A father I'd want on my side (Robert Schindler, Sr. - Father of the late Terri Schiavo)

Baptist Press ^ | 9/1/09 | Joni B. Hannigan

[wagglebee]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP)--I envied Terri Schiavo for her father, Bob. There were times I thought: What a waste, she doesn't know how good she has it. Not like it was her fault, but if only she knew.

But of course she knew.

From all the firsthand accounts and the vivid description of my friend David Gibbs, the attorney who fought for the right of Bob Schindler's daughter to live, Terri herself knew what it was like to feel the whiskered face of her father rough up against her cheek and tickle her until she smiled.

She knew when he walked in the room and gently took her hand in his big one and squeezed it to ask her how her day was. Her eyes had followed his bright ones, though his were tinged by the pain of having to defend his position that she deserved to be cared for until God decided her life should end.

A father's duty.

Some argued that it was her husband's duty. At first it seemed that way.

Michael Schiavo seemed tolerant of her family's visits, and even lived in their home for a while planning for her care after she suffered a neurological injury in 1990 caused by lack of oxygen to the brain. Her family visited her in various facilities. They brought her clothes. Her mom fixed her hair, put her makeup on, and took her on outings.

Then her husband seemed to grow weary. His heart was pulled to another. He had been married to Terri less than half a dozen years before Terri's collapse. Finally, there was a judge who was willing to believe him when said he thought Terri would not want to live in her condition. He asked the judge for permission to remove her nutrition and hydration, knowing it would cause her to die.

And still Terri's father and mother and sister and brother were there for her.

They appeared in court. They hired attorneys. They fought for the right to visit her, bring her comforting items, spend time in her room. The fight lasted nearly a decade.

The trips outside had stopped. No more makeup. Her window shades were pulled down and she was not allowed activities which were stimulating. She was sent to a hospice to die.

Right until the end, Bob refused to give up on his daughter.

"She's still fighting and we are going to fight to do whatever we can to save her," Bob said after the U.S. Supreme Court turned down a final appeal to hear her case on March 30, 2005. "I'm asking that nobody throw in the towel, she's fighting -- keep fighting with her."

It was 9:05 a.m., the day after her father made that statement in front of the hospice, that Terri died. Thirteen days after her nutrition and hydration had been pulled, for the third time in 15 years.

I was there for many of those 13 days. And I had been there two years before, the second time the Schindlers had fought her husband and the court when they threatened to remove her sustenance. What few people understand is that Terri wasn't hooked up to machines or anything, she simply needed food and water to live; because there was a fear she would choke, at some point she was put on a feeding tube.

In 2003 in front of the hospice in a trailer was the very first time I met the Schindlers and reported on their case. That extensive and very personal story is here: http://bit.ly/lo8Lx.

From the beginning Bob was warm and friendly, if worn. Mary was passionately sad. At one point in our interview she actually grabbed my hand and said, "Joni, I don't know if I can go through this again," referring to the court ordering Terri's nutrition and hydration to cease.

My heart broke for all of them.

I'm two years older than Terri. I was raised Catholic, but after that, most of the similarities end. I never did know the love of a father, growing up. When Bob spoke of his firstborn and both their eyes filled with tears, I could only think of how I would feel if my firstborn, my daughter, would be in such a state.

I actually called my daughter on the way to the interview. I asked her what she thought. She told me, "Mama, I would want you to do whatever you wanted because, honestly, I wouldn't know anything anyway. I would be just like a baby and you would be protecting me. So I understand."

In meeting Bob and Mary and then covering the case for two years, I realized just how deep was their love -- indeed how deep the family's love is for each other. They were protective, caring, careful and steadfast.

Bobby Schindler, Terri's brother, was always courteous and kind, though I am a member of the media. Suzanne Vitadamo, Terri's sister, was steady but painfully conscious of our constant intrusion. All of them were involved in a balancing act of giving the press what we needed, knowing they could be crucified or vindicated, depending on who was doing the reporting.

But Bob, walking the crowds at night outside the hospice, eternally hopeful, ever vigilant, wore his heart in his eyes. Every bright tear spoke of the love he had for his daughter. It was apparent his only motivation was the love of a father. He was a man protecting his family in the noblest way.

I could hardly meet his eyes outside the hospice on the day she died as he stood with Bobby and Suzanne, chin slightly quivering. His tears were palpable. The horde of media were amazingly silent and respectful as Bobby read a statement. Red eyes all around me, in our ranks of media professionals, gave me the knowledge that I was not alone in thinking many witnesses to this day would walk away with the knowledge that this was not a "happy ending."

