Statement on Removal of Terri Schiavo's Feeding Tube

For more information: Diane Coleman or Stephen Drake (708) 209-1500 exts. 11 & 29
708-420-0539 (cell)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 18, 2005 -- It's still not too late to save Terri Schiavo but the prospects look grim.

And there is plenty of blame to go around.

Now is a good time for everyone involved to take a long look at themselves and what they've brought to the debate.

The media has consistently failed Terri Schiavo. They decided to call the legal battle a "right to die" case when the issue was her "right to live." Worse, the Associated Press and commentators have referred to her as "brain dead," on too many occasions, confusing issues they should have been illuminating.

The conservative pro-life community has failed to resist the temptation to use Terri Schiavo as a symbol of the so-called "culture war," virtually guaranteeing a knee-jerk negative reaction from anyone not already on their side of the "war."

So-called "progressives" have failed in their traditional values of championing the rights of the disempowered and oppressed in our society, writing off the death of Terri Schiavo, and countless unknown others, as a "private family matter."

The Catholic Church failed Terri Schiavo for years - with bishops failing to give any clear message and allowing Catholic bioethicists to act as spokespersons for the "kill Terri" camp.

Finally, we, the disability community failed Terri Schiavo. We have not been loud enough or insistent enough in pushing the issue to the forefront of the political consciousness. 

Now is the time for us all to do better. We might even manage to work in time to save Terri. If not, we can surely do something to safeguard the rights of thousands of Americans with disabilities whose lives are similarly threatened.

###