Three Persistent Lies About Terri

I don't understand why media like the Associated Press, TV news reports and some newspapers insist on telling the public that Terri Schiavo is in a vegetative state and is totally helpless. That's simply not so and it's not only documented thoroughly by first-hand witnesses but by court documents that are public records. Yet the media persists as if just saying so will make it so. Look at this:

February 19, 2005
Terri Schiavo's documented vocabulary
From the Empire Journal (please read the whole article), a list of Terri Schiavo's documented vocabulary references:

Witness: Nurse Heidi Law
* mommy
* momma
* help me

Witness: Nurse Carla Sauerlyer
* pay (meaning "pain" when she was in discomfort)
* Haaaiii (meaning "Hi" in response to "Hi Terri")
* mommy
* help me ("Help me was, in fact, one of her more frequent utterances. I heard her say it hundreds of times."

Terri's Mediplex records:
* stop (in reference to one medical procedure being done on her)

Terri's family members:
* ugh-hugh (meaning yes)
* ugh-ugh (meaning no)
* yea ('yea' was a word she reportedly first re-learned to speak in 2002.)
* No

All this, despite being refused any rehabilitative services, such as speech therapy.

There's another lie I've heard repeated several times over the media in the past two days:

Media repeats misrepresentations in Terri Schiavo case:Clearwater, FL -- On February 24, 2005, Associated Press released a report penned by Vickie Chachere which cited an eating disorder as the cause of Terri Schiavo’s mysterious collapse and ensuing brain injury on February 25, 1990.
Contrary to the account of writer Chachere, there was never a determination by any court nor the Florida Department of Health that Terri Schiavo ever suffered from any eating disorder, bulimia, anorexia or compulsive behavior that would lead to a heart failure at the age of 26.

Another persistent lie, perpetuated by Michael, is that Terri wants to die. But a woman Michael dated the year after Terri was hospitalized testified, under oath in a deposition for the court:

Regarding Terri’s care, according to Cindy Shook, Michael Schiavo said

"How the hell should I know we never spoke about this, my God I was only 25 years old. How the hell should I know? We were young. We never spoke of this."