Details Announced for Observance of Terri's Day
February 7, 2008
North County Gazette
Serving New York State and Beyond
Nearly three
years ago, on March 31, 2005, Terri Schindler Schiavo died as a result of the
long, painful and barbaric process of the court-ordered execution by starvation
and dehydration at the behest of her husband in-name only Michael Schiavo.
Terri Schiavo
had committed no crime, she just received food and water in an alternative
manner than the norm. Many called it court-sanctioned murder and it has set a
dangerous precedent for the rest of the country, allowing family members or
guardians who believe an individual can no longer be productive in society to
simply get a court order to end their life.
This past
December, The Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation and Priests for Life jointly
announced the establishment of the “International Day of Prayer and Remembrance
for Terri Schindler Schiavo, and All of Our Vulnerable Brothers and Sisters”
(”Terri’s Day”) to be observed each year on March 31, the date of Terri’s death.
The purpose of the day, the groups explained, is to foster education, prayer,
and activism regarding discrimination against the disabled, and advocacy for
people in situations similar to what Terri and her family faced.
Educational
information and prayer materials are now available on both Terri’s Foundation
and Priests for Life’s Websites. Some activities by which Terri’s Day can be
observed are:
-
Say the
prayer in Remembrance of Terri each day during the week before and after
“Terri’s Day.”
-
Conduct or
participate in a parish or school essay contest about what happened to
Terri, and the issues surrounding care for the disabled and their right to
life.
-
Invite a
speaker to your school, parish, or community organization to address issues
surrounding the care of the disabled.
-
Organize a
letter writing campaign in remembrance of Terri by one or more individuals
to local papers or blogs.
-
Spend time
volunteering at a nursing home or hospital.
-
Spend time
with a disabled friend or relative.
Please visit
Terri’s Foundation (www.TerrisFight.org)
and Priests for Life (www.PriestsForLife.org)
to learn all the ways that you can participate in this very special day.
Fr. Frank Pavone said, “Those of us who were with Terri will never forget her
life and her death. For the sake of all the vulnerable, it is critically
important that those who never knew Terri likewise remember the lessons that God
taught us through her.”
Suzanne Vitadamo, Terri’s sister, adds “No family should ever have to witness
what my family witnessed, watching a loved one slowly dehydrate to death. We
want Terri’s day to remind us all that persons with disabilities are never
burdens and should be treated with nothing but our unconditional love and
compassion.”
Terri
sustained serious brain damage as the result of a sudden collapse at her home on
Feb. 25, 1990. While the autopsy indicated that the immediate cause of death was
dehydration, the cause of the brain damage was not determined. Bulimia and heart
attack were ruled out as the causes for Terri’s condition.
The case is
not closed.
“It is the
policy of this office that no case is ever closed and that all determinations
are to be reconsidered upon receipt of credible, new information”, the medical
examiner said.
Priests for
Life is the largest Catholic organization exclusively dedicated to fighting
abortion and euthanasia.
Terri’s
Foundation is dedicated to promoting the Culture of Life, embracing the true
meaning of compassion by opposing the practice of euthanasia.
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