Federal judge denies request to have Terri Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted March 22, 2005 TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - A U.S. federal judge on Tuesday refused to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube, denying an emergency request from the brain-damaged woman's parents. U.S. District Judge James Whittemore said the 41-year-old woman's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, had not established a "substantial likelihood of success" at trial on the merits of their arguments. Whittemore wrote that Terri Schiavo's "life and liberty interests" had been protected by Florida courts. Despite "these difficult and time strained circumstances," he wrote, "this court is constrained to apply the law to the issues before it." Rex Sparklin, a lawyer with the law firm representing Terri Schiavo's parents, said lawyers were immediately appealing to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to "save Terri's life." That court was already considering an appeal on whether Terri Schiavo's right to due process had been violated. Bobby Schindler, Terri Schiavo's brother, said his family was crushed by the decision. "To have to see my parents go through this is absolutely barbaric," he said in a television interview Tuesday. "I'd love for these judges to sit in a room and see this happening as well." But Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, praised the ruling. "What this judge did is protect the freedom of people to make their own end-of-life decisions without the intrusion of politicians," Simon said. Whittemore's decision comes after feverish action by President George W. Bush and Congress on legislation allowing the brain-damaged woman's contentious case to be reviewed by federal courts. The tube was disconnected Friday on the orders of a state judge, prompting an extraordinary weekend effort by congressional Republicans to push through unprecedented emergency legislation early Monday aimed at keeping her alive. Terri Schiavo did not have a living will. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, has fought in courts for years to have the tube removed because he said she would not want to be kept alive artificially and she has no hope for recovery. Her parents contend she responds to them and her condition could improve. David Gibbs, the parents' lawyer, argued at a Monday hearing in front of Whittemore that forcing Terri Schiavo to starve would be "a mortal sin" under her Roman Catholic beliefs and urged quick action: "Terri may die as I speak." But George Felos, a lawyer for Michael Schiavo, argued that keeping the woman alive also violated her rights and noted that the case has been aired thoroughly in state courts. "Yes, life is sacred," Felos said, contending that restarting artificial feedings would be against Schiavo's wishes. "So is liberty, particularly in this country." Michael Schiavo said he was outraged that legislators and the president intervened in a private matter. "When Terri's wishes are carried out, it will be her wish," he said in a television interview Monday. "She will be at peace. She will be with the Lord." http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=9317cb39-37fd-4679-917a-7e41d5016a06

Thank you for that Jasmin. I also found through your link that Teri really does want to live... MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH Terri Schiavo wants to live Family reveals secret therapy sessions held for brain-disabled woman scheduled to die -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: October 14, 2003 2:50 p.m. Eastern By Sarah Foster © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com Terri Schindler-Schiavo does not want to die. She would like to go home. And she tried to convey this to her father in no uncertain terms by sitting bolt upright and trying to get out of her chair when told she might be killed, her family has revealed. The stunning news was released at noon Eastern today by Terri's father, Robert Schindler, at the 'round-the-clock vigil outside the Woodside Hospice facility in Pinellas Park, Fla., where his daughter's court-ordered death by starvation is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 2 p.m. Eastern. At that time, her husband and legal guardian Michael Schiavo is scheduled to give the order to disconnect the 39-year-old brain-disabled woman's feeding tube that has provided her with sustenance for the past 13 years. In an interview a few hours earlier, Schindler described the incident to WorldNetDaily. He said he was holding a cell phone to Terri's ear as she listened intently to the speaker, propped in her jerry-chair at about a 30-degree