With Last Court Defeat, Terri Schiavo’s Family Out of Options

Bioethics | Steven Ertelt | Mar 26, 2005 | 9:00AM | WASHINGTON, DC

With Last Court Defeat, Terri Schiavo’s Family Out of Options Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 26, 2005

Pinellas Park, FL (LifeNews.com) — With a decision by the Florida Supreme Court rejecting one last effort to head off Terri Schiavo’s painful starvation death, Terri’s parents Bob and Mary Schindler are virtually out of options to save their daughter.

After receiving the news that Florida’s high court rejected an appeal seeking to halt the starvation because Terri tried to say she wanted to live, the Schindler family has gone into seclusion.

Brother Paul O’Donnell, a Franciscan monk who has been helping the Schindlers this week said they would be granting no further interviews.

On behalf of the family, O’Donnell renewed his plea for Governor Jeb Bush to get involved again. Bush has said there is nothing more he can do after courts prevented him and a state agency from taking Terri into protective custody.

Officials from the Department of Children and Families were on the way to get Terri when news came down that Judge George Greer prohibited it and asked local police to stop them.

The only remaining legal options for the family rest with appeals filed by Bush’s attorneys seeking to overturn Greer’s order against custody. The appeals have been filed with the 2nd District Court of Appeal, which has consistently ruled against the Schindlers and Governor Bush.

The Schindler family visited Terri on Saturday and attorney Barbara Weller was with them.
Weller told the Associated Press that Terri cried when her mother hugged her.

"She knows what’s going on. She was trying to vocalize something with Mary," Weller said.

"Terri still knows who her mother is, and she’s extremely distressed," Weller added. "She’s not a vegetable who doesn’t know what is happening."

Bob Schindler, Terri’s father, said he appreciates the support from the hundreds of pro-life and disability rights activists who have been at their side during the week. He said he hopes they will continue to be supportive in the coming days.

"We want people to continue to be here [at the hospice] with Terri, and with us," he said Saturday night.

O’Donnell told the dozens of pro-life and disability rights advocates who have gathered at Woodside Hospice to spend Easter with their familles.

"Tomorrow as we celebrate Easter they pray that you gather in the churches of your own denominations and offer prayer for their daughter Terri," he said.

"Be with your children, hold them close and share every moment you have with them," he added.

O’Donnell also said that Terri’s own remarks show she wants to live, despite what the courts have ruled.

"Terri’s declaration last week when she tried with all her might to say ‘I want to live’ trumps everything that has preceded in court," he said.