BE SURE & READ MY VERY NEXT POST HERE with TONS of EVIDENCE to

counteract the VISCIOUS LIES propagated by Michael Schiavo, Michael

Schiavo's Attorneys, the complicit propagandists in the mainstream

media, including TV, and many others!



I have 2 websites dedicated to Terri Schindler-Schiavo.



Extensive evidence & information can be found on my yahoo site,

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/saveterrislife/

which you can easily find by typing saveterrislife (all one word)

into google or yahoo or go to http://www.saveterrislife.com

There is also a link there to my yahoo site.



Click on any post on my websites and find FAR MORE information,

evidence, and links than only what the TITLE of each post states.



I will be adding much more information to my yahoo website on a

frequent basis.

Keep checking back!





Melissa Roxanne Stanley

saveterrislife

DeLand, Volusia County, Florida







Due to what has been going on with Terri in the last few days, I have

been sending a tremendous amount of material out about Terri, but

have not had time to post it here yet.



Therefore, I am going to post material I have been working on today

first in my next message, and try to catch up on the rest as soon as

I have time.



I am also working on lots of other things which are very important

which could help to save Terri's life, so right now, I have to

concentrate on those things first and foremost, as Judge Greer has

ordered Terri's tube be removed on March 18th, 2005 at 1:00 PM EST!



Keep checking back for more info. frequently as I will be updating my

site as much as possible.



BE SURE AND READ MY VERY NEXT *LONG* POST HERE as it will contain

TONS of evidence to counteract the VISCIOUS LIES propagated by

Michael Schiavo, Michael Schiavo's Attorneys, the complicit

propagandists in the mainstream media, including TV, and many

others!  The PROPAGANDISTS ARE SPINNING LIES FULL TIME that Terri had

a heart attack, suffered from bulimia, had a potassium imbalance,

electrolyte imbalance, etc.  NONE OF THESE THINGS ARE TRUE!  They are

all HUGE LIES by Michael and Co. and others working with them,

including the media, to take the focus off of what happened to Terri

on February 25, 1990 and since then!



They are all just damage control rabbit trails and disinformation

benefitting Michael and extremely detrimental to Terri as this is

what the public is being fed by the disinformationalists and have for

years and years.



Please read the truth on my site and tell others the truth and refer

them to my websites!  Please send evidence you find here to others,

including the media, the officials, your friends, family, and others!



Thanks for your concern and support for Terri!



By the way, this site is a read-only site devoted to research I have

done since September, 2003 regarding Terri.



The only reason there are 2 members on this website is because yahoo

forced me to add another member or they threatened to shut my site

down!  Therefore, I asked a fellow Terri researcher and advocate to

join, but I am the only one who posts information here.



I plan to be doing more net radio interviews on

http://crusaderadio.com in the near future, but it is sometimes not

known by me until the night before when I will be asked to go on the

air.



It will most likely be on Mondays and possibly on some Tuesdays when

I will be on the air doing more net radio shows about Terri.  I will

also be talking about new information and things no one else talks

about, so keep listening!



You can click on old posts here about my old net radio shows on

crusaderadio.com for more details and links to click on so you can

listen!



You can check here many times for more information:



http://vetzine.blogspot.com as the person who owns that blog also

hosts the net radio shows I often do about Terri!



I will try to post a notice here to let you know when I will be on so

keep checking back!  I am sure I will be on again soon since Terri's

tube is supposed to be removed in about 3 weeks!



There is soooo much going on in this case it is UNREAL, so rest

assured I will be posting it here in the next few days and weeks and

thereafter!



If you'd like to be on my e-mail list, send an e-mail to me at

saveterrislife@... and let me know you want to subscribe to my

e-mail list regarding Terri.  It is different than asking to join my

yahoo site, as I do not allow anyone to join my site, because I could

not possibly keep track of what might be posted, due to the time

factor, and I have to keep my site truthful and accurate!  I work to

support myself plus work fulltime on trying to get the truth out

about Terri!  So, pls. be clear in your e-mail that you wish to

receive my e-mails about Terri!



