![]() |
|||||||
|
« Statement by the President One Year Ago | Main | Last Ditch Effort to Save Terri » March 17, 2006Blogburst in Memory of Terri SchiavoTopics: Remembering TerriUpdate: The time has been modified to keep this message on top. On March 31, 2005, Terri Schindler Schiavo died of marked dehydration following more than 13 days without nutrition or hydration under the order of Circuit Court Judge, George W. Greer of the Pinellas-Pasco's Sixth Judicial Court. Terri was 41. It was nearly one year ago that Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed for the purpose of ending her life. Nearly one year ago her legal guardian obtained a court order in public view to purposefully bring about her death by withholding the most basic of necessities. Yes, nearly one year ago Terri began 13 days without food or water. We invite you to join us for a Blogburst in remembrance of Terri Schiavo beginning March 18th (or earlier). Over the 13 days we are asking our friends to write about Terri's life and death, link to her family's foundation (Terrisfight.org) and affirm the intrinsic dignity of human life. Updates: Stay in touch by signing for our email list: click here. One year ago, Dory hosted several Blogger's Best for Terri Schiavo and now plans three editions to be posted on Saturday, March 18th, Friday, March 24th and Friday March 31st. Follow this link for the details. Let's honor Terri's memory by making the argument for why lives like hers should be protected, respected, and loved. Posted by tim at March 17, 2006 11:42 PM Articles Related to Remembering Terri:
Comments
Thanks Maggie! Posted by: tim at March 16, 2006 12:10 AM you people really need to get a life.... Posted by: Stephen Silver at March 17, 2006 11:19 AM Here is another touching tribute to Terri Schiavo: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/227208 [Click WATCH THIS MOVIE on destination page.] Posted by: Sirkowski at March 17, 2006 12:31 PM Sirkowski- Posted by: Theresa de Vera at March 17, 2006 12:43 PM Theresa, he's just a jerk, it's best to ignore him. He reminds me of the ugly little kid in this animation. Posted by: John at March 17, 2006 2:54 PM Sorry, the link for the animation didn't work, I'll just cut and paste them below (they go to the same animation, the NewGrounds one loads faster and you can vote on it): http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/228642 Posted by: John at March 17, 2006 3:01 PM Um... did any of you actionally KNOW Terri Shiavo or is this just a crass attempt to politicize the circumstances of her death? I mean, if you all knew her before she went catatonic, I give you my condolences and I hope that time will help you make peace with her passing. If you didn't know her before she went into her coma, though, and are just using her death to make a point about euthenasia, you are ghouls and you dishonor her memory. Posted by: JN at March 17, 2006 7:38 PM God's will is always done. And Terri's death was part of God's will. God called Terri to him in 1990 and it was man, not God, who stuffed tubes into a person without a conscience to keep her alive in a sick form of suspended animation. God reclaimed Terri a year ago. Had God wanted Terri to remain on life support, she would still be on it. Posted by: Katy at March 17, 2006 7:39 PM I didn't realize that one had to know someone personally to speak out against public injustice and legalized murder. And, it is false that "God called Terri to him in 1990." Even Michael Schiavo has sworn under oath that this is not true. Please provide Biblical support for your assertion. Posted by: cc at March 17, 2006 7:44 PM I hardly know where to begin. I'm still so disturbed by that horrible display of ungodly conduct, towards a helpless human being. We see stories all the time of humanitarian efforts to help other starving nations, yet we were unable to stop our government from murdering one of it's citizens, by starvation, on national TV. I was never so ashamed to call myself an american. We go all over the world trying to promote, our spin on Democracy to other countries even to the point of ramming it down their throats, and killing them to drive the point home, but does our government really care about us of course not. I'm still stunned at what happened to Terri, right before our eyes. And now know that it could happen to anyone of us, and that government appointed for the people, by the people forget that nonsense, this renegade administration is out of control, and none of us is safe. Posted by: Pam at March 18, 2006 2:30 PM I am 45, suffering from polycystic kidney disease. My would be 47 year old brother, and would-be 53 year old sister are dead from brain anuerism resulting from the disease. I assume it won't be long for me. I still to this day can not find one single person who would want to be kept alive in that state-not one. So who are we to question her husbands decision. Nobody with any real credibility was giving her any hope, and for but a selfish few (her parents) having some morbid reason for continueing to defame a human being without hope is really a indefensible position. How sad for Teri, her parents, her husband, the rest of us can go to hell. Bill Frist will hear this womans name as he is laughed out of the presidential primary race. These people are the moveonorg of the right, and they should be ashamed of themselves and this site. How pathetic! Posted by: Mick at March 18, 2006 2:39 PM Dearest Sister Terri- You are honored among the Saints and those martyred fighting to protect life and the equality of all beings. I honor you with these words, the thoughts of this prayer as we all know that you were another in a long line of righteous souls, sacrificed in the blood of innocence. