Terri Speaks

Update: Watch and Listen to audio recorded by Terri's father Robert Schindler 11-29-02.

I'm just watching Greta on FOX and they played an audio tape from two years ago with Terri's father asking her questions and Terri responding.

Yes. Responding.

It was absolutely chilling.

This unholy conspiracy of death merchants are starving a one year old to death.

No, you can't understand her. No, she doesn't make sense. But unless she's making these sounds in the middle of the night. Unless she's making these sounds at random times... This woman is trying to respond.

I took a tomato out of fridge. I asked it some questions. It said nothing. It didn't even move. No jiggle. No wiggle. Nothing. You see, vegetables don't respond. Terri does.

Another thing... They're giving her morphine. Why? I thought starvation and dehydration was serene and peaceful? People enjoying the bliss of starvation and dehydration don't need morphine.

I'm sick about this. And the more I hear, the sicker I get. I wasn't around during segregation. But I have a feeling that watching my government abuse people for the color of their skin felt like this. Felt like I do now, watching our judicial death merchants torture and murder a severely handicapped woman who made the horrible mistake of being twenty years old, who made the horrible mistake of  making an off-hand comment about not wanting to "live like that" during an episode of E.R.

That's if she said it. Her husband only mentioned she said it seven years after her accident. And yet, the judge said "Good enough. Kill her. But make it slow."

I'm sick.

Comments

[Trey]

Interesting. Where's the rest of the tape? Did the batteries run out? The neurologists who testified during the court hearings, as well as the guardian ad litem watched hours and hours of video and spent hours and hours by Terri's bedside alone, and in the presence of all her family members, talking to her, playing music, touching her, etc., and they saw nothing but random movements and vocalizations. For starters, how about reading the guardian ad litem's report here:

http://abstractappeal.com/schiavo/WolfsonReport.pdf

[Vanessa]

It took Michael 7 years to give up on his wife.

Terri's father lasted a whole week before he told the doctors to pull the plug on his mother.
He didn't want to make the decision and noone should have to, but I do believe he did the right thing then.
However, engaging in a pointless struggle to keep his daughter alive to alleviate his guilt for making the decision to end his mother's life is wrong.

Just two years ago Terri's father stated that if something were to happen to him, he'd want his wife to be the only one to make the decision. How odd considering.
Both Terri's brother and sister at the same time stated they would not want to be kept alive if they were ever in a PVS state.

Of course, all of this was said in private to a single reporter. When it was time to make their appearance on national TV, they did a good job of turning Terri's condition and suffering into a media circus for their own benifit and the lobby groups funding them.

[EZ]

Vanessa: There are tremendous differences that you and the rest of the liberal "experts" conveniently wish NOT to acknowledge, such as the fact that Michael Schiavo had moved on with another woman and created a family while still married to Terri. Sure, her father would want his wife to make that decision because they are still together (by choice) and each would only want what is best for each other. I find it difficult to imagine that Michael had Terri's best interests at heart. He claims that he was only fulfilling his promise to Terri with regard to this issue. What about his promise to be faithful in sickness and health, til death do they part? It's time you pro-death people woke up and acknowledged the truth.

[Debbie]

The Media focus's on an issue, the issue here was euthnasia. There is a euthnasia movement taking hold in our nation, not much different than the eugentics movement, which was widely accepted in the early 19th century in our medical and science fields, which brought on the brutal use of people under the Nazi's. Many people do not realize the Nazi's took prevailing eugentics thought of 19th century a few steps futher.

Much of the media did protect Michael from public knowledge of the family he now has, and children he fathered, while being married to Terri (kind of like bigomy), and other conflicts of interest.

From reports Terri must have been close to her family. Terri and Michael moved to Florida when Terri's parents moved to Florida. I just read an article which stated Terri's brother lived not too far away from Michael and Terri before her "accident". Now Michael shows himself, in not letting Terri's parents know where she is buried. It leaves on wondering, even if her ashes made it to where he claims he is taking her.

This was a family struggle of parents who were close to their children, and a husband who did not want to lose control of his wife. He did not want lose control of all aspects of her life; while he continue his life with a new woman partner who bore him children.

Money had and has to play a role in the issue with Michael, and Michael and his attorney know this.

If one has every been in the media, the spins and information left out speaks volumes. In Terri's case, where Michael works, who he is living with, as well as the background to the people who have supported Michael in his efforts to continue to control Terri is the essance of the story and left out in main stream media. Important issues people would not know about except for the Bloggers.

"I love my wife....." but is what he is saying and doing really refecting love.

Attorneys-- can put a half truth and spin to cover up dark motives, and deciet.

This case is an indictment against our legal and judical system. The debate needs to be over guardianship when there are clear conflicts of interest involved, this is the area where our legistation needs to focus.

There needs to be an investigation into Greer, Michael, and Rice. It is far past time to clean up or judical and legal system.

[edith]

I have heard Michael Schiavo make two different statements on national TV as to when Terri stated her desire not to be kept alive. According to him during his interview with Larry King a week ago, Terri stated to him her desire not to be kept alive, when they attended Michael's grandmother' funeral. The second statement was made during another TV appearance which I saw 3/31 - when he stated he loved his wife very much and always will and that is why he wants to carry out her wishes when she told him while watching a show on tv that "she does not want to be kept alive." I wonder if anyone had noticed these discrepancies.

So which is it, Michael? Either way, you sure succeeded in putting a closure on Terri. You may very well be ready to continue your 2nd wind with your common-law and 2 children. However, your time will eventually come to face our Maker. I hope your 2nd family does not put you through what you did to Terri. May she rest in peace forever.