Melissa Roxanne Stanley, saveterrislife

____________________________________________________________________





(Note:  Over 100,000 People Had Signed As of Last Night (meaning

Thursday, 2-24-05)



Melissa Roxanne Stanley / saveterrislife







FORT LAUDERDALE-More than 5,000 people an hour are signing an online

"Petition to Save Terri Schiavo." Schiavo, a 41-year-old brain-

injured

woman who has the capacity to respond to her environment, recognize

voices, and who brightens at the presence of her mother, may be

starved to death by court order, starting today at 5 p.m.



"This is one of the strongest responses we have ever seen for an

online petition," said Dr. Gary Cass, Executive Director of the

Center for Reclaiming America, which is sponsoring the petition

campaign.



"The life of an otherwise healthy 41-year-old woman is in jeopardy

today, and thousands of concerned Americans are pleading for action

from Governor Bush," said Dr. Cass, who will personally deliver the

names on the petition to Gov. Bush and Florida legislative leaders in

Tallahassee on Friday, February 25.



The petition urges Governor Bush "to take immediate action to stop

the forced starvation of Terri Schiavo," and calls for "legislative,

judicial and executive efforts that will stop the forced starvation

of Terri Schiavo."



The petition may be accessed at http://www.reclaimamerica.org.







Cass also urged that calls and e-mails on Schiavo's behalf be sent to





Florida Governor Jeb Bush (at 850.488.4441 or

jeb.bush@...);





Senate President Tom Lee (at 850.487.5072 or

lee.tom.web@...);



and House Speaker Allan G. Bense (at 850.488.1450 or

speaker@....)



Food and water may be denied to Schiavo beginning today at 5 p.m.,

when an emergency stay of an order to remove her feeding tube will

expire. Michael Schiavo, the estranged husband of Terri Schiavo, has

battled Terri's parents in court for years in an attempt to end her

life. Michael, who has lived for at least nine years with another

woman by whom he has had two children, claims Terri would not have

wished to be kept alive. There is no written request from Terri to

document his claim.



"Death by starvation is an extremely cruel and painful ordeal," said

Dr. D. James Kennedy, President and Founder of the Center for

Reclaiming America. "Unless Governor Bush, the Florida legislature,

or

a court intervenes, the court-imposed torture of Terri Schiavo will

take 7-10 days and end in what will be a tragic and, mark my words,

criminal death."



Human starvation and dehydration is attended by hunger pangs,

cracking

of the skin, lips, and tongue; nose bleeds as mucous membranes dry

out; and vomiting as the stomach lining dries out. As the process

goes

on, blood pressure drops, the heart rate increases, and blood is

withdrawn from the extremities and redirected toward vital organs.



"Thomas Jefferson," Dr. Kennedy noted, "said 'the care of human life

and not its destruction is the first and only object of good

government.' A court order that mandates the cruel and unusual

sentence of death by dehydration has violated the very first purpose

of civil government-the care and defense of life. Governor Bush and

the legislature must act now to protect the life of this defenseless

woman. Along with Dr. Cass, I urge concerned Americans to sign the

Center for Reclaiming America's online petition and to flood Governor

Bush, Senate President Lee, and House Speaker Bense with phone calls

and e-mails on her behalf."



To request an interview with Dr. Gary Cass, please contact John Aman

at



(954) 334-5330, or CRMNews@....







US Congressional Switchboard Toll-free Numbers

1-877-762-8762

1-800-839-5276

The White House Comment Line: 202-456-1111

The line only accepts calls from 9-5 EST., Monday thru Friday.

A machine will detain you for only a moment and then a pleasant live

operator says "White House Comment Line" and then you can tell

her/him

how you feel.



Take Action NOW CALL & EMAIL

Please contact Governor Jeb Bush and encourage him to take all

necessary steps to save the life of Terri Schiavo. You may reach him

at: Governor Jeb Bush (850) 488-4441 jeb.bush@... WE CAN

MAKE THIS HAPPEN! CALL, CALL CALL!



Take Action!



Please contact Governor Jeb Bush and encourage him to take all

necessary steps to save the life of Terri Schiavo. You may reach him

at:



Governor Jeb Bush

(850) 488-4441

jeb.bush@...