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. - Revelation 14:13 Having worked on the front lines of the disability rights movement for over a decade, I have seen firsthand the erosion of protections afforded Americans with disabilities. We are the last in a long line of peoples to be fundamental oppressed and legislatively abused even unto the point of death, judicial ruling backing cruel and unusual punishment that animals and criminals are afforded protections from. What Terri went through a year ago, with the repeated attempts at starving dehydrating her, will always for me be one of the darker episodes of Americas stance for equal citizenship for all people. It stares into the faces of all human beings living in the United Police State of America, as it will only be a matter of when and not if, you will eventually need long term care. That being said, it is important for all people to take a stand for life and force our government to honor each of us as sacred beings granted life by a Creator that so loved us, that He sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross in body, so that in His sacrifice we would be granted the remission of sins and the righteous granted eternal life. We know what lies ahead for those that Love the Christ and life. With the New World Order running out of time, there will be an expansive push for one world government and the surrender of national sovereignty. They are busying themselves with following the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion and The Report from Iron Mountain. If you have not yet read these two important pieces of insight into the NWO precedence please do so and prepare. For depopulation is an essential aspect of their plan for peace without war. They are mounting pressure to kill people through euthanasia, abortion, and capital puniishment. That is also why our military uses depleted uranium even though it threatens all people everywhere. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. -Revelation 6:10-11 Terri, you will never be forgotten and will always be missed. See you on the otherside when the Trumpet sounds. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. -Thessalonians 1:4-16-18 Posted by: Zen Garcia at March 18, 2006 4:04 PM I think what Michael Schiavo did was nothing but murder and I still hope that the Schindler family can place a Civil Lawsuit against this guy and make him pay big time. Posted by: Evelyn2 For those that don't know, Terri had also been encoded into the Bible Code Matrix. The actual code can be found here: http://www.exodus2006.com/fab/terri.htm For further study on Codes that have been found by people all over the world go to: www.exodus2006.com
Terri Shiavo - the killing of - exhausted she died. (Found on 20 March - died on 31 March) Posted by: Zen Garcia at March 18, 2006 4:21 PM Dear Schindler Family, Posted by: Theresa de Vera at March 18, 2006 5:01 PM i cannot believe that today,of all days,and here,that there are people so hateful and hatefilled as to come and spew their petty and spiteful words at those who honor the memory of Terri and her family. as the old saying goes,what goes around,comes around,and the euthanasia movement comes ever closer to all of us,and eventually every one of us is all too likely to face Terri's fate, without a concentrated effort at work and prayer to fight it. Terri,please pray for us,and we pray for you daily. Posted by: LadyDeerskin Mick: http://www.blogsforterri.com/archives/testimonials/index.php Posted by: cc at March 18, 2006 5:28 PM I remember this day with great sadness. We prayed so hard and watched and listened to every update Posted by: Marijo at March 18, 2006 7:24 PM I remember feeling so helpless this day last year. That there was nothing I could do to help Terri. But I was wrong....the grassroots effort built up to a fever pitch. I learned about websites like rightmarch.com where I could easily email/fax my Congressmen and Senators. I joined thousands in ringing their phones off the hook and running their faxes out of paper. I remember watching CSPAN at 10pm where the Congress was in emergency session on behalf of Terri. In the end it was futile....but I learned that I really do have a voice, I just have to make it effective. Most importantly I talked to