Governor Bush Place Terri Into Protective Custody

To:  Governor Jeb Bush

To the Honorable Jeb Bush
Governor, State of Florida


- A PETITION -


TO IMMEDIATELY TAKE THERESA MARIE SCHIAVO (AKA TERRI SCHIAVO)
INTO THE PROTECTIVE CUSTODY OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA
AS AN URGENT MEASURE TO PROTECT HER
FROM CONTINUING PHYSICAL HARM AND DANGER TO HER LIFE.

Dear Governor Bush,

We, the undersigned, do pray you act immediately to place Theresa Marie Schiavo (AKA Terri Schiavo), a disabled person, citizen and resident of the State of Florida, USA, into the protective custody of this State in order to assure her protection from harm and to protect her from real and present dangers to her life, as well as to bring an end to the long-continued and illegal neglect of her person and to halt the infringement on her legal rights, as a citizen of the State and the Nation, as a disabled adult, and as a person in the care of a State-licensed care facility.

Time is of the essence. This action needs to be taken without delay, using whatever emergency powers may be at the disposal of your Office, countermanding, if necessary, any and all existing legal rulings, for the reason that any further delay and neglect may cause irreparable harm to, or the death of, Terri Schiavo.

There is no other timely recourse. The parents of Terri Schiavo have made many attempts through the appropriate courts, as recently as March 26, 2004, to gain relief, but despite clear evidence of the neglect of and danger to their daughter, they have been rebuffed. Her parents intend to continue to pursue any available legal avenue, but in the meantime their daughter is, as a matter of public record, experiencing neglect in her care, unexplained physical deterioration, life-threatening situations, and possible attacks on her person. These are detailed below.

Despite numerous complaints filed recently with oversight agency Florida AHCA, citing specific care violations, by statute, at the hospice where Terri Schiavo resides, the agency declined to act or even conduct a thorough investigation.

The State should have no objection to holding guardianship of Terri Schiavo, nor does it have any cause, for that matter, to object to guardianship being held by the very capable parents of Terri Schiavo, Robert and Mary Schindler of Clearwater, Florida. The sole objector to a change of guardianship status is the current guardian, Michael Schiavo, the nominal husband of Terri Schiavo. There is good reason to believe, however, that Michael Schiavo's guardianship is compromised by continuing conflict of interest as evidenced by his public statements, supported by his long-enduring efforts, of his desire to bring about Terri Schiavo's death. (Terri Schiavo has no terminal illness or condition.)

It is anticipated that in due course Michael Schiavo's guardianship, which hangs solely on his marriage to Terri Schiavo, will be legally dissolved along with his marriage. Michael Schiavo has been for the last 9 years maintaining an open and notorious adulterous relationship and cohabiting in Terri's marital asset house with another woman with whom he has fathered children; actions which exhibit his abandonment of his wife and the duties to his ward, and constitute a public repudiation of his marriage to Terri Schiavo.

Considering these points and the evidence of them below, we pray you act immediately, as we request, to protect Terri Schiavo. Since Terri's current guardian has ordered no care for Terri beyond bare life maintenance and has no desire to have Terri in his life, having abandoned her as his wife and spent her money to cause her death, he will not be deprived by the State's assumption of guardianship. On the other hand, by acting now as we ask, you will likely save Terri Schiavo's life, and you will certainly bring an end to the pattern of harm, neglect, abuse, and life dangers persisting under the current arrangement in which the State of Florida, through its judicial and health-care oversight systems, appears complicit.

We document our support for this petition with our names below. You must act now. Thank you.
Sincerely, (the undersigned)


Supporting Facts:

