Friday, October 31, 2003

Michael Schiavo Blasts Terri's Parents, Pro-Life Advocates

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 27, 2003

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Terri Schiavo's husband and parents did battle on competitive television news networks last night.

Michael Schiavo tore into Terri's parents with a barrage of attacks and false claims while Bob and Mary Schindler say they have 15 doctors who believe there is hope for Terri should she ever receive proper medical and rehabilitative care.

Michael again claimed that Terri would not have wanted to stay alive. He bases the claim on a relevation he had years after Terri's collapse -- that she remarked to him while watching television that she wouldn't want extraordinary measures used to keep her alive.

"I don't want anything like that. I don't want any tubes," Michael claims Terri told him.

"This is Terri's wish,'' he said of ending Terri's life. "And I am going to follow that if this is the last thing I can do for Terri. I love my wife and I'm going to follow her wishes and nothing's going to stop me."

Pat Anderson, an attorney for the Schindlers, counters that Michael never knew Terri's wishes for such a circumstance.

"It's hard to know what to believe with him because he says whatever the occasion demands or what is in his financial interests," Anderson said.

Though Michael has been tagged with the desire to obtain what's left of a 1993 medical malpractice award to live on with his girlfriend and their children, he claims Terri's parents want the money for themselves.

"He's always wanted the money,'' Schiavo said of Bob Schindler, Terri's father. "He wants the money. He wants the control.''

However, Bob Schindler has repeatedly said he will make sure Michael receives any money leftover that was intended for Terri's treatment as long as Michael would allow the Schindlers guardianship of Terri so they could take care of her.

Michael claimed he had taken sufficient care of Terri and blamed pro-life groups for motivating the Schindlers to continue the legal battle.

"Now, they (his in-laws) are being fed all this information by those right-to-life activists who are feeding their little flame,'' he said.

"There's no money, there's no insurance, there's about $50,000 left in her estate," Michael said. "I will not receive a penny from this."

Michael says most of the money was spent on Terri's care while the Schindlers say more money is left and contend what has been used went to pay legal bills.

He also said videotapes made by the Schindlers and posted on their web site were snippets showing some response, but that they were parts of longer videos showing no response from Terri.

Michael also said pro-life activists are misleading the Schindlers into thinking Terri is responding more so than a patient in a PVS state normally would.

Like the epic legal battle that has gone on for years to determine whether Terri will be able to live, it was fitting that both sides appeared on news networks that are battling it out to capture the largest viewer share.

Michael appeared on CNN, founded by abortion advocate Ted Turner and long known for its bias on life issues.

Meanwhile, Bob and Mary Schindler appeared on the Fox News Channel, where some of the show's hosts are pro-life and others are generally regarded as fair and balanced on pro-life topics.

Michael Schiavo is now a nurse in a hospital emergency room, a career he says he chose in part because of his wife's situation.

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