Attacks on the Schindler family are unfounded. The real question is what did Michael Schiavo do with all the money?

Standing in solidarity against an evil and unfounded attack.

A recent attack news program by a television station in Florida has created a controversy over the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation. They have accused the Schindler family of lining their pockets with foundation money.

Wesley Smith reported the complaint in his article that was published in the National Review online. Schiavo was reported as saying to the attack news program:

Schiavo’s widower, Michael Schiavo, says the family should be ashamed of what they are doing. He adds if Terri ever knew this was happening she’d be horrified. Michael Schiavo is talking about the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation. While Terri Schiavo’s brother Bobby says the organization is set up to help families in similar situations, Michael Schiavo says he doesn’t believe it. Instead Schiavo says they are using their deceased sister’s name to make money.

Smith destroyed the accusations in his article when he stated:
"And as for profiteering–Bobby Schindler’s salary is $37,500 annually, and all speaking fees he receives go to the foundation. His sister Suzanne, makes less and is 14 months in arrears in receiving her compensation. It is also worth noting, that after receiving complaints, the IRS investigated the foundation and gave it a clean bill of health in 2008."

An article written by Pamela Hennessy that was published in the North County Gazette reveals even more about the false accusations in the attack news program. She stated:

the Foundation provided the reporter with their latest 990 income and expense filing, a letter from the Internal Revenue Service (giving the Foundation notice of compliance and approval for the continuance of their tax-exempt 501(c)3 status) and a letter from their attorney, asking that the report be tabled in light of the Schindlers’ good standing with the authorities.

Care to guess which one of those documents were posted to WTSP’s website? Yes. Just the letter from the attorney. Deeson kept the other, rather pertinent, information from viewers.

Mark Mostert, from the Institute for the Study of Disability and Bioethics stated:

All innuendo and spin. Why would we expect anything else? Even all these years after her death, Bobby, Suzanne, and Mary spend countless hours trying to correct misleading reporting about the circumstances of Terri’s death. This is just one more media attack in a long string of animus posing as “news” and comes just a few weeks after Fox’s The Family Guy made horrible fun of Terri and her disabled condition.

Concerning the attack by Michael Schiavo, the man who used the money that was awarded by the courts to care for Terri for the rest of her natural life, that the Schindlers are not even fulfilling the goals of the Foundation. Smith correctly stated:

Had the reporters wanted to find out the kind of help the foundation offers others, producers could have called me or a myriad of others active in this field, who are quite aware of the selfless giving and effort each surviving member of Terri’s family offers to others. Indeed, I have personal knowledge of case after case in which the Schindlers worked selflessly–and without financial compensation of any kind–to assist family members save their cognitively disabled loved ones from suffering the same dehydration fate as Terri. The Lauren Richardson food and fluids dispute and the Andrea Clarke futile care case are just two that come to mind.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition arranged to have Randy Richardson, the father of Lauren Richardson, speak at the Second-International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide that we had co-hosted near Washington DC. Like Wesley, I can attest to the fact that the Schindler family has been incredibly successful in helping families prevent a similar fate to their loved ones, as had happened to Terri.

The Schindler family have been operating the Foundation on a tight budget. The reports prove that the charitable money they received in 2008 was less than $100,000 and yet they have done an incredible service with that budget.

The real question is: What did Michael Schiavo do with the money that was awarded for the care of Terri for the rest of her life?

Article by Wesley Smith in the National Review online:
http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/secondhandsmoke/2010/05/01/i-stand-in-solidarity-with-the-schindlers-against-sleazy-media-attack/

Article by Pamela Hennessy in the North County Gazette:
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/2010/05/01/all_the_news/

My blog article about dehydration deaths:
http://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2010/02/stop-dehydration-deaths-says-terri.html

The original article attacking the Schindler family:
http://www.13wmaz.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=78447&catid=28

Lauren Richardson is going home next month

An article from the Associated Press - November 20, 2008 recounts the case of Lauren Richardson, the 24 year old woman who was in the center of a dispute between her parents over her guardianship and the removal of her fluids and food to cause her death by dehydration.

The judge issued an order last week granting Richardson and Towers joint guardianship and closing the case.

Randy Richardson told AP that his daughter, who is currently at a nursing home near New Castle, will be transferred to his home in Elkton, Md., next month.

Richardson said "When we told her she was coming home, ... she started crying and sobbing,"

The article explained that Earlier this year, Richardson challenged a Chancery Court judge's decision awarding Lauren's mother, Edith Towers, sole guardianship and authority to remove Lauren's feeding tube.

Towers commented that she hoped she never would have had to make the agonizing decision to remove the feeding tube, but she simply wanted her daughter to receive hospice care and be allowed to die a natural death.

