At the end of the day...my response to some of you...

My simple research piece about Judge James Whittemore has caused a lot of attention to this blog, even from some US government sites (HI!). I understand and have no problem with the idea that we as individuals differ on what we believe would be what we want should we end up in a similar state as Terri Schiavo. Some of us want no medical intervention with the exception of comfort care, some only want the discontinuation of medical intervention for breathing or the heart, some want everything to be done to save themselves until their body just fails, and there are various combinations in between.

We have here a situation where the parents and the husband disagree on what Terri would have wanted. Because they could not compromise this ended up in court, to cut to the basic simplicity of it both sides said “Here, we can’t decide this so you have to”. Most families don’t end up in court, the few that do it usually ends after the first hearing no matter the end result. Every day all over this country final moments of loved ones are happening in the same manner as Terri Schiavo. This isn’t some brand new thing, prior to 1980 if a person wasn’t able to eat they died there was no artificial feeding thru a tube available and some today opt for the artificial feeding to never be started in the first place.

The law in Florida is pretty clear on what is necessary in this type of situation as far as what the Judge is required to decide on.

Abstract Appeal

I urge anyone who hasn’t visited this site to do so, he does not present his opinion in this most times, just the facts and has done an excellent job in interpreting a lot of the legal issues that most of us don’t understand.

Why am I being so unemotional about this issue? Because I don’t personally know Terri Schiavo, most of you who have written some of the comments you have don’t either. I get emotional about my father, and other loved ones that have died after one form or another of life support was ended. I get upset when I remember how he had a living will and he did not want to be on life support and the hospital put him on it against his wishes. Many things from that time bother me, however we dealt with it privately, luckily I didn’t have to go to court to make the hospital listen and follow his wishes.

Further, I believe in God, and I think to try to prevent Terri from being able to go to what is rumored the best place to be is cruel and unusual punishment if that’s what her choice is. Really who would decide to go thru what she has for 15 years when the alternative is being with God? Barring a miracle from above, she is not only not going to get better, but will remain in the same state she has been for 15 years. From what little we do know about Terri we know that she was a very private person. That has been robbed from her.

Most of you who have written here and sent me some pretty nasty emails, including some rather silly death threats seem to focus on several things; first you don’t believe this is what Terri wanted. Let’s face the facts, the Schindlers have admitted even if they knew this is what Terri wanted they would fight it anyway because THEY don’t believe in this. They would allow every limb amputated, so that only her head and basic trunk of a body remained. They would have open heart surgery done, anything……they will never ever let her go until the day her body finally gives up. This isn’t from their side about what Terri would have wanted; though for the cameras they say that, this is about what they want. Does that make them horrible people? No, it makes them people who don’t want to let their daughter go. They admitted for over 10 years that Terri was in a persistent vegetative state; even in 2000 when they went to court both parents testified under oath that they accepted she was in PVS. For many different reasons both the good and the bad, the moral and the immoral they do not want to let Terri go.

The Schindlers have also agreed that they don’t feel Michaels refusal to re-insert the feeding tube is about money anymore. I don’t think it ever was about the money with the exception of the argument that started this whole disagreement between the both sides, but even those of you who claim this should realize the Schindlers don’t even believe that anymore.

Even as far back as 1993 the Schindlers encouraged Michael to move on, to date, now if they really felt there was some chance Terri would “come back” why would they do this? Bob Schindler now states they did this because they hoped Michael would find someone else and divorce Terri leaving them in charge. Yet Mary Schindler in 1992 stated they would have never gotten thru this without Michael and glowingly spoke of his dedication and love of her daughter.

People ask why did he wait so long to announce that Terri didn’t want to live this way, a good question and it’s easily answered if you look at the facts. When Terri first collapsed he, like the Schindlers did not want to give up hope of a recovery. Even though he was told by the doctors she had no chance he continued, even going as far as to take Terri to California for an experimental brain implant. As the years passed and it became apparent the aggressive rehab that was being done wasn’t working, Michael started to accept that what the doctors had told him initially and continually thru out this was true. That Terri was not going to come back. So why didn’t he immediately demand for the feeding tube to be removed then? He was told and the information on people in PVS shows the majority die within the first five years. So he left it up to God, assuming that Terri like most would die, that’s when he added the DNR order. That’s what most people do when it becomes apparent there is no hope. Eight years later, he decided it was time to let her go, that this is not what she would have wanted. Now did his own personal life decisions help make this happen? I don’t doubt that. Just as the Schindlers have their own personal reasons for being against this that have nothing to do with what Terri wants, I’m sure Michael does too.

Which is why there was the Court involved, Judge Greer did what he was supposed to do, he looked at all of the evidence both medical and personal testimony and he was faced with deciding absent written wishes of Terri, on the information presented, what would Terri want? This is not something he took lightly, nor is he some kind of Godless Monster.

He based this decision clearly on what the law states must happen and must exist for this type of a decision to be made. It’s not just based on the three who testified that this is what Terri would have wanted, it was also based on the lack of evidence that this is not what Terri would have wanted. Testimony of comments made after a movie when Terri was 11 or 12 doesn’t compare to comments made as an adult. Especially when the person testifying tries to claim this happened at age 18 and is proven not credible. A lot of testimony has been made a huge deal of in the media that has been deemed not credible by the Courts, including the both of the former nursing home workers. Sure, you watch what’s said on Fox and it makes it sound like Michael is really a horrible person, they don’t tell you all of what was said especially that she states she informed not only the Schindlers of all of this (which would mean they sat there and did nothing? That’s highly doubtful) and basically created this whole conspiracy theory that would have involved not only the Schindlers, but the nursing home, law enforcement and others. The same can be said of our “Nobel Prize nominated” doctor that has made the Fox and Cable rounds. You don’t hear how he was brought up on charges for making false promises to patients; you also don’t hear that his research that he claimed would “save” Terri was mainly used on whiplash patients. He could not present one patient as proof that his claims were true.

You don’t have to believe me, and I’m sure some of you won’t, which is why I say read the facts! Stop blaming the judges or now Governor Bush and find out for yourself. If at the end of it all you agree that that you still would not want tube feeding stopped if it were you then, that’s fine, that is your personal choice. However, it is not up to you or to me, to Michael or even the Schindlers to decide this for Terri. It’s acceptable and well within the rights of the Schindlers to disagree with the initial ruling, that’s what the appeals process is for. The legal system is not perfect. This has gone beyond what the appeals process was designed for. Had there been an error with the way this case has had more due process than any other it would have been discovered. It has now been looked at from a state and a federal standpoint. If you truly believe this is a case of “judicial murder” then you would have to believe that every Judge involved in this on a State and Federal basis had the goal of “killing” Terri Schiavo. That’s not logical, nor is there no basis for that accusation, Judges over turn life and death arguments on a regular basis with no regard for “protecting” a Judge.

Trying to turn our legal system into one ruled on emotion and which group can get the most media does us all a huge disservice. If you do this, then you are dooming our Country to mob rule, where the loudest voices with the most money decides for all of us, it’s bad enough that already happens with the media, and many times with Congress and even the Whitehouse. We need one place where emotion and money and power do not matter so that all of us have the same equal protection.

I have experienced the horrible experience of losing a child. So while my heart is heavy with understanding the pain the Schindlers are feeling, I also realize that there is a time when you have to put what is best for that person above your own personal desire. God is not going to punish Terri with “eternal damnation of her soul” as her parents have claimed. Not the God I believe in anyway, and I am a Catholic. And if he did, then perhaps he is not the kind of God any of us would choose to believe in.