Destroying Life and Mocking Marriage     3/28/2005 By Jan LaRue, Chief Counsel Michael Schiavo has forfeited his right to speak for Terri. Because of Concerned Women for America’s stance in support of saving Terri Schiavo from a court-ordered death by starvation, we have received calls and e-mails criticizing us for “ignoring the sanctity of marriage” and the “right of a husband to speak for his wife regarding her end of life wishes.” To the contrary, our stance in this matter is entirely consistent with our respect for the sanctity of life and the sanctity of marriage. Terri Schiavo, a seriously handicapped woman, lies helpless and dying from a court-ordered starvation death instigated by the one who still dares to call himself her loving husband. He is grieving, we’re told, over the impending death of his wife. Most of the world now knows that Terri’s husband Michael is living with another woman with whom he has sired two children. Nonetheless, there are those who insist that even in this situation, it is Michael who should make the end of life decisions for Terri as opposed to her loving parents who want to care for her because they believe, as a practicing Catholic, she would never choose suicide over life. Let’s begin by getting a grip on reality. Ask any woman on the planet what she would do if she recovered from what had been diagnosed as a “persistent vegetative state” to find her husband standing at the foot of her bed with a woman and two children. “Who are they?” He then introduces her to his kids and their mother. As she launches a bed pan at his head, he says, “C’mon, honey, I still care about you. I didn’t even divorce you.” And when she learns that some nitwit judge, who knew about lover boy’s adultery, granted his request for an order to pull her feeding tube, she starts looking for a bigger bed pan. Michael Schiavo is an adulterer. He stepped out of the sanctity of his marriage when he stepped out on his wife. To call him Terri’s husband because he hasn’t divorced her makes a mockery of marriage. He claims that he sought the court order to remove Terri’s feeding tube because he is keeping a promise to her that he made years ago. Really? Why does he feel obligated to keep that promise when he hasn’t kept his promise to forsake all others and cleave to Terri through sickness and health? Before you decide to make Michael Schiavo “Husband of the Year,” consider the following: This “husband” admitted in a deposition that he took Terri’s engagement and wedding rings and made them into jewelry for himself. He had her two cats euthanized in preparation to move in with his girlfriend who had a dog. According to a nurse who observed it, he took a girlfriend into Terri’s room so that she could see how disabled Terri is. He promised a jury that he would spend the rest of life taking care of Terri. The jury, on the word of his promise, granted Terri nearly a million dollars that was placed in a trust fund for her care. They also awarded him $300,000 for loss of consortium; it wasn’t long before he began consorting with other women. While more than $700,000 of the trust fund remained, he sought a court order in 1998 to have Terri’s feeding tube removed. He has spent most of the money on attorneys fees trying to keep it removed. He has denied her speech, swallowing and other rehabilitation therapy. He denied her parents visitation with Terri for as long as five months at a time. He refused to permit doctors to give Terri antibiotics when she developed a urinary tract infection. He refused to have her teeth cleaned for several years and five had to be pulled as a result. He refused to have her wheelchair fixed and permit Terri to be taken outside. He refused to allow a priest to give her communion on Easter Sunday until pressured by public outrage. We don’t believe that such unfaithful, selfish and inhumane conduct qualifies him to speak on Terri’s behalf. Nor will we wrap the sanctity of God-ordained marriage around an alleged “spousal right” to end her life. And no government may sanctify it even if the law permits it. The injustices inflicted on Terri Schiavo expose the moral, legal and spiritual bankruptcy of our nation. We will not stand silent in the name of tolerance while marriage is mocked by adulterers, homosexuals and Hollywood. And we will not defer because some disagree. Even so, Michael Schiavo is not beyond the redemption that Christ achieved on the Cross and offers to each of us. We are sinners all.