The Legacy of Terri Schiavo

By Linda Orlando

For the past few weeks the fate of Terri Schiavo has been discussed, debated, argued over, and lamented all around the world, and now people around the world wait with heavy hearts to hear the news of her passing. When that news comes, most people will feel profoundly saddened, and many will be relieved that the heartbreaking tragedy has finally reached an end. But nothing could be farther from the truth. The epic fight over the fate of Terri Schiavo has set into motion events that will change not only the future of people involved in the dispute, but also the future of America.

Although there were no real winners in the legal decisions made surrounding Terri Schiavo, there have been numerous losers. Many of the people arrested for improperly demonstrating or engaging in misdemeanor activity outside Schiavo’s hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida, will face the consequences of their actions for years to come. Police have arrested dozens of people, including a 10-year old boy and his older siblings, for various offenses such as trying to take water to the severely brain-damaged woman. Chris Keys and his family were part of a throng of people who stood in front of the hospice last week attempting to bring water to Schiavo. When he refused to obey police instructions to leave, he and three of his children were arrested as his wife and 2-year old daughter watched their family being taken away. Keys’ 14-year old daughter admitted that she was "a little nervous" as she and her 12-year old brother were cuffed and taken away by police, but she said that she was sure she was doing God’s bidding.

One protester who was arrested wanted to "at least put some cool water on Terri’s lips," and she spoke vehemently about having been held in a Nazi prison camp in the former Yugoslavia. Another woman made a long statement to the assembled crowd in which she hinted that if America allowed Schiavo to die, the country would face more tragedies like natural disasters and the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed thousands of people. As she was being arrested, Eva Edl added, "If we let this happen to her, it will be happening to others." Police officers took a book and a cup of water from her before handcuffing her. Two 13-year old twin girls and a 10-year old boy from North Carolina were also arrested; the boy said he just doesn’t want Schiavo to die and he’s not afraid to protest her death because he knows God is with him. A man from West Virginia acknowledged after his arrest that most of the protesters know they would never be successful in their attempts to take water or food to Schiavo, but they were just trying to show that "something should be done." So far nearly 50 protestors have been arrested or detained by police.

The arrests surrounding the Schiavo drama have not been limited to misdemeanors. Richard Meywes is in jail in Asheville, NC, charged with allegedly sending an e-mail that offered a $250,000 bounty for the assassination of Michael Schiavo, Terri’s husband. The e-mail also offered $50,000 for the killing of the judge who denied a request to intervene and have Terri’s feeding tube reinserted. According to an affidavit, the e-mail was sent to two news organizations in the Tampa area as well as to the host of a national conservative talk show. Although Meywes has no prior criminal record, he could face up to 15 years in prison and fines up to $500,000 if he is convicted.

In a particularly shocking incident, police arrested a man who tried to steal a gun so that he could rescue Terri Schiavo. Michael Mitchell of Rockford, Illinois, drove down to Florida from Illinois last Wednesday and visited Schiavo’s hospice. The next day, he went to a gun store with a box cutter with the intention of stealing a gun so he could "take some action and rescue Terri Schiavo." He broke the glass on several display cases and told the owner that if he wasn’t on Terri’s side, then he wasn’t on God’s side either. The store owner reacted quickly and held Mitchell at gunpoint, but Mitchell was able to escape out a back door before police arrived. A short time later, he was arrested and charged with attempted armed robbery, aggravated assault, and criminal mischief.

One of the principals in the ongoing debate over Schiavo’s future, Pinellas Circuit Court Judge George Greer, has been the target of much criticism, disdain, and outright hatred from the public as a result of his continued denials of motions and appeals by Schiavo’s parents. But the criticism hit close to home for the judge last week when he was forced to resign his membership in the Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater. The Rev. Richard Land claims that Judge Greer and the church "came to a mutual agreement that he resigned his membership." But the St. Petersburg Times reported that the pastor had written Greer a somber letter warning that "In all likelihood it is this case which will define your career and this case that you will remember in the waning days of life." Even the primary combatants in the debate over Schiavo’s right to live or die, Terri’s husband and her parents, will still be feuding after her death because the two sides can’t agree on what will happen to her body. Terri’s parents, the Schindlers, have asked a court to allow Terri to be buried in Florida. But her husband Michael is planning to have Terri cremated and then have her remains interred in Pennsylvania, where they lived together.

Surely Terri herself would be saddened if she knew of the negative impact her final days have had on so many people, particularly those that never even knew her, who abandoned all logic and good sense to pursue a misguided cause. Hopefully their stories will fade quickly from the public consciousness and be replaced instead by the many positive results that will most certainly come from this extraordinary battle that has held the nation transfixed for the past few weeks.

Both the Senate and the House have scheduled hearings to consider the neurological and long-term care of disabled patients, particularly in cases where a disabled patient’s wishes are unknown and family members can’t agree. Attorneys and legal organizations across the country have noted a strong upsurge in people seeking to put in writing their end-of-life wishes. Aging With Dignity, a Florida agency, has been receiving over 2,000 requests a day for its living will known as "Five Wishes." Living wills state a patient’s wishes about medical treatments to be administered if they become terminally ill or incapacitated. An advance directive is a type of living will that names a surrogate to carry out the wishes of the patient as stated in the living will. If Schiavo had had such instructions in place before her collapse in 1990, she would not have had to lie in a bed, mindless and unaware, as her family waged war against each other for over 15 years.

Even though a handful of people must deal with the negative consequences of the actions they took to try to change the outcome, everyone can take something positive from the heartbreaking story of Terri Schiavo and the battle over her right to live or die. Perhaps the greatest legacy Terri will leave is bringing to light one clear and simple fact: some decisions are too important to go unspoken or to leave up to someone else to decide for you.