October 23, 2003

Nancy Valko

nv333@mindspring.com

Comment: I received the first item just now. This is extremely serious.

As I have mentioned, I am an ICU nurse and I've been caring for a middle-aged man this week who was admitted from a nursing home with severe dehydration. It has been a real battle to save him and has required frequent monitoring, a central IV line, lab tests, etc., so that he is rehydrated safely.

Terri should be in a hospital!

And as I wrote yesterday, taking Terri secretly from the hospital is taking a page from the Steven Becker tragedy in 2000. In that case, the wife and lawyers just ignored an emergency court injunction to continue feedings until Steven died-and got away with it.

Nancy V.

1. The parents finally got to see Terri for the first time since Tuesday. She's now back at the hospice. The Schindler's say that Terri looks much worse than before she was taken to the hospital -- where they were not allowed to see her -- and they saw no evidence that she is being rehydrated or given food.

The advocates in Florida are calling upon advocates everywhere to flood the Florida legislature with calls demanding that she be taken out of the Woodside hospice and moved to a place where she will be cared for properly and in accordance with the statute they passed Tuesday. The local media are asking questions but not getting answers. - Diane (Diane Coleman of Not Dead Yet)

2. This is a WorldNetDaily printer-friendly version of the article which follows. To view this item online, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35231

October 23, 2003

MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH: Terri snatched from hospital - Attorney: Brain-damaged woman still in danger as judge has not appointed guardian ad litem

By Sarah Foster

© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

Attorney Patricia Anderson's greatest fear was realized yesterday when she learned that Michael Schiavo had removed his wife Terri Schindler-Schiavo from Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, Fla., where she was taken to have her feeding tube reinstalled, and returned clandestinely to the Woodside Facility of the Hospice of the Florida Sun Coast in Pinellas Park where she has been a patient for over three years.

Just hours earlier, Anderson -- who has represented Robert and Mary Schindler in their decade-long legal battle with their son-in-law -- told WorldNetDaily she was intensely concerned that Schiavo would remove Terri from the hospital before her condition was medically stabilized and she was rehydrated, in accordance with Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's executive order.

This would be completely at odds with the purpose of Tuesday's special legislation by the Florida legislature that empowered Gov. Jeb Bush to order Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted, and halted the court-ordered death of the 39-year-old brain-damaged woman, whose husband had long sought to end her life.

But Schiavo had done that several times in the past, most recently in August when Terri was shuttled back and forth on three separate occasions during bouts with pneumonia and other medical problems. Each time she was kept at Morton Plant only a few days, and returned to the hospice in a much-weakened state.

"I don't have any doubt that she should be in intensive care at the hospital," said Anderson. "But the fact is, Michael's her guardian and if he withdraws his consent for them to treat her there's nothing they can do. Their hands are tied. This tells you a lot about him."

Anderson said she felt that the hospital would have preferred to keep her before releasing her prematurely, but Schiavo is the one who must consent to treatment.

"If he revokes the consent and he is her legal guardian, their hands are tied," she explained. "They cannot continue to treat her without his consent. That is why the appointment of a guardian ad litem is so very crucial," she added.

Report from the front lines

Anderson said she saw Terri was being tube-fed when she was there, but there is no IV line supplying hydration, though she may have had sufficient fluid during the 24 hours she was at Morton Plant.

Both parents and brother Bobby were with her, and she was responsive, though sleepy.

"That is why we need a guardian ad litem," she added. "That is what Terri's Bill is about. We've got to have a guardian ad litem to put a stop to that kind of high jinks, because [Michael's] primary objective is to kill her."

Schiavo very nearly succeeded in his five-year quest to end his wife's life by court-approved starvation. With only a few hours remaining before she slipped beyond the point where she could be saved, Florida lawmakers Tuesday delivered to the governor legislation empowering him to order Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted, and Bush signed the lifesaving law as well as an implementing executive order.

"Terri's Bill" specifically directs the chief judge, David Demers of the 6th Judicial Circuit Court, to appoint a guardian ad litem to represent Terri "upon issuance of a stay," but he has not yet done so -- a matter that Anderson views as a matter of urgency.