____________________________________________________________________



100,000 Names on Petition to Save Terri Schiavo to be Delivered to

Representative of Gov. Bush in Tallahassee



To: National Desk



Contact: John Aman, of Coral Ridge Ministries, 954-334-5330,

CRMNews@...; Tallahassee contact is Lisa Ard, 850-284-

5165



FORT LAUDERDALE, Feb. 24 /Christian Wire Service/ -- Dr. Gary Cass,

Executive Director of the Center for Reclaiming America, will deliver

the names of 100,000 people who have signed an online petition on

behalf of Terri Schiavo at a press conference, Friday, February 25,

at 2 p.m. on the Plaza Level of the State Capitol Building in

Tallahassee.



Press Conference Details--



When: Friday, February 25, at 2 PM



Where: Plaza Level of Florida State Capitol Building



Who: Dr. Gary Cass, Executive Director of the Center for Reclaiming

America



Why: Dr. Cass will deliver the names on petition, generated in just

two days, to a representative of the Governor and will address

members of the media at the press conference. The petition urges

Governor Jeb Bush "to take immediate action to stop the forced

starvation of Terri Schiavo." It may be accessed at

www.reclaimamerica.org.



"The fact that this petition campaign, which began just yesterday,

has generated online signatures at the enormous rate of 5,000 per

hour, underscores how passionate people across the nation feel about

this issue," said Dr. Cass. "They want to see Terri spared from the

cruel and inhumane death by starvation and dehydration that may

commence tomorrow at 5 p.m."



"We appreciate the energy, concern, and effort which the Governor has

already expended in seeking a way to save Terri's live," Cass

said. "These petitions demonstrate the fervent concern in Florida and

across the nation that Gov. Bush act to save Terri's life."



Cass also urged that calls and e-mails on Schiavo's behalf be sent to

Florida Governor Jeb Bush (at 850.488.4441 or

jeb.bush@...); Senate President Tom Lee (at 850.487.5072 or

lee.tom.web@...); and House Speaker Allan G. Bense (at

850.488.1450 or speaker@....)





The Center for Reclaiming America is an outreach of Coral Ridge

Ministries, the television and radio ministry of Dr. D. James

Kennedy. The Center provides non-partisan, non-denominational

information, training, and support to all those interested in

positively affecting the culture and renewing the vision of our

Founding Fathers, as expressed in America's founding documents. The

Center for Reclaiming America is a national grassroots organization

with participants in all 50 states.



http://www.earnedmedia.org/crm0224.htm





____________________________________________________________________



Press Release



For Immediate Release - 02-24-2005 4:00 PM (GMT-5)





Associated Press Targets Terri Schiavo



Media repeats misrepresentations in Terri Schiavo case.





Clearwater, FL - On February 24, 2005, Associated Press released a

report penned by Vickie Chachere which cited an eating disorder as

the cause of Terri Schiavo's mysterious collapse and ensuing brain

injury on February 25, 1990.



Contrary to the account of writer Chachere, there was never a

determination by any court nor the Florida Department of Health that

Terri Schiavo ever suffered from any eating disorder, bulimia,

anorexia or compulsive behavior that would lead to a heart failure at

the age of 26.



Indeed, Florida's Department of Health had completely and absolutely

cleared Terri's general practitioner of any negligence or wrong-doing

in her case. This was after the physician had been accused by Terri's

husband of ignoring evidence of an eating disorder.



Additionally, at the time of her mysterious medical episode, Terri

Schiavo stood 5'3" and weighed somewhere between 115 and 118 pounds -

a slim, but normal stature and weight.



Associated Press writer, Vickie Chachere cites not ONE medical

document that would affirm her careless contention that Terri Schiavo

was an irresponsible dieter or a compulsive victim of an eating

disorder. The Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation asks Ms. Chachere to

readily produce the facts upon which she penned such assertions.



The parents and siblings have repeatedly offered to media and press a

copy of a bone scan conducted on Terri Schiavo just one year after

her incident that reveals multiple sites of trauma and broken bones

throughout Terri's body. Neither the law enforcement agencies nor the

media or press have made any effort to investigate why Terri

Schiavo's body was seemingly broken by battery.



Instead, they perpetuate the unsubstantiated claims that Terri

Schiavo suffered from an eating disorder that rendered her healthy,

26 year-old heart incapable of carrying on.



Statement of Robert Schindler, Terri's' Father: ""This is a

slanderous accusation against my daughter with no basis in fact.

