Lakeland, FL — A Florida appeals court on Tuesday gave the final stamp of approval for the removal of the feeding tube that is allowing Terri Schiavo to live.
Terri's parents Bob and Mary Schindler hoped the 2nd District Court of Appeals would side with them and it was one of their last legal hopes of keeping Terri alive.
“Our legal remedies are exhausted,” attorneys for the Schindlers said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.
The motions asked that Circuit Court Judge George Greer be removed from the case and that Terri be allowed to learn to eat and drink on her own before the gastric tube is permanently removed.
Terri's family believes Greer has been colluding with Terri's husband Michael Schiavo and his attorney, euthanasia advocate George Felos.
“It certainly appears the legal options for the Schindlers are diminishing very quickly,” Felos told the Associated Press in response to the court's decision.
Both the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme court have rejected hearing the case.
Felos claims tests conducted several years ago prove Terri cannot swallow on her own and that her parents want to relitigate the case. Terri's family has consulted with doctors who say her condition can improve with rehabilitative care.
Michael Schiavo contends his wife would not want to be kept alive artificially and asked the federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit.
In 1990, Terri Schiavo was 26 years old when she collapsed at home from what doctors believe was a potassium imbalance.
Two years later, a jury awarded Michael Schiavo $1.3 million in a malpractice lawsuit he brought against her doctors. The money was placed in a trust fund to pay for medical treatment and rehabilitation, but she has received no therapy in over 10 years and only minimal nursing care.
Michael is now living with another woman, with whom he has had a child. Terri's family claims he wants Terri to die so he can receive the rest of the trust fund money.
In addition, doctors other than those selected by Michael's attorney, reviewed Terri's medical records. “It was found that a heart attack did not cause Terri's collapse as everyone was led to believe. Rather, according to one physician, Terri may have been a strangulation victim,” Pamela Hennessy, a representative of the family, told LifeNews.com.
If true, the allegations demand an investigation, Hennessy said.
Terri Schiavo's Family Releases New Video Proving She's “Not a Vegetable”
Clearwater, FL — The family of Terri Schiavo released the contents of a videotape on Tuesday that they say shows Terri communicating with her mother and proves she is not in a “vegetative state.”
The videotape was recorded secretly in defiance of an order by Circuit Court Judge George Greer that the family not provide Terri with rehabilitative care or take pictures or video of her. He is the judge who has issued the order allowing Terri's feeding tube to be removed.
At one point in the video, made in August 2001, Mary Schindler says Terri's name as she enters the room and Terri's eyes light up and she attempts to sit upright in her bed. Later on, Terri is asked whether she can say the word “Mom” and she has difficulties accomplishing the task.
“She gets frustrated, you can hear it in her voice, when she can't communicate like I'm sure she wants to, it's difficult for her,” said Mary. “But that's her best effort to say, 'I'm in here, and I'm trying to talk to you.'”
Bob Schindler said he made the video by smuggling a small videocamera under his shift during a visit at the hospice care facility where Terri has been living.
George Felos, Michael Schiavo's attorney, quickly wrote a letter to Greer saying Michael would block any further unsupervised visits by the Schindlers if they violated Greer's order again.
The Schindlers released the videotape with hopes that the Department of Children and Families will investigate Terri's lack of proper medical and rehabilitative care.
The family has urged Florida Governor George Bush (R) to intervene. Bush has written to Judge Greer and filed an amicus brief in a federal case, but his efforts to help have been rebuffed by the courts. There is nothing legally that Bush can do to stop the removal of the feeding tube, according to a spokesman.
Despite his the limitation in what he can do, Bush said the case was “very troubling. This is not an easy situation for anyone.”
“At the end of the day, if it's possible for this woman to be able to continue to live without life support, then she should be able to do that…I don't know if that's the case or not, we'll never know if it stands where it is right now.”
Some doctors dismiss the communication as nothing more than natural reflexes and they say the brain damage Terri has suffered prevents her from having the mental capability of communicating the way her parents describe.
Canadian Pro-Life Group Seeks Asylum for Terri Schiavo
Washington, DC — A pro-life group headed by a leading disability rights advocate is asking the Canadian government to offer asylum to Terri Schiavo, who was scheduled to be removed from a feeding tube on Wednesday that has been keeping her alive.
Human Life Matters has asked Canadian Immigration Minister Denis Coderre to grant Terri an emergency asylum in the country.
“Death by starvation is unthinkable,” said Mark Pickup, the group's founder.
Pickup has been profoundly disabled from severe multiple sclerosis, though he continues to travel North America advocating for those who are disabled and dealing with reduced medical care or familial support.
“It was the most blatant and brutal case of anti-disability discrimination … that I had ever come across,” Pickup told the Edmonton Sun newspaper about Terri's case and her parents efforts to help. “They were doing no more than I would do if it was my daughter in that position, so I said we'd try to help.”
Human Life Matters has obtained the help of David Kilgour, a member of the Canadian parliament from Edmonton. He wrote Coderre requesting asylum for Terri.
Even if the Canadian government granted the asylum request, it is unlikely that Terri Schiavo could take advantage of the offer. As Terri's guardian, Michael Schiavo would likely decide whether Terri would go to Canada or stay at the Clearwater, Florida, hospice facility where she is currently living.
Given Michael's refusal to allow rehabilitative care for Terri or for her to learn to eat and drink on her own before the gastric tube is removed, it is doubtful that Michael would consent to Terri's transfer.
Though the chances of success are minimal, Pickup says his group is hoping for the best.
“There are a hundred reasons why it shouldn't be done — all bureaucratic and legal reasons — and only one reason why it should be done,” the Sun newspaper quoted Pickup as saying. “And that's because it's the right thing to do.”
Pickup said that when he spoke to Bob Schindler this weekend, “his comment to me was maybe the asylum offer is our only option now.”
Sheila Zetter, a member of Human Life Matters' board of directors and a respiratory therapist, said several local doctors and therapists have volunteered to provide medical care for Terri should she be granted asylum and they will also find her a quality hospice care facility where she could live.
Related web sites:
Bob and Mary Schindler
Human Life Matters
(This article courtesy of Steven Ertelt and LifeNews.com. For more information or to subscribe go to LifeNews.com or email [email protected].)
