Yes, We’re Bringing Up “Schiavo” Again

To date, we have written at least half a dozen articles dedicated exclusively to Schiavo – so why are we doing so again? The reason is simple: because someone in our readership has brought up the subject again – and we had to respond (in order to clear up some of his misconceptions).  In a comment on one of our recent articles (click here: “Anonymous,” 2:20 PM), the commenter agreed with some of what we said about Terri Schiavo: “Now, do I think that Schiavo should have been entrusted to her parents' care?  Of course. Was the woman dying or shutting down as Cekada suggests?  No.”  But the commenter then added, “She was clearly in a PVS, and was being tube fed, but may have been able to swallow.  But that doesn't change the fact that tube feeding is extraordinary, and, by the way, I could never verify that Michael Schiavo had a live in girlfriend or was the beneficiary of an insurance policy.”

The problem, though -- as we pointed out in our response to this comment – was that Terri Schiavo was NOT in a “PVS,” i.e., "Persistent Vegetative State."  Other “problems” included the commenter’s claim that “tube feeding is extraordinary,” and the commenter’s inability to “verify that Michael Schiavo had a live in girlfriend or was the beneficiary of an insurance policy.”  All of these “concerns” were addressed and answered by us several times in previous articles, but we thought we’d cover them again, just to reassure our “doubting correspondent.”

First, his claim that Terri was in a “persistent vegetative state” is patently false.  Perhaps our correspondent’s assertion was based on what Cekada said.  Phony Tony, in trying to play “medical expert,” stated that “reviewing CT images, watching a video and reviewing ‘summary/excerpts regarding testimony given in deposition transcripts’ -- is no substitute for examining a live patient.”  Actually, nothing could be farther from the truth.  Personal observation is often totally misleading – especially in neurological cases.¹  It is, in fact, the medical equivalent of judging a book by its cover.²  In neurological cases like Terri’s, medical test results – CT scans, MRI’s, EEG’s, etc. -- are the only really reliable information to be had.  (See also Terri Schiavo Revisited - Again.)

Then too, our correspondent might have been basing his assumptions (about PVS) on Michael Schiavo’s (Terri’s husband’s) citing of several pro-death “experts” who claimed that Terri was in a PVS (or “brain dead,” as is the more popular term).  But the real medical evidence showed that Terri was not  “brain dead.”  Sure, she was brain-damaged, but not brain-dead.  (Click here for one corroborating article.)  One of the mainstream media lies about her was that, when her brain was weighed after her death, it didn’t weigh enough to be “normal.”  The problem here is that her brain weight was low because it was dehydrated, not because it had “shrunk significantly.”

There was also plenty of EEG evidence (in addition to personal observation by eyewitnesses) that she indeed had cognitive function.  She was definitely not a “vegetable” or a “flat-liner.”  Besides, she reportedly gave short answers at times, and smiled on a regular basis.  She was also able to breathe on her own, and eyewitnesses also attest that she could swallow – and actually received the Sacred Species at one point (before she was deprived of nourishment by court order).  [By the way, this ability to breathe on her own prompts us to ask why our correspondent stated, “Normal people swallow their food.  Normal people breathe air.  If you cannot swallow your food and breath air that most definitely constitutes extraordinary.”   Terri was never on a respirator, and she could actually swallow – so why make such an “insinuating” statement, as if it were applicable to her.]

Secondly, our correspondent’s claim that tube-feeding is “extraordinary” is taken out of its proper context, and therefore false.  Yes, it is not the way that a fully able-bodied person eats; but it is a very ordinary way for feeding incapacitated people – and has been for decades.  (And, as we pointed out in our reply to our correspondent, it is also cheaper than conventional feeding.)  Many people, whatever their mental state, have been routinely tube-fed – again – for decades.  It is not “extraordinary.”  And, whether it be for days, weeks, or decades, it is, in fact, the method of choice for sustaining debilitated people (and has been common medical practice for over fifty years).