Certain members of the press seem determined to spread misinformation

to kill Terri."



The Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation is calling upon all of media

and press to take up the task of investigating allegations of serious

abuse against Terri Schiavo as are evidenced in the 1991 bone scan

and well as ongoing violations against Terri under Florida's

Guardianship Statutes.



http://terrisfight.org







____________________________________________________________________



Much evidence can be found here that I provided, which was NOT

included, by the writer, in an article about Michael:



Michael Schiavo: Loving Husband Or MONSTER?

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/saveterrislife/message/65



____________________________________________________________________



US Congressional Switchboard Toll-free Numbers

1-877-762-8762

1-800-839-5276

The White House Comment Line: 202-456-1111



The line only accepts calls from 9-5 EST., Monday thru Friday.

A machine will detain you for only a moment and then a pleasant live

operator says "White House Comment Line" and then you can tell

her/him how you feel.



Take Action NOW CALL & EMAIL

Please contact Governor Jeb Bush and encourage him to take all

necessary steps to save the life of Terri Schiavo. You may reach him

at:



Governor Jeb Bush

(850) 488-4441

jeb.bush@...

WE CAN MAKE THIS HAPPEN!

CALL, CALL CALL!



Take Action!



Please contact Governor Jeb Bush and encourage him to take all

necessary steps to save the life of Terri Schiavo. You may reach him

at:



Governor Jeb Bush

(850) 488-4441

jeb.bush@...

____________________________________________________________________



----- Original Message -----

From: saveterrislife

To: jgrogan@...

Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2005 2:50 AM

Subject: Columnist John Grogan Changes Mind About Terri Schiavo!







Philly columnist changes mind on Terri Schiavo

'Uncomfortable details' lead him to side with her parents



Posted: February 26, 2005



© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com



A Philadelphia Inquirer columnist who believes in the "right to die"

has changed his mind about the Terri Schiavo case, pointing

to "uncomfortable details" about her estranged husband that now lead

him to side with the parents of the brain-damaged Florida woman, who

are fighting to keep her alive.



John Grogan said in a column published today, "I no longer so

blithely believe Schiavo's feeding tubes should be pulled and her

life allowed to end. I'm no longer so sure her parents do not deserve

a say in their daughter's future. I no longer am totally comfortable

assuming her husband, Michael, who now has two children by another

woman, is acting unselfishly."



Michael Schiavo has been living with his fiance Jodi Centonze since

1995 and has said he will marry her upon the death of his wife.



Grogan said he hasn't changed his opinion that everyone has a right

to "die with dignity," but he believes that in the Schiavo case,

the "devil is in the details, uncomfortable details that raise sticky

moral dilemmas."



Terri Schiavo suffered severe brain damage in 1990 after collapsing.

Michael Schiavo attributes it to a chemical imbalance caused by an

eating disorder, but parents Robert and Mary Schindler believe he may

have tried to strangle her.



Michael Schiavo contends his wife told him she never would want to be

kept alive artificially.



But Grogan points out Terri Schiavo's heart and lungs function on

their own, and she requires only a feeding tube that might not be

necessary if she were given physical therapy.



The columnist notes Michael Schiavo, as her legal guardian, has

forbidden any therapy.



"If [Terri] Schiavo merely required spoon feeding instead of tube

feeding, would anyone seriously be arguing to withhold food and

water?" Grogan asked. "Does not every human, no matter how

incapacitated, deserve sustenance?"



Grogan also is concerned about abuse allegations against Michael

Schiavo and believes they should be investigated.



The allegations "may be nothing but scurrilous rumor spread to damage

his credibility," he wrote. "But what if there is even a tiny chance

he is guilty of abuse? Should such a person be in a position to

decide this life-and-death issue?"



When it comes to who is best to decide, Grogan wrote, it's clear that

Terri Schiavo's parents "have proved themselves nothing if not

fiercely loyal, utterly committed parents. They might be misguided.

They might be in denial. But no one can argue their devotion. They

have not given up. They have not stopped caring. They have not

stopped loving. Who are we, as a society, to tell them they must?



Grogan concluded:



Clearly, Schiavo's husband has moved on to a new life, and who can

blame him? It's been 15 long years. But parents cannot move on.