Each time I thought about Terri's death thereafter and tried to reconcile it with God's sovereignty, I had a hard time. Especially when I considered her parents' pain.

A year later when I went to St. Petersburg to interview Bob and Mary at the office of the foundation they had established to help people in similar circumstances, I finally gained some perspective.

Walking with me to my car after showing me around the office, Bob grabbed me in a hug to say goodbye. I felt those whiskers that were said to make Terri smile despite their irritation. It made me smile in spite of the lump in my throat.

He had lost so much, and I asked him, really, how he was doing.

"You are such a Baptocatholic," he said, using the nickname he'd given me after finding out I was raised Catholic before becoming an evangelical Christian as a young teen.

He essentially told me he'd be fine, that God does have a plan and it's hard but it's was going to be OK.

"We just learn to forgive. We just have to," he said, referring to a statement he had made in the office a few minutes before in which he said the timing of Terri's death was "God's will."

God has a plan. He believed that, and so do I. Goodbye, my friend. Thanks for standing up for Terri until the very end. You were, indeed, a father I'd want on my side.

Joni B. Hannigan is managing editor of Florida Baptist Witness at www.FloridaBaptistWitness.com. She covered the Terri Schiavo story extensively and her photos were used in "Fighting for Dear Life: The Untold Story of Terri Schiavo" by David Gibbs and in an award-winning documentary hosted by Joni Eareckson Tada, "The Terri Schiavo Story." A full-length version of this column can be found at http://jonibh.wordpress.com.

[wagglebee]

More "hope and change" from Zero's fuhrers czars.

Thread by Man50D.

Obama Regulation Czar Advocated Removing People’s Organs Without Explicit Consent

Cass Sunstein, President Barack Obama’s nominee to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), has advocated a policy under which the government would “presume” someone has consented to having his or her organs removed for transplantation into someone else when they die unless that person has explicitly indicated that his or her organs should not be taken.

Under such a policy, hospitals would harvest organs from people who never gave permission for this to be done.

Outlined in the 2008 book “Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness,” Sunstein and co-author Richard H. Thaler argued that the main reason that more people do not donate their organs is because they are required to choose donation.

Sunstein and Thaler pointed out that doctors often must ask the deceased’s family members whether or not their dead relative would have wanted to donate his organs. These family members usually err on the side of caution and refuse to donate their loved one’s organs.

“The major obstacle to increasing [organ] donations is the need to get the consent of surviving family members,” said Sunstein and Thaler. . .

[wagglebee]

Day Gardner does an incredible job explaining the inherent racism of Zero and abortion.

Thread by me.

Black Pro-Life Advocates Say Obama's Abortion Support Has Racist Outcome

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama supports abortion and has done everything possible to expand the number of abortions during his brief tenure as president. While Obama may not have racist motivations for backing abortion, black pro-life advocates are saying that is the outcome.

Two African-American pro-life leaders are saying that, because abortions disproportionately target the black community, expanding abortions brings a racial result.

Day Gardner, the president of the National Black Pro-Life Union, tells LifeNews.com that Obama's abortion promotion is evident.

"In less than nine months he has overturned the Mexico City policy -- which means American tax dollars will be used to pay for foreign abortions. Most of those killed will be the children of my beautiful brothers and sisters in Africa," she explained. . .

[wagglebee]

Jenkins is a modern Judas Iscariot.

Thread by me.

88 Pro-Lifers Arrested at Notre Dame Still Facing Jail Time: Lawyer Asks Fr. Jenkins for Leniancy

SOUTH BEND, Indiana, September 4, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The president of a pro-life public interest law firm has issued an open letter to University of Notre Dame president Rev. John Jenkins, insisting that the school seek to drop the charges against 88 pro-lifers who await sentencing of up to one year in jail and a $5,000 fine for protesting the school's honoring pro-abortion President Obama last May.

"[Notre Dame] should honor all who dare to speak out for the dignity of all human beings - born or unborn, wanted or unwanted, humble or exalted - not prosecute them!" wrote Thomas More Society Pro-Life Law Center president Thomas Brejcha. 

On May 17, at least 90 individuals protesting President Obama's presence and honorary law degree were arrested for trespassing on Notre Dame's campus.  While witnesses say pro-Obama protesters were allowed to roam free, the arrested individuals were singled out for displaying any pro-life message - including slogans on the sanctity of life, photographs of aborted children, a large wooden cross, and images of Mary.

While the St. Joseph County prosecutor is now in charge of the proceedings, the school still has a prerogative, as the original complainant, to seek that the charges be dropped.  Yet president Jenkins have repeatedly refused to seek such leniency or even answer the pro-lifers' requests for dialogue. . .

