Terri Schiavo's brother speaks at Walk for Life
The national secular media misled the American public with selective reporting and confusing buzz words in the recent public debate over the fate of Terri Schiavo, her brother, Bobby Schindler, told about 1,000 people gathered at the Nebraska Union following Saturday’s Walk for Life.
Schiavo’s case and the national attention it garnered should provide a wake-up call, Schindler said, because Americans — such as his sister — are being killed by court order just for being disabled. And misleading, misunderstood phrases such as “persistent vegetative state,” “brain dead,” and “right to die” sell the killings as acts of mercy, Schindler said.
After years of legal battles and increasing media frenzy, Schiavo died on March 31, 2005, nearly two weeks after her feeding tube was removed.
Death by dehydration, Schindler said, is terrifying and ugly and has nothing to do with mercy.
“This euthanasia movement has really been flying under the radar,” he said. “There’s a real attack on human life right now.
“My sister was very much alive. This was not an end-of-life issue.”
The definition of a persistent vegetative state — broad, varying and often misapplied — exists for one reason, he said: to make it easy to kill the elderly and the helpless. He compared the current movement of right-to-die activist judges and doctors to events leading up to the Holocaust.
“That became the battle cry of the media,” Schindler said. “If she’s in a (persistent vegetative state), kill her. We have to stop describing people as being in a (persistent vegetative state).”
All humans, even the brain damaged, are children of God, and they deserve life, he said.
But the media have distorted and re-framed the argument, he said.
For example, he said, one media poll during the Schiavo controversy asked: “Would you want to live in this condition? Yes or no?”
Of course, no one would choose to be disabled, Schindler said. But that doesn’t mean we should kill those who are.
In an interview before his speech, Schindler said the right-to-life debate applies to both adults and unborn children.
“It’s the same movement, the same language,” he said. “The way they take away someone’s personhood.”
About 3,000 opponents of abortion rights gathered on the west steps of the State Capitol at 10 a.m. Saturday, listened to speeches from politicians — including Gov. Dave Heineman, Rep. Tom Osborne and Rep. Jeff Fortenberry — and then walked to the Union.
It was a gray, rainy morning.
“Seems to me like we ought to have a kickoff here in a little bit,” Osborne said. He called the fight against abortion a “spiritual struggle.”
Said Fortenberry: “My goodness, a heat wave for the March for Life.” He continued: “Abortion is a fundamental injustice to women and unborn children. Our voices are the voices of hope and compassion.”
Said Heineman: “We must continue to promote adoption as a real alternative to abortion. Thank you for your commitment to Nebraska families.”
State Sen. Mike Foley of Lincoln decried the flow of public funds into the “blood-stained hands” of Planned Parenthood and the “abortion industry.”
“If you want to say you’re pro-life,” he said, “then by God stop funding our opposition.”
During the Walk for Life, sponsored by Nebraska Right to Life, adults pushed strollers and children hoisted signs: “Babies are too cute to be killed.”
“The Lord gave us children,” said Kim Belling of Lincoln. “We shouldn’t just throw them away.”
“I have a fundamental belief in the sanctity of life,” said Bruce Birge of Lincoln, who held an “Abortion kills children” sign. “I’m glad there are enough people who are not complacent, not apathetic.”
The number of children and teenagers at the rally impressed Birge, who remembered a heavier concentration of World War II and baby-boomer generation participants.
“Looks like we’re gradually being replaced,” he said.
Eric Schleppenbach, a 16-year-old sophomore at Lincoln Pius X, was among the replacements.
“It’s just important to me,” he said. “We are the next generation.”
He had another reason for walking: extra credit in speech class.
Reach Josh Swartzlander at 473-7120 or jswartzlander@journalstar.com.
Schiavo’s case and the national attention it garnered should provide a wake-up call, Schindler said, because Americans — such as his sister — are being killed by court order just for being disabled. And misleading, misunderstood phrases such as “persistent vegetative state,” “brain dead,” and “right to die” sell the killings as acts of mercy, Schindler said.
After years of legal battles and increasing media frenzy, Schiavo died on March 31, 2005, nearly two weeks after her feeding tube was removed.
Death by dehydration, Schindler said, is terrifying and ugly and has nothing to do with mercy.
“This euthanasia movement has really been flying under the radar,” he said. “There’s a real attack on human life right now.
“My sister was very much alive. This was not an end-of-life issue.”
The definition of a persistent vegetative state — broad, varying and often misapplied — exists for one reason, he said: to make it easy to kill the elderly and the helpless. He compared the current movement of right-to-die activist judges and doctors to events leading up to the Holocaust.
“That became the battle cry of the media,” Schindler said. “If she’s in a (persistent vegetative state), kill her. We have to stop describing people as being in a (persistent vegetative state).”
All humans, even the brain damaged, are children of God, and they deserve life, he said.
But the media have distorted and re-framed the argument, he said.
For example, he said, one media poll during the Schiavo controversy asked: “Would you want to live in this condition? Yes or no?”
Of course, no one would choose to be disabled, Schindler said. But that doesn’t mean we should kill those who are.
In an interview before his speech, Schindler said the right-to-life debate applies to both adults and unborn children.
“It’s the same movement, the same language,” he said. “The way they take away someone’s personhood.”
About 3,000 opponents of abortion rights gathered on the west steps of the State Capitol at 10 a.m. Saturday, listened to speeches from politicians — including Gov. Dave Heineman, Rep. Tom Osborne and Rep. Jeff Fortenberry — and then walked to the Union.
It was a gray, rainy morning.
“Seems to me like we ought to have a kickoff here in a little bit,” Osborne said. He called the fight against abortion a “spiritual struggle.”
Said Fortenberry: “My goodness, a heat wave for the March for Life.” He continued: “Abortion is a fundamental injustice to women and unborn children. Our voices are the voices of hope and compassion.”
Said Heineman: “We must continue to promote adoption as a real alternative to abortion. Thank you for your commitment to Nebraska families.”
State Sen. Mike Foley of Lincoln decried the flow of public funds into the “blood-stained hands” of Planned Parenthood and the “abortion industry.”
“If you want to say you’re pro-life,” he said, “then by God stop funding our opposition.”
During the Walk for Life, sponsored by Nebraska Right to Life, adults pushed strollers and children hoisted signs: “Babies are too cute to be killed.”
“The Lord gave us children,” said Kim Belling of Lincoln. “We shouldn’t just throw them away.”
“I have a fundamental belief in the sanctity of life,” said Bruce Birge of Lincoln, who held an “Abortion kills children” sign. “I’m glad there are enough people who are not complacent, not apathetic.”
The number of children and teenagers at the rally impressed Birge, who remembered a heavier concentration of World War II and baby-boomer generation participants.
“Looks like we’re gradually being replaced,” he said.
Eric Schleppenbach, a 16-year-old sophomore at Lincoln Pius X, was among the replacements.
“It’s just important to me,” he said. “We are the next generation.”
He had another reason for walking: extra credit in speech class.
Reach Josh Swartzlander at 473-7120 or jswartzlander@journalstar.com.
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