Free Republic

The 9-year-old boy lingers on a Cleveland football field after a game, sobbing. No one is there to pick him up. No one had been there to cheer him on. Fast forward a few years: The 16-year-old, a promising high-school quarterback, sits in a heap on his coach’s office floor, frustrated at the direction his life is heading. Fast forward again: The sometimes-volatile child of instability has become the calm, smooth leader who piloted the Ohio State football team to a 12-0 record and a berth in the national championship game. The child who had no one to cheer for...

In the court (and courts) of life and death, a little 11-year-old Massachusetts girl named Haleigh Poutre could be the next Terri Schiavo. For those who have not heard the tragic story, Haleigh was beaten nearly to death last September, allegedly by her adoptive mother and stepfather. The beating left her unconscious and barely clinging to life. Within a week or so of the beating, her doctors had written her off. They apparently told Haleigh's court-appointed guardian, Harry Spence, that she was "virtually brain dead." Even though he had never visited her, Spence quickly went to court seeking permission to...

Day 5 going into Day 6 of no food or water for Terri. Affidavit of William Polk Cheshire, Jr., M.D., M.A., F.A.A.N., who Examined Terri Schiavo on 3/23/05: http://www.nationalreview.com/pdf/Affidavit.pdf Florida DCF files petition for intervention: http://www.nationalreview.com/pdf/Petition%20for%20Intervention%20in%20Schiavo%20Case.pdf

Continuation of Terri Schiavo daily March threads. Due to overwhelming participation we reached over 5000 posts in three days time!

A judge released the DCF document seeking intervention in the Terri Schiavo case. She's the brain-damaged woman at the center of a "right to die" battle. The department of children and families document names Michael Schiavo as responsible for the mistreatment of his wife. The nine complaints cited are very technical. They essentially claim the abuse or neglect of Terri is in the form of the kind of medical treatment Terri is, or in some cases is not receiving. The complaint accuses Michael Schiavo of: 1. Failure to educate using certain therapies in violation of guardianship 2. Experimental procedures performed...

TAMPA, Fla. - A judge Thursday agreed to make public a court document filed by the state's social agency seeking intervention in the Terri Schiavo right-to-die case. A newspaper and television station had sued to gain access to the petition filed by the Department of Children & Families that attorneys say seeks to delay removal of the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube while the agency investigates allegations of abuse by her husband. Circuit Judge George Greer said he would make the document available Friday. DCF attorneys argued to keep the petition sealed, citing a need to protect the privacy of witnesses...

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The parents of a brain-damaged woman in a long right-to-die case have renewed their effort to remove her husband as her guardian in their fight over her future. Attorneys for Bob and Mary Schindler filed a petition with circuit court Monday to remove Terri's Schiavo's husband, Michael, as her legal guardian. That, they hope, would keep her husband from ordering doctors to remove the feeding tube keeping her alive. Her husband, claiming that she would not want to be kept alive artificially, has repeatedly received court permission to have the feeding tube removed so she can die....

We are planning a prayer vigil for Terri. What we'd like to do is cover the time of the next hearing (to be held Thursday 9/30/04) for Terri in prayer. We'd like to have some help from other Freepers who might be interested in praying for Terri for an hour.

Campaign 2004 President says he backs up his talk He touts his leadership before select crowd Bush stumps in Ohio Vietnam vets criticize Kerry in TV ad; others condemn it Kerry speaks about support for diversity Powell defends Iraq war, praises diplomatic efforts Battle for the presidency Complete coverage from The Columbus Dispatch, WBNS-10TV and the Ohio News Network Steve Gardner says John Kerry is a liar, traitor and unfit to serve as commander in chief. The Ohio native — the only one of 10 surviving crew members from Kerry’s Navy swift boats in Vietnam who has not joined his...

A coalition of 17 national disability-rights organizations have thrown their support behind Gov. Jeb Bush in his legal battle over the constitutionality of the emergency legislation that enabled him to save Terri Schindler-Schiavo's life last fall. In a friend of the court brief filed July 12, the groups urge the Florida Supreme Court to reverse Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge W. Douglas Baird's May 6 ruling that the governor overstepped constitutional bounds when he invoked "Terri's Law" to halt the starvation death of the 40-year-old, brain-disabled woman, whose estranged husband and guardian, Michael Schiavo, obtained court permission to remove the feeding tube...