Schiavo's brother says she was stripped of rights as disabled person

By By Mike Mostaffa (Contact)

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Photo by Jenn Bono

Bobby Schindler, Terri Schiavo's brother, expresses his thoughts about the death of his sister in the Kansas Union ballroom Wednesday night. Schindler stressed that feeding tubes are now considered a form of artificial life support and not basic care.

Since his sister’s court-ordered death last year, Bobby Schindler, brother of Terri Schiavo, has been working full-time to continue to address the issues surrounding Schiavo’s court case, which became the center of national and international attention last year.

A group of nearly 150 people heard Schindler speak at the Kansas Union Ballroom Wednesday night about the death of his sister.

“It’s extremely difficult because it brings back memories of how my sister was neglected but there is a real need for it,” Schindler said of speaking about the death of his sister.

One of Schindler’s main topics was what he called the “carelessness” and “misreporting” done by the mainstream media during his sister’s trial.

Schindler said that media outlets made his sister’s case into solely a pro-life issue, while neglecting to talk about the many disability rights organizations that were also supporting the Schindler family. He said 25 local and national disability rights organizations were “screaming” their disagreement with the judge’s ruling to remove Schiavo’s feeding tube last spring.

“The media didn’t want to recognize Terri as a disabled person because then we would be killing a disabled person, not just someone in a vegetative state,” Schindler said.

Schindler was the keynote speaker for KU Students for Life’s annual “Stand Up for Life” week, which concluded Wednesday.

Schindler has traveled to speak at various places nationally and internationally. He said he had recently just got back from a trip to Ireland and has been overwhelmed by how many people took an interest in his sister’s case.

“I never realized how much Terri’s story touched people,” Schindler said.

— Edited by Timon Veach

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