Backfire!
By Tom Barrett (03/22/05)
Michael Schiavo, Florida Judge George Greer, liberal politicians and the liberal news media have conspired to execute Terry Schiavo. They will kill her by starving her to death, a slow and painful execution. If you or I did that to a dog, we would spend years in prison. They think they have won a great victory. But it is already backfiring on them.
If you read newspapers or watch television, you are already familiar with the media’s version of the case. Michael Schiavo says that his wife told him she would not want artificial methods to be used to keep her alive should she ever experience severe medical distress. So he is only killing her for her own good. He claims he has no financial motive. And (the crux of the matter) he would have us believe that she is in a “severe vegetative state” (see LINK below) with no awareness, and therefore should rightfully be put to death.
According to an article on Newsmax.com (see LINK below): “Fifteen years ago Terri's husband Michael testified in the medical malpractice suit he filed: ‘I believe in the vows I took with my wife: through sickness and health, for richer or poor. I married my wife because I love her and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I'm going to do that.’
But after being awarded $800,000 for Terri's rehabilitation and lifetime care and $640,000 for his loss, Michael had a do-not-resuscitate order placed on his wife's chart and repeatedly denied her treatment for infections. He now lives with a woman by whom he has fathered children.”
According to Ken Connor, attorney for Governor Bush of Florida, Michael Schiavo has refused to allow Terri to have an MRI, which could determine how much brain damage she has suffered; has refused to allow a simple swallowing test, which would indicate whether she could be taught to eat on her own; has refused to allow speech therapy, which could possible help Terri express her own wishes; and has even refused to allow antibiotics to combat infections. As Terri’s legal guardian, he received almost $1.5 million from her insurance company, most of which was supposed to be used for the rehabilitation described above. Instead, he has used Terri’s money almost exclusively to fund legal battles for the purpose of ending her life.
The liberal media has not critically examined Michael Schiavo’s claims, but Conservative Truth is “The Antidote to the Liberal News Media,” so we shall.
To start with, let us look at the crimes that have led to Terry Schiavo’s death sentence. First, she is guilty of having had a heart attack that led to a coma. (She is no longer in a coma, by the way.) Second, she is guilty of having some degree of brain damage; how much, no one knows, because her loving husband has refused to allow proper examination. Third, she is guilty of marrying the wrong man. And finally, she is guilty of being born in a country that values a dog’s life more than that of a human being.
Next, let us look at the chosen method of execution. If she were on Florida’s death row because she was a serial killer or a violent rapist, she would be treated in a much more humane manner. She would receive a lethal injection that would kill her painlessly. Instead, she will be slowly and painfully starved to death.
We should also note that if she were a mass murderer or a serial rapist, millions of your tax dollars would be spent on appeals to stop her execution. Even the vilest criminal most deserving of death would be given every benefit of the legal system at the public’s expense because we are a “humane” nation.
But Terri Schiavo has not even been allowed to have an attorney. In cases like this, where her legal guardian has a financial reason to see her dead, courts often appoint a guardian to make sure that her interests are represented. The guardian would then normally retain an attorney to fight for her. The process thus far has been totally one-sided. Her husband, an adulterer who stands to gain from her death, is the only one legally allowed to speak for Terri.
In addition, no one has ever been sent to death row without the benefit of a jury trial. This is a basic right under our legal system. But Terri’s life is in the hands of a single circuit court judge. A circuit court judge is about the lowest you can go on the judicial totem pole except for the judge who fines you for your parking ticket. Shouldn’t an innocent woman be allowed a jury trial to decide her fate, when the most horrendous criminals are afforded this right?
The news media has largely ignored the news story of a Kansas woman who recently emerged from a twenty years in a coma. They have ignored it because it would help Terry Schiavo’s case in the court of public opinion. Her condition was much worse than Terri’s, but the press always describes Teri’s condition as “hopeless.” This miraculous recovery graphically demonstrates that there is hope for Terri.
Terri Schiavo is not brain dead, nor in a coma, nor on any life support system; she is simply severely handicapped. She breathes on her own. She laughs and cries and tries to communicate. I have watched video of Terri responding to her family on Fox News. (You won’t see such video on the mainstream liberal news channels, because they do not report fairly on right-to-life issues.) There is no question that she is handicapped. But neither is there any question that she is aware of her surroundings and able to respond to those she loves. Her eyes follow her mother as she moves around the room, and Terri tries to speak to those she loves. Michael Schiavo says she does not respond, but even he admits that he has seen her seldom.
