I encourage you to respond to the Guardian article (link) that
follows. It reeks with inaccuracies . I will first include some
comments and then another document from the disability community and
end with some sites you can go to for more information.
Briefly, Terri Schiavo is a woman who for 13 years has resided in a
nursing home or hospice due to a brain injury she received as a
result of a loss of oxygen. A fight on her behalf successfully
procured for her over a million dollars to pay for the rehabilitation
care her husband Michael Schiavo promised he would orchestrate. Since
1999, Michael Schiavo has been fighting Terri Schiavo's parents (
the Schindler's ) to remove the feeding tube Terri Schiavo requires
for nourishment. She requires no other out of the ordinary care. She
has received none of the promised rehabilitation. Most recently her
feeding tube was removed for 6 days when the governor of Florida
where she resides intervened and backed " Terri's Law" that
permitted him to order the tube reinserted. The tube was reinserted
and Terri Schiavo has completed recovered to her previous state. Now
an objective voice is being sought to evaluate the real truth of
Terri Schiavo's medical situation.
As to the article in the Guardian, there is no question that Terri
Schiavo is NOT in a coma. No medical person has testified that she
is in a coma. There is a controversy as to whether she is in a
persistent vegetative state or simply brain damaged.
The disability community has been central to this fight. They have
shared this spotlight with the far right/right to life movement. The
disability community considers this not an end of life issue, but as
a disability rights issue. Terri Schiavo is not dying, but is
disabled.
Missing from this article is the fact that Terri Schiavo won in a
lawsuit over a million dollars in 1993 for rehabilitative care and
not one cent of it has been used toward that purpose. Over 50% of it
has been used for lawyers fees incurred by Michael Schiavo to end her
life by removing her feeding tube. There are many questions about
the real source of her original injury - there is some evidence to
suggest that it could be the result of abuse (by Michael Schiavo).
Also missing is that in Michael Schiavo's own words - he has moved on
with his life- he lives with another woman and has one child and
another on the way .
I hope you will join the voices of the disability community in the US
who are fighting for the right of Terri Schiavo to live. Susan
Fitzmaurice
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4789013-110878,00.html
Playing God
For 13 years Terri Schiavo has been in a coma - with her husband, her
parents, the Christian right and now the president's brother locked in a
bitter struggle over her fate. This week could see a final decision on
whether she lives or dies. Suzanne Goldenberg reports from Florida
Suzanne Goldenberg
Tuesday November 4, 2003
The Guardian
----------------------------------
http://www.ragged-edge-mag.com/schiavostatement.html
Oct. 27, 2003 -- We, the undersigned, come together in support of
Terri Schindler-Schiavo, and her human and civil rights. We are the
national spokespersons for the rights of millions of Americans with
disabilities whose voices are often not heard over the din of
political and religious rhetoric. We come together for those who will
be touched by disability in their lifetime and who will need our help
to make their voices heard.
--------------------------------------------------
http://www.terrisfight.org/
http://www.notdeadyet.org/ See breaking News at bottom of home page
http://www.internationaltaskforce.org/
--
Susan Fitzmaurice, M.S., C.R.C. Sexuality & Disability
ADA Coordinator, City of Dearborn Education, Advocacy & Support
2951 Greenfield http://www.sexsupport.org
Dearborn, Michigan 48120 [log in to unmask]
http://dearborn-disabilities.org
[log in to unmask]
(313) 943-2789
TTY 943-2835
FAX 943-2067
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