This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 209.92.76.43 (talk) at 12:54, 25 April 2005. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 12:54, 25 April 2005 by 209.92.76.43 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| Terri Schiavo case |
|---|
Theresa Marie Schiavo (December 3, 1963 – March 31, 2005), commonly known as Terri Schiavo (pronounced SHY-voh, IPA: /'ʃaɪvoʊ/), was an American woman from St. Petersburg, Florida who spent the last 15 years of her life in a persistent vegetative state (PVS). The judicial and legislative battles to disconnect her feeding tube generated tremendous media coverage during the last two weeks of her life and prompted a fierce debate over bioethics, euthanasia, legal guardianship, federalism, and civil rights.
On February 25, 1990, Terri Schiavo suffered severe brain damage from cerebral hypoxia caused by cardiac arrest. On February 11, 2000, a Florida circuit court ruled that Schiavo was in a PVS, and authorized her husband and Guardian, Michael Schiavo, to discontinue artificial life support. The decision was affirmed on appeal by 19 separate judges. On March 18, 2005, her gastric feeding tube was removed. Terri Schiavo died on March 31 at around 9:05 a.m. EST. An autopsy has been performed, but the results have not yet been released.
Michael Schiavo contended that he carried out his wife's wishes not to be kept alive in a PVS. Mrs. Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, and her brother and sister, disputed Mr. Schiavo's contention that she would not have wished to be kept alive and claimed that Schiavo was not in a PVS. Her parents vigorously appealed the judicial decisions, leading to the reinsertion of the feeding tube on two separate occasions. The courts all ruled in favor of Mr. Schiavo, and the feeding tube was removed a third and final time.
Related article: Terri Schiavo timeline
Early life
Schiavo was born Theresa Marie Schindler. Her parents named her after Saint Teresa of Avila. She grew up in the Huntingdon Valley area of Lower Moreland Township, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, as the eldest of three children; her younger siblings are Robert Jr. (Bobby) and Suzanne.
By her senior year in high school, Schiavo was overweight, with a height of 5'3" (1.57 m) and a weight of around 200 pounds. Schiavo went on a NutriSystem diet and lost about 55 pounds (25 kg). Schiavo may have developed an eating disorder around this time in order to cope with her perceived weight problem. In 1981, Schiavo graduated from Archbishop Wood High School, a private Catholic school in nearby Warminster.
Terri met Michael Schiavo in 1982 in a sociology class at Bucks County Community College in Newtown, Pennsylvania, where they were both students. He was her first boyfriend. After dating for five months, the couple got engaged and were married on November 10, 1984. They moved to St. Petersburg, Florida in April 1986. Bob and Mary Schindler, Terri Schiavo's parents, also moved to St. Petersburg three months later. In Florida, Terri worked as an insurance claims clerk for the Prudential insurance company, and her husband was a restaurant manager. Terri Schiavo's friends began to have suspicions about her eating habits. After meals out, she would immediately excuse herself to go to the bathroom. Michael Schiavo was aware of her unusual eating patterns, but did not realize their potential danger.
In 1989, the Schiavos began visiting an obstetrician and receiving fertility services and counseling in the hopes of having a child. At this time, Terri Schiavo's weight had dropped to 120 pounds, and she had stopped menstruating. However, the physician who examined Terri Schiavo did not take a complete medical history, which would have indicated an eating disorder.
Schiavo's condition
Terri Schiavo's parents contend that her behavior in this image from one of the videos released by her parents showed that she was aware of the people around her. Neurologists who examined Schiavo disagree, saying that her level of brain damage made responsiveness impossible and that her behavior represented reflex or instinctive actions.]]
Patients in a PVS may exhibit some behaviors that can be construed as arising from partial consciousness—reflex or random behaviors such as grinding of teeth, swallowing, smiling, shedding tears, grunting, moaning or screaming without any apparent external stimulus. They are unresponsive to external stimuli, except, possibly, painful stimuli.
Schiavo's parents claim that their daughter did not meet the definition of a persistent vegetative state and was in a "minimally conscious state" instead. Her parents argue that at times her actions were indicative of responses to external stimuli, not reflex or instinctive behavior. For example, the Schindlers claim that their daughter smiled, laughed, cried, moved, made childlike attempts at speech, and attempted to say "Mom" or "Dad"; or "yeah" when they asked her a question. They claim that when they kissed her she looked at them and sometimes puckered her lips.
