Schindler Family 'Begging and Pleading' to Save Daughter's Life -- GOPUSA

Schindler Family 'Begging and Pleading' to Save Daughter's Life
By Jeff Johnson
CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
February 23, 2005

(CNSNews.com) -- Terri Schindler Schiavo's family is calling on the State of Florida to save the disabled woman's life. Doctors, acting on orders from her husband, may remove her feeding and hydration tube at any time, now that the Florida Second District Court of Appeals has issued a mandate authorizing that action.

Terri's family members were greeted by more than 50 supporters outside Terri's current residence, the Woodside Hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida. After talking briefly with several people in the group, Terri's father, Bob Schindler addressed reporters.

"I don't have much to say other than that we are begging and pleading with the legislators and Governor (Jeb) Bush to save Terri from being murdered in cold blood," Schindler said. He walked away without responding to reporters' questions.

Asked if there had been any new legal developments in the case, Terri's brother, Bobby Schindler, told reporters, "We haven't heard anything. You guys will probably know before we will."

The attorney for Terri's husband, Michael Schiavo, informed a Florida court Monday that Schiavo will ignore an order issued by that court and remove his disabled wife's feeding tube Tuesday afternoon.

Schiavo attorney George Felos wrote Pinellas-Pasco County, Fla., Circuit Judge George Greer Monday, "... so there is no misunderstanding as to the guardian's (Michael Schiavo's) position." Felos argues in the letter that Greer no longer has jurisdiction to stop Schiavo from ending his wife's feeding and hydration. The noted "right-to-die" activist reminded Greer that, "the stay of the February 11, 2000 final judgment authorizing the discontinuance of the ward's artificial life support expires at 1:00 p.m. (E.S.T. Tuesday).

"Absent any further stays that might be put in place, the guardian will," Felos wrote, "comply with the final judgment ... by discontinuing the ward's artificial life support at 1:00 p.m. (E.S.T. Tuesday)."

Gary McCullough, media coordinator for the Schindler family, told the Cybercast News Service that the letter is a window into the thought processes of both Terri's husband and his lawyer.

"The family has consistently seen a morbid, monstrous attitude from the attorney, George Felos, and Michael Schiavo to see her starved to death, to see her dead," McCullough said. "There's no justification for this other than the monstrous attitude towards Terri and her family."

Felos has refused to speak with the Cybercast News Service since September of 2003.

McCullough warned that, if Schiavo chooses to remove Terri's feeding tube, Schindler family attorney David Gibbs will ask the court to step in.

"David Gibbs has said, very clearly, that, if Felos and his client, Michael Schiavo, move forward and remove the tube," McCullough said, "he believes that would place them in contempt of court and will ask the court to find them in contempt.

"[Gibbs] also said that our other step would be to immediately go to the U.S. Supreme Court and ask Justice (Anthony) Kennedy to issue a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court," McCullough added.

Terri Schindler Schiavo collapsed under questionable circumstances in 1990 and suffered a brain injury as the result of oxygen deprivation. Some doctors have testified that the collapse was caused by a potassium imbalance or heart attack while others believe Terri bears signs of a physical assault or abuse.

The Schindler family argues that Terri's brain injury and the resulting disabilities should be treated. While she must have a feeding tube for nourishment and hydration, Terri does not require a respirator or other extraordinary measures to keep her alive.

Although more than a dozen physicians have agreed that Terri's condition should improve with treatment, Schiavo has been providing only maintenance care for his wife since early 1993. In 1992, Schiavo received more than $1 million dollars in a medical malpractice lawsuit filed on Terri's behalf.

Schiavo told the court then that he wanted "to spend the rest of [his] life" providing care and rehabilitation for his wife. He has since fathered two children with another woman, whom he refers to as his fiancee and with whom he is now living, even though he is still legally married to Terri.

Schiavo successfully ordered his wife's feeding tube removed on Oct. 15, 2003. It was reinserted after the Florida legislature passed a bill allowing Gov. Jeb Bush to intervene. That law has since been declared unconstitutional.