[Vanessa]

"the fact that Michael Schiavo had moved on with another woman and created a family while still married to Terri"

Her parents approved of him moving on, they encouraged him to move on, he brought dates over to their house for dinner.
That fact is always conviently forgotten when people rush to condemn him living with another woman.
The sad fact is that all the bad blood between all of them didn't start until after Michael made the decision to let Terri go.

The position the Catholic church holds on the matter supports Michael's decision until the pope spoke out against it. Too bad the pope doesn't dictate church doctrine, that was just his personal opinion.

The point here is that agreed, Michael isn't a saint, but neither are the Schindlers, far from.

Pro-life wants to stop teenagers from performing abortions and you're right, it's not a good thing. Except that it's just the pro-life religious zealot crowd that chooses to withhold the sexual education from their children that would give them an option not to get pregnant in the first place. You'll support pharmacists who deny anticonception prescriptions on moral basis, that's a great way to keep teens from getting pregnant. Just brilliant.

I'll also fully agree that Terri's death shouldn't have been caused by dehydration, but guess what? How she died is the full responsability of the pro-life crowd who believes human beings should suffer in their moment of death because it's immoral for any doctor to help them die.

[Sandra Barron]

How could we as human beings allow this to happen to Terri? The court system and we as human beings failed to protect Terri and this is a disgrace. How can we call ourselves human beings when we allowed an innocent person to be murdered? In my opinion the courts proved that we are no more than savages. Terri was an innocent person, her only crime was being disabled and we murdered her. We let our murders and child molesters walk free while an innocent life was taken. What is this teaching our children? I raised my 2 children to be kind and have a heart for people with disabilities. I taught them that people like Terri have a special place in this world and in Gods heart and they should always help them in any way that they can. Now my children are hurt and confused. They cant understand why Terri was not protected from harm. My children cant understand why people wanted Terri to die when she did nothing wrong. Tell me, how do I explain to my kids why this poor innocent human being was murdered and noone could protect her? How can I explain to them what I don't even understand? My children and I both want to know how this could happen? Terri was ALIVE and ALERT and she didn't deserve to be murdered. I can't even fathom how this could happen in a civilized society. This is a society where it is illeagal and considered inhumain to starve or abuse an animal to death but leagal to abuse and starve a human being to death. How can this be? What has become of this world and the people that live in it? We as human beings should feel great shame for what we allowed to happen to Terri. Instead of moving forward as civilized we have taken a huge step back and become the savages we started out to be. My heart goes out to Terri's family and I want them to know that Terri will always be in my thoughts and prayers. I can only hope that the tradegy that happened to Terri will open peoples eyes and hopefully save the lives of others in the future. I pray that Terri's husband and all the Judges and courts that ordered Terri's death will be held accountable for her murder and sentenced to prison to pay for what they have done. When their time comes to face God I'm sure He will hold them accountable for Terri's murder and damn them to hell for eternity.

[mary]

I do not understand why the word of Michael was taken over the word of all of Terri's close friends and family members as to her wishes, as Terri had put nothing in writing. Also, as Michael had moved on to a new "wife" and family, why didn't the courts declare a conflict of interest? And why didn't Michael just divorce Terri and leave her to her family? And why didn't he use every penny of the award money to try to rehabilitate her instead of to have her killed- I would have with my husband before I had given up. And the video of Terri looking at her mother- as a mother myself I recognize the glow that trnsformed her face when she recognized Mom- I've seen it in my own kids' faces.

[Faye]

Terri was a human being that did not deserve to die like this..I feel like she became part of my life as well as for thousands of others...I believe her husband only did what he did to take revenge on her parents to hurt them for life ..what he and everyone forgot was that Terri was a daughter before she was a wife and he misused his power and got away with it..I feel for her family esp for her mother because the worst thing in a persons life is to lose their beloved child who might have had hope for recovery..I hope michael as well as the others who helped "murder " her suffer to the fullest extent remember what "goes around comes around"....hope all of them rot beyond hell....faye

[Colleen]

I still think about Terri nearly every day. I remember her voice. I remember her face. I remember her strong will. She'll live in my heart forever. Memories of Terri push me to fight against the sadistic extermination of disabled people. I've had the pleasure of joining in some successful campaigns to prevent murder. That helps alleviate some of the pain of witnessing the murder of Terri and other vulnerable people. I no longer feel as helpless as I did while Terri was being tortured to death. Many people are still being starved and dehydrated to death, but some of the murders are now being prevented, thanks to the attention generated by the public execution of Terri schiavo Schindler.

[Robert T. Atwood]

My wife lived through three major brain surgeries, 1 facial surgery, 1 on her eye, and 2 on a shunt in her brain. She spent the better part of 4 years in and out of hospitals and rehab units. She had a feeding tube inserted through her abdomen and used it for close to a year before she regained partial ability to swallow. She now uses a thickening agent and will for the rest of her life. My wife was out for a while in intensive care in an induced comma. She told me later that at times she knew what was going on but could not communicate. Before her first surgery we had decided to have a living will drawn up. Her wishes were not to be recesitated. In the case of Teri, sadly, she could not state her wishes. The courts took the word of a biased and prejudiced husband who had already started another family. He needed her dead to marry his common law sex partner and he did, not so long after her death. How the Judges, higher courts could not see him as having a conflict of interest is beyond comprehension. Whether you're on the side of Teri's parents, or her estranged husband Michael's, it is important to remember in cases of doubt life should be the choice above all else. What the courts did was murder a helpless woman. They violated her rights by refusing her life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They failed in their duty to protect her.