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Autopsy reveals much about politicians

By PHILIP GAILEY
Published June 19, 2005

Excuse me, but don't certain Republican politicians owe Michael Schiavo an apology now that we have his wife's autopsy results? They know who they are - the ones who shamefully exploited the Terri Schiavo tragedy and, in their own nuanced ways, encouraged a vicious smear campaign against Michael Schiavo. It's true none of our elected leaders called him a "murderer," as some howling prolife extremists did. But they twisted the facts, ignored expert medical opinions and maligned the courts to justify their outrageous political intervention in the case.

Here are the key findings of the autopsy performed by Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner Jon R. Thogmartin: Terri Schiavo suffered severe brain damage that "no amount of treatment or rehabilitation would have reversed." Her "grossly abnormal" brain had shriveled to half its normal weight. She was blind. The condition of her brain was "consistent" with a persistent vegetative state. She died from dehydration, not starvation. There was no evidence she had been physically abused or drugged.

The autopsy left one unanswered question: What caused Terri Schiavo's heart to stop beating 15 years ago, cutting off oxygen to her brain?

You can forget about Jeb Bush apologizing to Michael Schiavo. The Florida governor immediately seized on the mystery question to open a scurrilous new assault on the husband's character. Bush pushed the limits of his authority to try to stop the removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube in March. Near the end, he considered dispatching state police agents to take her into protective custody while the Department of Children and Families investigated baseless charges of abuse.

The autopsy blew away allegations of physical abuse, but Bush won't let go. He asked a state prosecutor to investigate what Bush said were discrepancies in Michael Schiavo's account of how much time passed before he called 911 after finding his wife on the floor. The governor obviously thinks Michael Schiavo has something to hide.

Unlike Jeb Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Harvard-trained heart surgeon, understandbly just wants everybody to "move on." He told a television interviewer that the autopsy brings "a very sad chapter to a close." Hold on, Dr. Frist. We can't move on until you at least acknowledge that you acted cynically in pressing for federal intervention in the case.

Frist now insists he never made a "diagnosis" of Terri Schiavo's condition but only raised the question of whether she was in a persistent vegetative state. He should have read the expert medical opinions in the case, but he chose to watch a questionable videotape instead.

The good doctor's memory appears to be failing him. Let's roll back the tape and listen to what the Tennessee Republican who wants to be president said on the Senate floor. Speaking "as a physician," Frist told his colleagues that although he had not examined Terri Schiavo, he had seen the video her parents produced to suggest their daughter was was responsive. The video, he said, "depicted something very different than persistent vegetative state. Terri's brother told me that Terri laughs, smiles and tries to speak. That doesn't sound like a woman in a persistent vegetative state."

The senator-surgeon, who should know better, sounded a lot like House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who doesn't. "Terri Schiavo is not brain dead," DeLay declared. "She talks and she laughs, and she expresses happiness and discomfort."

Frist also took the opportunity to suggest that Michael Schiavo was an unworthy husband who just wanted to get his wife out of the way. "As I understand it," the senator intoned, "Terri's husband will not divorce Terri and will not allow her parents to take care of her. Terri's husband, who I've not met, does have a girlfriend he lives with and they have children of their own."

Wink, nod.

At least Republican Mel Martinez, Florida's junior senator who played a key role in passing the Terri Schiavo bill, appears to be having second thoughts. He told reporters last week: "I really probably come to the view this has to be more resolved at the state level, seems like the kind of issue the state courts deal with."

Meanwhile, the political reaction to Terri Schiavo's autopsy has been revealing. It has left Jeb Bush looking vindictive, Tom DeLay looking foolish and Bill Frist coming across as unprincipled.

Philip Gailey's e-mail address is gailey@sptimes.com

[Last modified June 18, 2005, 01:36:03]