angle. Suddenly she sat up straight and tried to get out of her chair, despite her weak legs and muscles that were slack from lack of exercise. His daughter's response stunned Schindler, who grabbed the phone and asked, "My God, what did you tell her?" The speaker said he had warned, "If you don't get up and get out of there, you're going to die there." "He was ecstatic when I told him what Terri had tried to do," Schindler said. Robert Schindler speaks to reporters outside hospice (photo: Gary McCullough, Christian Communication Network). And so was Schindler. It was part of a covert rehabilitation program the desperate father and Galaxy Wave Group – a therapeutic company on the cutting-edge of medical technology – devised for Terri in a bold attempt to bring her to a point of recovery where even Florida judges would realize they could not allow her to be starved. Beginning in late November last year and continuing until the end of February, Terri received daily, hour-long therapy sessions by telephone with company president Dr. Joe Champion or one of his therapists. While Schindler held the phone to his daughter's ear, they would talk with her, giving her instructions and tasks: move your left arm, move your hand, and so on. "We started right around Thanksgiving," Schindler recalled. "The first day Dr. Champion listened to the sounds she was making and said he felt it wouldn't be long before she was talking. That was the objective." The therapy sessions lasted through February, but were interrupted by bouts of flu and other illnesses. One particularly severe illness caused her to relapse. The "tough love" of telling Terri what lies in store for her was tried several times to stimulate her to work hard. In a signed affidavit read at the press conference Champion described one of the sessions. "In December of 2002, I confronted Ms. Schindler with the 'truth' and told her that unless she helped me in returning her from the comatose state that she was in that she was going to die a horrid death," he wrote. "I explained in detail that they would remove the single tube that was providing her nutrition and she would slowly die of starvation. At this point, it was reported by her father that she sat up in bed and became teary eyed." That Terri understands her own mortality and reacts so strongly when threatened runs counter to the official notion that she is oblivious to her surroundings and will not even know she is being dehydrated and starved to death. Shiavo's attorney, George Felos, a well-known "right-to-die" advocate, said the claims of improvement that the Schindlers have been making in the last few weeks are impossible. "There is no cognition, no consciousness," he told the Tampa Tribune. He further explained why no effort was made to spoon-feed her. "She simply does not have the ability to take food or water by mouth," he said. "If they tried that, she would aspirate it and suffer an infection that would likely prove fatal." To corroborate Schindler's account and for further details, WorldNetDaily contacted the person who worked with Terri via telephone. He agreed to be interviewed, but requested his name not be used. According to "Mr. Smith," Terri was able to move her hand, her arm, her leg on command. She couldn't speak, but she followed instructions. "The bottom line is she is not vegetative, the way the husband and the side the court has gone with want to portray her," Smith said. "She definitely has some brain damage and severe problems, but she is not a vegetable." "The problem for Terri is that she can do things, but not on a consistent basis. One day she couldn't, another day she couldn't or wouldn't," he explained. "I can't tell you the reasons, but Terri has her good days and bad days. On a good day she can respond appropriately with no problems. She understands." Some days are extremely good – like the day she tried to get out of her chair. "The way Bob described it to you is exactly correct," Smith said. "She just about got out of that chair." As he tells it: "I was telling her she has to work with us. I couldn't tell you my exact words now; it's been a year. But I was explaining to her that she needed to work with me, that if we could get her to the point to where she could prove to people that she understood, she could get out of there and go home with her parents. I was explaining to her that she had to work with us and respond or they were going to let her die. That's when she tried to get out of the chair." Smith said they stopped the sessions when he had to leave the area for a couple of months and were not resumed on his return. It is clear to Schindler that the therapy was working, but until now he has not wanted to talk