'A Black Mark in American Law'
Member of Awana board of directors recounts his experience as lead attorney fighting for the life of Terri Schiavo

When the lawyer for Robert and Mary Schindler quit in 2003, saying nothing else could be done to save their brain-damaged daughter, Terri Schiavo, from her husband's attempts through the courts to remove her feeding tube, the Schindlers turned to the Christian Law Association (CLA) and David Gibbs III.

Over the next two years, Gibbs was thrust into the national spotlight as the Schiavo case stirred a passionate debate about issues of life and death.

Yet, unbeknownst to most Americans, besides his zeal for legal justice, Gibbs also is fervently committed to children's ministry. He and his wife have been Awana leaders for several years, and his children attend club. Gibbs has also served on the Awana board of directors since 2004. President/CEO Jack Eggar and Co-Founder/President Emeritus Art Rorheim believed his legal background would provide a valuable perspective to board policy and governance.

In his work with the CLA, Gibbs has defended numerous children’s ministries and church outreaches. The CLA has been serving churches and ministries across the U.S. for more than 35 years, fighting against religious discrimination and helping ministries learn how to operate safely, effectively and legally.

Before his handling of the Schiavo case, Gibbs was a relatively unknown “legal missionary.” Cases he previously argued include defending a group of children’s homes near Corpus Christi, Texas and attempting to persuade Hillsborough County (Florida)  commissioners to pass a tougher anti-nudity ordinance. His work on moral issues appealed to the Schindlers.

Case of Terri Schiavo
Once hired to represent Schiavo, Gibbs helped to get “Terri’s Law” passed in the Florida legislature in 2003. Though that law was eventually ruled unconstitutional, Gibbs continued to fight to save Terri, though ultimately the courts ruled in favor of her husband. Michael Schiavo, along with several other witnesses, claimed Terri said she did not want to be kept alive artificially.

The controversy stemmed from a 1990 incident in which Terri suffered cardiac arrest, which resulted in oxygen deprivation that permanently damaged Terri’s brain. Most doctors consulted on the case said Terri was in a persistent vegetative state and had no hope of recovery, though some did argue she was in a minimally conscious state. On March 18, 2005, legal appeals ended, and Terri’s feeding tube was removed. She died the morning of March 31, 2005.

“We did everything we could legally. Politicians did everything they could,” Gibbs said. “At the end of the day, the courts ordered a woman to be killed."

The fight for Schiavo's life was one of the most difficult cases of Gibbs' career.

“It was an emotionally taxing experience," Gibbs said. "There were life and death consequences and everything moved very quickly. We went from court to court quickly.”

Turning point
Gibbs and many other Christians believe our nation is at a critical crossroads in our history. “If this is not stopped, all disabled people, senior citizens and others will be in an unprotected state,” he said. “It’s a wake-up call for the nation.

“America historically has been a nation that defends those that cannot defend themselves. It is ironic that we are overseas fighting for liberty, which is very important, yet I stood in a room in Florida and looked at a young lady and watched her starve to death. It’s tragic that soldiers are giving their lives in Iraq but while we’re doing that around the world we’re starving to death one of our own.”

Biblical vs. human viewpoint
The Schiavo case brought to the forefront issues of life and death and morality. What is right and what is wrong? How can we know who to trust or who to believe? These are not always easy questions to answer.

Further, many Christians were divided on the issues involved. Some supported Terri’s husband, Michael, while others supported her parents. Some Christians wanted government intervention, while others did not. Numerous medical and legal experts disagreed on important elements in the case, compounding the confusion.

Gibbs said all of these debates pointed to the importance of developing a biblical worldview and discernment skills in all Christians, especially children. For Gibbs, the differences of opinion, even among Christians, boiled down to a difference between biblical viewpoints and human viewpoints.

“Christians came up to me and said that because she was so disabled it’s just as well she was dead,” he said. “In their human opinion they don’t value the disabled. The biblical viewpoint is that God is the giver of all life, the allower of disabilities. God and God alone is the ender of life.”

In fighting for the rights of patients such as Schiavo, Gibbs pointed to biblical precedents for caring for “the least of these.” The Bible repeatedly calls Christians to care for the less fortunate.

“The Bible expresses God’s heart toward children, widows, orphans, the disabled, people that had nothing,” Gibbs said. “The teaching of the Bible is clearly that God has a heart for those that cannot speak for themselves. He said that when you do something for the least of these, you are doing it for Me.”

“America is at a point of decision,” he said. “Will we go the way that Terri doesn’t matter, we will throw her away, her life doesn’t count, adopt the selfish, disposable mindset, or will we adopt the heart of God and care for the weak and unprotected?”

'She was as alive as you and I'
Gibbs wished people could have seen more of Schiavo. “I guarantee you that any Christian that would walk in that room with me and see Terri or watch her starve to death would have had their heart break, would have said this is not right,” he said.

Gibbs said TV was unable to show the extent of Terri’s activity. “Any video clips you have seen on TV, multiply them times 10," he said. "She was way more active than anything you saw.

“Terri Schiavo was as alive as you and I. She recognized people, would follow you around with her eyes, would try to talk back, try to say I love you to her mom, would cry when her mother would leave and felt pain. It’s a tragedy in America that an innocent disabled woman who’s done nothing wrong would face a fate that we would not allow for an animal or a convicted mass murderer. It was a very sad day in American history, a black mark in American law that we will look back on someday and wonder, ‘What were we thinking?’”

In spite of the loss of their daughter, the Schindlers are moving on. “The family has accepted the fact that Terri has left this world and entered eternity as God’s will,” Gibbs said. “They understand that while it was not their will, it was God’s. They are now focusing on where to go from here to build on her legacy, what is God’s will now.”

The Schindlers have established a special Web site to provide more information on Terri.