Terri Supporters Rally for Life a Week Ahead of Scheduled Feeding-Tube Removal
With less than one week remaining before the court order to remove Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube is scheduled to take effect, pro-life and Christian supporters gathered Saturday to rally for her right-to-life.
According to reports, some 200 people prayed, waved signs, sang and listened to speakers outside the hospice where the 41-year old Schiavo lives. Terri, a severely disabled woman who has been in a minimally conscious state since 1990, has in recent years come to symbolize the heart of the pro-life movement.
For the past seven years, Terri’s parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, have been fighting to save their daughter’s life; Terri’s husband and legal guardian Michael, who lives with his girlfriend with whom he has fathered two children, is trying to remove Terri’s hydration and nutrition tube through the courts.
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So far, the lower Florida courts have been favorable to Michael, who – without written proof – contends Terri did not wish to be kept alive “artificially.”
He succeeded in removing Terri’s tube twice. The last time the tube was removed, Florida governor Jeb Bush stepped in with a law to reconnect her tube and save her life. However, the law was deemed “unconstitutional” at the high court, and was thrown out, leaving Terri vulnerable to the death sentence imposed on her by the Pinellas Circuit Court in 2000. In the last critical ruling related to her case, Pinellas Court Judge George Greer set a March 18th date on the removal of Terri’s tube.
Rallies and prayer vigils, large and small, have been scheduled throughout the week leading to the deadline.
During Saturday’s gathering, the Schindlers read aloud a message of encouragement sent by renowned filmmaker Mel Gibson.
''He told me we should never, ever, ever give up,'' said Bob Schindler, who spoke to Gibson on Friday.
Other speakers also told the participants to continue their efforts.
''We will be written into the history books, because we will be successful in the end,'' Thomas Euteneuer, a Catholic priest who heads the anti-abortion group Human Life International, told the crowd.