Parents cannot give up. Their child will always be the precious gift

they brought into the world.



If the Schindlers want to dedicate the rest of their lives and

resources to caring for their brain-damaged daughter, if they want to

shower her with attention and affection she likely will never

recognize, who among us will tell them they cannot



It won't be me.



http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43039









Court documents and other information are posted on the

Schindler family website http://www.terrisfight.org.



Links to all "Terri briefs" regarding the governor's defense of

Terri's Law are on the Florida Supreme Court website, public

information.





Recent stories:



Terri Schiavo's life in balance again

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43026



Stay extended in Schiavo case

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43006



Clock running out for Terri Schiavo

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42998



U.S. Supreme Court refuses Schiavo case

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42527



Terri Schiavo saved again

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41151



Judge spares Terri Schiavo ­ for now

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41111



'Terri's Law' struck down

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40594



Florida high court hears 'Terri's Law'

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40242



Recent commentaries:



Supreme ignorance

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40619



A right to live ... not to be killed

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40641



Read WorldNetDaily's unparalleled, in-depth coverage of the life-and-

death fight over Terri Schiavo.

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35305









Philly columnist changes mind on Terri Schiavo

'Uncomfortable details' lead him to side with her parents



http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43039









Praise God John Grogan woke up about Terri!  Others are also waking

up!  We must keep getting the evidence and the truth out to the

people and telling everyone we meet the truth about Terri.  I do, and

I am sure many of you do the same.  In addition to the radio shows

about Terri I have done many times, I have told people I have just

met, people who have come to fix my computer (several different

technicians), my friends, my family, my clients, people at the salon

I go to, people where I live, and you can do the same!



If you have only told your family and friends, try talking to

others.  I tell people as much as I can as fast as I can.  You can

also call in to talk radio shows, net radio shows, television shows

and write e-mails to everyone including the media, officials, people

you know, etc.



We ARE making a difference and we CANNOT stop now.  Terri's life is

still in GRAVE DANGER and so are the lives of SO MANY OTHERS who

could be next, including ANY OF US and our friends and family

members!



Please REMEMBER people CAN and DO change their minds, just like John

Grogan did!  I pray he will change his mind about more than just

Terri, but I am very grateful he came forward and wrote the article

that he did.  I commend him for having the courage to do so!



Please pray for John Grogan, others who have not woken up, and those

who want Terri to be killed.



Most of all, please pray for Terri and her loving family, who have

been through so much more than we can ever imagine for so very

long.



Melissa Stanley







Here is the new article John Grogan wrote and I was just, (as of 2:44

AM EST), finally able to read it after much trouble getting into the

website.  The page of "special offers" which is supposed to appear,

per the site, once you join, would not work, therefore I could not

join, however, it let me see the article hours later, after I was

able to change my password.  (I had actually joined long ago, back in

2003).  Now that I have finally read John Grogan's newest article on

Terri, I see that John still does not have all of the facts and is

putting out inaccurate information about Terri.  I will attempt to

call him regarding this as well as e-mailing him.  I implore all of

you who know the truth and the know the evidence to do the same

asap.  Melissa







Posted on Fri, Feb. 25, 2005







John Grogan | Second thoughts on Terri Schiavo



By John Grogan

Inquirer Columnist



Sometimes even newspaper columnists change their minds.



In the matter of Terri Schiavo, the permanently brain-damaged former

suburban Philadelphia woman caught in a life-and-death tug-of-war,

this columnist has changed his.



I no longer so blithely believe Schiavo's feeding tubes should be

pulled and her life allowed to end. I'm no longer so sure her parents

do not deserve a say in their daughter's future. I no longer am

totally comfortable assuming her husband, Michael, who now has two

children by another woman, is acting unselfishly.



That's not to say I have changed my opinion about the right of all of

us to die with dignity when life has lost all meaning. But for Terri

Schiavo, who lingers in a Florida nursing home, the devil is in the

details, uncomfortable details that raise sticky moral dilemmas.



Detail 1: Terry Schiavo is not dying. She is not being kept alive

artificially. Her heart beats and lungs breathe without help. She

cannot swallow food or water. Once the feeding tube is removed, she

would slowly starve to death over days or weeks.



