The family of Terri Schiavo was disappointed yesterday as Circuit Court Judge George Greer ruled that Terri will not be able to have rehabilitative care and her feeding tube will be removed next month.
Bob and Mary Schindler, Terri's parents, had hoped Terri would be allowed to learn to eat on her own to combat the withdrawal of food and water she is currently provided via the tube.
Bob Schindler said he wasn't surprised at all by the decision because Greer has denied every effort they have made to spare Terri's life.
“We don't expect anything from him. I'm not a bit disappointed or surprised,'' Schindler said.
In a statement released by Terri's parents, Pat Anderson, their attorney, said “It is clear that Florida is not the state in which to get sick.”
“This case demonstrates that we all need to be very, very careful in choosing a spouse. It is [Terri's parents'] belief that Terri could have been weaned off her feeding tube years ago and would be speaking today if Michael Schiavo had only cared enough about her to see to it that she received the proper therapy,” Anderson said.
This is the third time since 2000 that a specific date has been set to remove Terri's feeding tube. Each time, the Schindlers have been able to appeal the decision and push it back.
Pamela Hennessy, a representative of the family, told LifeNews.com that Greer's decision to order the removal of the tube on October 15 was odd.
Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband, had argued for the immediate removal of the tube.
Greer called his decision a “thankless task” and said requests to help Terri eat would be akin to conducting the mammoth lawsuit over again.
“But in the end, this case is not about the aspirations that loving parents have for their children,” Greer wrote. “It is about Terri Schiavo's right to make her own decision, independent of her parents and independent of her husband.”
The family still hopes a federal court will intervene and allow Terri to be provided with the therapy she has been denied from the beginning. They have until September 22 to file an amended lawsuit.
Michael's attorney, George Felos, said he expects further “frivolous” and “desperate” legal maneuvers from the family.
“I certainly hope this is the final date and we are approaching the end of the case and Terri's wishes can be carried out,” Felos told the Associated Press. “It's going to take some courage and fortitude on the part of a number of judges to see that this happens.”
Jason Childress Still Breathing on His Own After a Week
Just over a week has passed since Jason Childress was removed from a ventilator, yet he is still breathing on his own.
The ventilator was removed last Thursday when retired local judge Herbert Pickford, who had been assigned as Jason's guardian when family members couldn't agree about his care, made the decision to remove it.
Katrinia Childress, Jason's stepmother, tells LifeNews.com that “all of his vital signs are good.”
Katrina says Jason is still considered a “comfort care” patient, which means Jason isn't receiving any rehabilitative care to improve his condition.
“I wonder at what point, if any, he will be considered a disabled person that is fighting to live, and actually be moved into a regular room, or even better, a different facility,” Katrina said.
“It's so sad to think that, as a society, if you remove the ventilator to end someone's life and they still continue to live, that the facilities still do not have to provide any care or therapy for these patients, they are just left to lay in a bed off to itself where the nurses don't have to check on them on a regular basis,” Katrina added.
Should Jason develop an infection, doctors are not required to treat it.
“That is nothing short of cruelty,” Katrina said.
Doctors say they don't know how long Jason will continue to breathe on his own. He continues to receive food and water via a feeding tube, since Pickford did not consent to removing it.
Katrina wonders what Pickford and doctors will do next should Jason's condition stay the same — whether they would provide care to him or find another method to end his life.
She has had nurses remove Jason from bed for two hours a day since Saturday to sit in a geriatric chair. It is the first time Jason has been out of a hospital bed in two months.
Childress' family continues to visit him daily at the University of Virginia Medical Center.
“There really need to be more laws to protect people like Terri and Jason,” Katrina concluded. “Our society has made it entirely too easy to just end a disabled person's life, when it should be the other way around, they should go beyond any means to save a life.”
(This article courtesy of Steven Ertelt and LifeNews.com. For more information or to subscribe go to LifeNews.com or email ertelt@lifenews.com.)
