STATEMENT OF BOB SCHINDLER, JR.
In light of my sister’s recent death by dehydration, experts have been urging people to sign advance directives. The implication is that this legal document will protect you from experiencing a horrific death such as Terri’s. However, I think that most Americans will be shocked to learn that this is not necessarily true.
Under the current law in most states, even if you clearly specify that you do not want to be starved to death, a doctor or a hospital doesn’t have to give you the food and fluids that you’ve asked for. Even if you have filled out a legal document choosing food and water, a hospital ethics committee can say that your “quality of life” doesn’t measure up to their standards, and you will slowly die against your will.
My family has personally experienced how biased the medical and legal systems can be toward people with disabilities, targeting people like Terri to hasten their deaths.
Although it is important to sign an advance directive to make clear that you want food and water, evidently, that is not enough. We must also work to change the laws so that those wishes will be respected.
http://nrlc.org/euthanasia/willtolive/BobSchindlerjrstatement.html
The following is a letter to Terri Schiavo from a Marine who fought in Vietnam. Terri's brother, Bobby Schindler, read this letter during Terri's memorial Mass on April 5. Many people cried as Bobby read the letter.
March 24th, 2005
Dear Terri,
You don’t know me and you never will. Unfortunately, I know a lot more about you than you could have ever imagined. I am not alone; there are millions of your fellow Americans who can say the same thing. The information I have been given about you is intimate, conflicting and disturbing. I try not to think about you, but the stories about you appear everywhere I look.
The more I learn, the more confused I become. The facts surrounding your situation are complex and hard to grasp. They have been reviewed, analyzed and parsed by every conceivable outlet, agency and personality.
I have strived to get to the heart of it. Look for the critical thought paths and logic. Seek the building blocks of reason from which I can take a strong, immutable position.
I have listened to Constitutional experts from Georgetown University Law School. These are not light weights and I always admire the intellectual horsepower they demonstrate by analyzing very complex legal issues and defining them in lucid, easy-to-understand terms.
Somehow, their explanations in your case leave me cold and unsatisfied. I am not at all certain we have done the right thing here. I accept that we are a nation of laws deeply embedded in and flowing from our Constitutional heritage. I understand the inherent tension between federal intervention and states rights. But something gnaws at my psyche like an ulcerous sore. It seems as though we may be technically and narrowly correct in the adjudication of your situation, but in doing so, have lost sight of a greater good and a time honored tradition of going to the assistance of those whose lives are in jeopardy.
Many years ago, I was sent to a place called Vietnam. Many others went there as well. It was difficult and filled with instances in which Americans were wounded and for brief periods of time were totally incapable of taking care of themselves. Without hesitation, their comrades sprang to their defense and rescue. Many of the rescuers lost their lives in the effort or were seriously wounded. There was a deep bond among all of us that said if you were hurt, I will be there to help you. Count on it. It was that trust that made going into harm’s way more comfortable and reassuring. It was trust, Terri, that absent my own ability to decide my fate, I could count on others to give me a second chance.
The men and women who participated in these efforts could have hidden behind the rules and the process that said they shouldn’t do it because it was too risky. No one would have blamed them. But, they didn’t. They stepped out bravely and put themselves on the line and saved lives that surely would have been lost. They showed leadership and courage and took great risks. Their efforts are what help define our American culture.
You see, Terri, this is my experience with protecting life. If there’s hope, if there’s a chance, if there’s a way then we should step into the fray and make it happen. The technocrats will always be there to criticize the efforts. They will sight laws and precedent and opinions. They always do. In Vietnam, they would have been the ones who said that the weather was too bad for the evacuation helicopter to fly into the landing zone where a young soldier or Marine was dying. Despite their pessimism, a brave air crew took off, rescued them and saved lives that were surely lost if they had listened to the pundits.
That’s what sticks in my craw, Terri. Globally, we seem willing to commit American lives to protect and save lives elsewhere, but right here under our noses, we lack the courage to step from behind the technical interpretation of law and personally ensure that everything has been done to protect yours. Just days ago, they ruled that your feeding tubes were to be removed.
Terri, I am a Dad and a grandfather. I try to imagine what it would be like for me if one of my three beautiful daughters were in your place. I try to imagine watching those tubes being removed and being powerless to stop it. I try to imagine what I would feel seeing you deteriorate each day as your body slowly shuts down because someone who probably never stood by your bedside, looking down into your eyes made a purely legal call.
I know that I would be incarcerated now, because I would force my way into your room, and hold you and hug you and cry the tears of utter despair as the flesh of my flesh slipped from my life; and it was all …so legal. I would be restrained firmly and gently by security guards, the ambivalence of their orders etched on their faces, as they dragged me from your room.
Soon, Terri, you will be delivered from all this. You will find peace in a place where the purpose of your life is not restricted by the laws of man nor debated by those who have chosen to ignore the primacy of life. You will be whole and beautiful again. When you reach that place, pray for us and forgive us.
Rest in peace, Child of God.
Semper Fidelis,
Dave St. John
http://www.priestsforlife.org/euthanasia/05-03-24davidstjohn.htm
Thank you - Mr. President. I rise for a point of personal privilege.
Tuesday morning - of this week, we began our Senate session with a message delivered by the Chaplain of the Day. His text was taken from Matthew 14 about King Herod and how the authority of that day had lost their conscience to the point of calling for the head of John the Baptist on a platter.
I believe the element that called for the head of John the Baptist was the same element that crucified Jesus Christ.
It is also the same element that is taking the life of Terri Schiavo.
As the authorities said it was legal in the day of John the Baptist and legal in the day of Jesus Christ, authorities today say it is legal to starve a living, breathing women to death in Florida.
The whole world is watching America commit the murder on national TV of a young woman who was never offered the first moment of rehabilitation by her husband who clearly abandoned her 12 years ago.
Is not our authority today calling for the head of Terri Schiavo?
Would the authorities in Herod’s Day call for the head of Barabbas? Of course not.
Would the authorities today call for the starvation of a person on death row? Certainly not.
What is being done to Terri Schiavo would never be done to an animal.
She has been without food and water since last Friday afternoon. Could She die on Good Friday?
I urge you, however you can, to speak up for the life of Terri Schiavo.
Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence about the right to life. He said: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
According to the Declaration of Independence, the right to life is a Divine right.
Will you join me in a moment of silent prayer for Terri, the Schindler family, and for our Nation."
Thank you,
Senator Nancy Schaefer
Georgia State Capitol
313-B Legislative Office Building
Atlanta, Georgia 30334
Phone: 404-463-1367 Fax: 404-656-6579
Senator Nancy Schaefer
50th District Office
P O Box 294
Turnerville, Georgia 30580
Phone: 706-754-1998 Fax: 706-754-1803
http://www.priestsforlife.org/euthanasia/05-03-24senatorschaefer.htm
We have A LOT of work to do!