Detail 2: Schiavo is not comatose. Her eyes open, and she sometimes

responds to stimuli. Doctors say there is no brain activity and her

responses are simply reflexive. Her parents, Robert and Mary

Schindler, want to believe otherwise.



Unanswered questions



Detail 3: The Schindlers think their daughter could benefit from

physical therapy and might someday swallow on her own, but her

husband, as her legal guardian, reportedly will not allow it. Which

leads to an equally uncomfortable question: If Schiavo merely

required spoon feeding instead of tube feeding, would anyone

seriously be arguing to withhold food and water? Does not every

human, no matter how incapacitated, deserve sustenance?



Detail 4: Unproven allegations that Schiavo might have suffered

physical trauma immediately before her heart stopped for several

minutes in 1990, leading to brain damage, have not been fully

investigated. The Schindlers have long suggested their son-in-law

strangled their daughter; Michael Schiavo's lawyer says the abuse

allegations have never been substantiated. Before pulling the plug on

this woman, don't these questions need to be fully answered?



The abuse allegations against Michael Schiavo may be nothing but

scurrilous rumor spread to damage his credibility. But what if there

is even a tiny chance he is guilty of abuse? Should such a person be

in a position to decide this life-and-death issue?



Last month, I wrote that Michael Schiavo's wish should be granted and

his wife allowed to die rather than suffer for years in what the

courts have deemed a "persistent vegetative state." I still believe

Terri Schiavo, if she were aware today, would instruct us to not make

her linger on like this.



Undisputed devotion



But she is not aware and left no written directives. So we are left

to guess her wishes. Last month, I said we could look inside our own

hearts and know what she would want. Today, with the latest stay

barring the removal of the feeding tube set to expire in hours, I am

less confident making such assumptions.



Who best to decide? In the murky mess that this case has become, we

are left with one unwavering truth: Over the last seven years of

fighting, Terri Schiavo's parents have proved themselves nothing if

not fiercely loyal, utterly committed parents. They might be

misguided. They might be in denial. But no one can argue their

devotion. They have not given up. They have not stopped caring. They

have not stopped loving. Who are we, as a society, to tell them they

must?



Clearly, Schiavo's husband has moved on to a new life, and who can

blame him? It's been 15 long years. But parents cannot move on.

Parents cannot give up. Their child will always be the precious gift

they brought into the world.



If the Schindlers want to dedicate the rest of their lives and

resources to caring for their brain-damaged daughter, if they want to

shower her with attention and affection she likely will never

recognize, who among us will tell them they cannot?



It won't be me.





Contact John Grogan at 610-313-8132 or jgrogan@....

Read his recent work at http://go.philly.com/grogan.







http://philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/pennsylvania/10985482

.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp







Here's the older article John Grogan wrote about Terri:



Posted on Mon, Jan. 31, 2005





Just what life is being prolonged?



By John Grogan

Inquirer Columnist



For Terri Schiavo, there are no happy endings, only degrees of

sadness.



Her once-bright life has come down to two heartbreakingly bleak

choices: to live, if you can call it that, in what the courts have

determined is a "persistent vegetative state." Or to die.



If Schiavo could somehow make her wishes known, I have to believe she

would choose the latter - a peaceful death over a life sentence of

endless, unconscious tomorrows.



But the former suburban Philadelphia woman cannot and did not give

direction. And thus this anguished national debate.



Schiavo, who grew up in Huntingdon Valley, suffered brain damage in

1990 when her heart stopped as a result of an eating disorder. She

has been nonresponsive ever since and, unable to swallow, is kept

alive in a Florida nursing home with a feeding and hydration tube.



Her condition has left those who love her bitterly divided. Her

husband, Michael, formerly of Bucks County, has fought to let his

wife die with dignity. He says she made it clear to him she never

would want to exist like this, tethered to a machine with no hope of

recovery.



Her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, have fought just as fiercely to

keep her alive. They accuse the husband of being driven by greed and

a desire to remarry.



A political end-run



The case has wound through the courts and back again. After the

judiciary repeatedly sided with the husband, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush,

the president's brother, and his allies pushed through the state

legislature a special bill, "Terri's Law," designed specifically to

prevent Michael Schiavo from removing the feeding tube. A life was

being used to push political agendas.