RECENT RISKS TO HEALTH AND LIFE
-- On 4/6/04, Florida AHCA (Agency for Health Care Administration) inexplicably declined to thoroughly investigate the hospice where Terri Schiavo is being neglected.
-- On 3/30/04, Michael Schiavo ordered that Terri Schiavo's family not be allowed to visit Terri for any reason, including to check on her health or safety, and that they not receive reports on her condition. Those orders still stand, despite an earlier court order to the contrary.
-- On 3/29/04, Terri Schiavo was hospitalized after being found with unexplained marks on her arms and in a disheveled condition. Michael Schiavo's attorney conjectured that Terri Schiavo may have been assaulted in some way, despite the posted police guard.
-- Earlier on 3/29/04, Terri Schiavo was found to have a second tooth missing, cause unexplained. As the tooth has not been found, it may have been swallowed. This would counter the claims by Attorney Felos that Terri cannot swallow. And a lost tooth left in Terri Schiavo's mouth could bring about potentially lethal choking.
-- On 3/26/04, the court of Judge Greer declined to find Michael Schiavo in contempt of an earlier and binding court order upon him to keep Terri Schiavo's parents apprised of her medical condition, despite his long-standing noncompliance. During this hearing, Judge Greed by his own questions of what had not been informed to the parents, as required by the subject court order to do so, validated and showed cause himself as to why he should find Michael in contempt of court, thereby necessitating his immediate removal as guardian per Probate Rule 5.650 (j) Disqualification.
-- About two weeks earlier, Terri Schiavo was found to have one tooth lost and missing, with no explanation.
-- Also two weeks earlier, and for some time before, since Terri Schiavo's move to Park Place assisted living, it has become evident to the Schindler family (Terri Schiavo's parents and siblings) that the facility was neglecting her personal care. On several occasions Terri Schiavo's parents observed that their daughter's hair was oily and she appeared to have not been bathed.

-- Michael Schiavo has ordered, and the care facility honors the order, that Terri Schiavo's parents not be allowed to provide any type of palliative care to Terri, even so much as to apply lotion to her skin or salve to her dried lips, or place a cloth in her tightened hands.
-- Recently Terri Schiavo had developed a decubitus ulcer in an area on her body which points directly to pressure and lack of her being repositioned as required by the state's own regulations regarding *Standards of Care.
-- Terri Schiavo's parents learned that Terri had suffered a recent attack of vomiting, something which has rarely occurred and which may be due to improper feeding or neglect. In a person disabled as is Terri, unattended vomiting is potentially life-threatening due to either choking, lung damage, or pneumonia resulting from aspiration of the fluids.

This vomiting bout, covertly managed, kept from the parents and the Governor, would represent "improper" feeding and a violation of the Governor's October 21st, 2003 signed Executive Order for proper tube feeding of his yet to be officially declared Ward-of-the-State, Theresa Marie Schiavo.

ABUSE AND NEGLECT:

Per Florida Statute 825.102, Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation of Elderly Persons and Disabled Adults,

(1) "Abuse of an elderly person or disabled adult" means.....

(a) Intentional infliction of physical or psychological injury upon an elderly person or disabled adult.
*VIOLATED – Physical injury by denial of simple procedures to alleviate painful contractures of the hands and possible disfigurement because of said contractures. Psychological abuse in denial of company, stimulation, acts of caging.

(b) An intentional act that could reasonably be expected to result in physical or psychological injury to an elderly person or disabled adult.
*VIOLATED – Intentional denial of treatment for simple infection with the knowledge that doing so would hasten death – 1993; and more.

(c) Active encouragement of any person to commit an act that results or could reasonably be expected to result in physical or psychological injury to an elderly person or disabled adult.
*VIOLATED – By instructing caregivers not to provide relief of contractures; by instructing doctors not to treat for simple infection; and more.

(2) "Aggravated abuse of an elderly person or disabled adult" occurs when a person:
(a) Commits aggravated battery on an elderly person or disabled adult;
(b) Willfully tortures, maliciously punishes, or willfully and unlawfully cages, an elderly person or disabled adult.
* VIOLATED – Denial of human comfort and spiritual comfort at personal whim. Terri Schiavo is also wrongfully caged, unnecessarily kept confined to a single room without stimulation or ability or permission to be taken outside. Denial of these experiences that Terri preferred prior to the still uninvestigated insult.
(c) Knowingly or willfully abuses an elderly person or disabled adult and in so doing causes great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement to the elderly person or disabled adult.
*VIOLATED – Terri suffers from severe contractures in her hands because of lack of care, which her own doctor (picked by Michael, Felos & Co.) has testified could be ameliorated with the Range of Motion Therapy she is denied.

