Family of Terri Schiavo to Get Natl Pro-Life Award, Start Medical Center 
Email this article
Printer friendly page
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 26, 2007
Springfield, FL (LifeNews.com) — The family of Terri Schiavo could have called it a day after Terri was starved and dehydrated to death by her former husband over a two week period. They endured constant international news coverage and waged a discouraging battle in the courts that left their daughter and sister with no hope.
Instead, Terri’s parents Bob and Mary, brother Bobby and sister Suzanne pressed on.
Not wanting the same fate to befall other disabled patients, they reworked the foundation they created to help Terri and organized it to assist other incapacitated or minimally conscious patients.
Since they they’ve come to the aid of dozens of families and patients across the country to help them fight legal battles and get medical care.
Recognizing those efforts, the National Right to Life Committee plans to award the Schindler family with its highest honor at its Proudly Pro-Life Dinner in October in the nation’s capital.
The award has been given to other pro-life luminaries from Mother Teresa and Father Frank Pavone to Ben Stein, Patty Heaten and Wellington Mara.
Bobby Schindler spoke to LifeNews.com about the award and how the Schindler family wants to do more to help the disabled.
"Our family never thought that our efforts to get Terri help was anything exceptional," he said, adding that he and his family are "humbled to be receiving such a prestigious award from the National Right to Life Committee."
"To be included in the company of such extraordinary people that have dedicated their lives defending the sacredness of all life is truly an honor," Schindler added.
An awards night is a special gala and celebration that is much deserved, but the Schindler family is worried about what lies ahead in its work at the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation.
The foundation has seen the greatest need in Texas, where families of patients, under a futile care law there, have just 10 days to find another medical facility to care for their loved ones if the hospital decides to stop providing lifesaving treatment.
Schindler says the foundation has seen a desperate need for pro-life doctors and attorneys to help patients and their families, and he’s hoping the grassroots pro-life community will help him identify more professionals willing to help.
The foundation wants to "build a national network of attorneys and doctors dedicated to protecting the rights of vulnerable, disabled and elderly persons."
"If you are an attorney or medical professional and would like to join this network, please contact us," Schindler told LifeNews.com. "If you know of such medical or legal professionals, please … urge them to contact us if they are willing to help."
Interested parties can contact the foundation at their web site below and sending an email with more information.
The fight in Texas against the futile care law had the Schindler family, NRLC officials and pro-life advocates searching the country for medical facilities to care for patients in need. Despite the network of Catholic and other religious hospitals, they often found no medical center willing to take these desperate patients.
Ultimately, Schindler told LifeNews.com the foundation wants to open a medical center to provide care for those patients like Terri who can’t find it anywhere else.
The center will lead to a network that will help the elderly and disabled in the same way crisis pregnancy centers assist pregnant women in need.
"Terri’s Foundation anticipates establishing a nationwide network of Terri Schindler Schiavo Neurological centers to provide care for brain injury victims and support for their families," he said.
Schindler’s hope is that the network of centers will help ensure that no more Terri’s face a future without the proper medical treatment they deserve.
Related web sites:
Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation – https://www.terrisfight.org