The U.S. Supreme Court last week refused to overturn a lower court

ruling that struck down Terri's Law, but that has not deterred her

parents, who vow to keep battling on other fronts.



For Terri, now 41 and blessedly unaware of the ugly and very public

family feud her condition has spurred, there is no end in sight. My

sense is both sides are driven by pure intentions. Michael Schiavo

does not want to see his wife's suffering prolonged.



Her parents cling to hope against all odds, as parents are meant to

do. They see glimmers of life behind the blank stares. They believe

their daughter still exists in there, just waiting to be freed. Her

doctors say otherwise.



The fact that Terri Schiavo left no written instructions greatly

complicates the debate. And yet we are not without clues.



Absent a written directive, we have the husband's word. And we have

our own common sense and decency. We each can ask ourselves, If it

were me, what would I want?



Is there anyone among us who would answer truthfully: "Yes, I would

choose to linger for years, decades, in a vegetative state with no

hope of ever regaining consciousness?"



Alarmist malarkey



What would a reasonable person want from such a tragic turn of

events? The answer seems obvious: Not to be kept lingering in a

permanent comatose state, unaware of yourself or your surroundings,

with no chance for recovery.



The right-to-life camp has wrapped itself around the Schiavo case,

and its members paint alarmist "slippery slope" scenarios that are

shameful in their deceit. To hear them spin it, if Terri is allowed

to die, then next we will be rounding up and mass euthanizing all

whom society does not value - the elderly, the handicapped, the

mentally diminished, the homeless.



Pure nonsense.



This wrenching case is not, as Terri's parents claim, about "judicial

homicide." The courts are not killing anyone. They are merely

attempting to determine Terri Schiavo's chances for a meaningful

recovery (none) and what she would want.



This is about honoring a woman's wishes. She did not write down

exactly what those wishes are. But we can peer inside our own hearts

and know without qualm what Terri Schiavo would want. It would not be

the perpetual and pointless purgatory known by that sterile and

inadequate term, "persistent vegetative state."



That is no life at all.



Contact John Grogan at 610-313-8132

or jgrogan@....

Read his recent work at

http://go.philly.com/grogan.



http://kentucky.com/mld/philly/news/10777048.htm?

template=contentModules/printstory.jsp







Posted on Tue, Jan. 11, 2005







Are we 'proudly gruff' - or what?



By John Grogan

Inquirer Columnist



The female caller on my answering machine wanted me to know she

usually enjoyed my column. "I'm probably your No. 1 fan," she said.



But on this day, she was anything but thrilled. In fact, she was

downright grumpy. And it all had to do with two little

words: "proudly gruff."



As I am slowly figuring out in life, it's the little things that get

under people's skin.



"I don't understand how you can say proudly gruff," she

carped. "Gruff would have been bad enough, but proudly gruff?"



It's true. I, indeed, had used the words to describe the demeanor of

the people of this great region.



The two words were part of a column I wrote last month describing a

Good Samaritan tow-truck driver who came to the rescue of a couple

lost near Philadelphia International Airport and in desperate need of

a hospital. The tow-truck driver could have ignored them. Instead he

led them through rush-hour traffic to medical help, possibly saving

the wife, who had suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm.



The tow operator's actions, I wrote, "served as a reminder to us all

that even in a city as proudly gruff as Philadelphia... there are

still those knights among us who don't hesitate to come to the

rescue."



It didn't seem all that seditious to me, but No. 1 Fan considered the

remark an act of heresy.



No dissin' my hometown



"Philadelphia is the greatest city in the world. I've always believed

it, I always will," she said. "The people in Philadelphia are

marvelous; they are outstanding; they care about each other. They

talk to each other, waiting for a bus, standing in a supermarket

line, anywhere. Philadelphians are wonderful. We're not gruff at all,

and if we were gruff, we wouldn't be proudly."



Wow! Somebody sign this woman up with the tourism council.



I was pondering her reaction, wondering whether I had been unfair to

the good people of this region, when a second voice message came in.

It was No. 1 Fan again, and she had been doing some homework.



"I got out the dictionary," she said, "and under gruff it lists

harsh, brusque, markedly impolite in a manner of speech, lack of

civility, calculated rudeness... curt in manner, discourteous, blunt."



Hey, what about cantankerous?