about it. He could not even bring it up in court as evidence, because it possibly violated a court order. The Schindlers had reason to suspect that their efforts to help Terri would not be appreciated and that Schiavo might even obtain a court order banning them from her room, as he had done in the past. At one point, he banned Terri's brother and sister from her room for five months simply because they asked the nurse to try and give her some pudding. But there were other instances. At the initial trial in January 2000, the Schindlers' attorney at the time, Pamela Campbell, introduced into evidence a video of Terri made by a friend of her sister, Suzanne Schindler. It was shown on television news, and three doctors who saw it contacted Robert Schindler saying that they did not believe his daughter was in a persistent vegetative state, but that they wanted to examine her to be sure. Schindler said he took each of them into her room, and they -*test*-('")ed her reactions to stimuli. They found she was definitely not in a persistent vegetative state, that she was cognizant and could recognize her family, because when she saw members of her family she would smile and showed signs of recognition. All three said they believed Terri had the ability to swallow because she was not drooling. The affidavits were sent to probate Judge George Greer requesting him to allow a swallowing -*test*-('"), which he summarily denied. Greer accepted the affidavits but did not change his mind. Schiavo was furious that a video had been made of Terri and doctors had been taken to visit her. In response to his demands, Greer issued an order banning further videotaping and any still photography, and a list of "approved" visitors was drawn up. The list was relatively long – over 40 names – but there was a catch. Visitors could only see Terri if accompanied by a family member. This meant even Terri's priest, Monsignor Thaddeus Malanowski, did not have normal access to her. Schiavo and attorney Felos decided that greater controls were needed. In April 2000, they moved Terri surreptitiously from the nursing home that had been her home for six years to the Hospice of the Florida Sun Coast, a place intended for people in the last stages of an illness. Regulations generally prohibit a hospice from taking a patient who is not terminally ill and expected to live longer than six months to a year. But Felos was chairman of the board of directors of the hospice and was able to arrange for her admission. He resigned his position shortly thereafter. A year later, in April 2001, her death by dehydration was ordered to begin, and the day her feeding was stopped her brother and sister came by with a spoon and a cup of pudding, asking a nurse to try to feed her by mouth. The nurse refused and reported the request to others. When Schiavo found out he demanded that Bobby and Suzanne be removed from the list of approved visitors, and Greer rubberstamped his request. "We were trying to play by the rules," Bobby told WorldNetDaily. "But that didn't matter. We were kicked off the list anyway." Terri was 60 hours without food or water before a different judge issued an emergency stay because new evidence had come to light, and her feeding was resumed. The evidence was strong enough for a stay, but not strong enough to end Schiavo's efforts. A series of appeals followed, and in November 2001, the 2nd District Court of Appeals ordered an evidentiary hearing held in the fall of 2002. Five months following their banishment from the Hospice, Bobby and Suzanne Schindler had their visiting rights restored, but only on condition that they not attempt any spoon-feeding. "I don't want anyone trying to feed that girl," Greer thundered. Greer did not specifically place audio-taping and therapy-by-telephone on the list of banned activities, but experience had taught the Schindler family that it was best to keep such efforts to themselves rather than run the risk of angering Schiavo and having their visiting rights suspended. As WorldNetDaily reported, the Schindlers have been fighting with their son-in-law for 10 years over the lack of care and therapy Schiavo provided for their daughter, who suffered massive brain damage when she collapsed at her home 13 years ago under mysterious circumstances at the age of 26. The contentious family dispute escalated into a major euthanasia battle in May 1998, when Schiavo petitioned the Florida courts for permission to end his wife's life by disconnecting her feeding tube, insisting she is in a "persistent vegetative state" and that in casual conversations she had told him she would not want to be kept alive "artificially." Although Terri breathes on her on and