Citing Kansas case, Terri Schiavo's parents seek more MD tests
By MITCH STACY Associated Press Writer
February 17, 2005
CLEARWATER, Fla.- The parents of a severely brain-damaged woman at the center of a contentious right-to-die case said Thursday they will ask a judge to delay the removal of her feeding tube so more medical tests can be performed to better determine her condition.
An attorney for Bob and Mary Schindler said new medical technology could better assess Terri Schiavo's brain activity and those tests should be done before her husband is allowed to order the removal of the feeding tube keeping her alive.
With other legal options running out, the attorney, David Gibbs III, said he will file a motion Monday asking Circuit Judge George Greer to allow the tests. Also Monday, a hearing is scheduled in which Gibbs will ask the judge to extend a court-ordered stay set to expire Tuesday.
Barring any more court-ordered delays, the tube could be removed sometime after Tuesday. She could live for 10 days to two weeks afterward.
"I think the bottom line is that Terri deserves to get these tests," Bob Schindler said. "It would be unconscionable for Judge Greer or any other judge to order her death without these tests."
The Schindlers have been fighting their son-in-law, Michael Schiavo, in court for years over what should happen to their daughter. He contends his 41-year-old wife who suffered severe brain damage 15 years ago would not want to be kept alive artificially; her parents contend she had no such death wish and could get better with therapy.
The Schindlers also dispute that she is in what the court has determined is a persistent vegetative state. They say she laughs, reacts to them and tries to speak.
The family pointed to recent news that a woman left in a coma 20 years ago in a car accident recently began to speak. Sarah Scantlin of Hutchinson, Kan., began to speak after years of only being able to communicate in the simplest ways.
They also point to new medical research published in the journal Neurology showing brain scans of some severely brain-damaged patients prompted a pattern of brain activity similar to that of healthy people.
Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, said the Scantlin case and the medical study don't apply to Terri Schiavo because tests have already shown that she "is in a vegetative condition and has no consciousness."
"These are frivolous, last-ditch efforts on the part of the parents," Felos said.
The Schindlers' other legal options have dwindled in recent weeks. Gibbs plans appeals on some other issues, but state courts have consistently ruled against the parents.
The family has again turned to Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry to organize a public relations campaign that includes demonstrations and lobbying of Gov. Jeb Bush and lawmakers to intervene to save the woman's life. He said they also plan to picket Michael Schiavo's home and workplace.
The Florida Legislature intervened in the case in 2003 with a hastily passed law allowing Bush to order the feedings restored six days after Michael Schiavo had them stopped. That law was subsequently struck down as unconstitutional.
Terri Schiavo, who lives in a Pinellas Park hospice and grew up in the Philadelphia suburb of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., was left brain-damaged after her heart stopped beating temporarily in 1990 due to a chemical imbalance. She can breathe on her own but is dependent on a feeding tube for nutrition and hydration.
http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/home/article/0,1651,TCP_996_3556646,00.html
A message for those weary from the judicial plan to murder an innocent person
Q: What is the shortest chapter in the Bible?
A: Psalms 117
Q: What is the longest chapter in the Bible?
A: Psalms 119
Q: Which chapter is in the center of the Bible?
A: Psalms 118
Fact: There are 594 chapters before Psalms 118
Fact: There are 594 chapters after Psalms 118
Add these numbers up and you get 1188.
Q: What is the center verse in the Bible?
A: Psalms 118:8
Q: Does this verse say something significant about God's perfect will for our lives?
The next time someone says they would like to find
God's perfect will for their lives and that they want to
be in the center of His will, just send them to the
center of His Word!
Psalms 118:8
"It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man."
Now isn't that odd how this worked out (or was God in the center of it)?
When things get tough, always remember...
Faith doesn't get you around trouble, it gets you through it !!
God Bless You!