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Good morning, AnimalLover, and thank you for your thoughtful post.

First let me come clean about my age: I'll be 50 in a couple of months--not old enough for WWII, but no college kid either! I can see where you might get the impression that I have only heard one side of this story, but let me assure you that is not the case! Besides having lurked for months on the FR Schiavo threads, I post on several other boards where it was a hot topic of discussion. I have read the Schindlers' website, and Cheryl Ford's. I have even forced myself to plow through June Maxam's horrendous prose at the Empire Journal. On the other hand, I have also read all of the actual court transcripts and medical reports I could get my hands on--I'm talking here about the actual official documents, not the so-called "affidavits" at the Schindlers' site, though I read those, too. After weighing all the evidence, and having many online and offline discussions about the matter, I came to the conclusion that the Schindlers were simply not believable. There were many, many reasons for my arriving at this belief, with which I will not bore you at this time, but the quick version is the Schindlers were caught in many provable lies; they employed quacks to examine Mrs. Schiavo (the main one is even listed on QuackWatch) and represented those opinions as expert; they took a 4-hour video and deceptively edited it; they sold the list of good people who sent them money; they slandered and libelled Mr. Schiavo while protraying themselves as xtian;, the case was more litigated than any other of its type in history, and every single court ruled in Mr. Schiavo's favor; and, finally, Occam's Razor led me to the simplest explanation making the most sense, i.e. that the only reason Mr. Schiavo persisted through all the grief the Schindlers put him through was because he believed with all his heart that his wife would not have wanted her body to continue to exist under those circumstances.

If you haven't read any of the official documents, at least read the report of the Guardian ad litem. Much of what I believe is based ultimately on that document.

I understand that people feel strongly about this case, but I don't believe that anyone is well served by hyperbole and bombast. I found your post quite refreshing, and thank you again for it.

Peace to you,
Clyffe

I came to the conclusion that the Schindlers were simply not believable. There were many, many reasons for my arriving at this belief, with which I will not bore you at this time, but the quick version is the Schindlers were caught in many provable lies;

What lies did the Schindlers tell? I have followed this very closely for a long time, and I have not seen one instance of the Schindlers lying.

Michael was caught in several lies, and you have refused to discuss those lies. Please address this issue of Michael testifying in court that he swore an oath to Terri that he would take care of her for the rest of his life. Was he lying then? Was he lying when he told Larry King that he didn't know what Terri wanted, but he wanted her to be starved and dehydrated to death? Was he lying when he said that she wouldn't want to live like a character she saw in a movie? Was he lying when he said that she wouldn't have wanted to live with her disabilities? It's not possible that he was telling the truth with all of those statements. Why do you only believe the statements that are contrary to all the evidence? Why do you believe that the only possible interpretation for the alleged statements is that she wanted to be tortured to death? Or do you believe that line about this form of torture being euphoric?

Do you have any sources for your false accusations against the doctors you have failed to name?

Do you have proof of your false allegation that the videos of Terri are not authentic? Can you explain how they made it appear that she was moving, laughing, smiling, kissing, and vocalizing?

It has been proven that they did not sell the mailing list. Can you provide proof of your false allegation that they did?

In what way did they slander and libel HINO? Do you have any sources for these false allegations?

Was there anything false about the obvious fact that Terri and her family were Christians? (They never pretended to be xtian, whatever that is.) Do you have any sources for your false suggestion that they weren't? How do you explain the blasphemous way HINO teased Terri about going to Mass? How do you explain her continuing to go to Mass amid HINO's objections?

While it is true that every court ruled against Terri, you must consider the fact that only one judge ever heard any of the evidence, and he systematically disallowed almost every piece of evidence in Terri's favor. While he did allow the videos to be shown in court, he never viewed them (he's blind and couldn't see them), and he didn't allow the sound to be on. When he appointed a GAL to "represent" Terri, the GAL actually represented her, so greer ignored the GAL's recommendations. Every doctor who examined Terri (on both sides) testified to her condition being inconsistent with a ruling of PVS under Florida's legal definitions. Greer misrepresented their sworn testimony in his own ruling. There was a lot of litigation, but Terri was never given due process.

If you haven't read any of the official documents, at least read the report of the Guardian ad litem. Much of what I believe is based ultimately on that document.

Then you know she was a living breathing human being. You know that Wolfson recommended she continue to receive food and water, and that she should be given swallow tests to determine how advanced her demonstrated ability to swallow was, and how much improvement could be achieved through proper therapy. You know that her body was not merely existing, and that she was very much alive and aware. So what about that report convinced you that she should be tortured to death?

I expect you'll continue to spread lies and refuse to answer questions. Would you care to prove me wrong?