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Screenshot from Illinois Right to Life video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkRODr_BfmE
Humanize From Discovery Institute's Center on Human Exceptionalism
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Bobby Schindler on the 20th Anniversary of the Death of Terri Schiavo

Season
4
Episode
12
With
Wesley J. Smith
Guest(s)
Bobby Schindler
Duration
1:07:52
Download
Audio File (93.21M)
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For those who may not remember, Terri Schiavo was a profoundly cognitively disabled woman who became the subject of a legal and cultural battle that made international headlines. The case became a bitter and protracted conflict between Michael Schiavo, Terri’s husband who wanted to pull her feeding tube, and the Schindler family that fought to save their child and sister’s life. In the end, the courts granted Schiavo permission to do as he wanted. It took two weeks for Terri to die.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of her death, and it seems a good time to take stock of the meaning and legacy of her case.

Wesley’s guest is Terri’s brother, Bobby Schindler. He is president of the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network that advocates for the medically vulnerable. The Life & Hope Network have been instrumental in providing resources and support to over 4,000 patients and families at risk of euthanasia, assisted suicide, and denial-of-care situations from physicians, hospitals, insurance companies, etc.

Bobby is also a Paige Comstock Cunningham Senior Fellow at Americans United for Life, and an Associate Scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute. He is a regular contributor to LifeNews.com. His writings have also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, TIME, National Review, Human Life Review, Townhall.com, The Federalist, The Daily Caller, The Washington Times, and others.

Bobby and his family authored the book A Life That Matters: The Legacy of Terri Schiavo as a resource for those seeking to understand an accurate account of Terri’s fight.

Bobby has spoken in more than 46 states and in over a dozen countries. He has spoken to young people at dozens of high schools, colleges, and universities, with special emphasis on medical and law students. He has testified before state legislatures in Texas, Florida, Louisiana, California, Kentucky, Ohio, and has addressed Members of Parliament in Australia and Canada concerning the protection of the medically vulnerable.

Bobby holds an M.S. in Bioethics and a Certificate in Health Care Ethics from the National Catholic Bioethics Center, as well as degrees from LaSalle University and Florida State University. This is his second appearance on the podcast.

Related Resources

  • Terri Schiavo’s Website | terrischiavo.org
  • Catholic Healthcare International Website | chi-usa.com
  • Terri Schiavo Home for the Brain Injured | CHI
  • A Life That Matters: The Legacy of Terri Schiavo by Mary and Robert Schindler, Bobby Schindler, and Suzanne Schindler | Amazon
  • “The Media Still Can’t Get the Facts about Terri Schiavo Right” by Wesley J. Smith | National Review

Wesley J. Smith

Chair and Senior Fellow, Center on Human Exceptionalism
Wesley J. Smith is Chair and Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Center on Human Exceptionalism. Wesley is a contributor to National Review and is the author of 14 books, in recent years focusing on human dignity, liberty, and equality. Wesley has been recognized as one of America’s premier public intellectuals on bioethics by National Journal and has been honored by the Human Life Foundation as a “Great Defender of Life” for his work against suicide and euthanasia. Wesley’s most recent book is Culture of Death: The Age of “Do Harm” Medicine, a warning about the dangers to patients of the modern bioethics movement.
Tags
assisted suicide
Bobby Schindler
denial-of-care
euthanasia
Terri Schiavo