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Protesters destroy the peace that patients seek at hospice

Re: Demonstrators at Hospice House Woodside.

I am extremely amazed, angry and saddened that the Times decided it was newsworthy to print the location of this facility in the paper. Anything to sell papers! Was it your intention to add to the circus-like atmosphere there?

Is this only about the Schiavos and Schindlers? Are other families and their loved ones of no consequence to the Times, the Schindlers and those who have their own political agenda? What about the rights of the other 70 patients and families that are there to try to bring comfort to their loved ones? The whole purpose of hospice is not only to ease the dying but also to bring comfort and support to the families.

My mother passed away at this facility and I was so grateful to the staff and everyone connected to it for their caring and support. I was grateful that my mother's final days were spent at this beautiful "peaceful" location.

Now families and their dying loved ones have to face a throng of people shouting political rhetoric through bullhorns, loud chanting throughout the day and night. How does it change anything? Hospice doesn't make the laws. If they want to make a change, go to the state Capitol or Washington and leave others to enjoy their remaining days in the peaceful hospice setting.

Many of those causing such chaos daily are citing their Christian love for Terri. Now it's time for them to show their Christianity for all the families at Woodside and move on. If they truly believe in the power of prayer, they should find another location to gather and show their Christianity toward others. They should stop the selfishness and do something really decent: Write a check to hospice to support the ones who have supported so many for so long in the true spirit of Christian kindness, charity and decency.

Officers' job is hard to explain

I had the opportunity to walk past Hospice House Woodside in Pinellas Park this past week with my 11-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter. We saw numerous police officers around the hospice conspicuously guarding the entrances. Their presence was particularly upsetting to my son, who asked why they were guarding a place that housed people who were infirm.

I had to explain to him that they were using force to keep away anyone who would attempt to bring food or water to Terri Schiavo because of Judge George Greer's order that she be starved to death. Both children were shocked to learn of this. What was most disturbing to them was the fact that the police officers, whom they've always been taught to respect and to see as protectors, could do such a terrible thing.

While Judge Greer passes judgment from the confines of his chambers, it is the physical presence of these police officers that has left a profound and indelible mark on my children as enforcers of an atrocity which has sadly taken place in our own back yard.

Protesters should be moved

We have been watching the news and are appalled at the behavior of the protesters at Hospice House Woodside. They have no respect for those other patients who are in the hospice, and whose families have put them in a place known for quiet, calm care - a place for them to pass away in peace. They have turned the hospice into a three-ring circus. Now schoolchildren in this area must be relocated to another facility since they have been so disrupted by the protesters.

The schoolchildren should not have to move. The protesters need to be sent home or away from the hospice. The families of other patients need to file some protests of their own with what they have had to endure.

Shame on all of these people who are doing this for whatever reason.

Terri can inspire us

The plight of Terri Schiavo has made us all think deeply and assess our own values about quality of life. None of us feel comfortable when we really get down to the reality of it all. It makes no difference what "side" we are on, it still cuts into our basic humanity. A "very special child" (as we all are) is in the hands of our creator. Terri is and will always be a soul that inspires.

She made me realize the value of my life. If nothing else, Terri has made me think. She has caused thousands of people to evaluate themselves. Who can make that claim? What a very special lady! I want to celebrate the gift she has given to us all. Thank-you, Terri.

Reckless drilling is shortsighted

Re: Re: Given our needs, oil-drilling opponents are shortsighted, letter, March 23.

The letter writer and other proponents of oil-drilling in pristine public lands are the shortsighted ones. There is less than a year's supply of oil under the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which would take 10 years to extract and market. Oil companies concluded years ago that it was not profitable to pursue. The current push to allow drilling in ANWR is simply a means of opening the door to assaults on any protected public land.

It is shortsighted and tragic to destroy forever our national treasures to supply a tiny bit of oil for a short time so that soccer moms can drive their kids around in gas-guzzling SUVs and urban "warriors" can drive Hummers to the office.

We cannot drill our way to energy-independence, but we must instead aggressively develop clean, renewable energy sources. As another March 23 writer noted, we have hybrid cars, hydrogen fuel cells and solar energy. What we need is an energy bill that promotes these energy sources, encourages development of the infrastructure (hydrogen-fueling stations, for instance) to support them, and mandating improved fuel economy of motor vehicles.

Oil has soiled beaches

Re: Re: Given our needs, oil-drilling opponents are shortsighted, letter.

I grew up in Louisiana and had a camp on Louisiana's coast. I would have to say that if the letter writer did not see oil rigs from the beach he must have been facing the wrong direction. Also the beaches are damaged, with black or brown sand and dirty water.

The oil we get from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would not be considered the property of the United States once it is tapped, but the property of the oil company that drills for it. And that company can do whatever it wants with it, such as ship it overseas to India and Japan.

The only logical answer is to raise the fuel efficiency of automobiles, which can be done with current technology, not to continue drilling and destroying our environment.

[Last modified March 29, 2005, 01:31:18]