PINELLAS PARK (BP)—After more than a
week of intense legal and emotional maneuvers, Terri Schiavo’s
family said they are looking to bring her home.
"Why should the sanctity of law be
more important than the sanctity of life?" asked Bob
Schindler Jr., on NBC’s "Today." Schindler, Terri’s
brother, speaking on court rulings expected the week of Oct. 27,
said he and his parent’s remain optimistic in the face of an
incredible legal battle.
"We’re hoping ... the legal team
will hopefully rule in our favor, and help us get Terri to bring
her home to her family," Schindler said.
Schiavo is the 39-year-old brain damaged
Clearwater woman at the center of a national debate which has
brought to the forefront moral and legal arguments concerning her
quality of life and her so called "right-to-die."
Oct. 15, the feeding tube which has
sustained her life since a 1990 unexplained heart failure left
her brain-damaged, was removed on court orders. Doctors disagree
over whether she is in a "persistent vegetative state,"
but the courts have sided with that opinion.
Michael Schiavo, Terri’s husband, and
her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler have been in a court battle
for over five years. He says his brain-damaged wife would not
want to live. The Schindlers say their daughter has never had the
care and rehabilitation she needs in order to improve.
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush signed an executive
order into law Oct. 21, providing for the immediate rehydration
and nourishment of Terri Schiavo, after both chambers of the
state legislature scrambled for nearly two days to pass a bill
giving Bush the authority to intervene.
Late Oct. 21 Schiavo was moved to Morton
Plant Hospital from Woodside Hospice, where she had been cared
for. At Morton, doctors began IV therapy to rehydrate Schiavo in
preparation for installing a new feeding tube by which she could
receive nourishment. Oct. 22 her feeding tube was reinserted and
Schiavo was whisked back to the hospice.
Though they were barred from visiting
Schiavo at Morton Plant Hospital and had not received any
official word on her condition, the Schiavo’s were told late
Oct. 22 they could visit their daughter and sister at Woodside
Hospice.
Family members visit
"The family is staying with her almost
non-stop now," Bill Bunkley, legislative consultant for the
Florida Baptist Convention, told Florida Baptist Witness
late Oct. 23. "They reported the redness has gone away from
her eyes and she’s passing urine."
Bunkley said the news indicates her kidneys
are operating and not damaged. After six days with no food or
water, George Felos, attorney for Michael Schiavo, had speculated
in news reports issued by the Associated
Press, Terri Schiavo’s organs most
likely would had been severely damaged and her kidneys would have
ceased to function.
Schindler attorney, Pat Anderson, on the
television news show "On the Record with Greta Van
Susteren" late Oct. 23, said, "[Terri’s] not going to
spring back after being dehydrated for a week," but reported
she appeared much improved over her condition just a few days
before.
Anderson, who also said there is a 43
percent error rate in diagnosing a patient as in a "persistent
vegetative state," added that typically a patient in Terri’s
condition, after being dehydrated for so long, would be in a
hospital’s intensive care unit.
On the same show, Schiavo’s brother,
Bobby Schindler, said he believed his sister "looked rather
good" considering what she had just been through.
Schindler told Van Susteren his father
turned 66 Oct. 23 and the family celebrated by bringing a
birthday cake to the hospice and singing "Happy Birthday"
with Terri. There were "big" smiles all around, he said.
After fielding comments from "right to-die"
advocates and constitutional analysts, Van Susteren, wrapping up
her news show, told viewers that "frankly" she wouldn’t
let an animal in her care die from starvation.
Lieberman backs Bush
Democrat Joe Leberman told Associated Press
Oct. 22 he supports Gov. Bush’s actions in the Schiavo case.
Government must "honor life," he said. Ironically,
Lieberman, who has backed pro-abortion efforts, said he supported
the GOP-led Florida Legislature for giving Bush the authority to
intervene, since in her case there is no advance directive on
file.
"I believe that certainly in cases
where there is not a living will ... I feel very strongly that we
ought to honor life and we ought not to create a system where
people are being deprived of nutrition or hydration in a way that
ends their lives," Lieberman told AP.
Siding with Michael Schiavo, the American
Civil Liberties Union told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel news
Oct. 23 it will help Michael Schiavo in his fight against Gov.
Bush and the Florida Legislature.
At the heart of the issue is whether the
state’s top leaders acted unconstitutionally in disregarding
various court rulings in the contentious case.
The Sun Sentinel reported leaders
of the AARP, a group claiming 2.6 million Floridians age 50 and
older, as well as member of the Florida Bar Association’s
elder law section might also get involved.
Pamela Hennessy, a spokesperson for the
family, told the Sun Sentinel she is "outraged" at the
ACLU’s latest move.
"I’ve been contacting the ACLU
since the beginning of my involvement in this case to have them
speak out against what’s going on with Terri," Hennessy
told the Sun Sentinel. "It’s going on against her will.
