I just participated in an interview with David Gibbs III, the lawyer for Terri Schiavo's parents, on the radio here a few minutes ago.
He said that the Florida Division of Children and Families (DCF) has filed a sealed "petition for intervention" today with Judge Greer, presumably because there are credible allegations that Terri has been abused.
It's not known yet how this will affect the current stay, which is scheduled to expire tommorrow, but Gibbs and Terri's family see it as a very positive, encouraging development. It is beyond question that the public response that Governor Bush has been receiving played a part in this most recent move.
Gibbs said that it is essential that further investigation take place because there are so many suspicious circumstances surrounding Terri's original injury and subsequent treatment. He also pointed out that it was odd, to say the least, that Michael Schiavo sued Terri's doctors for malpractice, promising to stay with her for the rest of her life, and only after winning the case (and the monetary award, which was to be for her rehabilitation) did he suddenly "remember" that Terri once said she'd never want to be kept alive in such a condition.
I asked Gibbs how Terri's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, were doing in all this, and he said it's been very difficult, as anyone can understand. The rulings change daily, which is agonizing for them. He said they had some health concerns for Mary Schindler earlier this week, and the strain on them is quite evident. But they love their daughter, and are determined to see this through. Gibbs himself said he looks forward to a day when "Terri is at home with her family eating dinner with them."
He added that they have instructed him to press this case as far as it can go, exhausting every possible appeal.
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