- eight years after the trauma that produced Terri's situation -- Michael and Terri's parents disagreed over the proper course for her.

Rather than make the decision himself, Michael followed a procedure permitted by Florida courts by which a surrogate such as Michael can petition a court, asking the court to act as the ward's surrogate and determine what the ward would decide to do. Michael did this, and based on statements Terri made to him and others, he took the position that Terri would not wish to continue life-prolonging measures. The Schindlers took the position that Terri would continue life-prolonging measures. Under this procedure, the trial court becomes the surrogate decision-maker, and that is what happened in this case.

The trial court in this case held a trial on the dispute. Both sides were given opportunities to present their views and the evidence supporting those views. Afterwards, the trial court determined that, even applying the "clear and convincing evidence" standard -- the highest burden of proof used in civil cases -- the evidence showed that Terri would not wish to continue life-prolonging measures.

Those who have maligned Michael Schiavo with lies and slander are not Christians by virtue of their bearing false witness. There is a special place in hell reserved for such people.

[KDD]

Then surely you can give us an innocent explanation of how she went from healthy and asleep to face down on the hallway floor, nearly dead, right after Michael got home late one Saturday night?

She had a heart attack on her way to the bathroom...

[RobbyS]

Michael did this, and based on statements Terri made to him and others, he took the position that Terri would not wish to continue life-prolonging measures. All of this ignores the basic facts in the case. Michael first ignored Terri's wishes, moutning a mal practice suit whose stated purpose was to obtain funds to provide care for Terri and then sought to enforce them. His cohabitation with another woman produced a conflict of interest. He now had to obtain the protection of a court, because what was clearly at stake was his intention, not hers. This leaves entirely aside the conflict between him and the Schindlers. I don't know what Terri's intent was. I don't what his intent was. I do know that his actions make him seem morally confused, to say the least.

[KDD]

None of what you posted changes the fact that he was her legal surrogate and under Florida law had every right to refuse medical treatment on behalf of his wife.

His intent?

His intent appears to have been a desire to carry out his wifes wishes. 21 Judges found no evidence to the contrary.

[bjs1779]

She had a heart attack on her way to the bathroom...

“Her heart functioned fine for 25 years … and on that day something happened that her heart didn’t beat,” Thogmartin said. “If that’s not a testament to the strength of her heart, nothing is. Whatever stopped her heart that day was not in the heart, [but an] extrinsic force outside the heart causing the heart not to beat.”

MANNER OF DEATH: "UNDEDETRIMINED"

[bjs1779]

extrinsic

"1 : originating or due to causes or factors from or on the outside of a body, organ, or part renal tumors or cysts … causing extrinsic compression of the renal vasculature —Scientific American Medicine> "

[wagglebee]

You seem to conveniently overlook the fact that at the time of Terri’s injury, a feeding tube WAS NOT considered life support, so she NEVER could have requested that food and water be withheld.

Florida changed the law afterwards and Michael used this to carry out his “promise” to murder his wife.

[MEGoody]

Didn't happen ping.

True, it didn't happen the day before she died. It happened the day before her murder began.

[TAdams8591]

"You seem to conveniently overlook the fact that at the time of Terri’s injury, a feeding tube WAS NOT considered life support, so she NEVER could have requested that food and water be withheld."

Furthermore, she was 24 or 25 at the time of her collapse and like most people that age, she was most unlikely to have given any of this serious thought.

[KDD]

The Autopsy Report
The release of the Sixth Circuit medical examiner’s report on Terri Schiavo’s autopsy answered many questions. It also left some significant questions unanswered, and it offered one surprise. After taking some time to examine the report closely, here are my thoughts.

1. Persistent Vegetative State. In the second trial regarding Terri’s medical condition, medical doctors offered by Michael, an independent specialist appointed by the court, and the trial court itself found that Terri was in a persistent vegetative state with no reasonable hope of recovery. Evidence to the contrary was rejected as not credible. The medical examiner’s report explains that whether someone is in a persistent vegetative state is a clinical diagnosis that his office cannot evaluate after her death. However, the report does offer findings that are relevant to the PVS diagnosis.

a. The medical examiner from the Tenth Circuit served as a consultant neuropathologist. He found that Terri’s brain was very much atrophied. It weighed half of what a normal brain would weigh and approximately 75% of what Karen Ann Quinlan’s brain weighed at her death. Karen Ann Quinlan spent 10 years in a persistent vegetative state.

b. The surprise I mentioned at the start of this post concerns Terri’s vision. The consultant neurologist’s report finds the tissue volume loss in Terri’s brain to have been worst in the bilateral occipital lobes, and the Sixth Circuit medical examiner concluded Terri suffered from cortical blindness. If I understand this correctly, she was not blind in the sense her eyes could not see, but the portion of her brain that would receive information from her retinas did not exist. I’ll leave it to the physicians out there to say for sure, but it would seem that these results support the court’s finding that any eye tracking Terri performed was at best reflexive and not the product of conscious thought. Her eyes could perceive light, but the portion of her brain that would process those perceptions did not exist.

