DORAL, Fla. (KRT) -- He has been rebuked by the Vatican, castigated by Congress and slandered on the Internet, but Michael Schiavo was welcomed as a hero Friday by a state organization whose members make end-of-life decisions for people unable to make them for themselves.
The Florida State Guardianship Association bestowed its Guardian of the Year Award on Schiavo for carrying out his wife's wishes not to be kept alive artificially despite a drumbeat of withering criticism.
In a rare public appearance, Schiavo, 42, modestly accepted the award at the association's 18th annual conference at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa west of Miami.
"As you know," he said, "I'm not much of a speechmaker. I don't talk much. But on behalf of my wife Theresa, I thank you."
Association members, most of whom are appointed by judges to represent people who have been declared incapacitated, acknowledged Schiavo was a controversial choice and they anticipate a backlash.
This makes me ill.
I suspect that the Florida State Guardianship Association is looking for a backlash. The "right to kill" crowd is picking a fight with pro-life people.
This group obviously is a wacko bunch. They certainly don't mind reopening the wounds of Terri's parents and siblings. By giving Schiavo their award, they are taunting the Schindlers.
How heartless!
News of the award brought the same swift reaction - surprise - from both sides of the right-to-die case that divided a family and a nation, but for wildly divergent reasons.
"Yikes! That took a lot of courage," said Bill Allen, director of the bioethics program at the University of Florida. "It would have been easier for them to whisper, 'Atta boy!' privately and not take such a public stand."
Courage? No.
Opportunistic? Yes.
Self-promotion isn't courageous. It's utterly selfish.
"Oh, my God, that's offensive," said Brother Paul O'Donnell, a Franciscan friar who serves as the Schindler family spokesman. "Michael Schiavo ... basically let her rot."
Yes, he did; and the Florida State Guardianship Association felt he should be rewarded for it.
As wellwishers lined up Friday night to congratulate Schiavo, he said the diamond-cut crystal award was the first public recognition of his actions, and he was deeply gratified by what it represented.
How can Schiavo be gratified by receiving an award for dehydrating his wife to death?
He got the court to sanction Terri's murder. She wasn't dying. Unless measures were taken to kill her, she would not have died on March 31.
What Schiavo did to Terri violated her Catholic faith. He withheld minimal care. Providing nutrition and hydration is NOT life support. It does NOT fall under the category of extraordinary means. It is morally obligatory to provide minimal care.
Something is terribly wrong in this country when murdering the disabled is considered honorable.
Michael Schiavo--Guardian of the Year.
I feel sick.
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