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Being the mother of a profoundly retarded
young woman, the torture/murder of Terri Schindler Schiavo had a very strong
impact on me. I could see my daughter in the videos of Terri which were shown on
the Internet.
Terri was diagnosed as being in a ‘Persistent Vegetative State’ or PVS. In the
past, my daughter, Samantha, has also been diagnosed as a ‘vegetable’. Samantha
manages to communicate her needs, she attempts to speak, she makes the effort to
follow her therapists requests, just as Terri did on the videos of her. Samantha
is definitely not PVS and neither was Terri. It is a proven fact that PVS is
misdiagnosed in the majority of cases.
There are people who view my daughter as a vegetable, but it is their loss. They
do not get to see the beautiful person that she really is. In this same way, the
people who refused to see Terri as the beautiful person she was missed out on
knowing her.
People who knew Terri and had cared for her have related that she could speak,
let them know when she was in pain, and follow instructions. Someone who is PVS
is not able to do these things. This important information was not allowed into
evidence in Terri’s trial, and was ignored by the judge.
Terri Schindler Schiavo collapsed in her home of mysterious circumstances on
February 25, 1990. When the ambulance arrived, Terri was laying on her stomach
in the hallway. It was suspected that Terri had a neck injury according to a
Neurologist who treated her at the hospital. Her parents suspect that Terri was
strangled. Michael claims that Terri’s collapse was due to a heart attack
brought on by a potassium imbalance. This was later proven inaccurate by the
autopsy.
Shortly after Terri was hospitalized, Michael had Terri’s parents sign papers
giving him guardianship of Terri so that he had sole right to make decisions
concerning her care. She was very well cared for. Michael had her caregivers
apply her makeup daily, she received the therapy she needed, took walks outside
and even had an experimental brain implant in an attempt to help her to recover.
During this time, Michael filed a lawsuit against two doctors who had been
treating Terri. One doctor settled out of court. The jury in the other case
found that the doctor was negligent in her care. Michael won a sum of more than
a million dollars so that he could care for Terri for the rest of her life.
Shortly after Michael received the money from the lawsuit, he suddenly
remembered that Terri had said that she would not have wanted to live in that
condition and began a quest to have Terri’s feeding tube removed, spending most
of this money on murdering her instead of caring for her as he had promised.
The court trials in this case were a comedy of errors from the very beginning.
Michael had the best ‘right to die’ lawyer available, George Felos. Terri’s
parents were unable to afford a knowledgeable lawyer, so things that should have
been brought to the court’s attention in the first trial were not. Michael
Schiavo, his brother and sister-in-law testified that Terri had said she would
not want to live by artificial means. Terri’s parents, siblings and best friend
testified that Terri would not have wanted to die. Her best friend told of
watching a movie about Karen Quinlin during which Terri had said ‘Where there is
life, there is hope.’ The judge dismissed this testimony because he was confused
about the year that Karen Quinlin died. Judge Greer ruled that Terri would have
wanted her tube to be removed.
Terri’s parents tried for the next 8 years to get Judge Greer to change his
mind. He refused to allow testimony that proved that Terri wanted to live.
Lawyers for Terri’s parents forgot to bring information before the court. If
anything could go against Terri, it did.
Terri’s case went before the Florida Appeals Court and the Florida Supreme Court
on many occasions. The only thing they looked at was the original trial and how
Judge Greer came to make his decision. He did not make any technical errors in
his decision, he only made a bad decision, so the Florida Courts would not find
in the parent’s favor.
During this time, Terri was moved to hospice, denied therapy, was not allowed to
watch TV, was not allowed outside, and at times was denied visitation. Many
guardianship laws were broken, but no one stopped the abuse.
On October 15, 2003 Terri’s tube was removed for 5 days, being replaced when the
Florida Legislature passed ‘Terri’s Law.’ This law was later found to be
unconstitutional and Terri’s tube was removed for the last time on March 18,
2005.
As the whole world watched, Terri Schiavo was tortured/murdered over a 13 day
period, even though she had attempted in her own way to say ‘I want to live‘
before her tube was removed. Her parents were forbidden from giving her any
water, moistening her lips and at times even from visiting their daughter. They
had to watch their child die, day after day, unable to stop the horrific act. As
a mother, I just cannot imagine being in that position.
As Terri was being dehydrated to death, Pope John Paul II was in his final days
of life. A feeding tube was inserted to give the Pope food and hydration to make
his final days as comfortable as possible. As Terri was demonstrating how little
the life of a disabled person is worth in the United States, the Pope was
demonstrating how joyous a good death could be.
This was Terri’s gift to the world. This was Pope John Paul II’s gift to the
world. Together they brought attention to both polarities of the issue of death
and how it can be experienced.
Terri Schindler Schiavo has become a modern day martyr. She personifies
everything that is wrong with the courts in the United States and with our
Government. She personifies what can happen to any disabled person in the United
States at any time.
Claudia McNeely -
http://www.askclaudia.com - is a gifted
and caring Psychic/Healer. With the assistance of Angels, Guides and Master
Healers, she will tell you exactly what she sees and feels instead of what you
want to hear. Her Clairvoyant Psychic Readings are very accurate and insightful.
She can help you to understand where you are, where you want to be and how to
get there.
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