Schindler Stands up for Disabled Right to Life

NEWS & ANALYSIS

Bobby Schindler, center, receives standing ovation
after a speech in Phoenix/Photo: Dennis Durband

Schindler Stands up for the Life of the Disabled

By Dennis Durband
August 8, 2005

As pro-lifers and abortion advocates debate in public and legislative arenas, the issue of euthanasia has largely flown under the radar in recent decades. The Florida court-ordered dehydration death of Terri Schiavo and the Schindler family's efforts to speak up for life have vaulted the controversy onto the front burner of world attention.

Bobby Schindler, brother of the late Schiavo, spoke in Phoenix, Arizona Thursday to call attention to the need to protect disabled persons from euthanasia advocates.

Schiavo, 41, mysteriously collapsed in 1990 and was hospitalized for 10 years with brain damage. In 2000, a court battle ensued over Schiavo's physical condition and she was transferred to a hospice. After many months of legal disputes, Judge George Greer earlier this year ordered the removal of her feeding tube and she died of dehydration 13 days later, on March 31. The contentious issue drew fierce debate nationally and internationally from those on both sides of the life issue.

It has been reported that several thousand right to live cases exist around the world in which disabled persons are unable to speak for themselves and vulnerable to euthanasia.

The Schindlers and high profile individuals who stood up for Schiavo's rights have been demonized by euthanasia fanatics, the media, bioethicists, state lawmakers and clergy. The family realized the great need for a sound, organized defense of the many others who are vulnerable in this culture of death.

Since his sister's death, Schindler has left his job as a Catholic school teacher to work fulltime for the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation. The Foundation focuses on fighting for the lives of the country's most vulnerable citizens. Its two main thrusts are education and attracting public support. The Foundation aims to educate the general public on guardianship laws and state laws on death by
dehydration and starvation, and provides information and resources on advanced directives, medical futility policies and individual constitutional rights. The organization plans to establish a public referral network of professionals and organizations that are dedicated to advocate, protect and provide care for people with disabilities and assist their families with related decisions.

"My sister touched people all over the world," Schindler said. "She has changed their lives. Our family will always be indebted to her for her strength and will to live. We will expose this horrible thing. Make no mistake, it was a court-ordered death. It has now become relatively simple to kill people."

Euthanasia activist George Felos was the attorney for Michael Schiavo, the adulterous husband of Terri who successfully crusaded for a court-ordered removal of the feeding tube, called her death a "beautiful thing." Felos referred to the Schindler family as "radicals."

That "beautiful thing" statement astounded Bobby Schindler. "It was absolutely sickening," he said. "It is wrong and needs to be stopped. There is hope in the conservative media and talk shows. We're showing how sinister it is, and the family plans to keep fighting."

Father Frank Pavone, the founder of Priests for Life and a friend of the Schindler family, has been inspired by the Schindlers, whom he met at a right to life conference a few years ago.

"We are really blessed by the uniqueness of this family that was not willing to let it happen to Terri in silence," Pavone said. "It happens to others all the time."

Schindler expressed his disapproval of the media and people in Washington D.C., who viciously attacked the opponents of euthanasia.

"The media played a major role in Terri's situation, distorting facts and claiming Michael sought the best interests of Terri," Schindler said. "This is absolutely untrue. They called it a right to die case. Terri never wrote a living will, and Michael had 100 percent control. She had a feeding tube, but was not hooked up to a machine. Congressman Tom DeLay and Jeb Bush were vilified for wanting to give Terri the same rights as people on death row," Schindler said.

"Why is brain damage a right to kill?" Schindler asked. "Some suggested that we apologize to Michael. The press hammered away at the quality of life mentality. This will have an affect on future doctors and attorneys."

The Schindlers, who are Catholic, were also disheartened when six Catholic university professors advocated for the euthanasia of Terri and one professor denigrated them. Another high-ranking church official refused to comfort them and instead supported Michael Schiavo in his attempt to deny Terri of the feeding tube.

Prior to his death a few days later, Pope John Paul II spoke out on the Schiavo controversy and said feeding is morally obligatory. He said the use of the word "vegetable" is offensive. A feeding tube was given to the Pope on the same day that Terri died.

Schindler said that the euthanasia advocates succeeded in gaining support for death through two means: having persons declared to be in a "persistent vegetated state" (PVS) and to allow guardians or spouses to say the disabled person either wrote or said that they would not to live if the quality of their life was minimized. He said that his family got caught up in the trap of arguing whether or not Terri was PVS, as opposed to rejecting criteria that would give people the right to declare who lives and who dies.

"The PVS diagnosis was created and it's very dangerous," Schindler said. "That made it legal to kill; the decision is subjective. Once PVS was established it became possible to lawmakers to make death allowable. A monumental shift toward quality of life became the standard. The PVS diagnosis became a court battle. If she was PVS, kill her! If not, let her live."

A British study concluded that PVS diagnoses are wrong 50 percent of the time. Schindler pointed out that PVS diagnosis continues to be the driving force and it is the determining factor on whether someone should live or die.

"Every human life has equal worth and we are wrong to determine who can live or die," Schindler said. "Terri's only crime was being unable to bring a spoon to her mouth."

Schindler said his parents are "heroes," "selfless and dignified," and he is thankful to have parents like them. He is now dedicated to a life of traveling and speaking out in defense of those whose lives would be placed in peril by euthanasia advocates.