Duc in Altum

Over on Blogs for Terri, you can see a number of articles regarding the one year anniversary of the death of Terri Schiavo.

Beginning on March 18, 2004, Terri Schiavo was denied the basic necessities of food and water in order to put her to death. She was not terminally ill. Neither was she on any type of life support or in a coma. Instead, like every other person, she required food and water to survive. The food and water she needed was denied her when her feeding tube was removed. Over the next thirteen days, she was dehydrated to death, and on March 31, 2004, Terri Schiavo died.

One of the most frightening memories I have from the media's coverage of Terri Schiavo's death was the constant parade of people who somewhere in their interview on television would say something to the effect of, "Well, I know what the families are going through because just this past year we had to make the same decision regarding our Aunt Susie." Then they would continue to describe how they had essentially taken the life of Aunt Susie. Naturally, these folks were supporting the death of Terri Schiavo. Their own conscience had already been overridden in this area because of what they had done, and they were probably no longer able to discern that denying someone food and water was akin to murdering the person. The scary part was that so many people were telling of similar experiences. It is no wonder that there is widespread support for euthanasia, even among religiously active people.

A year later, many have forgotten what happened. They have moved on to other things. Or perhaps, they simply shake their heads in wonder at what all of the fuss was about regarding Terri Schiavo. However, there are many others who are supporters of life, and they have not moved on to other things. Neither will they forget what happened to Terri Schiavo. They are cognizant that what happened in Florida last year is happening throughout the country on a regular basis. Men and women are having their lives taken from them by family members who find it more convenient to terminate a life rather than support it.

In order to help, over the past year, Terri's parents, brother, and sister have been working on behalf of Terri's Foundation. On March 30 of this year, they are formally launching the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation. Through the foundation they hope to honor her memory

by offering assistance and support to individuals in need, establish a network of professionals and organizations that are dedicated to advocate, protect, and provide care for people with disabilities and their families, and by educating society about the crucial issues of protecting life. Ultimately, the Schindlers have a vision of instituting Terri Schindler Schiavo centers worldwide to provide care for brain injury victims and support for their families. Source

May God richly bless them in their efforts to honor Terri Schiavo by helping others who find themselves in a similarly vulnerable situation.