Towers said "I said in court I don't want to have to pull Lauren's feeding tube,"

Towers had been assured by doctors that her daughter would never recover.

The article explained that Lauren Richardson was a high school honors student who wanted to become an English teacher. She had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder as a young teenager. Later, she began using heroin to escape violent mood swings. Lauren has been disabled since suffering a heroin overdose, while pregnant in 2006.

Lauren gave birth to her daughter in February 2007 while being maintained by a ventilator. After the birth, doctors discovered that Lauren could breathe on her own. Since then she has only required fluids and food to be provided through a tube.

Lauren is cognitively disabled but not dying of any medical condition. If Lauren's tube had been removed she would have died from euthanasia by dehydration, the same way that Terri Schiavo died.

Towers explained that she and Richardson, who divorced when their daughter was an infant, got conflicting medical evidence from doctors, who at one point declared Lauren to be brain dead.

Towers said that she sought sole guardianship upon the advice of a doctor after Lauren, who had been under hospice care at the nursing home after giving birth, was taken back to the hospital for further treatment.

Towers explained that she began having doubts about the lawsuit as more information became available in court documents and in postings from family members on a Web site that the Richardson set up. The turning point came this summer, when she and Richardson's wife began talking about Lauren's young daughter, and how she would respond to the questions that her grand daughter was bound to ask about how the family had cared for her mother.

Towers said "I pictured my little granddaughter asking me those questions, and I said 'That's it, we will try everything before we give up,'"

The article explained that Towers decided in August to drop the lawsuit and joined her ex-husband and other family members in visiting Lauren in September.

Towers said "Lauren, it's mom and dad and we've just come out of a meeting and you're going home ... Would you like that?" She then spent a few minutes alone with Lauren, who started sobbing.

Towers said "We want to see what we can do for her; if there's anything we can do for her. I can't wait to see how she reacts when she gets home."

Randy Richardson said his daughter is not comatose but is in a state of minimal consciousness. She responds to stimuli and can express emotions, is aware of her surroundings, has full movement of her limbs, and tries to sit up.

Richardson said "She's come a long way in the last 30 days ... We have hope,"

Link to the Associated Press article:
http://www.hometownannapolis.com:80/cgi-bin/read/2008/11_20-09/REG

For more information go to:
http://www.lifeforlauren.org

Mother agrees to let Lauren Richardson live.

Lauren Richardson is a 24 year old woman who lives in Deleware who suffered a severe brain injury in August 2006.

Richardson was pregnant at the time of her brain injury, but successfully delivered a child in February 2007.

Richardson's mother (Edith Towers), who was Lauren's legal guardian, had petitioned the court to have the food and fluids that she was receiving by a tube removed. This would have resulted in a death by dehydration, in the same way as Terri Schiavo died.

Randy Richardson, Lauren's father, had asked the courts to grant him guardianship over Lauren to enable him and his family to continue to care for her.

Alliance Defense Fund attorney's negotiated a settlement over the care of Lauren.

Richardson's mother has apparently changed her position based on - religious conviction and heartfelt interaction with her ex-husband’s family. She has - decided to join cooperatively with Randy Richardson to care for their daughter and to drop her court request to remove her daughters fluids and food.

A media release from the Alliance Defense Fund stated that:

The parents agreed to settle the case, to share joint guardianship of their daughter, and to cooperate in caring for her at Randy Richardson’s Maryland home. Lauren Richardson wept emotionally when her mother informed her of the settlement and the reconciliation of her parents, confirming to the mother that her daughter was aware and responsive. Both parents and their families continue to interact with her daily.

In the media release, Legal Counsel Matt Bowman stated that:

"This change of heart and settlement has profoundly affected everyone involved. The miracle of life is not something that should be taken lightly."

This is a very important case. By providing care for Lauren, Lauren's parents have come to agreement, they have reconciled their relationship and Lauren will be able to be cared for at home.

A tragedy has been averted. This was done because Lauren's father loved his daughter enough, that he was willing to put his life aside and fight for her life. He provided care for her resulting in a significant recovery for Lauren.

Caring not Killing is the answer.

Contact the Alliance Defense Fund at: http://www.telladf.org/

For more information go to: http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4754

Link to a previous article about Lauren Richardson:
http://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2008/07/good-delaware-didnt-learn-lesson-of.html

Good: Delaware Didn't "Learn the Lesson" of Schiavo

The Delaware House of Representatives has passed a resolution in support of protecting the life of Loren Richardson, who like Terri Schiavo before her, is the subject of a bitter court fight over removing her feeding tube.

For more information go to: http://www.wesleyjsmith.com/blog/2008/07/good-delaware-didnt-learn-lesson-of.html