Schiavo's parents videotaped Terri for four and a half hours and produced six video segments totaling four minutes and twenty seconds. Schiavo's parents cite the testimony and affidavits of 33 physicians and therapists (including 15 neurologists) who, after reviewing these four and a half minutes of video segments, believe that Schiavo should have received further tests and/or would have likely responded to therapy. Some of these physicians have claimed that there was a "strong likelihood that Mrs. Schiavo is in a "minimally conscious state." None of the physicians saw the full four and a half hours of video. (The six video segments have been released publicly. The rest of the recorded video has not been released by Schiavo's parents.)
An emergency motion to restore the feeding tube was filed by Barbara Weller, the Schindlers' co-attorney who stated that 20 minutes before the tube was removed on March 18, 2005, and in response to their attempts to coach her, "she managed to articulate the first two vowel sounds, first articulating AHHHHHHH and then virtually screaming WAAAAAAAA." Schiavo had been unable to speak since her heart attack in 1990. Weller asserted that she had told Terri that she would die unless she said, "I want to live." The alleged incident occurred only in the presence of family members and has not been independently confirmed; the police officer stationed outside the room said she could not recall hearing the vocalization. Judge George Greer said that Schiavo's utterances came only after being touched, which was consistent with evidence presented in 2002. "All of the credible medical evidence this court has received over the last five years is that this is not a cognitive response, but rather something akin to a person jerking his/her hand off a hot stove long before he/she has thought about it," Greer wrote.
According to a December 29, 1998 report submitted by the second guardian ad litem, Richard Pearse, nursing home staff members observed the same reactions claimed by the Schindlers, except the staff noted that Terri's responses were random, coincidental, and unrelated to any external stimuli. However, the report did note two consistent responses: Terri responded to deep pain stimuli by moaning, and she opened her eyes in response to noise.
Michael Schiavo
Under Florida law and supported by rulings of State and Federal courts, Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband, was her legal guardian. Schiavo says his wife would not have wanted to live in a persistent vegetative state and that he was fighting for her right to die.
In 1991, Michael began studying nursing at St. Petersburg Community College to better care for his wife. He eventually became a respiratory therapist and an emergency room nurse.
In March 1994, guardian ad litem John H. Pecarek was appointed by the court to determine if there had been any abuse by Michael Schiavo. Pecarek's report found no evidence for any inappropriate actions and indicated that Michael had been very attentive to his wife.
In addition to Pecarek, a number of guardians ad litem as well as hospital staff members have described Michael Schiavo as a supportive husband who berated nurses for not taking better care of his wife; in 1994, the administration of one nursing home attempted, unsuccessfully, to get a restraining order against him because he was demanding more attention for his wife at the expense of other patients' care. According to Jay Wolfson, one of Mrs. Schiavo's court-appointed guardians, due to the attention Terri has received in the fifteen years she has been bedridden, she has never developed any bedsores.
On June 18,2000, Schiavo signed an agreement stating he would not withdraw or terminate his wife's medical care or treatment for potential fatal infections, without prior notice to the court.
In an appearance on ABC News's Nightline on March 15, 2005, Michael Schiavo cited the willingness that Mrs. Schiavo's parents expressed to keep her alive by multiple extreme measures, including quadruple amputation if needed, as an important reason for denying transfer of guardianship to them or other parties with similar desires.
Raising the issue of a possible conflict of interest is the claim that Mr. Schiavo stood to inherit the remainder of Mrs. Schiavo's malpractice settlement upon her death. However, the December 2003 Wolfson GAL report, submitted to Governor Jeb Bush pursuant to Florida's "Terri's Law," notes that Mr. Schiavo had, prior to his 1998 request to the court to determine Terri Schiavo's wishes, "formally offered to divest himself entirely of his financial interest in the guardianship estate" (p. 12). In 2005, Mr. Schiavo publicly responded to the alleged conflict of interest by claiming that less than $50,000 of the original award from the suit is left, the rest having been spent under a judge's supervision on medical care for Mrs. Schiavo and the ongoing legal battle. He also had a contract drafted stating that, should the Schindlers refrain from any further legal action, he would donate whatever his inheritance might be to charity. The Schindlers refused the offer.
On March 11, 2005, media tycoon Robert Herring (who believes that stem cell research could have cured Terri Schiavo's condition) offered $1 million to Michael Schiavo if he agreed to waive his guardianship to his wife's parents . The offer was rejected. George Felos, attorney for Mr Schiavo, described the offer as "offensive.". He also stated that Mr. Schiavo had rejected other monetary offers, including one of $10 million.
