I think that a lot of people may actually be looking forward to Terri Schiavo's death, thinking that once her life ends then so will the media frenzy, the religious extremists' media spotlight, and the interminable debate. That probably won't be the case, though - you should prepare for the ordeal to continue.

Given the way Michael Schiavo has been demonized or allowed to be demonized by Terri Schiavo's parents, the Schindlers, we should not assume that Terri's death will end their quest to exact vengeance on him. How can they achieve this? The Schindlers will probably file a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in order to: keep him from profiting (like from a book), keep him tied up in the courts, keep him as broke as possible, keep him from living a normal life again. They have backing and funding from powerful Christian Right organizations; Michael Schiavo does not appear to have anything.

Filing a wrongful death lawsuit makes even more sense given the fact that much of the acrimony between Michael Schiavo and the Schindlers appears to be because Michael didn't give them any of the money he received from the lawsuit settlement he received after of what happened to Terri Schiavo. USA Today explains:

Despite the row over money, Schiavo and the Schindlers agreed on one major point in the 2000 testimony: the extent of Terri's brain damage, according to additional court documents cited by The Miami Herald. In the documents, Pamela Campbell, then the Schindlers' lawyer, told the court that "we do not doubt that she's in a persistent vegetative state." Campbell could not be reached to confirm the statement.

At this point, however, the gulf between Schiavo and the Schindlers could not be bridged. "On Feb. 14, 1993, this amicable relationship between the parties was severed," Greer wrote. "While the testimony differs on what may or may not have been promised to whom and by whom, it is clear to this court that such severance was predicated upon money and the fact that Mr. Schiavo was unwilling to equally divide his loss of consortium award with Mr. and Mrs. Schindler."

Daniel Grieco, the attorney who handled Michael Schiavo's malpractice case, says his client never promised money to Bob Schindler. He also said Schindler never understood that he wasn't entitled to money under Florida law. Grieco says the money is at the root of the estrangement. "It was the precipitating factor," Grieco says. "That was the fracture. That was the basis of it." [emphasis added]

Michael Schiavo received $300,000 as a "loss of consortium" reward. This was payment for the loss of the companionship of his wife. Terri Schiavo's heart attack occurred when she was just 27, so she and Michael could have been together another 50 years. In exchange for a lifetime of companionship, $300,000 isn't much. Because he refused to split it with Terri's greedy parents, he's lost it all in legal costs fighting them.

People from the Christian Right like to argue that Michael Schiavo wants his wife to die because he wants access to his wife's settlement money — even though it's clear that hardly any of that money is left. These same people dishonestly leave out the fact that the entire legal case began because the Schindlers wanted half of Michael Schiavo's money.

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• Terri Schiavo: News & Issues