by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright March 25, 2005
All Rights Reserved.

elling a national radio audience on WABC's "Sean Hannity Show” his daughter Terri Schiavo was the victim of some nefarious plot, Bob Schindler blamed Terri's husband Michael for her paralyzing disability. Schindler told Hannity that Schiavo wanted his wife dead to cover-up culpability in her 1990 “heart attack” that left her without oxygen in a persistent vegetative state. Blowing more smoke, Schindler insisted that Terri was not irreversibly brain damaged, claiming she was deprived of appropriate treatment, insisting a Florida physician could rehab Terri with hyperbaric oxygen therapy and various heart medications. Schindler's outrageous remarks sparked protests from religious groups, accusing Michael Schiavo of elder abuse—even murder. Schindler's misleading remarks—and those of certain talk show hosts—drove religious conservatives into a frenzy.

      When the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review Schiavo's case, the parents' hopes of reinserting their daughter's feeding tube dimmed. Pro-life activists begged Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to take the law into his own hands, sending in state troopers to take custody and reconnect her G-tube. “I can't go beyond what my [legal powers] are, and I'm not going to,” said Jeb, telling the Christian conservatives that he has no intention breaking the law. Seven days without her feeding tube, Terri's mother Mary Schindler invoked the Holocaust saying Terri “looked like she just got out of Auschwitz.” Incendiary rhetoric has taken Schiavo's case out of usual-and-customary hospice care into the realm of “cruel and unusual punishment.” What makes Schiavo's case so controversial is her parents' desperate attempt to save her life from her husband's effort to euthanize her.

      Controversy stemmed from the lack of a living will or specific instructions called “advanced directives” on how to end Terri's life. Her husband Michael claims he is simply executing Terri's will, disconnecting her feeding tube. No one can confirm Terri's conversation before 1990 when she apparently conveyed her wished for no “heroic measures.” For 15 years, Terri lived on a G-tube, leaving unclear why her husband decided now to end assisted nutrition. There are plenty of people arguing that Terri's life isn't worth saving. But without Terri communicating directly, it's hard to say whether she finds life so intolerable. Many disabled people with swallowing problems live with G-tubes and other life-supports. It doesn't automatically follow that patients on G-tubes have no quality of life. Most patients prefer a G-tube over the unmistakable alternative.

      Outrageous claims by Schiavo's parents about her current and the original espisode causing her disability—widely reported on conservative talk shows—can only be interpreted as pernicious propaganda. Running videotape, showing Terri apparently smiling with her eyes wide open, fan the passions accusing the courts of cruel inhumanity. There's no record presented to any law enforcement agency or court supporting the claim that Michael Schiavo tried to kill his wife or caused her injury. Court records show that Terri's heart stopped in 1990 from a potassium imbalance presumably caused by a life-threatening eating disorder. That's a far cry from accusing her husband of attempted murder. Since 1990, 150 doctors have diagnosed Terri with irreversible brain damage, giving her scant chance of recovery. Yet the Schindlers still claim Terri can be rehabilitated.

      No one denies a parent's attachment to a child or clinging to hope, no matter how unrealistic. Yet there's something fishy about the Schindlers' making outrageous claims about their son-in-law and daughter's condition. In a nutshell, the Schiavo's case is about allowing a designated durable-power-of-attorney to make life-or-death health care decisions for a severely disabled spouse. It's not that unusual that Michael Schiavo has no legal document specifying Terri's wishes—known as “advanced directives”—giving instructions for live-saving measures. Since her heart stopped causing brain damage, she's been unable to communicate. Without proof, Michael claims he's executing Terri's wishes. After living 15 years on a G-tube, it's odd that Michael insists on disconnecting it—against the Schindlers' wishes. Though not divorced, Michael has moved on to a new life and family.

      Schiavo's case raises some thorny issues about both the right-to-die and the right-to-life. Without legal documents, Michael Schiavo has a credibility problem insisting that he's following his unconscious wife's wishes, disconnecting her feeding tube. G-tubes are commonly used to feed disabled patients with swallowing problems. Calling them “heroic measures” suggests that they are an extreme artificial life-preserving means. When Pinellas County Circuit Court Judge George Greer ordered Schiavo's feeding tube disconnected March 19, the national uproar began. Regardless of her unfavorable prognosis, dehydrating and starving Terri to death doesn't seem right. Denying Terri access to appropriate nutrition goes beyond any debate about her dismal medical condition. Regardless of all the arguments, it's still not right to deny a disabled patient access to food and water.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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