maintains her own blood pressure, she requires a simple tube into her abdomen to her stomach for nourishment and hydration. Although Terri's parents and siblings have claimed for years that she recognizes them and tries to talk, and over a dozen prominent doctors and therapists have stated under oath that she is not in a persistent vegetative state and with therapy could be rehabilitated, a handful of doctors have -*test*-('")ified she is "vegetative." They claim her expressions and vocalizations are simply reflex actions and she will never regain consciousness. Despite a scarcity of expert -*test*-('")imony and evidence for Schiavo's position, the Florida courts have consistently sided with him and Felos. When the seven-member Florida Supreme Court in August turned down an petition by the Schindlers to review the case, the way was clear for Schiavo to order his wife starved to death. On Sept. 17, Greer, of the Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court, scheduled Oct. 15 as the day Terri's feeding tube would be removed. Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry is coordinating the vigil. He advises anyone who wants to help Terri to telephone Gov. Jeb Bush and urge him to instruct the Department of Children and Families, which enforces standards of hospice care, to do their own investigation to see if she has been getting proper care and rehabilitation. "Which we know she has not and will not if they take her tube away," said Terry. "And when they find she has not, then Bush can order them to assume guardianship. They must take the guardianship away from the husband." Jeb Bush's e-mail is jeb@jeb.org. His telephone is (850) 488-4441. Legal documents and information on Terri's fight for life are posted on the family's website. 'Murder is legal if we say so'

I also found this, thanks to you Jasmin!!~!!! She doesn`t want to die!! She wants to go home. She wants to eat breakfast with her Dad. This breaks my heart. Terri Schiavo Still Responsive Despite Three Days of Starvation Email this article Printer friendly page by Steven Ertelt LifeNews.com Editor March 21, 2005 Pinellas Park, FL (LifeNews.com) -- Terri Schiavo is still responsive and in good spirits despite being deprived of food and water for three days, her parents said on Monday. She is also looking forward to receiving nutrition and seemed pleased to hear President Bush signed a bill helping her do that. Terri's father joked around with Terri in an early Monday morning visit and told her to get ready for him to take her to breakfast, he told news outlets in an interview. "I told her if she was ready, to take a ride to get some breakfast, and she gave a great smile," Bob Schindler said outside Woodside Hospice where Terri lives. Schindler said Terri is beginning to show signs of the effects of the dehydration on her body. He told the Associated Press that Terri appears to be tired, but eventually responded to his teasing by making a face at him. "It tells us she's still with us,'' he said. Suzanne Vitadamo, Terri's sister, also participated in the visit and told Terri news of the president signing a bill on her behalf allowing her parents to take their case to prevent her starvation to federal courts. "She seemed to be very pleased, and we're pleased," Bob Schindler said of telling Terri the news, according to a report by the French Press Agency. Meanwhile, the Family Research Council says it has obtained an exclusive audiotape from Terri's hospice room of her interacting with her family on Friday afternoon two hours following the removal of her feeding tube. "This authentic audio file is disturbing to hear, but it is certainly -*test*-('")imony that Terri Schiavo is NOT in a 'persistent vegetative state,'" FRC president Tony Perkins said. The pro-life group says the audio file is located on its web site, but the site was unresponsive at press time. Just before representatives of her estranged husband Michael removed her feeding tube Friday afternoon, Terri Schiavo reportedly told an attorney for her parents that she wanted to live. Barbara Weller, one of the attorneys for Terri's parents Bob and Mary Schindler, told reporters about her visit with Terri on Friday. "Terri, if you would just say, 'I want to live,' all of this will be over," she told the disabled woman. Weller said Terri desperately tried to repeat Weller's words. "'I waaaaannt ...,' Schiavo allegedly said. Weller described it as a prolonged yell that was loud enough that police stationed nearby entered the hospice room. "She just started yelling, 'I waaaannt, I waaaannt,'" Weller explained. At that point, police removed Weller from Terri's hospice room and, later, her feeding tube was removed.

