The Media Continues To Get It Wrong on Terri Schiavo

From http://www.prolifeblogs.com/articles/archives/2007/02/the_media_conti.php#more

The Media Continues To Get It Wrong on Terri Schiavo

Here is a response from Terri Schiavo's brother, Bobby Schindler, to an article by Steven Pinker, "The Mystery of Consciousness," appearing in a recent issue of TIME magazine.
Mr. Pinker,

I found the premise of much of what you wrote in your essay, "The Mystery of Consciousness," to be very troubling. However, I wanted to respond specifically to the comment you made regarding my sister, Terri Schiavo.

You said, "And if these questions have answers, would they change our policies toward unresponsive patients--making the Terri Schiavo case look like child's play?"
Your assertion that Terri was unresponsive is patently false.
I want to first stress that my family always held that it should have made no difference whether Terri was unresponsive or not. She was a human being, a person worthy of being cared for and loved, and no one should ever have to prove whether or not they deserve to be fed. However, contrary to what you wrote, Terri was very responsive.

I urge you to watch the videos of my sister, review the more than 40 doctors' affidavits submitted to the court, fully read the autopsy report, or simply believe the testimony of my family to understand that Terri was not only responsive, but that labeling her as having been in this dehumanizing, unscientific, and lethal "vegetative" state was also erroneous.
I am reminded of what author Wesley J. Smith recently wrote regarding the media.
"They [the media] often seem to decide the story first and then fit the facts to their perception. Once the story line is determined, facts that belie their take--even very important and pertinent facts--are often ignored or barely mentioned. Then, reporters who may come late to the story rely on the earlier reports and hence, regurgitate the skewed story line, until error often becomes perceived fact. As a consequence, a materially false impression is left for people who don't follow these matters closely."

When it comes to Terri's situation, this couldn't be more accurate. I am convinced more everyday, evidenced by articles such as yours, that there exists a conscious effort by the popular media to continue to try and justify killing my sister and others like her as being the "right" thing to do.

What is so frightening, however, is that our indifferent public is, and will continue to be, persuaded by articles such as yours, buying into the rationale that it is acceptable to kill the disabled because their IQs are not high enough.
Finally, perhaps you can explain to my family, particularly my parents, what you were implying by your "child's play" comment, because I am having a difficult time trying to understand what you meant.

Surely you could not be so insensitive as to think that parents having to fight so hard to simply care for and love their innocent disabled daughter was trivial. Nor, I am sure, were you trying to suggest that forcing my parents to slowly watch their daughter die a horrific death by dehydration and starvation over a period of 13 days, was merely "child's play"?
Because I can hardly imagine that anyone with any sense of human decency or genuine compassion would describe my sister's or any similar situation that way.
I would encourage you, along with other members of the media, to remember that Terri Schiavo is not just a name to be used to further your agenda. She was a living, breathing, feeling human being deeply loved by her family and her death is a tragedy with which we continue to live every day of our lives.
Sincerely,

Bobby Schindler

A key statement by Bobby is that the "assertion that Terri was unresponsive is patently false". It goes without saying that Terri Schiavo was not brain dead despite incorrect reports by various media outlets. For example, here's a patently false statement that recently appeared in Patriot News:

The issue received national attention when courts and Congress became involved in the decision on whether Terri Schiavo, a brain-dead Florida woman, should have her feeding tube removed.
Posted by plb at February 13, 2007 5:34 PM


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From http://www.prolifeblogs.com/articles/archives/2007/02/fox_news_aids_a.php#comments

Abortion: February 13, 2007

FOX News Aids Abortion Industry Fear-Mongering with "Did Motherhood Kill Anna Nicole Smith?"

For those who say FOX NEWS is too right-wing, this shoots that kind of to hell:
"Did Motherhood Kill Anna Nicole Smith?"Thursday , February 08, 2007, by Dr. Manny Alvarez
I am not the first to admonish FOX NEWS that this is grossly irresponsible and inaccurate reporting on a number of levels. Not the least of which is the fact that it feeds incorrect ammunition to abortion providers to terrify women into having abortions.
Firstly, Alvarez shoots his own premise to bits in the second and third paragraphs:
But with Smith dying roughly five months after giving birth to her daughter, Danielynn Hope Marshall Stern, the tragic news also serves of a sad reminder of just how vulnerable to maternal death women in the United States still are. What is maternal death? As defined by the World Health Organization, it is "the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental or incidental causes." Is Alvarez a real Ob/Gyn doctor? At first one wonders: his FOX NEWS bio doesn't say where he earned his degree. In fact it doesn't list his actual degrees at all. None of his bios do.
It took some digging but this site says his M.D. is from "University Central Del Este Medical School." In San Pedro de Marcoris, Dominican Republic. It appears from the less than perfect translation of this page that

The Medicine School is affiliated with the Dominican Association of Faculties and Medicina Schools (ADOFEM) this one is filial as well of the Pan-American Federation of Faculties and Medicina Schools (FEPAFEM). Also the Familiar Medicine International is affiliated with the Center.