my parents about this issue and it was made very clear what their wishes are and that they need to put those wishes in writing. Turns out both of my parents are VERY different in their wishes, and I'm glad I know now. -Nicole Posted by: Nicole Weeks at March 18, 2006 10:03 PM These pro-death commenters provide a valuable reminder of the "Terri Must Die" counter-demonstrators of a year ago. I never understood what motivated them, unless it was pure evil. Posted by: Paul, just this guy, you know? at March 19, 2006 2:50 PM Mick, I don't know anyone who would WANT to live like that, but I also don't know anyone who would want to die like Terri died. You don't have to know someone to be against murder? What is wrong with you people? You are politicizing her death! I could make the valid argument that the autopsies showed that she had been brain dead for years, thus justifying the actions, but why should I need to? You people are so obsessed with trying to make a point that you wave a corpse around as if it's a flag. Let Mrs. Shiavo (because nobody who hadn't met her in life deserves to call her by her first name) rest in peace and find somewhere else to peddle your politics. To use her as a prop is abhorrent. Posted by: JN at March 20, 2006 12:40 PM JN - injustice demands a response and Terri's death remains a public testimony of the advancements that have been made by the death oriented euthanasia movement. I continue to be amazed at the outrage of individuals who want to forget and suggest that dehydrating her to death was justified because she was disabled. Posted by: cc at March 20, 2006 1:00 PM You could make the argument that she was brain dead, but that would not be a valid argument. The autopsy could show no such thing. You understand that she is always going to be the brain dead husk of a woman you saw on TV to you, right? For a woman who asked to be taken off life support if she ever reached the level she reached, being rememberred as bedridden and without thought is like having the rest of her life invalidated. She was a real human being before she became comatose and brain dead, but you are saying that her family should never find solice in their memories of her life but should instead only be reminded of her death. I'm not saying you can't dislike euthenasia or that you should stop protesting it if that's what you believe, but you are using a corpse to advance your causes and you never even knew her in life. It's disgusting. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. For all your ranting against the "culture of death", you are the ones who continue to use a dead woman to your own ends. Posted by: JN at March 20, 2006 5:08 PM Oh, and cece, not that it changes my opinion of the way this and other sites are grossly misusing her after her death, but you might want to check the report here about her condition: http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/06/15/schiavo.autopsy/ "LARGO, Florida (CNN) -- The autopsy of Terri Schiavo found no evidence that the severely brain-damaged woman was strangled or abused and that no amount of therapy would have reversed her condition, a medical examiner said Wednesday." Posted by: JN at March 20, 2006 5:14 PM Anatomical analysis does not provide functional or clinical diagnosis. http://www.blogsforterri.com/archives/2005/06/i_was_wrong.php Dr. Thogmartin, the Pinellas County Medical Examiner, and Dr. Stephen Nelson, the consulting neuropathologist, were quite measured and reasonable in the conclusions they made concerning Terri's neurological state. They stated clearly in the report, and reiterated several times during Wednesday's press conference, that PVS is a clinical diagnosis and cannot be confirmed by autopsy. They confined themselves to stating that Terri had severe brain damage, and that such damage was "consistent with" a diagnosis of PVS. Unfortunately, the measured, reasonable conclusions of the autopsy report have not stopped ignorant journalists and pundits from making erroneous and outrageous claims about what the autopsy "proved". Posted by: cc at March 20, 2006 5:39 PM No details of this autopsy change the moral evaluation of what happened to Terri. Her physical injuries and disabilities never made her less of a person. No amount of brain injury ever justifies denying a person proper humane care. That includes food and water. A person with a 'profoundly atrophied' brain needs profound care and love. Terri did not die from an atrophied brain. She died from an atrophy of compassion on the part of her estranged husband and those who helped him to have her deliberately killed. -- Fr. Frank Pavone Posted by: cc at March 20, 2006 5:40 PM Yes- Father Frank Pavone has a real gift for deflecting the public attention from the central issue of the case. Father Frank Pavone doesn't want this case to be about CHOICE. Father Frank wants the public to think this case was about killing the handicapped. Or about an out of control judiciary passing judgment on the "value" of life. He knows