(9/21/2006)

Terri Schiavo Family Says Ellen Goodman Op/Ed "Morally Misguided"

Describes column on "Playing vegetative mind games" as "frightening"

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Sept. 21 /Christian Newswire/ -- Bobby Schindler, Terri Schiavo’s brother, submits for publication the following letter in response to the Sept. 15, opinion piece by Ellen Goodman, “Playing vegetative mind games.”

Ms. Goodman:

I read your recent column, "Playing vegetative mind games".

The lengths that you and many of your colleagues continue to go to in order to somehow justify the barbaric killing of my sister, Terri, are truly sad and in my opinion a tragic reflection of how you and those that think like you have truly misplaced your humanity.

What is so profoundly frightening about what you wrote is the effort to use this scientifically inaccurate persistent vegetative state (PVS) label to indiscriminately decide when it’s permissible to kill those that are disabled. As you pointed out in your column, there are tens of thousands of people that have experienced a brain injury. The idea that certain lives have somehow lost their meaning because they exist in this so-called PVS, which according to you, is some type of "horrifying" state of consciousnesses or lack thereof (not quite sure how you or anyone would have knowledge of this) is equally alarming. It is this form of lethal bigotry that my family battled in our efforts to get help for my sister.

Recently, a British research study concluded that the PVS diagnosis is in fact misdiagnosed more than 40% of the time. Recognizing this finding along with this most recent discovery, and others similar to it, one with any common sense would have to agree that using the completely subjective PVS “diagnosis” as the basis to kill the disabled is clearly outrageous.

Incidentally, I find it remarkable how the voice of disabled community has been all but ignored by most of the popular media. Why are the persons that are truly in harm’s way, the disabled, rarely mentioned? There were thirty (30) local and national disability organizations that publicly spoke out on behalf of Terri, yet their voices have been silenced.

It seems to me that in spite of your opinion (and many in the mainstream media for that matter) the general public is just not agreeing with what you and so many morally misguided individuals are promoting. Fortunately, good people know the fundamental difference between right and wrong, and have compassion for those that are most vulnerable. Regardless of these dehumanizing labels, they realize that preying on the brain injured is not a way of showing kindness, nor is it some form of altruism, but rather a selfish and cowardly act by those who justify in their minds that the killing of the weak and voiceless is somehow "okay".

It comes down to this Ms. Goodman, and it's really very simple - it's not up to you or anyone to decide.

Perhaps if you ever had the opportunity to care for someone like Terri you would understand why your article is so offensive not only to her memory and my family, but also to the tens of thousands of brain injured persons that you claim to speak for.

Bobby Schindler Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation 5562 Central Avenue, Suite 2 St. Petersburg, FL 33707 727-490-7603 www.terrisfight.org

P.S. I thought it would be helpful to you to include the names of the medical professionals, many being distinguished neurologists, who either believed that Terri was not in a PVS or could have been helped if Michael Schiavo and/or the courts would have permitted it (all of their affidavits submitted to Judge George Greer can be accessed on terrisfight.org).

Perhaps your next article might make mention of them.

1. Dr. Jay Carpenter 
2. Dr. Fred Webber 
3. Dr. Jacob Green 
4. Dr. Alexander T. Gimon 
5. Dr. William Scott Russell 
6. Dr. Joseph L. Brunner 
7. Dr. David L. Coulter 
8. Dr. David Hopper 
9. Dr. Beatrice Engstrand 
10. Dr. Alyse Eytan 
11. Dr. Harry Sawyer Goldsmith 
12. Dr. William M. Hammesfahr 
13. Dr. Paul Harch 
14. Dr. Carolyn Heron 
15. Dr. Lawrence Huntoon 
16. Pamela Hyink, SLP 
17. Dr. Jill Joyce 
18. Dr. James P. Kelly 
19. Dr. Philip R. Kennedy 
20. Dr. Kyle Lakas 
21. Dr. Peter J. Luca 
22. Dr. William Maxfield 
23. Dr. Peter J. Morin 
24. Myra Stinson, CCC-SLP 
25. Dr. James Avery 
26. Dr. Ricardo Senno 
27. Dr. Stanely A. Terman 
28. Dr. J. Michael Uszler 
29. Dr. Richard Weidman 
30. Dr. Jon David Young 
31. Dr. Thomas Mark Zabiega 
32. Dr. Ralph Ankenman 
33. Carla Sauer Iyer, RN 
34. C. Johnson, CNA 
35. Heidi Law, CNA 
36. Sara Green Mele, MS, CCC-SLP 
37. Dr. Laurie Barclay 
38. Dr. Rodney Dunaway 
39. Dr. George Isajiw 
40. Dr. Leonard P. Rybak 
41. Dr. Richard Neubauer