{"id":265432,"date":"2022-04-02T09:29:52","date_gmt":"2022-04-02T14:29:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=265432"},"modified":"2022-03-31T20:01:22","modified_gmt":"2022-04-01T01:01:22","slug":"terri-schiavo-died-food-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/terri-schiavo-died-food-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Seventeen years ago, Terri Schiavo died after 13 days without food or water"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

(National Right to Life News<\/a>) March 31, 2022 [was] the 17th anniversary of the grotesque death by starvation and dehydration of Terri Schiavo. Each and every year we update remarks whose beginnings go all the way back to 2005.<\/p>\n

As you will see, whenever I looked at Terri, I could never, ever get another death by starvation out of my heart and mind.<\/p>\n

Bobby Schindler reminded us<\/a> of two immensely important facts about Terri\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

First, that \u201cIt was not long ago that even the thought of deliberately starving and dehydrating brain injured people to death by the denial of food and water would be unconscionable and considered a criminal act. However, this standard was tested in the 1980s when bioethicist Daniel Callahan brazenly went on record stating, \u2018The denial of nutrition may become the only effective way to make certain that a large number of biologically tenacious patients actually die.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Second that \u201cTerri was cognitively disabled and had difficulty swallowing so she needed a feeding tube to administer her food and water. Terri was not sustained by \u2018life support,\u2019 nor was she sick or dying. Nonetheless, she received a death sentence ordered by Circuit Court Judge George W. Greer of Pinellas County, Florida, at the request of her estranged husband.”<\/p>\n

READ: Disability and death: 15 years later, there\u2019s much to learn from the deaths of Terri Schiavo and St. Pope John Paul II<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I could write on and on about Judge Greer, but the late, great Nat Hentoff put it best<\/a>: \u201cAlthough brain-damaged, she is not in a persistent vegetative state, according to an increasing number of radiologists and neurologists. \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cGreer declared Terri Schiavo to be in a persistent vegetative state, but he never went to see her. His eyesight is very poor, but surely he could have visited her along with another member of his staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking back at what I\u2019ve written each year on the anniversary of Terri\u2019s death, I recall how I had been primed to be ultra-sensitive to the injustice foisted on a helpless woman and her courageous family.<\/p>\n

In 1982, I\u2019d been at National Right to Life only few months when the case of an Indiana baby — \u201cBaby Doe\u201d — became a topic of intense debate. As the letter to the Movement that we reprinted in NRL News<\/em> from President Reagan explained, when this little boy was born on April 9, he needed only routine surgery to unblock his esophagus which would allow him to eat.<\/p>\n

As George Will memorably wrote<\/a>, \u201cThe baby was born in Bloomington, Ind., the sort of academic community where medical facilities are more apt to be excellent than moral judgments are.\u201d \u201cThe parents refused the surgery… \u201d<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

Baby Doe had Down syndrome.<\/p>\n

\u201c[A] doctor testified, and a judge concurred, that even with the physical problem corrected, Baby Doe would have a \u2018non-existent\u2019 possibility for a \u2018minimally adequate life,\u2019\u201d the President wrote back in 1984. \u201cThe judge let Baby Doe starve and die, and the Indiana Supreme Court sanctioned his decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following his investigation, reporter Jeffrey Lyon wrote a book entitled Playing God in the Nursery<\/a>. Lyon described Baby Doe\u2019s very short life. By the fourth day, the baby boy<\/p>\n

was crying from hunger, and his lips were parched from dehydration. His ribs were sticking out, the result of respiratory strain caused by the tracheoesophageal fistula. That afternoon, when the stomach acid started corroding his lungs, he had begun to spit blood.<\/em><\/p>\n

As I wrote at the time,<\/p>\n

\u201cUp until the time that tiny newborn baby died of starvation I took my pro-life commitment very seriously but impersonally. Baby Doe\u2019s unnecessary death forever changed that for me, and I\u2019m sure for many others as well.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I did not learn of Baby Doe\u2019s plight until near the very end of his very brief life. But it was the exact opposite with Terri Schiavo\u2019s ghastly ordeal.<\/p>\n

When Terri died on March 31, 2005, having been denied nourishment for 13 agonizing day, the 41-year-old\u2019s starvation death brought to an end — in one sense, at least — a tumultuous, eleven-year battle between the Schindler family and Terri\u2019s estranged husband.<\/p>\n

The Schindler family waged their courageous fight in multiple courts, in the Florida legislature, in the halls of Congress, until January 24, 2005. In all its \u201cwisdom,\u201d the United States Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Florida\u2019s then Governor Jeb Bush to reinstate \u201cTerri\u2019s Law.\u201d<\/p>\n

The law had been passed by the Florida legislature in an emergency session in October called in 2003, and signed into law by Gov. Bush. Its goal was to protect Terri Schiavo from a hideously painful death by starvation and dehydration.<\/p>\n

It is enough to say that, if truth is \u201cthe first casualty in war,\u201d then long before the campaign to starve and dehydrate Terri to death succeeded, all the important details had been thoroughly distorted.<\/p>\n

Virtually nothing — her true medical condition (Terri was falsely described as being a \u201cpersistent vegetative state\u201d and\/or \u201cbrain dead\u201d); what she alleged would have \u201cwanted\u201d (to die this horrible death); her condition after 11 days without any nourishment (described by her estranged husband\u2019s attorney as \u201cpeaceful,\u201d \u201cbeautiful,\u201d and\/or \u201cfree of pain\u201d) — was within hailing distance of the truth.<\/p>\n

Terri\u2019s memory lives on in the work of the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Maybe the best way to end these remarks is to quote from pro-life President George W. Bush who worked hard on behalf of the Schindler family:\u00a0\u201cThe essence of civilization,\u201d he said, \u201cis that the strong have a duty to protect the weak.\u201d<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note: This article was originally published at\u00a0National Right to Life News<\/a>\u00a0and is reprinted here with permission.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(National Right to Life News) March 31, 2022 [was] the 17th anniversary of the grotesque death by starvation and dehydration of Terri Schiavo. Each and every year we update remarks whose beginnings go all the way back to 2005. As you will see, whenever I looked at Terri, I could never, ever get another death […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":322,"featured_media":265434,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[15,7077],"tags":[2960,6178,429,9231,16643,3915,16646,16644,16645,3566,1933,3847,197,1283,16648,16647],"yoast_head":"\n17 years ago, Terri Schiavo died after 13 days without food or water<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Terri Schiavo died 17 years ago this week, after cruelly being deprived of food and water for nearly two weeks at the behest of her estranged husband.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/terri-schiavo-died-food-water\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"17 years ago, Terri Schiavo died after 13 days without food or water\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Terri Schiavo died 17 years ago this week, after cruelly being deprived of food and water for nearly two weeks at the behest of her estranged husband.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/terri-schiavo-died-food-water\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-02T14:29:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-01T01:01:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Untitled-design-56.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dave Andrusko\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dave Andrusko\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/terri-schiavo-died-food-water\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/terri-schiavo-died-food-water\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dave Andrusko\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/641fa4c1bbcfbccccc12b1b8940518a3\"},\"headline\":\"Seventeen years ago, Terri Schiavo died after 13 days without food or water\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-02T14:29:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-01T01:01:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/terri-schiavo-died-food-water\/\"},\"wordCount\":974,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Baby Doe\",\"Bobby Schindler\",\"Down syndrome\",\"George W. Bush\",\"George Will\",\"Jeb Bush\",\"Jeffrey Lyon\",\"Judge George Greer\",\"Nat Hentoff\",\"National Right to Life\",\"National Right to Life News\",\"Ronald Reagan\",\"Supreme Court\",\"Terri Schiavo\",\"Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network\",\"Terri's Law\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Analysis\",\"Guest Column\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/terri-schiavo-died-food-water\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/terri-schiavo-died-food-water\/\",\"name\":\"17 years ago, Terri Schiavo died after 13 days without food or water\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-02T14:29:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-01T01:01:22+00:00\",\"description\":\"Terri Schiavo died 17 years ago this week, after cruelly being deprived of food and water for nearly two weeks at the behest of her estranged husband.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/terri-schiavo-died-food-water\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/terri-schiavo-died-food-water\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/terri-schiavo-died-food-water\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Seventeen years ago, Terri Schiavo died after 13 days without food or water\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Live Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"width\":701,\"height\":710,\"caption\":\"Live Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/641fa4c1bbcfbccccc12b1b8940518a3\",\"name\":\"Dave Andrusko\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba691f6a1367e95e60672893e31486fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba691f6a1367e95e60672893e31486fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dave Andrusko\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/dave-andrusko-2\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"17 years ago, Terri Schiavo died after 13 days without food or water","description":"Terri Schiavo died 17 years ago this week, after cruelly being deprived of food and water for nearly two weeks at the behest of her estranged husband.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/terri-schiavo-died-food-water\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"17 years ago, Terri Schiavo died after 13 days without food or water","og_description":"Terri Schiavo died 17 years ago this week, after cruelly being deprived of food and water for nearly two weeks at the behest of her estranged husband.","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/terri-schiavo-died-food-water\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2022-04-02T14:29:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-04-01T01:01:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":650,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Untitled-design-56.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Dave Andrusko","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dave Andrusko","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/terri-schiavo-died-food-water\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/terri-schiavo-died-food-water\/"},"author":{"name":"Dave Andrusko","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/641fa4c1bbcfbccccc12b1b8940518a3"},"headline":"Seventeen years ago, Terri Schiavo died after 13 days without food or water","datePublished":"2022-04-02T14:29:52+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-01T01:01:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/terri-schiavo-died-food-water\/"},"wordCount":974,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"keywords":["Baby Doe","Bobby Schindler","Down syndrome","George W. Bush","George Will","Jeb Bush","Jeffrey Lyon","Judge George Greer","Nat Hentoff","National Right to Life","National Right to Life News","Ronald Reagan","Supreme Court","Terri Schiavo","Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network","Terri's Law"],"articleSection":["Analysis","Guest Column"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/terri-schiavo-died-food-water\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/terri-schiavo-died-food-water\/","name":"17 years ago, Terri Schiavo died after 13 days without food or water","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-04-02T14:29:52+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-01T01:01:22+00:00","description":"Terri Schiavo died 17 years ago this week, after cruelly being deprived of food and water for nearly two weeks at the behest of her estranged husband.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/terri-schiavo-died-food-water\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/terri-schiavo-died-food-water\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/terri-schiavo-died-food-water\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Seventeen years ago, Terri Schiavo died after 13 days without food or water"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Live Action","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","width":701,"height":710,"caption":"Live Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/641fa4c1bbcfbccccc12b1b8940518a3","name":"Dave Andrusko","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba691f6a1367e95e60672893e31486fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba691f6a1367e95e60672893e31486fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dave Andrusko"},"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/dave-andrusko-2\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265432"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/322"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265432"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":265443,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265432\/revisions\/265443"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}