the truth but the truth doesn't serve his purposes (or the Schindlers). The truth is that the central issue of this case was about the right of Americans to live and die according to their own choices. In particular this case was about the right of Americans to accept or refuse medical treatments. This right is not diminished simply because your mother or your father disagree with your choice. This right is not diminished simply because your mother or your father refuse to accept the testimony of others as to their first hand knowlege of your choice. This right is not diminished simply because a preacher or a group of well meaning preachers gets together and declares they don't agree with your choice. This right is not diminished simply because some rag tag bunch of protestors gets together and disrupts the peace and the order. It was Mrs Schiavos inalienable right to chose for herself what medical treatments she would accept or reject. She expressed her choice. The courts investigated and determined that she had expressed her choice. The courts then undertook the task of enforcing Mrs Schiavos inalienable right to make her choice and have it adhered to. Attack upon attack was mounted against Mrs Schiavos right to chose and the courts repelled every onslaught. The sad truth of the matter is that Mrs Schiavos own hate filled, vengeful and controlling family of origin was the source of these endless attacks. Maybe they couldn't let go. Maybe they couldn't face the fact that their daughter had grown up and was an adult that they no longer could, or should, try to control. Considering what we know about the etiology and development of eating disorders it is not surprising that her family of origin would launch attack after attack in an effort to seize control. After all CONTROL really is at the heart of eating disorders. In the end they tried to undermine, discredit and damage every expression of choice Mrs Schiavo ever made. They disrespected her choice to be married and tried to undue that choice their daughter had made by attempting to initiate (unsuccessfully) divorce proceedings on her behalf. What a slap in the face to their daughter! They villianized Michael Schiavo because lawyers told them they had to establish criminalty in order to undermine guardianship rights. They villianized Michael Schiavo because their cause needed a villian. Tragedy was not enough for the Schindler family. They needed to plant the seeds of hate and then they needed to tend to their garden and fuel the fires they had created. They needed to have suspicion. They needed to have controversy. They needed to have unrest and malice toward the courts and the Florida government that had spurned them and refused to give them the control they so desperately craved. What they didn't want was an honest and informed debate. What they don't want to this day is for the TRUTH to come out. If they did they could start by releasing the rest of the hours and hours of video tape from which they so carefully selected, edited and labelled tiny little self serving bits. I can almost guarantee you that no one will ever see the full intact video. Because the Schindlers don't want you to know the unedited, full version of the truth. Posted by: TRUTH at March 20, 2006 7:52 PM Terri had no choice - she was starved and dehydrated to death. The right to life was the central issue in the case. You suggest the Schindler's need suspicion and controversy and yet that is exactly what you provide by arguing your case on the basis of unseen video. What's in this video? It must be damaging.... The other side answers, why didn't Michael allow the press or virtually anyone into see Terri. Why have a euthanasia activist be your medical expert, etc... the bottom line is exactly what Pavone suggest, "No amount of brain injury ever justifies denying a person proper humane care. That includes food and water." Posted by: cc at March 20, 2006 9:09 PM In other words your take on this is it doesn't matter what Terri had to say about whether she wanted to be kept alive in such circumstances (no hope of recovery) or by artificial means? In other words the case was never about what Terri would have accepted or rejected in the way of medical treatments- that is your position? You, cc, are the perfect Schindler supporter! You think EXACTLY the way they do. The Schindlers will never release the full, intact and unedited hours of video as opposed to the carefully selected and labelled bits because the carefully selected bits put a certain spin on things that the rest of the video did not. In other words the snippets were a calculated effort to mislead. Well, okay, lets call it what it was: those bits were a bald faced lie... This: bottom line is exactly what Pavone suggest, "No amount of brain injury ever justifies denying a person proper humane care. That includes food and water." is just putting more of that special Schindler spin on things. It doesn't matter what was delivered through that surgically implanted tube. That tube