March 01, 2005
Schiavo parents grasping at straws
This is just getting stupid: now the parents of Terri Schiavo want a judge to force a divorce between her and her husband because he has actually slept with another woman in the 15 years that Terry has been in a vegetative state. Perhaps they should learn from his example and get on with their lives. Remember: after a fair trial, it was determined that Terri would not have wanted to be kept alive under these conditions. It’s Terry’s right to die that the increasingly desperate parents, with the help of some opportunistic publicity seeking right wing religious organizations, are seeking to subvert.
Terri Schiavo's parents filed a flurry of motions Monday aimed at averting her death or ensuring her family's religious and personal concerns are respected should that effort fail.Posted by Norwood at March 1, 2005 05:28 AMBob and Mary Schindler want quick action on 15 pending motions so they can start asking appeal courts to block the scheduled March 18 removal of their daughter's life- sustaining feeding tube, attorney David Gibbs said Monday.
The 11 motions filed Monday include a divorce petition seeking appointment of a legal guardian to act on the brain- damaged woman's behalf.
``Mr. Schiavo has engaged in open adultery. ... [Terri Schiavo] clearly would not desire to die while married to Mr. Schiavo,'' the motion states.
Circuit Judge George Greer immediately refused to hear two of the 11 new motions, including the divorce petition, along with four pending motions asking for new medical tests, treatment and the removal of Michael Schiavo as his wife's guardian, Gibbs said.
The motions rejected by Greer are the ones aimed at keeping Terri Schiavo alive. Gibbs said he will begin appeals that could put the case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The remaining motions deal with issues such as the administration of last rites and the Schindlers' desire that their daughter be buried according to Catholic tradition rather than cremated, as Michael Schiavo has ordered.
Bob Schindler faulted the judge Monday for not considering whether his daughter should have more medical tests.
Greer has ruled repeatedly that Terri Schiavo's brain was destroyed when her heart failed in 1990 at age 26 and that she is in a persistent vegetative state. After a January 2000 trial, Greer found testimony from Michael Schiavo and his relatives showed she would not want to be kept alive.
``He is on a death march,'' Schindler said of the judge.
Michael Schiavo should have no say over his wife's fate, Schindler said.
``The guy has been living with a woman for the past 10 years and has two children,'' he said. ``It's an insult to Terri.''
Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, said any spouse who truly loves his or her partner would want that spouse to ``seek some sort of happiness rather than to be alone.''
Felos called Monday's flurry of new motions a ``smoke screen ... aimed at subverting Terri Schiavo's wish'' not to be kept alive in a vegetative state.
``I think the real issue is what the state is going to do, either the Legislature or the governor,'' Felos said of talk in Tallahassee about intervening again.
In October 2003, Gov. Jeb Bush used a hastily crafted measure dubbed ``Terri's Law'' to order the woman's feeding tube reinserted six days after it was removed by court order. Terri's Law since has been ruled unconstitutional.
``The Florida Supreme Court made it clear they can't do anything to undermine the judicial decisions in Terri's case,'' Felos said. ``The citizenry should be highly concerned about what they might pass in a failed attempt to hurt this case that hurts countless Floridians.''