Mark Outland, a teacher of disabled students, has this to say about Terri’s condition (for the full article, see LINK below): “Her condition seems very familiar to me, and I am deeply troubled by this, because, you see, as a teacher in a high school class for those with severe handicaps, what the courts and lawyers call ‘persistent vegetative state’, I call students.
“Every day, I teach kids who are no less disabled than Terri. They come to our classroom from parents who love them no less than any parent with a non-disabled child. Their disabilities require us to feed them through tubes, and to change them, and to clean them, and to put them into wheelchairs and standers and walkers. They have severe cognitive retardation and physical disabilities, vision and hearing deficits that render them legally deaf and blind, and their communication may be only sounds or tears or laughter. We measure success in small increments, over years, and even the smallest progress is an occasion for great satisfaction...We teach them to make choices by touching objects or with eye-gaze, to indicate yes or no with a movement or a motion, to move themselves in a supported walker, and to continue the transition from tube feeding to oral feeding.
“In return, they show us courage, and strength and perseverance. And everyday, I thank God for what I have, and hope that I can be half as brave as they are, and we know they teach us more than we could ever teach them.
“At the end of the day, we send them home to moms and dads who greet them with hugs and kisses and love, who look into that troubled body and brain and see a child whose value goes beyond being productive, and whose worth is not based on what they can do, but who they are.”
The medical experts cannot agree on what a Persistent Vegetative State (PVS) is, or even if it exists (see LINK below). One of the first cases in which a court ordered a feeding tube removed based on a diagnosis of PVS was that of Carrie Coons, an 86-year-old woman, who was hospitalized after a massive stroke. Her sister stated that Mrs. Coons would not have wanted to live supported by a feeding tube, so the courts ordered its removal.
Before the court order could be acted upon, Mrs. Coons woke up and started talking and eating. According to Chris Borthwick, the medical researcher who wrote the article mentioned above, Mrs. Coons “…was, not surprisingly, less positive than she had been before the stroke about her ethical views on termination of treatment.
One of our Canadian subscribers, Paul Gordon, brought up an interesting thought. “If being kept alive by 'artificial means' is the lowest bar for state and family member murder, the Holy Father had better not temporary lose consciousness with his tracheotomy tube.” He also brought up people with pacemakers or on life sustaining medications. Aren’t these “artificial means?”
One very important point in all this is that Terri Schiavo’s parents, family and friends all say that she has never expressed a desire to have life-saving measures stopped should she ever experience medical incapacity. He husband is the only one who makes such a claim. And since he would gain financially from her death, I for one am far more inclined to believe her family.
One might well ask why Michael Schiavo does not simply legally divorce his wife and move on with his life. He has already effectively divorced her by abandoning his marriage vows and living in adultery with his mistress, with whom he has fathered two children.
Terri’s parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, have said over and over again that they would assume responsibility for Terri’s care and pay all her medical expenses. They released this statement: "We love our daughter very much and we want her home. Over the last 15 years, Terri has laughed with us, cried with us, talked with us, and even tried to get out of her chair. The accusations that Terri is in a coma or is a 'vegetable' are a lie.
"We beg Michael Schiavo, and those working with him (attempting) to end our daughter's life, to let her come home to her family. We will sign any agreement you want, giving you all monies related to Terri's insurance…You take the money. We just want our daughter."
Michael Schiavo would have us believe that the reason he has refused these offers is that he loves his wife, and has spent the last fifteen years trying to end her life because he wants to honor her wishes. It might be easier to believe in such a high-minded purpose if he were a moral person. But the fact that he is engaged in adultery while his wife is in the hospital indicates that he cares far more about his own pleasure than about his wife.
Money may be the real motivation here. Florida Governor Jeb Bush is one of many public figures who has intervened to try to save Terri Schiavo’s life. His attorney for the case, Ken Connor, has said that Michael Schiavo "stands to gain financially" if his wife dies, though he did not comment on the size of the life insurance policy or other joint financial assets.
A physician friend of mine once related to me a conversation he had with a young man who wanted to marry his daughter. He said, “My daughter is young, beautiful and fun to be with now. If she were ever to become severely ill, would you still love her and stand by her?” When the young man answered in the affirmative, the doctor told him, “That’s all I need to know. You have my blessing.” That young man had character. Michael Schiavo does not.