The Medicine school is certified by the Examining Court of Doctors of Puerto Rico, which dá opportunity to ours withdrawn to make the revalidation. On the other hand, the Central University of the East is certified by the NCMFE of the United States, causing that our students can obtain federal license for their exercise by means of examination USMLE (United States Medical License Exam).This site says that at least as of 1997 and 2004, Dominican Republic was "reviewed by the NCFMEA and found to use standards to accredit their medical schools that are comparable to the standards used to accredit medical schools in the United States."
Even if his is a U.S.-standards-worthy Medical Degree, Alvarez's math shouldn't be so faulty. 42 days = 6 weeks. Six weeks is less than one-third of 5 months.

He does then say that "some states" consider maternal death to be within 12 months of childbirth. But where are his fact-checkers? Shouldn't he have responsibly reported whether this was the case in Florida, where she was found dead, and in how many states that is so?
Worse, his research into the actual science has three glaring omissions.
1) In September 2005, Emily reported here on the study that found that women are three times more likely to die after an abortion than after childbirth. The study, published in late 2004 in the international medical journal Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, shows that "just looking at the death certificates turns out to be quite inadequate." Read Emily's article on this, which also shows how the CDC has been partly at fault for "providing what are probably inaccurate figures about abortion-related deaths." [Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, Volume 18 Issue 6 Page 448 - November 2004, p. 448-455; Dr Mika Gissler, Cynthia Berg, Marie-Hélène Bouvier-Colle and Pierre Buekens] Other pertinent analyses found here and here.
In October 2004, I posted two studies on this:

2) A 2002 Southern Medical Journal study revealed that women who abort versus those who give birth are almost twice as likely to die in the two years following the pregnancy outcome. [Reardon DC, Ney PG, Scheuren F, Cougle J, Coleman PK, Strahan TW, "Deaths associated with pregnancy outcome: a record linkage study of low income women," Southern Medical Journal (Aug. 2002), [95(8):834-841]

3) A 1997 Acta Obsetricia et Gynecolgica Scandinavica Finland study found that "...the risk of dying within a year after an abortion is several times higher than the risk of dying after miscarriage or childbirth." Three and a half times more likely, to be exact. [Gissler M, Kauppila R, Merilainen J, Toukomaa H, Hemminki E. "Pregnancy-associated deaths in Finland 1987-1994--definition problems and benefits of record linkage." Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 1997;76:651-657]
This Ob/Gyn/M.D. at The Center for Bioethics and Culture (CBC) says "This is the first study to demonstrate a causal link between abortion and increased maternal death in the year following the abortion."

Why is this Alvarez article so inflaming? Let fellow post-abortive Silent No More friend Caron Strong say it best, in her complaints to FOX NEWS with a cc to The O'Reilly Factor:
Dear O'Reilly Factor, RE: Dr. Manny's "DEATH BY BIRTH" article following Anna Nicole Smith's death. This was written to the comments section on FoxNews.com, but I wanted to forward this to you also. Alvarez just gave false but effective ammunition to the people coercing or lying to the women going into George Tiller's late term abortion clinic every day (among other "clinics").
TO FOX NEWS:That birthing your child increases death risk is the most ridiculous assumption ever made by and clearly supported by Fox News. Did Planned Parenthood pay you to promote that article by Dr. Manny? It's outrageous and I have always supported and respected Fox News. This is balanced? You just paved the way for innumerable abortions. Unbelievable, Fox! Terribly disappointed reader/viewer, Caron Strong If you prefer to call FOX NEWS CHANNEL, it's toll-free at 1-888-369-4762.

As I wrote to FOX, to Dr. Alvarez and to Bill O'Reilly: "My fellow post-abortive colleague and I have been studying and writing about this research for almost 3 years now and we are unpaid amateurs. What's FOX's and Dr. Alvarez' excuse for not uncovering the same published studies above that we have known about all that time?"
Cross-posted on After Abortion.
Posted by annie at February 13, 2007 6:52 PM
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Prior Articles:
The "I Want Abortion" Generation - Feb 12, 2007
Obama, Religion and Abortion - Feb 12, 2007
Marketing abortion properly - Feb 08, 2007
NEJM survey: doctors against abortion, for consciences - Feb 07, 2007
Pro-Life Legislation Reduces Abortion - Feb 07, 2007
Call for Life Today! - Friday February the 2nd - Feb 02, 2007
Never Again? What About Our Preborn Children? - Feb 01, 2007
South Dakota Lawmakers Prepare New Abortion Measure - Jan 29, 2007

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Comments

Yeah, when I saw that page I didn't even finish reading it. I turned away in disgust. I'd expected better from Fox News. I guess they're trying to win the Lunatic Left.Posted by: Christina on February 13, 2007 8:37 PM