"Terri will be out of danger only when Michael is no longer her guardian and no longer has access to her," she said bluntly.

Crowds of demonstrators cheered wildly, as Terri was transferred by ambulance from Woodside Hospice in Pinellas Park, Fla., to Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, about 25 miles away, whereupon her feeding tube was reinserted and rehydration begun after her six days ordeal of judge-ordered starvation.

Family locked out

No sooner was his wife admitted to Morton Plant in Clearwater, Fla., than Schiavo sent an order directing the hospital to bar Terri's parents and siblings from visiting her.

The Schindlers were not informed of Schiavo's action, and only learned of it late that evening from Terri's brother who had driven to the hospital to visit his sister and was escorted from the premises by an armed security guard. Bobby Schindler, 38, told WorldNetDaily he was told by the administrator on duty that Schiavo had left instructions that "No family members, not anybody is to visit Terri," and that they were to be given no information about her medical condition. Schindler was too exhausted by worry over the fate of his sister and the events of the past seven days to express anger. But he said he's not surprised by this recent action by Schiavo.

"Michael's been doing this kind of thing for almost as long as he's been guardian of my sister," he exclaimed. "It's going on for over a decade and it continues. Even after the governor stepped in and did what he did today, [Schiavo] continues to use his guardianship power as a weapon against our family and Terri."

It's one of many times her husband has ordered Terri isolated from family and those close to her. In mid-August he barred a Roman Catholic priest from visiting her at Morton Plant Hospital where she was taken due to a sudden medical crisis.

Schiavo said his action was prompted by a late-evening visit by Terri's spiritual advisor Monsignor Thaddeus Malanowski, a former Army chaplain, who had been asked by her father to drop by the hospital to see how she was faring.

Even though the monsignor was on a list of court-approved visitors and regularly visited her at the hospice with her parents, Schiavo was outraged when he heard about it, regarding it as a willful violation of a policy he had established prohibiting callers unless accompanied either by himself or a family member.

Schiavo's attorney Deborah Bushnell told WorldNetDaily that her client was concerned about Malanowski's "integrity" and felt the 81-year-old priest was not "the kind of person that he wanted visiting Terri or that he felt comfortable visiting Terri." Eventually he relented slightly, and the monsignor was allowed to resume his visits subject to week-to-week approval by Schiavo.

Last Wednesday, the day Terri's feeding tube was removed, Schiavo's attorneys ordered family members barred from being alone with Terri at the hospice following Robert Schindler's release to the media of a videotape distributed in evidence that the woman is not in a "persistent vegetative state" as Schiavo's advocates claim.

Schindler admitted the tape was made surreptitiously, in violation of a court order by probate Judge George Greer, of the Pinellas-County Circuit Court. The video, which shows Terri alert and laughing and trying to speak, further indicates attempts at rehabilatative therapy, also banned by the courts.

Following the video's release, her family was told they were barred from visiting the dying woman "unless [Schiavo] or his representative is present."

In at least one instance, the "representative" that accompanied Robert and Mary Schindler to the bedside of their daughter was none other than the mother of Schiavo's mistress, Jodi Centonze, with whom he has been living for a number of years. He and Centonze have a one-year-old daughter and are expecting a second child.

As WorldNetDaily reported, the Schindlers had been fighting their son-in-law for 10 years over the lack of care and therapy Schiavo as her guardian provided for their daughter, who suffered massive brain damage when she collapsed at her home 13 years ago under mysterious circumstances at the age of 26.

The ongoing dispute escalated five years ago when Schiavo petitioned the court for permission to end his wife's life by removing her feeding tube, insisting she is in a "persistent vegetative state" and had told him years before she would not want to be maintained "by tubes" and "artificial means" Although Terri breathes on her own and maintains her own blood pressure, she requires a simple tube into her abdomen to her stomach for nourishment and hydration.

