Schiavo's siblings commemorate her life at Minnesota convention

Published: 2005-06-23

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (CNS) -- In a tear-filled ceremony June 17 at the Sheraton Hotel in Bloomington, speakers at the National Right to Life Committee convention commemorated the life of Terri Schiavo. Schiavo's two siblings shared remembrances that were strikingly personal, though both brother and sister connected Schiavo's death to the larger issue of euthanasia and proposed ways for combating what they described as a "culture of death" in America. Bobby Schindler, Schiavo's brother, predicted that in future "right-to-die" cases, battle lines would be drawn over two phrases: "basic care" and "medical treatment." Advocates of life, Schindler said, must lobby for feeding tubes to be considered "basic care." He said that "most, if not all, states recognize feeding tubes as medical treatment but do not recognize them as basic care." Consequently, if a patient has not made explicit his or her wish to remain on food and water and is in what doctors consider an "irreversible condition," removal of the tubes will likely occur, he said.

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