...this country is now a frightening place for anyone who is disabled,because life now has no value, unless you are 'fortunate' enough to be young,healthy,and prosperous. if not, your quality of life and length of same is steadily being decreased,and dramatically so,now that the precident of killing poor Terri has been set. what chance do we have now, that we are racing toward fulfilling Hitler's dream of destroying all who 'are of no value to society,but to drain it of resources'? this is no longer the America i grew up in...it is the rise of a new country with Hitler's values. ...and i am so afraid,for my kids and for myself,since literally half our family is on the autistic spectrum,and autistics are considered to be of no value at all...we are tested for in utero,and murdered before birth, and some countries do not even consider us to have minds or be human at all....

...Terri, please pray for us? We need your help.

Posted by: LadyDeerskin at March 18, 2006 1:37 PM

LadyDeerSkin if you are so frightened by life in America then please leave.

This is a great country! And other than my having to share it with the likes of you I love this country.

Thankfully the Supreme Court is not influenced by misinformed public opinion and was able to clearly see the central and paramount issue: Do Americans have a right to self determination? Do Americans have the freedom of choice?

The resounding answer from the Supreme Court was YES!

Mrs Schiavo was no longer a child. She was no longer a "baby".

She was an adult and as an adult she was entitled to make her own choices. Even choices that her parents (and their supporters) did not agree with.

It is too bad that the Schindler family was not able to respect or support the choices of their ADULT daughter. It is too bad they had to try and force their will upon their ADULT daughter.

But then control and the family of origin are at the very heart of eating disorders.

Seeing how the Schindler family treated their daughter as an adult its not too hard to picture the kind of childhood Mrs Schiavo had and why she developed an eating disorder.

This is a great country but it would be an even better country if more people would think for themselves, do their own investigating and draw their own conclusions.

In this great country people are allowed to come together and debate issues. Freedom of speech.

Freedom of religion.

Freedom of choice- the right to self determination.

America- love it or leave it!

Posted by: Truth at March 18, 2006 11:52 PM

Your reference to an eating disorder just shows how little of the truth you know about this case. Take a long, hard look at the facts of this case - ALL OF THEM - and the truth of this case is very ugly. I agree that we live in a great country, but it is not a perfect country, and the laws and justice can be manipulated and misused. Take your own advice and think for yourself, do some investigating and don't discount out of hand those who have come to different conclusions. The truth will set you free and all that ......

Posted by: CeCe at March 20, 2006 11:35 AM

Actually I have a great grasp of the facts- the Schindler family did NOT dispute the eating disorder theory during the medical malpractice case. If they didn't suspect Mrs Schiavo suffered from an eating disorder then why didn't they dispute this claim?

An eating disorder was NOT disproved at autopsy, the medical examiner simply stated he could not PROVE it at autopsy (after so many years).

While the ME took great pains to offer a theory other than eating disorder for the potassium imbalance he was careful not to discredit himself and his alternative theory by not mentioning the SEVEN defibrillation attempts that were necessary to restore an effective heart beat.

The general public doesn't get this. The medical community understands it quite clearly. Just as the medical community understands quite clearly how the BONE SCAN information was misused.

Why was Mrs Schiavo seeing a fertility specialist if she was being abused by her husband or thinking about divorcing him? Seems odd that an abused and fearful woman would keep such doctors appointments.

If Mrs Schiavo had actually discussed divorce and abuse with friends and family why didn't any of these friends or family members bring it up in their testimony at the original hearings?

If Nurse Iyer had actually called the Schindlers in the 90's about murder attempts against their daughter then why didn't the Schindlers call Nurse Iyer as a witness in the 2000 hearing?

Apparently Mary Schindler couldn't recall any of the talk of abuse or divorce at the medical malpractice trial as she was praising him under oath, on the record and before God as her witness.

I'm not here to trash a greiving family. The whole matter should have been private and out of the public spotlight. This blog and all the others on this topic wouldn't exist at all except that the Schindler family decided to turn their daughters tragedy into a public spectacle and debate.

Can they live with themselves knowing they did everything possible? I hope so. I can't see as how they left any avenue unpursued in their attempts to save their daughter and I applaud their efforts.

Can they claim that everything they had to say to the media was truthful? Can they claim they never knowingly lied about the facts, testimony, evidence or science? Can they claim they never twisted the truth and manipulated the public, media or the politicians in order to get what they wanted?

It is not that I fault the Schindler family for what they did. I do however fault CeCe and many of the others at this site, and others, for trying to elevate the Schindlers to some holy or angelic position on earth.

I am afraid they are just as human and sinful as everyone else. The end does NOT justify the means.

Posted by: TRUTH at March 20, 2006 4:47 PM

Truth, why didn't Michael get Terri a PET scan which would have proved his point? Aren't you at all curious as to why? Why didn't he release her medical records?

Abused women will do many things to please their abusers, even keep doctors appointments. You said you weren't trashing the Schindlers, yet that is all you are doing. Are they angelic and holy, no. Just ordinary people who tried heroically to save their daughter.

Anyway, when we all get to that place that is angelic and holy, you'll have an opportunity to hear the whole truth and nothing but the truth, to your sorrow or to your joy, but not a syllable to your twisting ideology.

Posted by: CeCe at March 21, 2006 9:19 AM