After all, this is the home of the famous one-finger Philly Salute,

given each morning on the inbound Schuylkill. The place where Santa

got booed. The place tied with Detroit (my hometown!) for having the

country's rowdiest sports fans. The surly union town, home of bare-

knuckles politics, where men greet each other with the odd, guttural

grunt: Aye, Ow youse dune?



If anything, "proudly gruff" was a bit of an understatement.



But my No. 1 Fan was not buying my thinking. She ended with: "I've

traveled all around the country. I've lived in different cities. And

there's no city with people like Philadelphians."



No argument there.



Land of friendly faces



Actually, my caller makes a point. In my five years in the region,

I've met more kind and decent people than I can count. That's not to

say they weren't gruff - and proud of it.



My No. 1 Fan did not leave her name or number, but I want her to know

I'm open to the possibility that, as a relative newcomer with

sensibilities rooted in the Milquetoast Midwest, my perception might

be wrong.



My caller requested an apology, but I'm going to do even better. I'm

going to let the people of Greater Philadelphia - that means you,

too, South Jersey and the Pennsylvania suburbs - decide for

themselves.



Yes, folks, I'm suffering post-election poll withdrawal. So I'm

conducting one of my own.



So give it up, Greater Philly: What are we? Proudly gruff or

something else? Something more genteel? Look at the definition above

and tell me whether I was too harsh in describing the cheery denizens

of this gentle land.



And, if we are not proudly gruff, tell me what words would better

describe us. I'll even say please. You may vote by e-mail or phone

(contact info below), and I will report the highly unscientific

results in a future column.



Rise up and be heard, people. Not that that's ever been a problem.



Contact John Grogan at 610-313-8132 or jgrogan@.... Read

his recent work at http://go.philly.com/grogan.



(RISE UP AND BE HEARD ABOUT TERRI SCHINDLER-SCHIAVO, PEOPLE!  MELISSA)







About John Grogan



John Grogan joined the Inquirer in November 2002 as the Pennsylvania

metro columnist. He is a former metropolitan columnist and urban-

sprawl reporter for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort

Lauderdale, where his work won several national and state awards,

including the National Press Club's Consumer Journalism Award. From

1999 - 2002, he served as editor of Organic Gardening, a Rodale Inc.

magazine based in Emmaus, Pa.



JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Click here to read and post messages on John

Grogan's forum page. John monitors this forum daily and occasionally

drops in to comment.



http://forums.prospero.com/kr-inq_columns/start  (This link is not

working at this time.  Melissa)



His column runs on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. He can be reached

at jgrogan@....









  LATEST COLUMN







     John Grogan | Second thoughts on Terri Schiavo

Sometimes even newspaper columnists change their minds. In the matter

of Terri Schiavo, the permanently brain-damaged former suburban

Philadelphia woman caught in a life-and-death tug-of-war, this

columnist has changed his.

By John Grogan / Inquirer Columnist















****



*****

*****

I am opposed to receiving unwanted e-mails.  If you do not wish to

receive e-mails from me, please send an e-mail to me with UNSUBSCRIBE

in the subject line, (from the e-mail address you want me to remove),

and I will remove that address from my list  as soon as possible.



I have 2 websites dedicated to Terri Schindler-Schiavo.



Extensive evidence & information can be found on my yahoo site,

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/saveterrislife/

which you can easily find by typing saveterrislife (all one word)

into google or yahoo or go to http://www.saveterrislife.com

There is also a link there to my yahoo site.



Click on any post on my websites and find FAR MORE information,

evidence, and links than only what the TITLE of each post states.



Melissa Roxanne Stanley

saveterrislife

DeLand, Volusia County, Florida







I have 2 websites dedicated to Terri Schindler-Schiavo.



Extensive evidence & information can be found on my yahoo site,

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/saveterrislife/

which you can easily find by typing saveterrislife (all one word)

into google or yahoo or go to http://www.saveterrislife.com

There is also a link there to my yahoo site.



Click on any post on my websites and find FAR MORE information,

evidence, and links than only what the TITLE of each post states.



I will be adding much more information to my yahoo website on a

frequent basis.

Keep checking back!





Melissa Roxanne Stanley

saveterrislife

DeLand, Volusia County, Florida