[wagglebee]

If Zero and his ilk had their way this amazing and accomplished young man never would have been born.

Thread by kathsua.

A most able Scout: Teen with Down syndrome has gained far more than badges, rank in program

Lucas Wondra has Down syndrome and communicates with a few words, sign language and a PDA with a speaker and voice software. But when it comes to the Boy Scouts, he concedes no disability.

On Monday, Lucas, a 16-year-old freshman at Hutchinson High, became an Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America and the latest in a collage of medals and merit badges covering his uniform.

Scout Master Bill Whitlow said Lucas is the first Scout with Down syndrome from Troop 301 to achieve his Eagle rank.

"I feel like it's been a community effort," his mother, Leann Wondra, said. "The school helped with physical therapy, occupational therapy and communications therapy so he could earn merit badges."

He also had the support of church leaders, his parents, brother Evan and sister Alicia and all his friends in Troop 301.

"While Lucas achieved his Eagle, the troop also benefited," his father, Korey Wondra, said. "I'm not sure who benefited more. How many times do kids get a chance to hang out with a kid with a disability? And Lucas is a cool kid to hang with."

A few years ago, when Lucas was a Cub Scout, his parents were debating whether and how he could advance into Boy Scouts.

His mother felt he could do it all along, but his father freely admits he had doubts until he and Lucas' younger brother, Evan, went to a Scout summer camp in Colorado and Korey saw a Scout from a Texas troop who also had Down syndrome. He made a note of the troop number on the Scout's shoulder and looked up the Scout master, who told him that Danny had just completed the requirements for Eagle Scout. . .

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[wagglebee]

Father Thomas Euteneuer has written a wonderful tribute to Bob Schindler.

Thread by NYer.

The Passing of a Real Hero

[This week] the pro-life movement mourns the loss of Mr. Robert Schindler, Sr., the father of Terri Schindler-Schiavo, whose fight for life captured the heart of the pro-life community in 2005. Mr. Schindler [was buried] in Philadelphia [yesterday] without the fanfare or accolades that are due a real champion who fought one of the most insidious evils of modern society — the legalized murder of the innocent. His funeral [was] not be televised on all the cable news networks, no cardinals [attended] it, and the President of the United States [[did] not deliver the eulogy — thank God. Mr. Schindler, however, is promised a better send-off than that. God Himself will him speak to him words spoken to all the suffering righteous: "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master."

It is hard not to notice the contrast between the funerals of Senator Edward Kennedy and Bob Schindler. The secular, brash and privileged "Lion of the Senate" had everything that the world had to offer, including comprehensive political protection from his Waterloo; the Chappaquiddick incident in 1969. He walked away from that one scot-free, and the country ever after that conveniently pretended it didn’t happen because no one would want to tarnish the image of a famous political family. Americans find it just too messy to honestly address casual killing. Ted Kennedy went on to continue his murderous rampage in his political career through his contemptible advocacy of legalized killing through abortion and the farcical defense of Roe by vetoing potential Supreme Court judges who might have rectified that terrible injustice in our country. Among the many sins he will have to account for before the Throne of Grace, his criminally buffoonish and cowardly causing of Mary Jo Kopechne’s death and its subsequent cover-up were perhaps the least. Ted Kennedy had a lot of innocent blood on his hands as he went to his judgment, as do all people who advocate or stand aside in silence at the destruction of the innocents.

Bob Schindler, in contrast, was not endowed with the privileges of wealth and social status, nor the political machine that could protect his back side in times of trouble. His family was ravaged by aggressive euthanasia activist lawyers who decided that his daughter was just not worthy of life because she was brain-damaged. He had to fight the son-in-law from hell who, despite a father’s unconditional offer to care for his own daughter, rammed the euthanasia agenda home viciously, even triumphantly. Bob had to endure the agony of three separate court-ordered starvations of his daughter, the third of which took her life in a brutal act of gloating evil that many compared to the Passion of Christ. Bob was the faithful father standing at the foot of the Cross and his vigils took place without the companionship of any cardinal or bishop there to rally the saints in defense of his daughter. His greatest sorrow was indeed that the very leadership of his Church, like the apostles in the Garden of Gethsemane, should have abandoned his family in their hour of need. Indeed, his local bishop somehow found more pressing needs in Asia and was AWOL in defense of Terri the week she was murdered. But despite the failings of the men who are given earthly powers to guide the Church, God never abandons his children. Bob was always in the company of the very best, sent from Heaven, and it is our firm belief that the angels are welcoming him home today as he meets the glory of God and at long last, is reunited with the daughter he loves so much.