found something else................................ Sorry guys, getting the truth out is all I want to do. This scares me. I hope someone can overturn this... Doctor Disputes Media Claims That Terri Will Not Suffer Agonizing Death by Steven Ertelt LifeNews.com Editor October 16, 2003 http://www.lifenews.com/bio89.html Clearwater, FL (LifeNews.com) -- While Michael Schiavo and some media outlets claim Terri Schiavo will die in peace, doctors say Terri's starvation death will be agonizing and painful. David Stevens, M.D., executive director of the Christian Medical Association says Terri will suffer in part because she, despite media reports to the contrary, is not in a persistive vegetative state. Stevens told LifeNews.com that PVS patients are those who: "are unaware of themselves, their environment and are unable to interact with others in any way. They can breathe and retain some brainstem reflexes but they are not able to sit up or do other things that Terri can do." Stevens says that when feeding tubes are withdrawn patients should still receive food and water orally. That is not the case with Terri as Michael Schiavo decided against it and Judge Greer affirmed his decision. "Nutrition and fluids are a universal human biologic requirement and a fundamental demonstration of human caring," Stevens explained. As far as Terri's starvation is concerned, some media outlets have reported that Terri "won't feel a thing" because she will be prescribed pain medications. In fact, Michael contends Terri has had no feeling since her 1991 heart attack. Peggy Guin, a nursing instructor at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida, told the Tampa Tribune that her experience with patients removed from feeding tubes shows they feel no pain. Kenneth Goodman, director of bioethics at the University of Miami School of Medicine, told the newspaper "she is not going to feel a thing." "There is nothing unusual about terminating hydration and nutrition,'' Goodman said. "The reason why Florida law allows it, and the other 49 states allow it, is obviously that this can be done in a way that is pain-free and dignified. That is why it is legal.'' Stevens strongly disagrees, "Without intervention Terri will not have a comfortable death", he told LifeNews.com Technically, Terri will die from dehydration, not starvation. "Her progression will go from thirst to extreme thirst. is likely to cry and moan till she is so dehydrated she won't have tears and her mouth is too dry and cracked to make sounds. "If she gets any fluids in by mouth (if they are allowed) the process could take longer," Stevens tells LifeNews.com. Terri will likely suffer numerous symptoms over time, and they will get worse the longer it takes for her to die. "She may have nose bleeds as the mucous dries out. She will probably experience nausea, vomiting and cramps as her in-*test*-('")ines dehydrate. She will decrease her urine output, have dizziness, cramping in the arms and legs as her electrolytes get out of balance," Stevens explains. Unless Terri's feeding tube is reinserted quickly or she is able to receive food and water orally, her situation may grow worse. Stevens concludes: "She may have seizures and even further brain damage during the process".

I have a solution that should make everyone happy. They should amputate Teri’s arms and legs and divide her up between all the people who seem to want a part of her. The parents can keep her quadriplegic torso and keep her “alive” as long as they want. Plus, with the torso, they can keep releasing those sympathetic photos that seem to titillate the media and public so very much. Michael can get an arm and a leg. The arm clutching divorce papers so that he can move on with his life (oh, wait, he already has), and the leg bearing a heavy boot on it to kick him in the nethers for being such a jerk. The other arm should be displayed in Congress for all the politicians who are using this case for political motivations to give themselves high-fives with. Alternatively, they can use the arm to pat themselves on the back or to slap around any other state courts that hand down rulings they don’t like. The final leg can go on tour so the media can have yet another Teri Schiavo story to tell, ‘cuz apparently we can’t get enough Teri! And the people can gather around the leg and have rallies and marches and charge admission to see it (twice as much if you want to touch it) so that they can raise money to help Teri’s parents care for the torso. Now, before I’m drummed off this island, I’ll just say that the paragraphs above are more a satirical response to how I see this whole mess being played out than what I actually think should happen. There will always be disagreements between people as long as you have more than one person in a group! A long time ago, Moses was getting overwhelmed with all the legal issues that the Israelites were bringing to him. He got some good advice from his father-in-law, who told him to set up local judges to hear the smaller cases, regional judges to hear bigger ones, etcetera. That’s the same model of government we have in the US, with the Supreme Court being the end-all, final-say body of governing. They have rejected hearing the case because they saw no problems with the Florida state supreme court's decision. One would think that should be the end of it, legally. The Teri Schiavo case has been before local, state and now federal courts and judges—every one with the same ruling in favor of the husband. If his case has no merit, how does it continually get upheld by the courts? At some point, the government has to be allowed to govern, whether I like their decision or not. I don’t have a major problem with Congress passing an emergency law to get the case in front of a federal judge, though I’m not sure it is a good idea (and I’m even less confident that their (Congress) motives are pure & selfless). I’ve seen Michael Schaivo interviewed, and I think he’s a jerk. I think it’s hypocritical how he wants to be the husband when making the call to let Teri live or die, but dropped the title altogether when he wanted to have some quality time with a woman more responsive than his wife. Maybe some hotshot lawyer can file for divorce on Teri’s behalf under grounds of adultery, and then her parents can do whatever they want with her, which I’m sure would include lots of carefully selected photographs and/or video released to the media. Funny how all the reports of Teri's responsiveness seem to come from her family or the doctors they have brought in. That said, what I wish would happen, short of a miraculous recovery by Teri or even her passing quickly of natural causes, would be that Michael Schiavo simply let Teri’s parents take care of her. They apparently want to, so let ‘em. Sure, Teri didn’t want to live under these conditions…but his credibility with regard to Teri’s welfare flew out the window about the same time as his faithfulness to her.