The Schindlers fought tenaciously to keep their daughter and the case alive in the courts, but were basically blocked at every turn, in particular by Judge George Greer, who has had charge of the case almost from the beginning. When the seven-member Florida Supreme Court in August turned down a petition to review the case, the way was clear for Schiavo to starve his wife to death.

On Sept. 17, Greer scheduled Oct. 15 as the day Terri's feeding tube would be removed. At the same time, in a separate ruling, he denied rehabilitation and speech therapy for the disabled woman.

Information on Terri's fight for life is posted on the family's website.

3. LifeSiteNews.com Told of Struggle to Get Medical Staff to Implement Gov. Bush Order - The Inside Story on the Still Ongoing Life and Death Struggle for Terri Schiavo

Clearwater, Florida, October 22, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Terry Shiavo saga continues to take more ugly twists and turns. Although the heroic efforts of the Florida legislature and Governor Jeb Bush succeeded in forcing medical personnel to reconnect Terri to nutrition and hydration, implementation of Bush's order did not go smoothly yesterday and there are still fears for her life.

LifeSiteNews.com learned of these disturbing details today from Debra Vinnedge of Children of God for Life who was with Terri's parents at the vigil outside the Hospice since before the feeding tube was removed.

Terri's family is currently barred from visiting their daughter by order of Terri's estranged husband Michael who, with his lawyer, is still engaged in intense legal maneuvers to ensure Terri's death. Moreover, the hospital is refusing to release any details about Terri's current condition.

Vinnedge reveals that yesterday, prior to Governor Bush's 5 p.m. order to begin hydration, the Woodside hospice where Terri was staying refused to allow religious objects to be placed in Terri's room. It threw out all religious artifacts that had been left there by Terri's parents.

Previously, Terri had been denied a small fragment of final Holy Communion under the pretense that she could receive nothing by mouth for fear of choking. That was while she was being slowly and painfully killed by the removal of nutrition and hydration.

When the Bush executive order arrived at the Hospice by both fax transmission and official delivery, Hospice officials refused to reinsert the feeding tube, claiming there were no medical personnel to do so, despite the fact that they were the ones who removed it on October 15th. They promised to transfer Terri to a local hospital as quickly as possible. In addition, two medical doctors had been summoned to the Hospice and were denied entrance to perform the procedure as indicated by Gov. Bush. They were also denied access to observe the patient and her condition.

At 6:30 p.m. an ambulance arrived to take Terri to Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater. Upon arrival at the hospital, medical staff refused to comply with the Governor's order to reinsert her feeding tube or an IV, stating they had been threatened with litigation by Michael Schiavo's attorneys if any medical care was given to Terri.

After the hospital was told repeatedly by government officials that they must comply or risk losing funding, at approximately 9:30 p.m. an IV was finally inserted -- four hours after the governor's order had been given.

Michael Schiavo has denied visitation at the hospital to all members of Terri's family. Terri's priest, Monsignor Thaddeus Malinowski, has also not been able to visit Terri.

A request for immediate appointment of a guardian ad litem to protect Terri's medical interests and physical well-being was denied by Judge David A. Demers. Terri's parents and supporters have sent a request to federal Attorney General John Ashcroft asking him to reassert Terri's civil rights.

While the bill which passed the Florida House called for a guardian ad litem, the Senate version of the bill did not.

As of 4 p.m. yesterday, the last time Terri's parents, siblings and priest were able to visit Terri, she was reportedly doing well. "She greeted them with joy, she was smiling and laughed, sitting up," Vinnedge told LifeSiteNews.com.

In a grateful message to supporters, Terri's parents said, "On behalf of Terri's family and everyone at the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation, we thank you for your kindness, your action and your willingness to care enough to do something positive for a stranger. It is our hope that Terri will be given the chance to say "thank you" herself one day soon."

Meanwhile, CNN reports today that Michael Shiavo has "received $300,000 for pain and suffering and loss of consortium" and "has declined to comment on whether there is an outstanding life insurance policy on his wife."

