Topic: WorldNetDaily
A Feb. 27 WorldNetDaily article on Barack Obama saying that it was a mistake for Congress to intervene in the Terri Schiavo case follows in WND's tradition of misleading claims about the case and bias toward Schiavo's parents, the Schindlers, and against her husband, Michael.
For instance, the article stated that "Michael Schiavo said his wife was suffering from bulimia nervosa at the time of the still-unexplained 1990 collapse that left her injured. He alleged verbal abuse can trigger the eating disorder, and he accused Terri's father of such abuse, a charge described by family members as 'offensive.' " It continued:
The accusation appeared to be an attempt to turn the tables on the family, who in 2002 uncovered a report of a full-body bone scan done on Terri that indicated she had sustained several broken bones and led the interpreting radiologist to conclude she was the victim of abuse.
This suggestion that Michael Schiavo abused Terri is, by contrast, not countered by any statement from him, let alone the facts.
As one observer pointed out, the radiologist's observations are "pure speculation"; indeed, "the radiologist does note this in the report by stating that the abnormal areas could also be caused by cancer, infection, or infarcts."
The article stated that the claim about the bone scan came from "Diana Lynne, who authored 'Terri's Story: The Court-Ordered Death of an American Woman.'" Unmentioned is the confict-of-interest fact that Lynne was an employee of WND at the time the book -- rife with pro-Schindler, anti-Michael bias, as we detailed -- was published.
The article also states: "Michael Schiavo was awarded a judgment of $750,000 for continuing care for his wife, but WND reported court records show he spent $456,816 of the total on lawyers pursuing her death." This ignores what was spent on lawyers on behalf of the Schindlers, which even Lynne was forced to admit was in excess of $400,000, after writing disingenuously in her book of the Schindlers' side being only a a grass-roots effort."
