Wedding Bells

Michael and Terri Schiavo, 1984

Don't ask for whom the wedding bells toll...

The grieving widower has moved on. After seeing to that it that his wife, Terri, was dehydrated to death, lingering for thirteen agonizing days without food or water, Michael Schiavo waited less than ten months to remarry.

"Remarry" really isn't the right word.

Schiavo has been "remarried" for a long time now. He and Jodi Centonze have been together for eleven years. They have two young children. So, it seems inappropriate to say that yesterday's wedding was the beginning of a new life for the heartsick widower.

SAFETY HARBOR, Fla. (AP) -- Michael Schiavo, whose brain-damaged wife was at the center of a contentious end-of-life battle that played out on a worldwide media stage, has remarried, family members said.

Schiavo married his longtime girlfriend Jodi Centonze on Saturday in a private church ceremony, said John Centonze, the brother of the bride.

Schiavo's former wife, Terri, died in March after her feeding tube was removed. She had suffered irreversible brain damage after collapsing at age 26 in 1990.

Irreversible?

Kathryn Jean Lopez tells the story of a little girl with "irreversible" brain damage.

HALEIGH'S LIFE

So there's this amazing story. About a beaten girl, mistreated by her family and then the government agency charged with protecting her. A kid who is currently defying a court-okayed death order and fighting for her life, despite the experts who were ready to bury her.

This is happening in Boston. You go to the Boston Globe site, you scroll a little, and you come upon "DSS sought early end to life support." "How about Abused 11-Year-Old Fights for Life." Or, "So Much for 'Vegetable'"--which might be closer to where I'd go with it.

I am probably just being grouchy, but I want everyone to know this kid's name. Haleigh Poutre, eleven years old. They said she was a vegetable. They said she had no hope. A court, earlier this week, okayed taking her off life support—"letting her go" as they say. (The one arguing for keeping her alive, in this terrible story, was her stepfather...who faces homicide charges if she winds up dead.) Well she's breathing on her own today.



This little girl is as innocent as you get. There is no husband, claiming she'd want to be dehydrated. There is no spouse vs. parents controversies to confuse matters. This is a girl who was dealt an awfully bad deal in life who clearly wants to live, regardless. And has the power, just by fighting her fight, to teach us a stirring message, an essential one: to err on the side of life. Folks didn’t in her case, but she's doing her best anyway. Good luck, kid. And thanks.

Not to reopen old wounds (and arguments), but, if you can spare a prayer today, make it a two-parter: That Haleigh gets what she needs and that we learn.

It is an amazing story. Say a prayer for Haleigh.

Say a prayer for the Schindlers, Terri's family, too.

Know that the AP is simply rehashing the talking points of Michael Schiavo and his "Right to Kill" attorney, George Felos.

Terri Schiavo's parents and siblings fought for years to keep her alive, arguing that she had some level of consciousness. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the U.S. Supreme Court, Congress, the White House and even the Vatican became involved in the case.

An autopsy supported Michael Schiavo's contention that she was in a persistent vegetative state with no consciousness and no hope of recovery.

Another misleading statement by AP.

No, this one qualifies as a lie.

Autopsy findings cannot confirm PVS.

Last year, Dr. Mouhammed Kabbani, a neurologist at the University of Missouri, said that an "autopsy can show the degree of brain damage and how much brain tissue survived the injury." However, Dr. Kabbani pointed out that "it cannot by any means tell about the patient's clinical status."

Accordingly, the autopsy could not determine Terri's status. PVS is a clinical diagnosis. That determination must be made while the patient is alive.

Read more.

"Will Autopsy Report Make 'Outlandish' Claims?"

In other words, AP lies.

Schiavo and his new bride have two young children. They met in a dentist's office about 11 years ago and began a relationship after Terri Schiavo was already in a nursing home.

"New bride"? It's hard to think of the happy couple as newlyweds. They've been living as a married couple, with children, for years.

Notice how the AP article stresses that their relationship began after Terri was in a nursing home. Obviously, the report tries to put Michael Schiavo in the best possible light.

The fact is Schiavo's second marriage started when Terri was alive. Whether or not she was in a nursing home is irrelevant.

There were questions as to Terri's wishes. Her family desperately wanted to care for her, offering to free Michael of the burden, yet he wanted her dead.

I believe it was wrong to err on the side of death. Call me a right to life nutcase. I don't think the disabled should be put to death.

"It was very emotional," John Centonze said after the noon ceremony. "It's been a long time coming. A lot of things happened in between."

Whatever.

Schiavo could have divorced Terri and married Centonze years ago. He could have allowed Terri's parents to care for her and moved on.

If he had done that, Terri would be alive today.



Schiavo had the audacity to cite February 25, 1990, as the day that Terri "departed this Earth," and March 31, 2005, as the day that she was "at peace."

Did the physician certify that Terri died on February 25, 1990, or March 31, 2005?

Did Nancy Reagan have a separate date etched on President Reagan's grave marker, stating when he no longer recognized her, or when he could no longer speak?

Every time Terri's family visits her grave, Michael Schiavo will be tormenting them.

Sorry, AP.

Michael Schiavo is not a sympathetic figure. He's sick.