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Terri Can Eat With A Spoon
World ^ | Bob Jones

Posted on 10/17/2003 2:03:11 PM PDT by mr_griz

AFTER ALL THE YEARS, ALL THE fighting, all the bitter recriminations, there were remarkably few tears on Oct. 15 when Terri Schiavo finally had her feeding tube removed. Maybe the crowd of 80 or so gathered outside the hospice facility in western Florida were too angry to cry, or too numb.

For her part, Carla Sauer was just too tired. "I've been pulling for Terri since 1995," she said as she sank uncertainly onto a three-legged stool to rest the sandal-clad feet she'd been standing on for five hours. "I still can't believe it's come to this."

"This," apparently, is the end of the line in the long fight to keep Ms. Schiavo alive. A Florida judge on Oct. 14 refused two final appeals from her parents, clearing the way for the removal of the feeding tube that's kept her alive for a half-dozen years. Without the tube, the 39-year-old will slowly starve to death. It should take about 14 days.

That's precisely the outcome her husband, Michael, has been pushing for. Claiming that Terri has been a vegetable since she collapsed after a heart attack in 1990, Mr. Schiavo says he is simply honoring a request made by his young bride: That he not allow doctors to prolong her life through artificial means.

Terri's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, doubt she ever made such a request. But even if she did, they argue that a feeding tube is not the same as artificial life support. Her vital organs function on their own, she smiles and laughs at the sound of her loved ones' voices, and she has no terminal illness that threatens her life. If she simply has someone who cares enough to feed her, she could live for another 50 years—a condition not terribly different from that of thousands of other severely disabled persons.

"She's not a vegetable," Ms. Sauer insisted as she rested her tired feet. "She knows voices, she responds. She can follow commands, and she tries to communicate by blinking her eyelids 'yes' and 'no.'" And then there's the most important detail of all: "We used to feed her with a spoon, and she swallowed on her own."

That was seven years ago, when Ms. Sauer was a nurse at a rehab facility in Largo, Fla. At that time, Ms. Schiavo was getting physical therapy and full-time attention from skilled nurses. But the facility charged $4,000 a month, as Ms. Sauer recalls, and Mr. Schiavo soon chose to discontinue his wife's therapy and move her into the much cheaper hospice system. She's languished there for six years, tethered to a feeding tube while a fierce legal battle swirled around her.

The Schindlers argued that they should be named as Terri's guardians, in part because Mr. Schiavo now has a new girlfriend and a young child. Just because he's ready to move on with his life, they said, he should not be allowed to end Terri's. When a series of judges sided with Mr. Schiavo, the Schindlers appealed to the court of public opinion: They smuggled a video camera into their daughter's room—against a judge's orders—to show the world she could still laugh and smile and respond to affection.

With Terri now dying slowly, that video may be the Schindlers' final memory of their daughter. Rather than watching by her bedside, they are parked in a camper across the street. Bob Schindler has been charged with contempt of court, and he and his wife cannot visit their daughter without Mr. Schiavo's permission—or his lawyer.

The family tragedy, as painful as it is to watch, is only a part of a larger picture. Advocates for the disabled fear that Terri Schiavo's death could set a chilling precedent. "This is deplorable," Joni Eareckson Tada told WORLD in the midst of a whirlwind of press conferences and rallies. "What's happening here is just a part of a larger effort to class persons with severe cognitive disabilities as non-persons. Terri is not brain dead, she's not in a coma, she's not terminally ill. We have people who attend our weekend retreats who are more severely disabled. Yet the courts have washed their hands of this. Medical personnel are forbidden to deliver any food or water. She's being denied her right to humane treatment under state law.

"This case is a watershed for people with disabilities," Mrs. Tada said. "Removal of the feeding tube means you are promoting active euthanasia. As a quadriplegic woman, that's a frightening precedent."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: caneat; notincoma; schiavo; schindler; terrischiavo; terrischindler; thanksrobertdrobot
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To: Pan_Yans Wife
"You'll have to ask others why they do not storm the hospice and take Terri by force."

Justifiable wars have issued over less repugnant things.

61 posted on 10/17/2003 3:36:45 PM PDT by paulsy
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To: paulsy
No one asked her.
62 posted on 10/17/2003 3:37:26 PM PDT by UnsinkableMollyBrown
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To: paulsy
"I cannot find anything that says Terri's family wishes for that to happen."

I bet secretly they wish it would.

63 posted on 10/17/2003 3:37:43 PM PDT by paulsy
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To: catdaddy
>> "It's my understanding that Gov. Bush cannot overturn a court decision such as this."

I would bet that he could issue an executive order that would stay the court order while the parents appeal. If nothing else, he could use his office to bring media attention to this case. He has options. Sitting in the governor's mansion and acting chickensh*t doesn't impress me.
64 posted on 10/17/2003 3:38:31 PM PDT by shadowman99
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To: paulsy
"No one asked her."