She’s had her religious freedoms stripped from her. She’s
had her civil liberties stripped from her. And they’re
defending the husband?" [For information about earlier
judicial involvement see Witness editorials "Starving a
woman to death in Clearwater," Sept. 4, and "Date Set:
Starving..," Sept. 25. ]
Husband pledges to fight
Though there had been talk Oct. 23 that
Michael Schiavo might be considering a settlement in the case
which would transfer guardianship to Terri’s parents,
Schiavo attorney George Felos told reporters in a press
conference that afternoon his client would continue to pursue a
legal fight to end his wife’s life. Felos was expected to
petition Florida’s Supreme Court Oct. 27 to say that "Terri’s
Law" as it’s now called, is unconstitutional.
AP reported Felos faced an Oct. 27 deadline
to deliver legal briefs to Pinellas Circuit Court Judge W.
Douglas Baird in which he plans to argue the new law violates an
individual’s "right" to refuse medical care. The
report said Felos also intends to argue the law violates the
separation of powers by allowing the Legislature and governor to
by-pass a court’s decision. Legal scholars have said the
Legislature cannot pass retroactive laws intended for specific
individuals.
Independent guardian
While basic medical care has been restored
per Gov. Bush’s executive order, Terri Schiavo continues to
be under the guardianship of her husband Michael until a judge
decides otherwise. The law signed by Bush gave both parties five
days to agree on an independent guardian or accept one appointed
by a Pinellas County Circuit Court judge.
If agreement has not been reached, the
judge has said he will appoint as guardian Jay Wolfson, both a
medical doctor and a lawyer, who is a professor of health and law
at Stetson University, and also works for the College of Public
Health at Florida State University and the College of Medicine at
the University of South Florida.
Advocates for Terri Schiavo have said they
are concerned about views Wolfson may have already expressed
about quality of life issues and believe he may have already
publicly criticized the governor’s action in this case.
If appointed, Wolfson would become Schiavo’s
advocate in legal proceedings, but it is still unclear what the
scope of his powers would be.
CNN news reported Oct. 23 Terri Schiavo’s
parents have accused their son-in-law of selfish motivations in
the case. Michael Schiavo, who is engaged to be married to
another woman with whom he has one child, won a $1.2 million
malpractice case against his wife’s gynecologist and another
$250,000 in a settlement with her general practitioner. In
addition, he received $300,000 for pain and suffering and loss of
consortium.
Though most of the money was to go towards
therapy for Terri, the Circuit Court judge has routinely approved
expenditures from Terri’s trust for attorney’s fees for
Michael Schiavo.
CNN reported Michael Schiavo has refused to
comment on whether there is an outstanding life insurance policy
on Terri Schiavo.
Spouse abuse alleged
Oct. 23 the Tampa Tribune reported
the Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities, a state agency
funded by Congress, was planning to launch an investigation into
alleged spousal abuse against Terri Schiavo.
The Schindler family has accused Michael
Schiavo of abuse and neglect as guardian and the agency’s
investigation could play a role in the determination of a
guardian for Schiavo.
Tallahassee’s phones ringing
Meanwhile, in Tallahassee, a Bush
spokeswoman told the Tallahassee Democrat the governor’s
office had received nearly 165,411 e-mails and "thousands of
phone calls" since Aug. 27.
In an Oct. 23 report, the Democrat quoted
Alia Faraj who said the office normally gets an average of about
5,000 e-mails a week.
Not knowing the nature of each of the
messages, Faraj said "people are generally in support of
saving Schiavo."
Florida’s Supreme Court, which has in
the past refused to hear Schiavo’s case, has received about
100 calls in various offices, as have legislator’s offices.
Chicago paper points to ‘large
holes’ in Schiavo story
In an Oct. 23 unattributed Chicago
Tribune feature story "Death, life and politics in
Florida," a writer explores "the most complex and
heartrending life-and-death drama imaginable" in the case of
Schiavo.
"Truth is that even after exhaustive
media coverage, large holes remain in the Schiavo story. The
reasons for the bitter feud between her husband and his in-laws
are still murky," the writer asserts. "So is the
question of why he didn’t turn over Schiavo’s care to
her parents, and devote his energies to his new partner and their
child."
The writer continues to ask questions about
Schiavo’s quality of life and the asserts that by preparing
a living will, this situation could have been avoided.
"Legislatures are almost invariably
wrong when they rush in to overrule court decisions because they
don’t like them," the writer said.
Evangelicals react
BUNKLEY
Bill Bunkley, legislative consultant for
the Florida Baptist Convention, said he believes the fight has
just heated up for right-to-life issues.
"As many people have breathed a sigh
of relief, this is the first wake-up call that this may be a long
process as well as a gut-wrenching one," Bunkley told the Witness.
"This is a spiritual battle."
Richard Land, president of the Southern
Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty
Commission, told Baptist Press Oct. 21: "We need to have a
presumption in favor of life, not a presumption in favor of death."
"Our national leaders would be wise to
begin addressing this issue to insure that all humans-regardless
of their age and physical or mental condition-have a right to be
protected from predators who might seek to ‘pull the plug’
on their life," Land said.
Joni Eareckson Tada, an evangelical who is
also a quadriplegic, told James Dobson on his radio program Oct.
22 she views the case as "Roe v. Wade for people with
disabilities."
[See the Witness Web site at: www.FloridaBaptistWitness.com
for additional coverage.]
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