Public
Statement of the Schindler Family in Response to the Statement
of Michael Schiavo
Public Statement of the
Schindler Family in Response to the Statement of Michael Schiavo
By Schindler Family
CNSNews.com Information Services
October 22, 2003
(Editor's Note: The following statement was issued in response to a brief
written statement issued by Michael Schiavo to the press Monday. The text of Mr.
Schiavo's statement is contained within the CNSNews.com story from which readers
accessed this document.)
"We, the Schindler family, wish to respond to the statement of Michael
Schiavo published by the media on October 20, 2003. Mr. Schiavo's statement is
an exercise in self-justification that completely rewrites the true history of
his efforts to have our Terri put to death by starvation and dehydration.
"Here are the facts that Mr. Schiavo has hidden in his statement:
"Terri, on Mr. Schiavo's orders, has had no therapy of any kind since the
Fall of 1991.
"At a medical malpractice trial in November 1992, Mr. Schiavo swore to the
jury that he would devote any jury award to Terri's care and rehabilitation and
he promised under oath that he would take care of Terri for the rest of his
life.
"After securing an award of over $700,000 for Terri's care, Mr. Schiavo did
an about-face, and has spent the last 10 years in a determined campaign to cause
Terri's death.
"This campaign began within a few months of the malpractice award, when, in
mid-1993, Mr. Schiavo had a 'do not resuscitate' order placed in Terri's medical
chart.
In June of 1993 Mr. Schiavo refused to allow treatment of an infection Terri had
developed, later admitting under oath that he expected the infection to progress
to a fatal sepsis that would kill Terri.
"In 1995, contrary to his promises to the jury that he would honor his
marriage vows, Mr. Schiavo, who still pretends to be Terri's 'loving' and
'grieving' husband, began living with another woman, by whom he has conceived
two children out-of-wedlock. He calls this woman his 'fiancee', even while his
wife Terri lays starving and dehydrating to death in hospice for the terminally
ill---to which he consigned her three years ago so that she would receive no
therapy.
"It was not until 1998, when Mr. Schiavo hired Mr. Felos, that Mr. Schiavo
suddenly 'remembered' that Terri had made some vague remarks about not wanting
to be sustained on anything 'artificial' if she became incapacitated.
"When he promised the malpractice jury back in 1993 that he would take care
of Terri for the rest of his life, Mr. Schiavo said nothing to the jury about
Terri not wanting to be sustained on anything 'artificial.'
"Mr. Schiavo's crocodile tears and his statement that 'I struggle with' the
Court's order to starve and dehydrate Terri defy belief. That order is the end
result of Mr. Schiavo's utter determination to see Terri dead so that he can
marry his 'fiancee.'
"Even though he has no Court order authorizing his actions, Mr. Schiavo has
not only removed the feeding tube that has sustained our Terri for 13 years, but
has also ordered that no attempt be made to feed Terri by mouth, even if she
could be trained to take sustenance orally.
"On Saturday, October 18, 2003, one of Mr. Schiavo's team of lawyers
refused to allow our Terri to receive her final Holy Communion. This lawyer
would not even allow Msgr. Malanowski to place a miniscule piece of the Host on
her tongue. Perhaps Michael fears that if Terri can swallow a piece of the Host,
the whole world will know he is starving a helpless woman who can take
sustenance by mouth.
"Mr. Schiavo has spent the great bulk of Terri's malpractice award on legal
fees for Mr. Felos, in an effort to have Terri killed. He spent nothing on
Terri's therapy and rehabilitation---contrary to the promises he made to the
jury, under oath, more than ten years ago.
"We cannot allow Mr. Schiavo's lies to go unanswered. We pray that God will
see to it that justice is done and that our Terri's life is delivered from the
clutches of this ruthless man, who dares to pretend that he is grieving with us
over what he has done to Terri."
Robert Schindler, Mary Schindler, Robert Schindler. Jr. and Suzanne Schindler