See the family website at: http://www.terrisfight.org/lead.htm  see CNN story at http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/10/22/coma.woman/index.html  See Press in Blatant Lie, Repeatedly Calls Terri 'Comatose' http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2003/10/22/115733.shtml

4. Note: Below please find the two current submissions prepared by Debi Vinnedge for the Schindler family and those working closely with them (signatories), and spearheaded by Robert Marshall (Delegate, Virginia) to Attorney General John Ashcroft in response to continued denial of Terri Schiavo's civil rights.

The public is not being told the accurate facts of this case. - DNI (Dr. Dianne Irving)

Comment: Delegate Bob Marshall is a legislator from Virginia and he was the one who led the fight to save Hugh Finn in 1998 which was unfortunately unsuccessful despite the intervention of Gov. Jame Gilmore.

Nancy V.

=====

October 22, 2003

To:

Delegate Bob Marshall

Attorney General John Ashcroft

Reference: Continued Denial of Civil Rights - Terri Schiavo

October 21st

A Catholic miraculous medal of the Blessed Virgin Mary that had been blessed by Pope John Paul II was brought to Terri Schiavo to be placed on her person, bedside or where she could visibly see it in her room at Woodside Hospice.

However, the medal could not be given to her because, in fact, all religious holy cards of various saints and various Catholic artifacts had been removed from her room and thrown away.

We were forewarned that if the medal was placed anywhere in her room or on her body, it would be thrown away.

October 21st 5:00PM

The Executive Order signed by Governor Bush to immediately begin hydration and nutrition was received at Hospice by both fax transmission and official delivery.

Hospice refused to reinsert the feeding tube, claiming there was no medical personnel to do so, despite the fact that they were the ones who removed it on October 15th.

They promised to transfer Terri to a local hospital as quickly as possible.

In addition, two medical doctors had been summoned to Hospice and were denied entrance to perform the procedure as indicated by Governor Jeb Bush. They were also denied access to observe the patient and her condition.

6:30PM

An ambulance arrived to take Terri to Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater.

Upon arrival at the hospital, medical staff refused to comply with the Governor's order to reinsert her feeding tube or an IV, stating they had been threatened with litigation by Michael Schiavo's attorneys if any medical care was given to Terri.

At approximately 9:30 PM an IV was inserted.

Michael Schiavo has denied visitation at the hospital to all members of Terri's family.

A request for immediate appointment of a guardian ad litem to protect Terri's medical interests and physical well being was denied by Judge David A. Demers.

In light of the fact that the court order to provide therapy for Terri Schiavo under the malpractice settlement has been denied by the husband; that he has access to Terri and can cause her harm and that he clearly does not represent her best interests, we request immediate intervention to:

1) Appoint a guardian ad litem to protect Terri Schiavo's interests and ensure she is given proper medical treatment.

2) Open an immediate criminal investigation which has never been conducted in this case.

3) Block the cremation of Terri's body should death ensue, so that evidence is not destroyed.

4) Restore the rights of visitation and access to the family.

Sincerely, Debra L. Vinnedge

=====

Date: October 21, 2003 To: Attorney General John Aschcroft Subject: On Behalf of Theresa Maria Schiavo - Violation of Civil Rights Against the Handicapped

We the undersigned family, friends and medical caregivers of Theresa (Terri) Maria Schiavo request an immediate investigation and emergency intervention to stop her starvation dehydration death due to the following violations of her civil rights under the US Constitution:

Denial of Civil Rights by Michael Schiavo, husband:

By court order in a malpractice suit filed by Michael Schiavo in 1993, $700,000.00 of the settlement was to be used exclusively for Theresa's rehabilitation. To date, no rehabilitation, medical or physical therapy has ever been provided to Terri.

Upon receipt of the award in 1993 medical records were ordered sealed by Michael Schiavo. Ten years later these records were unsealed and would reveal massive injury and a history of possible domestic violence and abuse.