No one deserves the kind of treatment meted out to him and his family, but Bob did not take it sitting down. He stood up and fought long and hard for what was right and showed us how to persevere in all our bitter battles. His heroism was humble and virtuous; despite opposition from all sides, despite being abandoned by churchmen, despite the slander his family endured, he held himself up and never faltered. He never "ran from the scene" as Kennedy did at Chappaquiddick; he stood his ground and faced the battle and then he did not let the story end there. If there was anyone whose suffering gave him a right to bitterly blame others and withdraw from the rest of the world’s problems, it was Bob Schindler. But he did not go that route. He was too much of a man of faith for that. Rather, he and his family set up the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation to assist all others who have are increasingly thrust into that same fight and need someone who has "been there" to stand against the powerful perpetrators of crimes against humanity who sit in our political culture arrogating to themselves the power of life and death, a power that has not been given to them.

Since Terri’s Fight in 2005 I have had the supreme privilege of standing next to Bob and the Schindler family on the front lines in the battle against the culture of death and its champions; but I know a real champion when I see one. Bob Schindler certainly paid a martyr’s price for his fidelity to the enduring values of faith and family and was a hero in every sense of the word. I will miss him! Indeed, we all will miss him, but we know that his spirit lives on in all those who patiently suffer injustice and in those who fight for life against the lions who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.

[wagglebee]

A chilling illustration of what Obamacare would be like.

Thread by me.

Government Health Care? Not on Your Life!

In recent weeks one of the many problems Americans have had with plans for the federal government to take over the health care industry has had to do with life and death issues such as rationing, euthanasia and “death panels.”

The socialists pushing government health care have tried very hard to whitewash these concerns, but to little avail. Even the elderly (who are often solid Democrat supporters because of their addiction to the government largess they already enjoy in programs like Social Security and Medicare) are deserting the Temple of Government in droves; apparently the thought of euthanasia and rationing scares them more than the blessings of the Government god draws them.

Despite those attempts to whitewash this very real concern, the information continues to come in to substantiate those fears...

[wagglebee]

Hitler had Himmler, Eichmann and Mengele, Zero has the Hemlock Society.

Thread by Scanian.

Talking Seniors to Death

First, the bad news. For the first time since 1975, Social Security recipients are being told they won't be receiving an annual cost of living increase in their monthly benefits. At the same time, their Medicare premiums will go up, so monthly checks will actually shrink next year. Not to worry, though. Here's the good news. Seniors may not have to live on such meager funds for long because the government is going to help them plan how they want to die.

This benevolent plan is in Section 1233 (p. 424) of the health care reform bill known as "America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009" (HR 3200). It didn't just show up on the doorstep of health care reform, but was packaged and delivered by Compassion & Choices (C & C), the assisted-suicide advocacy group previously known as the Hemlock Society.

Under Section 1233, a doctor would be paid for having an "advance care planning consultation" with a patient. The consultation wouldn't be mandatory, at least for now. But if the doctor wants to get paid for it, the consultation's contents are very specifically prescribed. For example, each consultation "shall include" an explanation of legal documents such as living wills and durable powers of attorney, and information about the "continuum of end-of-life services." Patients need not be ill but, because they are over a certain age, their doctors will suggest that it's time to talk about death.

So, if George, a healthy 70-year-old marathon runner, goes to the doctor because of tendonitis, his doctor will have the all-important discussion with him, reminding him that he's not getting any younger and that it's time to decide how he'll die. Sure, George may or may not be adversely affected by this. But consider Clara, an 84-year-old widow who needs a hip replacement. If the doctor tells her that the government health plan won't pay for her surgery but will pay for pain pills, and then tells her it's really time to discuss her end-of-life options, what message is she getting? Isn't it likely that Clara will acquiesce, if her doctor suggests that she "choose" to forgo treatment for any future illnesses so she won't be a burden on her family?

To hear proponents of Section 1233 talk about it, one would think that people have no access now to information about advance directives. But for years, federal law has required that patients be provided with general information about advance directives. . .

[wagglebee]

The culture of death is now describing murder as a "no-brainer".

Thread by me.

Doctor euthanized patient - attitude labeled 'macabre'

New information has surfaced regarding euthanization of elderly patients at a New Orleans hospital during Hurricane Katrina.

A doctor has admitted administering a lethal dose of morphine to one patient knowing that it would kill her. "There's no question I hastened her demise," Dr. Ewing Cook told an independent investigation organization. "I gave her medicine so I could get rid of her faster, get the nurses off the [hospital] floor." The patient, Jannie Burgess, 79, was suffering from uterine cancer and kidney failure. "To me, it was a no-brainer -- and to this day I don't feel bad about what I did," Cook added. . .