Lastly, regarding our correspondent’s not being able to “verify that Michael Schiavo had a live in girlfriend or was the beneficiary of an insurance policy”:  First, let us simply state that Michael Schiavo and his girlfriend, Jodi Centonze (whom he met in 1992, and started his “relationship” in 1995, ten years before Terri’s death) already had two children (with Michael Schiavo) by 2004 – still a full year before Terri’s death (click here for Wikipedia’s timeline of events). [Also, click here and here for additional confirmation of Schiavo’s relationship with Centonze.]⁴  As far as our correspondent’s question about whether Michael was the beneficiary of the insurance policy on Terri, that is a moot point.  The relevant point is that, regardless of who the “beneficiary” was, this money was earmarked for Terri’s medical care -- but that Michael Schiavo chose to use it instead for himself and his new girlfriend.  (A really “caring husband,” huh?)

But, regardless of how much “cognitive function” Terri had, or how much of a “burden on society” (as Tony Baloney put it) her medical care might have been, the bottom line on all of this is that, regardless of her condition, NOTHING justified starving and dehydrating her to death.  As we reminded our correspondent in answering his comment, her death was murder, pure and simple – and his conjecture about what constitutes “extraordinary means” was irrelevant (as well as totally wrong).  There was absolutely no reason whatsoever to justify her court-ordered execution.  So, if our correspondent was trying to use the “extraordinary means” argument to insinuate that Tony’s position was somewhat “justified” (or that it somehow lessens Tony’s culpability), then he is sadly mistaken.  It does neither.

Our correspondent, although professing ignorance of several pertinent facts in the matter (such as, whether Michael Schiavo had a live-in girlfriend or not), was nevertheless very definite in his conviction that Terri Schiavo was in a “persistent vegetative state.”  How is it then, we wonder, that he was so very cognizant (and so positively sure) about that latter point, yet “missed” everything else?  We also find it odd that our correspondent was not able to satisfy his curiosity by consulting the internet (or to learn even more by reading our previous articles on Schiavo).  Was his “selective ignorance” genuine -- or he was just another one of Tony’s deputized mouthpieces trying to defend the indefensible?  We don’t know; but, whatever the case, we have addressed all of his concerns.  And, whatever his intentions, if his aim was to legitimize Cekada’s position in any way (or to mitigate its invalidity). then (again) he is sadly mistaken -- and we think that we’ve effectively put to rest any concerns he might still have in that regard.

The really important takeaway is this: that, whoever he was, he now knows the truth – and no longer has the need (or the justification) to defend the indefensible.  We must actually thank him, for he has given us the opportunity once again to set the record straight on Schiavo, and to reinforce what we’ve said about it in the past -- and he has given us the opportunity once again to expose Phony Tony for the consummate liar that he is.  So, whoever “our correspondent” was, we hope that we have now cured him of his “ignorance” – and, once again, we thank him profusely for the opportunity to do so!

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¹ There have been many documented cases – especially recently – where patients who had been thought to be “vegetative” for decades have “come out of it” and have completely recovered.  In Terri’s case, she was definitely making medical progress, when Michael Schiavo decided to stop her therapy, and to pocket the medical money (awarded her) for himself and his girlfriend.

² Of course, this is precisely what the Gerties do in judging what is “Catholic”: they regard “the show” as “true Catholicism.”

³ As we’ve pointed out several times in previous articles on Schiavo, there were two children at SGG (Maria Duff and Peter Schappacher) who were nourished for years by tube-feeding -- before, during, and after the Schiavo affair – and Dolan and Cekada were completely aware of this. 

⁴ Note also (from one of the web links) that Jodi Centonze was previously divorced (in 1989) before she married Michael Schiavo.  It gives one an indication of how much Schiavo “cared” for Terri (and how much of a “Catholic” he was): he fathered two children with Centonze years before his (invalid) marriage to her, while his real wife lay helpless in bed.  (One wonders why Tony never expressed any moral outrage about this!)