Michael Schiavo has been criticized by the Schindlers and their supporters for entering into a relationship with another woman, Jodi Centonze, while still legally married to Mrs. Schiavo. Mr. Schiavo and Centonze have had two children together. Mr. Schiavo denies wrongdoing in this matter, stating that the Schindlers actively encouraged him to "get on with his life" and date since 1991. Michael said he chose not to divorce Terri and relinquish guardianship because he wanted to carry out her final wishes not to be kept alive in a persistent vegetative state.
Schindler family
Terri Schiavo's parents and siblings had been battling her husband over her fate since 1998. Even though the courts consistently upheld the ruling that Schiavo would choose to have her life support discontinued, her parents used every legal measure available to them to prevent the disconnection of her feeding tube. The Schindlers stated that even if Terri had told them of her intention to have artificial nutrition withdrawn, they would not do it.
The Schindlers took videos of Terri that purportedly show her responding to them. They enlisted the services of Galaxywave, Inc., "psychic healers" who claim to possess "Remote Healing ADAM Technology." On several occasions, the Schindlers put Schiavo in contact with these psychics via cell phone during their visits with her.
Her parents claimed that Schiavo was a devout Roman Catholic who did not wish to violate the Church's teachings on euthanasia by intentionally starving or dehydrating herself to death, and that she had never expressed such a desire to anyone in her birth family or circle of friends. The Schindlers' legal fight was funded by a variety of sources on the political right.
Schiavo's father, Bob Schindler, criticized Judge Greer because he never called her into the courtroom or visited her to observe her condition firsthand. Schindler called the court order to remove the feeding tube "judicial homicide."
On March 28, 2005, The New York Times reported that the Schindlers planned to sell a list of people and organizations who have contributed financially to their legal fight to a direct-marketing organization that will solicit money from these people for anti-abortion and conservative groups.
Autopsy
The body of Terri Schiavo arrived at the office of the medical examiner within three hours of her death. The autopsy was completed on April 1 by Pinellas County's medical examiner's office . Supporters of the Schindlers had contended that the autopsy was required by Florida law, as the body was to be cremated, but the strict wording of the statute states only that the medical examiner has the authority to conduct an autopsy before a cremation if he or she deems it necessary.
The examiner's office has said it would conduct examinations on Terri Schiavo's body and look for any evidence of what might have caused her 1990 collapse. A neuropathologist was also to conduct an exam.
The results of the autopsy have yet to be released; however, it is suspected that cause of death will be shown to be due to heart failure resulting from the effects of dehydration, which interferes with body chemistry and causes abnormalities in the heart rate (known as arrhythmia).
Burial
Schiavo's body was cremated following the autopsy.
The parents of Terri Schiavo offered a memorial Mass in her honor at the Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church in Gulfport on April 5. Father Frank Pavone, an activist with Priests for Life, delivered the main sermon.
Sources
- Terri Schiavo Case: Legal Issues Involving Health care Directives, Death, and Dying. Findlaw. A detailed compilation of legal documents related to the Schiavo case.
- The New York Times Database (1996-present): An index of 71 articles from The New York Times relating to the Schiavo case (requires free registration) .
- "Before fight over death, Terri Schiavo had a life." CNN. October 25, 2003.
- Breed, Allen G., and Matt Crenson. "Doctors: Schiavo tapes don't tell story." Associated Press. March 26, 2005.
- Carey, Benedict, and John Schwartz. "Schiavo's condition holds little chance of recovery." The New York Times. March 26, 2005.
- "Excerpts from diagnoses of 6 Schiavo doctors." Associated Press. March 24.
- Fackelmann, Kathleen. "Schiavo not likely to experience a painful death, neurologists say." USA Today. March 23, 2005.
- Graham, Judith. "Schiavo's expressions misleading, experts say." Chicago Tribune. March 25, 2005.
- Kumar, Anita. "The Terri Schiavo Case: Before the Circus" St. Petersburg Times. April 3, 2005.
- Lamendola, Bob. "Neurologists see little sign of activity in Schiavo's brain." South Florida Sun-Sentinel. March 23, 2005.
- Rufty, Bill. "Doctors lament misuse of proper terminology in Schiavo debate." The Ledger. March 23, 2005.
- Schwartz, Jerry. "Friends remember Schiavo before maelstrom." Associated Press. March 31, 2005.