Don’t Give Up on Schiavo, says Parent
Supporters of Terri Schiavo carried their protest to Washington as her parents gave yet another plea for their daughter’s life, Monday, March 28, 2005.
Supporters of Terri Schiavo carried their protest to Washington as her parents gave yet another plea for their daughter’s life, Monday, March 28, 2005.
"She's still communicating, she's still responding. She's emaciated, but she's responsive," Bob Schindler, Terri’s father, told reporters after a morning visit with his daughter, saying that she showed facial expressions when he hugged and kissed her. "Don't give up on her. We haven't given up on her, and she hasn't given up on us."
Bob Schindler’s comments came just a day after the Schindler family lawyer, David Gibbs III, said publicly that the 41-year-old disabled woman has passed the point where “physically she would be able to recover.”
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Terri’s mother, Mary Schindler, meanwhile stayed away from Terri’s hospice because of emotions, according to Paul O’Donnell, a Roman Catholic Franciscan monk and family spokesman.
"If she goes in there again, we might have to take her to the hospital," O'Donnell said.
Terri’s feeding tube has been removed some 11 days ago. According to doctors, Terri is expected to survive for up to two weeks without her feeding tube.
The Schindlers no longer are fighting at court to save their daughter – nearly all possible legal maneuvers have been exhausted throughout the seven year fight to save their daughter. But nonetheless, Bob insisted it was not too late to save his daughter.
Terri is “fighting like hell to live and she's begging for help. ... She has just incredible strength to live,” Mr. Schindler said.
Outside of Terri’s hospice, nearly 100 protestors stood their ground. Several, however, made their way to the nation’s Capitol to press the President and Congress to intervene with police order or any other viable action.
President Bush’s aides have said they ran out of legal options, and the governor said Monday that he could not overturn a decision that has already been made at the courts.
"I have not seen any means by which the executive branch can get involved. My legal counsel has talked to the Schindler family and their lawyer over the weekend," the governor said. "My heart is broken about this."
At least two more state-filed appeals are pending, but those challenges are going before an appeals court that had rejected the governor’s previous efforts in the case.
Protestors in Washington meanwhile challenged Congress to find Florida Judge George Greer in contempt for declining to reinsert Terri’s feeding tube “in contempt” of the subpoenas issued by both the House and Senate for Schiavo.
"Were the subpoenas a political stunt or do they plan to enforce them?” said Patrick Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition that led the Washington rally.