In a last-minute effort to determine the real facts of this case, Washington has finally acted. On March 18 Congress issued subpoenas ordering doctors and hospice administrators not to remove Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube and to keep her alive until their investigation is complete. Florida Circuit Judge George Greer disregarded the subpoenas. It is interesting that this judge thinks he is above the law.
Many journalists have capably reported on the Terri Schiavo story, including many Conservative Truth authors, so until today I have not felt the need to comment. At this writing, we still do not know if Teri will be killed or if those fighting for her life will succeed in having her feeding tube reinserted. But the reason I write today is that, whatever the outcome for Terri, millions of disabled Americans will benefit from the mobilization of right-to-life forces that has resulted from her suffering.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, the forces of evil think they have won, just as Satan thought he had won when Jesus was crucified. If Terri dies, she will not rise from the dead as Jesus did, but millions of Americans will rise up from passivity to activism to protect innocent life.
It is already happening. Millions of Americans have mobilized to save Terri and potentially thousands of other handicapped Americans. One website devoted to that cause has joined Conservative Truth in the top 1% of websites worldwide in terms of traffic. It made it there in 6 months; it took Conservative Truth four years. They may kill Terri Schiavo, but it will backfire on them, because it has caused America to become aware of their evil intentions.
You see, this is not just about Terri Schiavo. A culture of death is taking root in this once-great nation. We were great because we protected the innocent. Abortion was illegal. Suicide was discouraged. Today innocent babies are murdered because someone forgot to use birth control. And doctors are applauded for “assisting” the suicide of depressed patients who are not capable of making an informed decision to take their own lives.
The elderly and the handicapped are next.
Hitler decreed that anyone who was not “useful” did not deserve to live. We forget that he did not kill only Jews. He murdered the elderly and the mentally and physically handicapped as well. This is the path America is on if we do not act forcibly to stop this culture of death.
I will close by introducing my friend, Elizabeth. There are both differences and similarities between Elizabeth and Terri. Elizabeth is much younger than Terri, and she was born with her condition. And Elizabeth can both chew and swallow her own food. But she cannot feed herself, and she cannot communicate the way you and I can (although, like Terri, she communicates a lot with her eyes).
But when Elizabeth is wheeled into a room, she lights it up. Her smile is electric. Although she can’t do anything for herself, she brings joy to everyone around her with her wonderful attitude toward life.
Is Elizabeth worthless because she will never walk or work unless the Lord heals her? Don’t say that to her mother or father or sister or brother. Her worth is not based on what she can or cannot do. Elizabeth’s life has worth because God gave her life.
If we let them kill Terri Schiavo and others like her, who will be next? Elizabeth? The only real difference between Elizabeth and Terri is that Terri must receive her nourishment through a feeding tube.
Think about it. Someday you or a loved one may be unable to eat. There may be no serious medical condition that requires massive drugs or life support. You may just need food and water. You may be aware enough to hear them discuss “pulling the tube” (as Terri may well be). You may be screaming in your mind, “Don’t kill me!” as others decide to starve you to death.
INTERNET RESEARCH:
Dr. James Dobson’s Website: What You Need to Know about Terri Schiavo
http://www.family.org/cforum/fosi/bioethics/facts/a0027736.cfm
Joni Erickson Tada of Joni and Friends Supports Terri
http://www.joniandfriends.org/apcm/APCMviewer.asp?a=114&z=4
The Least Among Us, by Mark Outland
http://www.sierratimes.com/05/03/14/66_242_166_148_47808.htm
Florida Governor Jeb Bush Intervenes to Save Terri
http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/11/05/schiavo.case/
Newsmax.com Article about Michael Schiavo’s Financial Motivation
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/3/18/223857.shtml
Congress Acts to Return Terri’s Feeding Tube
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002213745_schiavo20.html
Legal Information Regarding Terry Schiavo’s Case
http://www.wilkesmchugh.com/news_schiavo.html
The Persistent Vegetative State: Ethical Crux or Medical Fiction
http://www.thalidomide.ca/gwolbring/pvsilm.htm
Disability Activists Call for Moratorium on Starvation and Dehydration
http://www.notdeadyet.org/docs/moratoriumPR021405.html
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