While under nursing home and hospice care, Michael Schiavo ordered no physical therapy, oral feeding or treatment for Terri. He further directed that Terri only be sustained in a nursing home which is contrary to the intent of the award money. Michael Schiavo has on two occasions unsuccessfully attempted to end Terri's life by instructing her caretakers not to medicate Terri for potentially fatal infections, the first of which occurred less than nine months after receiving the malpractice award money.

As Terri's legal guardian, her husband has used her medical fund money to offset the legal costs when his guardianship of Terri was initially challenged and to pay the current legal costs to have Terri's life ended.

May 1, 2000 - A Court hearing was canceled after Michael Schiavo verbally committed to sign an agreement that Terri will get the necessary medical treatment at Hospice.

June 18, 2000 - After reneging on his previously agreed terms of the agreement, Michael Schiavo later signed an amended agreement stating he will not withdraw or terminate Terri's medical care or treatment for potential fatal infections, without prior notice to the court.

Denial of Civil Rights by Judge Greer:

February 2000 - Judge Greer condemns Terri to death by dehydration/starvation without any clear and convincing evidence as required by statute. There is no written living directive.

March 2000 - Sworn affidavits provided to the court by three physicians that Terri is able to eat. Judge Greer denies a petition to the court to perform swallowing tests on Terri, part of her court-ordered therapy.

Judge Greer further authorized personal security personnel costs for Michael Schiavo to be taken from Terri's medical fund.

May 7, 2001 - Dr. Hammesfahr (neurology), filed a six page affidavit with the court stating Terri was not in a Persistent Vegetative State, accompanied by a formal letter requesting Schiavo's permission to allow Terri to begin rehabilitation treatment; request denied.

September 26, 2001 - A three-member panel consisting of Judges Jerry Parker, Chris Altenbernd and John Blue presided at the Appellate Court "oral argument hearing." The core of the appeal is that Judge Greer did not follow the Appellate Court's July 11, 2001 instructions. Judge Greer admitted he ignored the doctors' sworn opinions and summarily rejected additional evidence that unmistakably proved Michael Schiavo lied to the court at the original trial.

NOTE: NO CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION HAS EVER BEEN CONDUCTED IN THIS CASE AND ATTEMPTS TO DEMAND SUCH INVESTIGATION HAVE BEEN SUMMARILY DENIED AND BLOCKED UNDER COURT ORDER OF JUDGE GREER. IMMEDIATE CREMATION OF THE BODY WILL OCCUR UPON HER DEATH, THUS DESTROYING ALL CRIMINAL EVIDENCE.

Denial of Civil Rights by Michael Schiavo's appointed physicians:

There is no court order to deny Terri Schiavo oral feeding. This was put in place by Michael Schiavo's appointed doctors, in direct violation of the previous court orders to provide therapy and rehabilitation for Terri.

Denial of Civil Rights by Pinellas Park Police, Michael Schiavo and his attorneys: On October 15th at 2:00 PM Terri's feeding tube was removed. Although the court does not deny the right to provide oral hydration or feeding, the doctor's orders to hospice are to prohibit any type of oral feeding.

On October 18th, 19th and 20th Monsignor Thaddeus Malanowski was refused the right to administer Holy Communion to Terri as part of her Catholic Last Rites. This order was expressed directly by Michael Schiavo, his attorneys and the local police guarding Terri's room who told the priest they would "stop him if he attempted to give her Holy Communion."

It is a criminal violation to abuse, neglect or exploit a disabled person, all of which have been perpetrated on Terri Schaivo and we petition your immediate intervention and investigation.

Presented by: Debra L. Vinnedge Mary and Bob Schindler Robert Schindler, JR Suzanne Carr William Hammesfahr, MD J.D. Young, MD James Eckart, MD Jay Carpenter, MD Eleanor Dreschel, RN, MS Jana Carpenter, RN, MS Msgr. Thaddeus Malanowski

_______________________________

Debra L. Vinnedge 2130 Catalina Drive Clearwater, FL 33764 727-536-8839

STATE OF FLORIDA COUNTY OF PINELLAS

Sworn to and subscribed before me this ________ day of October, 2003, by Debra Vinnedge who produced a Florida Driver's License as identification.