Posted on 03/29/2005 10:53:51 AM PST by areafiftyone
PINELLAS PARK, Fla. (AP) - The parents of Terri Schiavo met and prayed Tuesday with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who called her impending death "an injustice."
Joining the conservatives who have rallied to the parents' cause, the liberal Jackson said he would call state senators who opposed legislation that would have reinserted Schiavo's feeding tube and ask them to reconsider.
Terri Schiavo was in her 12th day without food and water. Her husband and guardian, Michael Schiavo, has insisted that he was carrying out her wishes by having her feeding tube pulled. His lawyer said Monday that an autopsy was planned to show the extent of Terri Schiavo's brain damage.
Jackson's arrival Tuesday was greeted by some applause and cries of "This is about civil rights."
"I feel so passionate about this injustice being done, how unnecessary it is to deny her a feeding tube, water, not even ice to be used for her parched lips," said Jackson, who has run for president as a Democrat. "This is a moral issue and it transcends politics and family disputes."
"I wanted the Reverend Jackson here for moral support," said Mary Schindler, Terri Schiavo's mother. "I feel good with him here. Very strong. He gives me strength."
University of South Florida political science professor Susan MacManus said Jackson's appearance shows that the life-and-death issues surrounding their daughter resonate beyond white, Christian conservatives.
"A person of faith, and not just a white, conservative person of faith will be seen as a welcomed change," MacManus said.
Schiavo's father, Bob Schindler, said he visited his daughter Tuesday and said she was "failing". She still looks pretty darn good under the circumstances," Schindler said. "You can see the impact of no food and water for 12 days. Her bodily functions are still working. We still have her."
After Jackson's news conference, a man was tackled to the ground by officers when he tried to storm into the hospice, Pinellas Park police said.
Dow Pursley, 56, of Scranton, Pa., was shocked with a Taser stun gun and was arrested on charges of attempted burglary and resisting arrest without violence, police spokesman Sanfield Forseth said. The man had two bottles of water with him but did not reach the hospice door, police said. He is the 47th protester arrested.
On Monday, George Felos, the attorney for husband and guardian Michael Schiavo, said that the chief medical examiner for Pinellas County, Dr. John Thogmartin, had agreed to perform an autopsy.
He said her husband wants definitive proof showing the extent of the brain damage.
An attorney for the Schindlers, David Gibbs III, said her family also wants an autopsy. "We would certainly support and encourage an autopsy to be done, with all the unanswered questions," Gibbs said.
Felos said he had visited Schiavo for more than an hour Monday and said she looked "very peaceful. She looked calm."
"I saw no evidence of any bodily discomfort whatsoever," Felos said, although he added her breathing seemed "a little on the rapid side" and her eyes were sunken.
Doctors have said Terri Schiavo, 41, would probably die within a week or two when the tube was removed on March 18. She suffered catastrophic brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped for several minutes because of a chemical imbalance.
The parents on Monday pressed again for President Bush, Congress and the president's brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, to intervene to have the feeding tube reinserted. A small group of supporters protested outside the White House gates.
As Schiavo drew closer to death, extra police officers blocked the road in front of the Florida hospice, and an elementary school next door was closed so students could avoid the crowd.
President Bush's aides have said they have run out of legal options.
At least two more appeals filed by the state seeking the feeding tube's reconnection were pending, but those challenges were before a Florida appeals court that had rejected the governor's previous efforts in the case.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, right, hugs Schindler spiritiual advisor Brother Hilery McGee as he arrives in Pinellas Park, Fla., Tuesday morning March 29, 2005. Jackson prayed with Terri Schiavo's family before holding a news conference outside the Woodside Hospice, where Terri is a patient. Terri has been without food and water for 11 days. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, center, walks with Mary and Bob Schindler, left, Terri Schiavo's parents, Bobby Schindler, right, Terri's brother, and Suzanne Vitadamo, far right, Terri's sister, Tuesday morning, March 29, 2005 outside the Woodside Hospice, where Terri is a patient, in Pinellas Park, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)
Mary Schindler, the mother of Terri Schiavo, walks with the Rev. Jesse Jackson Tuesday morning, March 29, 2005 outside the Woodside Hospice, where Terri is a patient, in Pinellas Park, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)
Welp, this doesn't look good. Not good at all.
If so, well, we deserve it.
I would have more faith in Jackson if it hadn't taken him 11 days to show up.
This is a miracle.
"We still have her."- Bob Schindler.
Sigh. Time to let Terri go, peacefully.
"University of South Florida political science professor Susan MacManus said Jackson's appearance shows that the life-and-death issues surrounding their daughter resonate beyond white, Christian conservatives."
I wish Jesse had come sooner! The judicial death sentence imposed on the innocent Terri is a wake up call for our nation that judicial tyranny must be stopped. It is a threat to the 'right to life' of all disabled Americans, young & old!
Wonder what his 'appearance fee' amounted to?
I don't begrudge the Schindlers looking for solace wherever they can find it. He's down there at their request, apparently.
Oh goodness. The feckless left and the rest of the Democrats can't be seen with the religious conservatives so they send the Rev. Jackson to trot out every single platitude he's uttered in the past.
Sorry. I believe this is just one more opportunistic maneuver for the left.
Jesse Jackson is an opportunistic idiot...He doesn't care about Teri Shiavo...he just wants cheap media coverage...and someone's money...get real.
Indeed.
Sigh.
If she wanted to go, and if God wanted her, she would have died in the past 15 years.
She would have died in the past 12 days.
We are not holding her here against her will and God's Will.
That would be impossible.
it's official - this tragedy has turned into a circus.
Then, let her go. Stop the nonsense. Let her rest, until her moment comes. Accept it.
"I wish Jesse had come sooner!"
Well, there's this Old Media thing. Doesn't surprise me that it might take some longer to wake up than others, depending on their news sources.
Jesse and white folks? what will he think of next!?
Completely understand your suspicion.
I'll assume the best in Reverend Jackson on this, especially keeping in mind he was once pro-life. This could be waking something up inside him.
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