[NYer]

Thanks for the post and ping. I still vividly recall the hospice staff barring a young child from bringing a bottle of water to Terri.

As Fr. Euteneueur noted, Bob Schindler was a true hero!

[wagglebee]

I still vividly recall the hospice staff barring a young child from bringing a bottle of water to Terri.

It was worse than that.

Ten Year Old Arrested for Giving Food to Terri Schiavo Apologizes

[NYer]

Oh my .... it’s all coming back now. I hope you have set up a Schiavo dossier on your hd to safeguard these pix and stories. No doubt we’ll be seeing more of this in the not too distant future.

[wagglebee]

I do need to save some of it so I don’t have to go looking for it.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[Dante3]

“I don’t feel bad about what I did,” Cook said. Spoken like a sociopath.

[Pajamajan]

"My heart aches for these parents. It still does."

Yes, I still can't believe what they were put through, or, what happened to Terry.

As another FReeper posted in the days right after Terry died:"I have an immense distrust of our government now".
(This is the best description of how I've felt, ever since it happened.)

Although I do agree with Mr. Schindler, that God has a plan- Especially in light of what's happening in our government today.

May he rest in peace. I'm sure choirs of angels welcomed him home. Many lives have been saved because of the Schindler's tireless efforts on behalf of life.

[wagglebee]

This tragedy is a sickening reminder of how evil socialized medicine is and it's worth noting that Zero OPPOSED allowing an aborted baby to live if they survived the executioner.

Threads by Nachum and OldDeckHand.

Premature baby 'left to die' by doctors ...(UK)

A young mother's premature baby died in her arms after doctors refused to help because it was born just before 22-week cut-off point for treatment.

Sarah Capewell, 23, gave birth to her son Jayden when she was 21 weeks and five days into her pregnancy.

Although doctors refused to place the baby in intensive care, Jayden lived for two hours before he passed away at James Paget Hospital in Gorleston, Norfolk, last October...

______________________________________________________________

'Doctors told me it was against the rules to save my premature baby'

Doctors left a premature baby to die because he was born two days too early, his devastated mother claimed yesterday.

Sarah Capewell begged them to save her tiny son, who was born just 21 weeks and five days into her pregnancy - almost four months early.

They ignored her pleas and allegedly told her they were following national guidelines that babies born before 22 weeks should not be given medical treatment...

[wagglebee]

The Vatican needs to be just as forceful with dissident American clergy.

Thread by Pope Pius XII.

Vatican Warns 41 Dissident Italian Priests Who Approved of Eluana Englaro Killing

41 Catholic priests have been issued a formal warning by the Vatican for signing an open letter approving the removal of food and hydration of helpless patients like Eluana Englaro.

Five months ago, in a letter composed by Fr. Paolo Farinella of Genoa, the group complained that a living wills law being prepared by Prime Minister Berlusconi's government excluded the possibility that food and hydration could be withdrawn from patients by doctors to bring about their deaths. Farinella, the author of the article "The right to live a duty to die," is a well-known supporter of euthanasia.

Published by Micromega, a magazine known for its strong secular and anticlerical views, the letter said, "The law on living wills for which the government and the majority [in Parliament] are preparing to vote imprisons freedom of all actors involved at the supreme moment of death." ...

[wagglebee]

The Darwins, Galtons, Hitler and Sanger would be delighted by this.

Thread by me.

London School of Economics: Fewer Kids, More Abortions, Better Environment

London, England (LifeNews.com) -- A new analysis from the London School of Economics is targeting people who have children as being responsible for destroying the environment. With a population control agenda in mind, its analysis draws the conclusion that fewer children and more abortions means a better environment.

Although the report, entitled Fewer Emitter, Lower Emissions, Less Cost, focuses on "family planning" and contraception, the idea is that fewer children born means the environment will be better off.

Roger Martin, chairman of the Optimum Population Trust at the LSE, is one of the school officials behind the report.

His research indicates contraception is five times cheaper than conventional green technologies in reducing global CO2 emissions. LSE estimates that, for every $4 (UK) spent on contraception and family planning resulting in a reduction of emissions by one ton equals the same reduction as $19 (UK) spent on green technologies.

Martin says 34 gigatons (billion tons) of CO2 would be saved if nations did more to push population control by promoting contraception and abortion.

“It’s always been obviously that total emissions depend on the number of emitters as well as their individual emissions – the carbon tonnage can't shoot down as we want, while the population keeps shooting up," Martin complained in comments to the London Telegraph...

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!