RIGHTS DENIED:

-- Under Florida law (744.3215), an incapacitated person has specific protective rights, most of which are being denied Terri Schiavo:

(a) the right to have an annual review of the guardianship report and plan.
*VIOLATED – Her husband/guardian has failed to file such plans for many years. When he did submit the required plan, he often entered “NONE” as his plan of action. This is being overlooked on review by the Clerk of the Court. Laws say that all Wards are to have a *Plan of Care* to increase capacity (See (c) below)

(b) the right to have continuing review of the need for restriction of his or her rights.
* VIOLATED – The guardian courts have not required her husband/guardian to file such reports mentioned above, and therefore no consistent continuing review has taken place.

(c) the right to be restored to capacity at the earliest possible time.
*VIOLATED – Terri Schiavo has not received therapy since prior to the 1992 medical malpractice settlement in her favor which was intended to facilitate such therapy. When husband Michael Schiavo received his and Terri's awards, he stopped her therapy.

(d) the right to be treated humanely, with dignity and respect, and to be protected against abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
*VIOLATED – Deliberate acts of omission [including humane care and food and water] are considered felony abuse under the law. Terri has been denied food and water on two occasions and simple treatment for infections which could prove fatal without proper treatment. Terri is in fact being protected from her own rights so that the continued criminal abuse, neglect, and exploitation of her jury awarded rehab money is enabled.

(e) the right to have a qualified guardian.
VIOLATED – Her husband/guardian is no longer qualified for his failure to comply with Florida law requiring annual review of guardianship, failure to properly maintain the property of the ward, failure to comply with the ward’s retained rights to necessary services, and living in open adultery, which is a misdemeanor crime under Florida law, the FELONY crimes of abuse, neglect, exploitation, and continued contempt of court order, which Judge Greer has recently refused to uphold.

(f) the right to remain as independent as possible, including having his or her preference as to place and standard of living honored, either as he or she expressed or demonstrated his or her preference prior to the determination of his or her incapacity or as he or she currently expresses his or her preference, insofar as such request is reasonable.
*VIOLATED – Terri Schiavo is wrongfully confined to a hospice facility and further confined to a single room without social interaction, stimulation and human company. She is not permitted in common areas of the facility, nor is she permitted outside of the facility under the orders of her husband/guardian. The hospice environment is entirely inappropriate for a non terminal patient such as is Terri Schiavo.

(g) the right to be properly educated.
*VIOLATED – Terri has not received speech therapy, which could enable her to communicate more effectively and to manage table food. It is also believed that she has not received help in learning any other protocol (such as blinking) to assist her in communicating more effectively.

(h) the right to receive prudent financial management for his or her property and to be informed how his or her property is being managed, if he or she has lost the right to manage property.
* VIOLATED – Terri’s medical management and care fund has been depleted on legal fees in the pursuit of her death. More than half a million dollars has been paid to one attorney in particular. There is no evidence that Terri would have managed her funds in this way nor given any such consent.

(i) the right to receive necessary services and rehabilitation.
*VIOLATED – Terri Schiavo has not received proper physical, occupational, speech or range-of-motion therapy. She has been denied treatment for simple infections, and she has been denied hospitalization necessitated by serious illness.
As is duty of any Guardian, Terri never received treatment for the THIRTEEN bone fractures discovered in March 1991. A bone scan which revealed the numerous fractures were not disclosed during the medical malpractice trial.

(J) the right to counsel.
VIOLATED – Terri Schiavo has never been represented by her own "personal counsel" during any proceedings, nor has a Florida required Guardian ad Litem assigned to "look out for" her during the course of every proceeding.

(K) the right to receive visitors and communicate with others.
* VIOLATED – Terri's visitor list is strictly managed by her husband/guardian who has, a number of times, barred her family, her friends, and her spiritual counsel from visiting her, without the court’s prior approval and on personal whim.
At present, Michael has removed visitation from her parents and siblings.

(L) the right to notice of all proceedings related to determination of capacity and guardianship, unless the court finds the incapacitated person lacks the ability to comprehend the notice.
* VIOLATED – Terri has not been legally represented in any of the guardianship proceedings and has received no counsel.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Governor Bush Place Terri Into Protective Custody Petition to Governor Jeb Bush was created by and written by Cheryl Ford.  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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