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'Who there would take Terri's place?'

Politicians are only seeking votes in trying to prolong Terri Schiavo's life, says her husband in a rare conversation.

By WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE
Published March 16, 2005

THE TERRI SCHIAVO CASE 'Who there would take Terri's place?' Issues draw many who link their cause to Schiavo case End-of-life bills reveal divide over how far law should go Related 10 News video: Terri Schiavo Bill gets Governor Bush's support

Michael Schiavo, who spoke in his attorney's office for about an hour Tuesday, says he has avoided interviews because he has nothing to prove to the world. He also said he has many supporters, but they aren't as demonstrative as those of Terri Schiavo's parents.

THE LATEST IN STATE HOUSE The latest version of a state bill designed to prevent a feeding tube from being removed from Terri Schiavo includes these provisions: A feeding tube cannot be withdrawn from a person in a persistent vegetative state if the sole reason for doing so is to end a life; a conflict exists between a guardian and a relative; and the person has no written advance directive or living will. A guardian or family can ask a court to prevent withdrawal of a feeding tube based on those factors. The bill would apply to every living person the day it becomes law.

WHERE THEY STAND ON CONGRESSIONAL BILL Rep. C.W. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores Supporter Rep. Mike Bilirakis, R-Tarpon Springs Supporter, sponsor Rep. Jim Davis, D-Tampa Opposes Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Crystal River Did not respond Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow Supporter, sponsor Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida Undecided Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Florida Supporter, sponsor

[Times photo, 1990: Joe Walles] Michael Schiavo, on a visit with Terri at a nursing home more than 14 years ago, says in the early years of his wife's illness he looked for signs of improvement but eventually realized there was no hope. "What's there is a shell of Terri," he says.

Michael Schiavo says he looks into his wife's eyes and sees no spark of consciousness, no recognition, no glimmer of any sort of response. He says he wishes he did.

And he invites Gov. Jeb Bush to have a look himself.

"If he had any care at all," Schiavo said, "he would take us up on the offer and visit Terri and examine the record. He hasn't. He could come and sit in that chair and talk."

Schiavo said Tuesday in a rare interview that he would gladly allow Bush to visit his wife, Terri Schiavo, at the Pinellas Park hospice where she lives to see her condition.

During the hourlong interview at his attorney's office in Dunedin, Michael Schiavo said he believes state and federal lawmakers have little information on his wife and have acted to serve politics, not medicine.

"They're all pandering to the religious groups and the antiabortion groups and the Christian Coalition," said Schiavo, 41, a registered nurse. "They're doing this for votes.

"There's not one person up there who would say, "I would take Terri's place.' I'd like to see who would. Who there would take Terri's place?"

The interview comes as the date for removing his wife's feeding tube approaches Friday. Both state lawmakers and Terri Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, are working furiously to find a way to keep her alive.

The Schindlers and their attorney could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

Schiavo said he would gladly sit down with Bush to talk about his wife's case and invited the governor's staff to review the court file. Bush's spokesman could not be reached late Tuesday.

"Jeb Bush's personal feelings can change the law?" Schiavo said. "We have to save her life? Who's he to make that decision?"

Schiavo said he didn't expect the governor to take him up on an offer he said he has made before.

"He was 20 minutes away from Terri on Saturday" in Seminole and didn't stop by the hospice, Schiavo said. "Lawmakers shouldn't be in this. They should not be butting their nose in private family matters."

And Schiavo's response to a move by the Department of Children and Families to intervene in the case: "DCF can't even keep track of kids in their care and they want to stick their noses in my business?"

Schiavo said he tires of people watching a video clip on the Schindler's Web site and concluding from it that his wife can recover.

"There's a whole other world on the other side of that Web site," he said.

Schiavo said he has avoided interviews with reporters because he doesn't have anything to prove. He said his family and friends and the courts all believe Terri Schiavo would not want to live by artificial means.

He said he has tried to continue living his life despite the right-to-life groups that have protested against him, even outside his Clearwater home.

"I get angry at the names," said Schiavo, who lives with another woman. "But I get over it. I don't really take it to heart ... I don't really care what other people think. I've been called a murderer. Adulterer. Yeah, it hurts."

And he acknowledges there have been some intrusions on his life. For example, he said, someone recently got a hold of his phone bill and an investigator has been calling friends.

Still, for the most part, Schiavo said he is able to go out in public without people trying to convince him that his wife should live. "Never, since this started, has one person come up to me and said, "You're wrong,"' he said.

"Trust me, I have my supporters. ... I receive flowers, post cards, e-mails. Probably more supporters than the Schindlers have. But unfortunately, they're the silent ones. They're not the radicals who stand out there and throw roses on the ground and kneel and throw their hands in the air."

He said one of the most painful things about the case is being accused by the Schindlers, once so close to him that they lived together, of abusing his wife. None of it is true, he said.

"They keep saying, "Boy, there's documentation. There's this and there's that.' But they've yet to prove anything. Where's the documentation? Tell me where I strangled Terri?" Schiavo said, visably angry.

Schiavo said his wife never wanted to divorce him, as her family has told reporters. He said they were a young, loving couple. He said she often told him that she loved him.

"She never missed a day without saying that to me," he said.

Terri Schiavo, 41, collapsed on Feb.25, 1990, from cardiac arrest, her brain deprived of oxygen for five minutes. Doctors believe a chemical imbalanced caused the collapse.

Schiavo said in the early days, he was like the Schindlers. He said he wanted to believe she would get better. He did everything, Schiavo said, to help her, even taking her to California for treatment.

Time eroded hope of any recovery at all, he said.

"Terri doesn't talk. That's so ludicrous," he said of people who suggest Terri Schiavo sometimes tries to speak. "Look at her CAT scan. The cerebral cortex is completely gone. Terri's emotions are gone. What's there is a shell of Terri. There's nothing there anymore."

Schiavo said he only slowly came to accept that his wife would not want to live. He said he recalled statements she made before about not wanting to live artificially. The Schindlers said she never made such statements.

Schiavo said the death of his own mother in the 1990s helped prepare him emotionally for the decision he knew had to be made. His mother, dying of cancer, had a living will and did not want life support. Schiavo agreed to let her die peacefully, he said.

"She looked at me and said, "It's okay,"' Schiavo said, wiping tears from his eyes. "I had to stop being selfish."

He said he spent sleepless nights considering whether to petition the courts for the removal of his own wife's feeding tube. "You toss and you turn and you think about it," Schiavo said.

He said the knowledge that his wife wouldn't want to live like she is "gave me strength."

Schiavo said he was puzzled when, in recent weeks, people began offering him money to walk away as his wife's guardian. A businessman offered him $1-million. Someone else offered $10-million. He turned both down.

"I laughed," Schiavo said. "It was absolutely bizarre. They should take their money and use it to educate people about dying and living wills. Give it to the legislators. They need a lot of educating about that. Ten million? Start a foundation.

"Teach people how to do living wills properly. You want to give me $10-million? That will keep a foundation going for a while. They could write your living will for free."

Schiavo said Floridians should be enraged at lawmakers for meddling in the private affairs of families.

"They're over there trumping the courts," Schiavo said. "They're going to say all these judges including the United States Supreme Court judges are wrong. We don't like what you said so we're going to change the law."

Schiavo said he still loves his wife, caressing and touching her face when he visits.

"I just hold her hand," Schiavo said. "She doesn't understand. I tell myself: "You will be with the lord soon and you'll finally be at peace."

[Last modified March 16, 2005, 04:38:46]