represented a unwanted violation of her person and an artificial means of life support. Whether the tube delivers air (a ventilator) or "humane care" or food and water or some kind of medication. Mrs Schiavo had a right to refuse such treatment. She had a right not to have such treatment inflicted upon her whether it was by her parents or by well meaning bystanders who never knew her personally. The court asked the question "what would Terri have accepted or rejected in the way of medical treatment". The testimony was heard and weighed. This may be in conflict with your personal beleif system cc but some people think there are worse things than death. Some people even think that having a tube surgically implanted through the abdominal wall and directly into their stomache would be bad, and that it would be worse in the circumstance that it would prolong their being trapped here on earth in a hellish nightmare they could not ever awake from. But then none of us can ever know for sure what it was that Terri was experiencing- if anything. But if it helps you sleep at night then please continue beleiving that it was all good for her and it was all something she would have wanted. Posted by: TRUTH at March 20, 2006 11:36 PM It is always easier to argue against an opponent to whom you attribute false statements and propositions. Unfortunately, it isn't the best way to get at the TRUTH. You continue to use speculation as the basis for impugning the Schindler's character and parrot the common media line that Terri wanted to die because her husband said so after winning a huge lawsuit. Nothing written, in violation of her professed religion, inconsistent with her care for others in the same situation, contrary to what her closest friends and family suggest .... but her husband was much more credible. Yes, it was seven years after Terri became disabled and after her husband announced that he intended to marry his live in girlfriend that Michael suddenly remembered that Terri wouldn’t want to live disabled, and subsequently petitioned the courts to allow him to remove her feeding tube. "She's my life and I wouldn't trade her for the world. I believe in my wedding vows," testified an emotional Michael Schiavo during the medical malpractice trial in 1992. "I believe in the vows that I took with my wife, through sickness, in health, for richer or poorer. 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." Just months after winning the lawsuit Michael instructed doctors not to treat his incapacitated wife for an infection (early 1993). Later that year, Michael testified during a deposition: Q. Are you presently – you’re married to Terri Schiavo, correct? SCHIAVO: Yes I am. Q. Are you presently involved in a romantic relationship with anyone? SCHIAVO: Yes I am. Q. Are you involved in an intimate relationship with this person. SCHIAVO: Yes I am. Q. Is this the first relationship that you’ve been involved in since your wife has been in a coma? SCHIAVO: No. Cindy Shook, who had an affair with Michael shortly after Terri's collapse, gave a startling deposition. Regarding what Terri would have wanted she claims Michael said, "How the h*** should I know we never spoke about this, my God I was only 25 years old. How the h*** should I know? We were young. We never spoke of this." And, in a September 27, 1999 Deposition, Michael Schiavo said his reason for keeping guardianship of Terri was essentially to get back at her parents. Q. Have you considered turning the guardianship over to Mr. and Mrs. Schindler? SCHIAVO: No, I have not. Q. And why? SCHIAVO: I think that's pretty self explanatory. Q. I'd like to hear your answer. SCHIAVO: Basically I don't want to do it. Q. And why don't you want to do it? SCHIAVO: Because they put me through pretty much h*** the last few years. Q. And can you describe what you mean by h***? SCHIAVO: The litigations they put me through. Q. Any other specifics besides the litigation? SCHIAVO: Just their attitude towards me because of the litigations. There is no other reason. I'm Terri's husband and I will remain guardian. For obvious reasons, his attorney called for a break, after which Michael came back and testified he would not relinquish guardianship because it is not what his wife wanted. No one wants to be in Terri's condition and there are any number of situations that individuals deem worse than death. Yet suicide, or assisted suicide via dehydration/starvation, is immoral and should never be sanctioned by the government as is implied by comments above. Many people, including small children and the sick and impaired, require someone else to feed them, often through feeding tubes. We never talk about this as if it were unnatural or an artificial means of sustaining life or an "invasion". So, let’s call the “removal of the feeding tube” what it truly is: withholding food and water for the purpose of causing death. This latter statement is far more accurate and while strong, not strong enough. Posted by: cc at March 21, 2006 12:28 AM CC, Right on CC, I could not have said it better. Posted by: CeCe at March 21, 2006 9:05 AM "Many people, including small children and the sick and impaired, require someone else to feed them, often through feeding tubes. We never talk about this as if it were unnatural or an artificial means of sustaining life or an "invasion". -cc "Yet suicide, or assisted suicide via dehydration/starvation, is immoral and should never be sanctioned by the government as is implied by comments above."