2. Ability To Recover. I don’t read the report as directly addressing whether Terri had the ability to recover, but in the press conference given by the medical examiner with the report’s release, the medical examiner succinctly said that Terri could not recover. The damage to her brain was extensive and irreparable. This supports the trial court’s decision that there was no reasonable medical probability that Terri’s condition could improve to the point where she might change her mind about withdrawing the feeding tube.

3. Trauma. Of the high profile issues in the Schiavo saga, the one addressed with the greatest certainty seems to be the trauma issue. The report finds the evidence inconsistent with the notion physical trauma caused Terri’s collapse or had been inflicted at the time of the collapse. The report relies on medical examinations conducted at the time, as well as observations of Terri’s body at her death. The examiner’s conclusion was not based on a mere lack of evidence of trauma but on evidence that was affirmatively inconsistent with trauma.

These findings provide a medical complement to what we have already seen from both the court system and law enforcement. Those who have suspected or accused Michael of abusing Terri and causing her collapse would seem to be without support.

4. Ability To Eat. The trial court concluded that Terri could not be fed orally. The medical examiner’s report agreed, concluding that Terri was dependent on her feeding tube, and had she been fed sufficient food to sustain her, she certainly would have aspirated it. Without naming anyone, the report mentions caregivers’ claims they had fed Terri orally at times, saying such feedings were “potentially harmful or, at least, extremely dangerous” to Terri.

5. Cause Of Collapse. A sizeable portion of the medical examiner’s report is appropriately devoted to what may have caused Terri’s collapse. The medical examiner rejected bulimia because the best evidence to support that theory — very low potassium levels observed after her collapse — could have been explained by the treatment she received to revive her. The medical examiner also rejected strangling and physical abuse, as discussed above, and found no evidence of cardiac anomalies.

People have already written me to ask whether these findings undermine the results of the 1992 malpractice trial. Recall that Michael brought malpractice claims against Terri’s physicians. Terri had been trying to become pregnant, but her monthly cycles had stopped, and supposedly proper tests by those treating her could have brought the bulimic situation to light and avoided her collapse. One doctor settled and another went to trial. A jury agreed with Michael’s theory and awarded damages, finding Terri partly responsible, and the case then settled for a lesser amount while it was on appeal.

I do not think the medical examiner’s conclusion that insufficient evidence supports a finding of bulimia undermines the trial’s result. The medical examiner did not rule out that Terri’s dieting habits, such as taking pills with caffeine or drinking substantial amounts of iced tea, could have caused or contributed to her collapse. He found that the evidence that would prove or disprove such a finding had not been collected or maintained, but in the malpractice trial apparently there was little or no challenge that Terri collapsed due to her dieting habits and a low potassium level. The jury agreed Terri’s dieting habits caused her collapse based on the evidence and arguments presented.

In the end, the official cause of Terri’s collapse remains undetermined. It might be emphasized, though, that the cause of her collapse was not directly at issue in the litigation over whether she would want her feeding tube removed and whether some treatment might help her substantially improve to the point where she would not want the tube removed. Concerns about the cause of her collapse were injected into the feeding tube litigation in 2002 — twelve years after the fact and after two trials on her wishes and her condition — through claims that Michael attacked Terri and provoked the collapse. Those claims were intended to discredit Michael and cast a criminal pall over the situation, which to an extent is what happened. But one of the medical examiner’s strongest findings was that the evidence is inconsistent with the notion anyone caused her collapse by beating or strangling her.

When everything is said, the medical examiner’s report substantiates that the court system did its job well in handling Terri’s case.

http://abstractappeal.com/schiavo/schiavoposts2005.html

http://abstractappeal.com/schiavo/autopsyreport.pdf

[wagglebee]

Not to mention that Michael didn’t say a word about her wanting to die until AFTER he had the money.