Nor could she eloquently answer if they had. Easier things to ask would be, "Would you like to eat?" or "Do you want to live?"

65 posted on 10/17/2003 3:39:00 PM PDT by paulsy
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To: paulsy
That may be true. But, I don't see it happening.

There are approximately 100 people at the vigil, from my understanding. And I do not know the number of Floridians that support Terri Schiavo. I have been surprised that there aren't more. But, this may have more to do with the reporting of the case than anything else.

There was more national outrage about the Ten Commandments than there is over Terri Schiavo.
66 posted on 10/17/2003 3:39:26 PM PDT by Pan_Yans Wife (You may forget the one with whom you have laughed, but never the one with whom you have wept.)
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Comment #67 Removed by Moderator

To: Pan_Yans Wife
"There are approximately 100 people at the vigil"

1000 would be better, of course. Maybe over the weekend the numbers will grow. Governor Bush apparently has constitutional authority to act; but it's not clear from my reading what the specific instrument of action would be.

68 posted on 10/17/2003 3:42:26 PM PDT by paulsy
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To: All
Michael Schiavo may evade the justice of man's courts but there are other ways to deliver a lethal injection in Florida.

Both JUSTICE (for Micheal) and Mercy (for Terri) are truley in the hands of GOD now!!!

69 posted on 10/17/2003 3:44:13 PM PDT by Coral Snake (Why do we allow a purjuring, software pirate traitor to continue to run our computers?)
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To: paulsy
1000 people this weekend will not change anything. Terri is dying right now, and may not last that long.

It is too late. The people of Florida have not stood up to their government in this case... otherwise, it would be all over the news, all of the time! The people of Florida have known about this case for years, and they haven't acted.

The people of Florida need to change their laws, so that they can protect themselves.
70 posted on 10/17/2003 3:44:46 PM PDT by Pan_Yans Wife (You may forget the one with whom you have laughed, but never the one with whom you have wept.)
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Comment #71 Removed by Moderator

To: TheOtherOne
Assuming she asked not to be kept alive, did she know she would be starved and dehydrated into an awful death.
72 posted on 10/17/2003 3:49:27 PM PDT by Honestfreedom
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To: Pan_Yans Wife
"The people of Florida have known about this case for years, and they haven't acted."

All humanity has botched this one. Has anything like this ever happened here? Is this what remains of "Thou Shall Not Kill" and "Equal Protection" under the Laws?

73 posted on 10/17/2003 3:49:29 PM PDT by paulsy
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To: Uno Animo
This may sound silly, but a large group of people should show up with a cup of yogurt in one hand, and a bottle of water in the other. Then march non-violently into the building. The police can only restrain so many...
74 posted on 10/17/2003 3:49:33 PM PDT by Jalapeno
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To: Uno Animo
Tell that to my two children who need my care this weekend. I do not have the privledge to travel hundreds of miles to particpate in a vigil this weekend. This does not mean that I haven't been praying for Terri for months, reading about her case for the past YEAR, praying for her constantly, reading every article I can find about her, trying to learn about her, and hoping for a miracle.

I am with Terri. But, the end is here.

The last plea is before the FL Supreme Court. They will decide shortly. I don't think I could do battle against them, at this late hour, and win. And apparently, Gov. Bush agrees.

75 posted on 10/17/2003 3:50:57 PM PDT by Pan_Yans Wife (You may forget the one with whom you have laughed, but never the one with whom you have wept.)
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To: mr_griz
"Terri can eat with a spoon" is the name of this article?
76 posted on 10/17/2003 3:51:41 PM PDT by GOPyouth (De Oppresso Liber! Heather Nauert is all that is woman!)
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To: JoeBobJr
You shouldn't have to do that with your spouse.
77 posted on 10/17/2003 3:52:27 PM PDT by Central_Floridian
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To: Jalapeno
"Is this what remains of "Thou Shall Not Kill" and "Equal Protection" under the Laws?

What should we do, once the protections of law fail us and people are allowed to kill for dubious or evil reasons?

78 posted on 10/17/2003 3:54:16 PM PDT by paulsy
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To: paulsy
The reason why humanity botched it, is because we didn't care. It is important to note that we are all responsible in understanding our governments, the actions of the courts, legislature and governors, and the laws.

Because one day, we may all be lamenting "It isn't fair!", when the laws are applied to us in an unjust manner.
79 posted on 10/17/2003 3:57:04 PM PDT by Pan_Yans Wife (You may forget the one with whom you have laughed, but never the one with whom you have wept.)
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To: Spyder
You've got the Dan Rather version of the story.

Sorry, that won't cut it.

Her parents have BEGGED to be able to care for her -- at THEIR expense.

This is such a major travesty that there's no way to recap it to bring you up to speed. Suffice it to say the resource material is abundant, and available, if you want to avail yourself of it. Shooting from the hip with platitudes and generalizations just won't cut it, sorry.
80 posted on 10/17/2003 3:57:24 PM PDT by Don Joe
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