- cc So if a person refuses a medical treatment that MIGHT extend or save their life, but that they have religious or philosphical objections to, then the government should step in and force them to accept it because to do otherwise would be sanctioning suicide??? Or on the flip side: if a person accepts or volunteers for a medical procedure with a high risk of death the government should step in and prevent them from having this procedure because to do otherwise would be sanctioning putting a life in jeopardy??? [snip - enough!] Posted by: TRUTH at March 21, 2006 11:54 AM I tried to stay away from posting on this board b/c I would leave the computer upset. Terri passed away due to the dehydration and starvation, nothing related to her initial brain injury. Autopsy showed that she had a very strong heart, she would have lived 10+ years if given the chance, but she was not. It's obvious that Terri possessed some brain activity; responding to her mother, music and lights. Your claim that no one comes back from being brain dead, you may want to retract that- the person who just typed this response was declared "clinically brain dead." If you want proof, visit my site. Posted by: Theresa de Vera at March 22, 2006 4:20 PM My blog tribute to Terri may be found here: http://chronicleofameanderingtraveller.blogspot.com/2006/03/remembering-terri-schiavo.html Posted by: Georgette at March 29, 2006 1:42 PM JN When you say "For all your ranting against the "culture of death", you are the ones who continue to use a dead woman to your own ends," I hope you are writing the same thing to Felos, Greer, Cranfield, and Schiavo. Are you aware of how many pro-Euthanasia conferences and meetings they've spoken at since "Terri's" death in which they use her case to make their point. In fact, that was their whole gameplan from way in the beginning. Back when Felos first met Schiavo and it was still against the law in Flordia to remove someone's feeding tube. They lobbied to change the law and planned on using Terri's case as a test case all along. They are still doing that. It was they who have politicized this from the beginning and are still waving her corpse around to advance their views -- and the views I would assume you agree with. I bet you think that is OK. People on your side of this event have been nothing but ruthless and nasty. Leave those of us who loved and felt for Terri even from afar alone. Go to your own websites where they use Terri for their own despicable ends and moralize to them. Write George Felos a letter. Write Michael Schiavo a letter. Write Judge Greer a letter. Write Roland Cranfield and his Hemlock Society a letter. Become better informed on who is acutally using Terri to advance an agenda and to brianwash people like you. Posted by: DawnaR at March 31, 2006 10:08 AM JN -- one more thing. Felos and Cranfield have been involved in advancing the Euthanasia movement for many years. That was what they saw in Terri's case right from the beginning. It was they who egged Michael Schiavo on so they would have a test case for putting someone in a hospice who was not terminally ill and then using the hospice not as a place to help people who are about to die, but to actively advance the death of people they don't think are worthy of life. Read about Cranfield. He has actually said that all people with PVS and Alzheimers shoud suffer the same fate as Terri. Who will it be next that doesn't meet Cranfield's definition of a life? These people not only use Terri after her death for their political ends, but even worse, they actively and cynically CAUSED her death to advance their political ends. How dare you moralized to us about using Terri? They are the users of the maximum order. It wasn't us who murdered her to advance our cause. It was Felos and Cranfield and Greer, the self-righteous and self-appointed arbiters of whose life is worthwhile and whose isn't and who have made it their crusade to kill all those they deem unworthy. They are sick people. Posted by: DawnaR at March 31, 2006 10:21 AM |

I will be posting on my blogs: Aussieforlife; Against Euthanasia; Saying No to the Culture of Death; Facts about Bulimia.
These blogs have been more or less dedicated to the issues surrounding the forced starvation and dehydration to death of Terri Schiavo. I am also covering other issues on Guardianship Abuse and Against RU486 as well as Life and Death.
Please drop by and see what I have written to cover the pertinent issues.
Maggie4Life
Posted by: Maggie4Life
at March 16, 2006 12:06 AM