I work in the MR feild, thats mental retardation, and as such am required to have at least 24 hrs of trainings per year. In the course of these trainings, Ive seen many cases, including some clients that are in chairs, have beating hearts, breathing on their own, Couldnt tell you their own name to save their life, will stare a hole straight thru you rather than give you any kind of response, not because they dont want to but because they cant. They go thru periods of refusing to do things on their own..including not eating for extended periods of time. Who does that description remind you of? You know what.....not one of them was ever starved to death. If that happens it is required that they be fed. Why? Because they are alive and to refuse feeding them would cause their eventual death and the caretaker would be charged with neglect and murder. The way I see it, its very simple. If something is breathing and their heart is beating they are alive. If you do something that brings an end to that breathing or beating of the heart....you killed it. Thou shalt not kill isnt only a commandment, but last I checked it was a law in every state in the country too. I heard President Bush say something that sums it up pretty well. He siad, (paraphrased)....If you arent sure, its better to err on the side of life. Since they cant decide who is right, the husband or her parents...they cant be sure.

Very well said, Stinky and I think we should let that be the last word on the matter here at the island. I won't lock the thread, but I think we should get back to our hammocks and turn up the Jimmy Buffet and order the cabana boy to bring along some more, um, refreshments.... We can duke it out elsewhere...

Jazzy, I'm guessing, but I doubt Tif meant it that way. Considering her own well-put post and personal connection to this subject, I can't see her just thinking about rainbows and gumdrops. So much has already been said, both here and elsewhere on the 'net, as well as TV and radio and print, is there really anything else beneficial that can be said without getting nasty and hurtful? All of America can talk 'til we're blue in the face but it won't really accomplish anything in Florida, I suspect. Anyway, Tif said she'd leave the thread open, so that further indicates to me that she's not so much putting the kibosh on this conversation as much as trying to nip an emotional, potentially explosive thread in the bud.

Awww, Jas noone wants anyone to leave. I did not mean it like that. JB said it well. I am fully aware of how serious the problem is and I also understand that this is a very explosive situation and I figured before any attacking or even percieved attacking got under way, that I'd ask, just ask, for it to not get too heated. I can't speak for Pikapoo, per se, but I think she would like this place to be as pleasant and happy a place as it can be, of course we are going to have the occasional flames, thats a given. But because this very same feud is being played out elsewhere, with the same players with the exception of Molly, well, I just figured maybe we could leave it there. But by my oath I will not be a board nazi and stop you guys from debating. So do carry on, I will not lock the thread. And I am not disabling your account either. I have stated my view, and as JB said I feel very strongly about this issue and about Terri herself, as a matter of fact I have been sick about it since Friday. As I was the last time they did this. I will continue to do what I can do, I have e-mailed my Senators and I am following that up with written letters and I will pray.

Whoopsy, forgot to add: Well, Tif I gotta say I love ya to bits Not as many bits as I luv you to! :grin: