Schiavo Case

Wow, one of my friends just fowarded this to me. It was a listener's response to a radio show discussing the Schiavo Case. I don't know how true this is, but if it is true, it brings up a lot of disturbing issues.

- Jean Chen

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This case is about a person with a brain injury having the rights guaranteed by the ADA. It is also about protecting the rights of battered women.
Facts omitted from national coverage but easily verifiable with brief research include the following: there are allegations of spousal abuse perpetrated by Terri's husband. X-rays show multiple broken bones and internal injuries. The judge who has controlled the evidence in the case (remember, appeals only review facts already established by the prior judge and do not allow new evidence to be introduced) has refused to allow important evidence to be admitted. He has a record of refusing to protect battered women from abusive husbands. One died as a result a few years ago. He has refused to consider the abundant evidence of the unfitness of Michael Schiavo as a guardian for Terri's interests. Domestic violence is a serious issue in this country and its possible role here should not be ignored and kept out of the conversation.
Disability rights advocates are very concerned about this case. Terri Schiavo is not chattel to be discarded by her ex-husband. It is not his decision to make, but hers, and he has done everything possible to ensure that she is unable to speak about her own wishes by denying her therapy. Remember, she was speaking before he terminated her access to rehabilitation.
All the talk about this being a "private family matter" is specious. Michael Schiavo is not committed to her nor to her interests. He has refused her access to rehabilitation necessary (she was talking and moving when receiving rehab), has refused her normal rights such as going outside, diagnostic tests, etc. He was already cheating on her before her injury (and was confronted by her the night before her injury) and is now in a common law marriage with 2 kids with someone else. It is bizarre that the press is talking about the sanctity of marriage and the right to privacy under these sick circumstances.
Leading neurologists state that there is a 30% error rate in diagnosing PVS and the doctors who have examined Terri disagree about whether she in fact is in a vegetative state. Where are her rights?
Why aren't news crews being allowed to see her? Why is this being twisted into a "right to die" or "end of life" case? Terri is not fighting for the right to die, nor was she dying before the tube was removed. This is terribly misleading and confusing to the public. I have no doubt the majority of progressives would support the parents' cause if they were not being told over and over again that this is about the right to die.
Please correct this mischaracterization. Most Oregonians support the right to die. This case is NOT about the right to die nor is about "end of life" and it is a disservice to the public to characterize it as such. KBOO should be looking beneath the surface of this story. The Schiavo case raises serious feminist and disability-rights issues. Please do your listeners a service and have your hosts investigate these issues more deeply. Progressives can and must do better.
Respectfully,
Elise Craig
Portland, Oregon