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Apr. 8, 2005 The American media and, if you put much stock in polls, a large percentage of the American public, have simply missed the whole point of the Terri Schiavo case. Terri Schiavo, for those of you who've been living in caves for the past year or so, is a 41-year-old brain-damaged woman who was starved to death by the order of a Florida Superior Court judge at the urging of her husband. Just how she became brain-damaged is still a bit unclear. The claim was that she developed an excess of potassium in her system, brought on by binge dieting and bulemia, which caused her to suffer a heart attack. Because of a misdiagnosis by the hospital where she was taken, her brain suffered oxygen deprivation and was severely damaged. She became an invalid. This was about 1990. Her husband filed a lawsuit against the hospital which dragged on for several years. During that time, her husband Michael took pretty good care of her, getting her therapy and taking her to other clinics in hopes of improving her condition. In short, he was quite attentive. Things changed a few years later. By then, he'd met and started dating a different woman and the lawsuit was finally settled for approximately $1.3 million, the bulk of which was earmarked for Terri's rehabilitation, therapy and other medical expenses. Michael also received about $300K for himself as "loss of consortium" which is a polite way of saying his wife's injuries deprived him of her sexual companionship. Strangely, it was at this point that Michael chose to stop all therapy for Terri and began proceedings to have her disconnected from the feeding and hydration tube which was how she had to be fed and hydrated because she'd lost her swallow reflex and there was a danger of her aspiration of food or water if fed by mouth. Removal of this tube would, of course, eventually kill her, either by dehydration or starvation--which it eventually did just this past month. The critical court hearing took place in 2000, some ten years after her accident because Terri's parents had objected to allowing their daughter to be killed--especially in that fashion. At this point, it's important to point out that at NO TIME during this 15-year-long saga was Terri Schindler Schiavo EVER terminal. She was not in danger of dying from pulmonary or cardiac failure, infections, pneumonia or any disease whatsoever. The only "life support" she received at any time was help in feeding herself and ingesting liquids--the same as any baby would require, for example. At that 1990 hearing, Judge George Greer of a Florida superior court heard "evidence" from both Michael Schiavo and Terri's parents, the Schindlers. Michael had used his considerable resources to hire George Felos, a well-known, high-dollar, pro-euthanasia attorney to represent him. The Schindlers, on the other hand, lacking much in the way of financial resources, searched high and low for someone who'd agree to represent them. The finally found an attorney who agreed to help, but who had no experience whatsoever in such a case. She was so inexperienced that she even failed to depose Michael's "witnesses" (his brother and sister-in-law) who eventually testified in open court that they, too, had once heard Terri Schiavo make the statement that she would rather die than be kept alive by "artificial means." Judge Greer demanded an almost-impossible task of Terri's parents--proof of a negative proposition; that she'd never said any such thing. He ruled that she HAD expressed that desire, even though no one had "remembered" that statement until after years of hospitalization, the settlement of that lawsuit and Michael's moving in with his new "fiance" with whom he produced two children. Judge Greer also took NO judicial notice of the fact that the "recall" of that statement had come ONLY after the money from the suit was safely in Michael's bank accounts, prior to which, he'd gone to considerable effort to keep Terri alive-- apparently in violation of "her wishes." That aside, the media and lots of Americans believe that this was a simple matter of thwarting a brain-damaged woman's "right to die" with dignity. If that was all it was, I and thousands of others would never have gotten so involved in petitions, letter writing, editorial writing and generally campaigning to prevent what really was a judicially-ordered murder of a totally innocent woman. The fact is, Michael's and his relative's testimony notwithstanding, Terri had NOT left any instructions about her wishes in this matter. In fact, Michael even ADMITTED on Larry King Live on March 18th that he "...didn't know what Terri would have wanted," which is in DIRECT conflict with his previously sworn testimony that influenced Judge Greer. Neither is this issue a mere matter of a conflict between a husband's and parents' wishes for the disposition of a woman unable to speak for herself. The fact is, no one KNOWS what Terri's wishes might have been and absent absolute knowledge of that, our courts should ALWAYS decide on the side of preserving a life-- even if that life doesn't meet someone's idea of a "quality life." That wasn't done in this case however, despite the incontrovertable fact that by following her husband's wishes--a husband who'd been unfaithful to her for years--the court might just have been aiding and abetting a plot by Michael to rid himself of an inconvenient and financially burdensome wife. There is considerable, compelling reason to believe that Terri would NOT have wanted to be put to death in this manner. For one, she was raised as a Catholic and the church teaches AGAINST "mercy killings," considering it to be a mortal sin akin to suicide. Terri's friends apart from those she shared with her husband-- those who'd been close friends since childhood-- her parents and a brother and sister testified that Terri had NEVER made any such statement in their hearing. The media steadfastly ignored the fact that Terri was NOT being "kept alive" by artificial means. She was NOT "hooked up to" machines that helped her breathe or helped her heart function. She was, in fact, perfectly healthy, though severely brain-damaged. The media also perpetuated the myth of "Persistent Vegetative State" that was sprayed all over the TV for weeks prior to Terri's death. By definition, a persistent vegetative state (or PVS) involves brain damage so severe that the only thing the brain is capable of is the automatic, reflex functions of maintaining heart function and breathing, digestion and excretion. Someone in a PVS is incapable of enjoyment, pleasure, pain, is non-reactive to external stimuli, has a flat brain-scan (EEG) and cannot move, feel or think. NONE of that was true of Ms Schiavo. She was aware of her surroundings, reacted to her mother's touch and voice, tried on occasion, to vocalize, laughed and, according to her family priest, even closed her eyes when he was praying over her shortly before she died and then opened them when the prayer was finished. In short, there was a Terri Schiavo inside her body that could think, feel, react appropriately to voices AND experience pain and pleasure. That being the case, (and it was, by all accounts) Terri Schindler Schiavo was NOT a candidate for death by starvation and dehydration such as Judge Greer ruled in 1990 and steadfastly refused to reconsider until Terri finally died after two weeks of virtual torture at the hands of the State and an uncaring, estranged husband. It should also be noted that Michael Schiavo had forbade film or photos of Terri for the final 4 years of her life--apparently understanding that anyone viewing those films would be able to see quite clearly that Terri was NOT brain-dead and in a PVS as he'd claimed. He severely restricted access to their daughter and sister by her own family, as well. The media, apparently inthralled by the rhetoric of Mr. Felos, simply parroted what he told them and the public got an entirely erroneous impression of what was going on in Terri's hospice room--a room that she wasn't really entitled to since she was NOT terminal in the first place--except by the intervention of her husband, George Felos and Judge Greer. Terri's now dead and the nation is worse off for her loss--not because she was leading such a high-quality life, but because killing her by judicial fiat has coarsened us just a little bit more and led us on one more step towards euthanasia as a "solution" to overcrowding, or, in the opinion of many, the "waste" of valuable resources. How far away can we be from killing newborn babies who aren't born "perfect" or killing off our elderly who can't work any more and be "productive" if we're willing to take away the life of an innocent woman who's only crime was that she was "inconvenient?" ------------ About the author: David A. Jared is a news junkie, semi-retired and an avid golfer who's been writing his first book, "4000 years of chopsticks" for the last 20 years. Email: Pappadave@sbcglobal.net ------------- All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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