Clarifying what "Death Panels" are

Both Lisa Graas and I are fans of conservative pundit, Cal Thomas, but she felt, as I do, that his description of what Sarah Palin meant as "Death Panels" required clarification. It is not hairsplitting to distinguish between discussion of last wishes and denial of care as Lisa explains over at her site.

That is a reference to rationing by the IPAB. Note her reference to Ezekiel Emanuel who proposed a utilitarian system of rationing, which is what the IPAB has the potential to be…with or without end-of-life counseling. For example, if a Down Syndrome child has RSV, a system of rationing wouldn’t require any end-of-life counseling to result in the deteriorating health or death of the child. The only thing necessary for that would be a rationing board (IPAB) saying “no treatment for Down Syndrome children”. The child, then, never even gets to SEE a doctor, let alone any kind of ‘counseling’ coming into play. Understand? (That is, of course, a hypothetical scenario.)

The President, after Palin’s initial note, then came out and mentioned the end-of-life-counseling which she then responded to.

By the way when you find yourself in this situation as you most surely will someday, the National Catholic Biotethics Center has a 24 hour hotline to help counsel you and some general guidelines here
The most important point in discussing end of life care is WHOM you are discussing it with, your faithful pastor, or an agent of death like Judge Greer, who presided over Terri Schiavo's dehydration murder (and is mercifully retiring now).
This is why overturning Obamacare has to be the new Congress' first priority.
.
Read Lisa Graas's post here.

"Brain dead" patients aware and responding say brain scans

If only Terri Schiavo were allowed to live to this day, she would be vindicated.
Brain scans done on "Brain dead" patients are proving that they understand and respond to questions. We just weren't astute enough to hear them until now.
But wait, far from using this advance to help alleviate suffering by asking these patients what they've been trying to tell us, Kevorkian types want to ask them if they want to die.

But folks are already noting that the new technique may put more pressure on people suffering from PVS to just go ahead and die.

So what can—and by rights should—be a vindication for pro-lifers may get twisted into a new way to promote euthanasia

What could be a great advance in compassion, will be just another inroad for the Culture of Death unless valiant Catholics in health care stand up for life.
.
Read the entire story here.

Montana to allow doctor-assisted suicide

from the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation.
The Supreme Court of Montana vacated a trial judge’s ruling that the Constitution of Montana prohibited assisted suicide for the terminally ill—but construed the state’s living will law as permitting doctors to prescribe lethal overdoses if the patient self administers. From the conclusion of the majority opinion:

“In conclusion, we find nothing in Montana Supreme Court precedent or Montana statutes indicating that physician aid in dying is against public policy. The ‘against public policy’ exception to consent has been interpreted by this Court as applicable to violent breaches of the public peace.”

(continue reading...)

Man assumed to be in vegetative state was fully conscious for 23 years

Of course he was!
Just because someone cannot communicate, it doesn't make them a vegetable (awful word). How many poor souls are in a similar situation and have had family members or medial staff make decisions to end their lives against their will, in their full knowlege. They say the sense of hearing is the last to go in a comatose patient. Talk to your loved ones in a coma, tell them you love them. Pray for them.
That is why if you treat all human life with dignity, you will neve make this tragic mistake.
Read the full story here.
Rush Limbagh mentioned this at the end of his program, saying that the pro-life movement will have a lot of ammunition with this case. But since when does the truth interfere with the opinions of the pro-death crowd?
I delayed posting this, due to Thanksgiving, and predictably, the Culture of Death is closing ranks and denying that he is really 'awake'.

Fr Tad on euthanasia

In May of this year, we suddenly discovered that my mother, age 74 had terminal cancer. We experienced some of what that Fr Tad discusses in this article in The Pilot about palliative care vs euthanasia. Relieving pain may shorten the life of a dying person, and make them addicted,  but it is NOT euthanasia. Fr Tad says,
" Pain management is a serious, if not central obligation for health care professionals and for all who care for the dying. Although we may never choose directly to cause death by using high doses of pain medication, such medicines may be given to dying persons, even if the successively higher doses required for effective pain remediation may indirectly end up shortening their life. Good hospice or palliative care diligently seeks to provide effective, but not excessive, pain medication."
My father often found the Palliative Care Team in a Catholic hospital woefully ignorant about Church teaching on end of life issues. For example, they called Terri Shindler Schiavo "Brain dead" and thought that her dehydration murder was merciful. Mercy had no place in her death; it was horribly painful.
 We have much to learn about enf of life issues, but the question is, are we interested?
Will it be too late when Obamacare comes in and anwers those questions for us?
Is that what we want, keep enjoying our TV shows and live for today lifestyles and not being bothered to think and read up on these issues, leaving them to a hospital when the time comes?
Not a good idea. Someday it may be you that is cut off without recourse.
I was asked by a non-believing relative; "Isn't death what Catholics look forward to? I mean, why the fuss, if you go there a little sooner?" The answer I gave was we want to go when God sends us and not a minute sooner. We all have a job to do on earth, even if some of it is suffering in a hospice. My mother offered up her suffering for this person as she died in the last four months of her life. Two days after her death, he baptized his young children. That time Mom had to suffer, and she did offer it for him, was part of her mission for her life. We had no right to shorten her life intentionally and deprive her of this magnificent act of sacrifice.
Life is precious to its last moments.
 I described Mom's happy death in my column at Catholic Mom.com. If you love someone who is terminally ill, give them the dignity of a happy death. It will be your last act of love for them.

Sarah Palin refuses to drop 'death panels' term

And why should she? Given the track record of Ezekiel Emmanuel, the president's advisor on health care, who favors euthanasia, she better keep that term fresh in our memories. Look at the euthanasia already taking place in the UK, and you are viewing the future of Obamacare.
Wesley Smith has a piece in First Things explaining the origin of the death panels provision in Obamacare. Sarah explains where they are in the bill.
"Now look at one way Mr. Obama wants to eliminate inefficiency and waste: He's asked Congress to create an Independent Medicare Advisory Council—an unelected, largely unaccountable group of experts charged with containing Medicare costs. In an interview with the New York Times in April, the president suggested that such a group, working outside of "normal political channels," should guide decisions regarding that "huge driver of cost . . . the chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives . . . ."
Given such statements, is it any wonder that many of the sick and elderly are concerned that the Democrats' proposals will ultimately lead to rationing of their health care by—dare I say it—death panels? Establishment voices dismissed that phrase, but it rang true for many Americans. Working through "normal political channels," they made themselves heard, and as a result Congress will likely reject a wrong-headed proposal to authorize end-of-life counseling in this cost-cutting context. But the fact remains that the Democrats' proposals would still empower unelected bureaucrats to make decisions affecting life or death health-care matters. Such government overreaching is what we've come to expect from this administration. "
Read the entire story in the Wall Street Journal.

Robert Schindler, pro-life hero has gone to Jesus

A message about the passing of Robert Schindler, who fought bravely for Terri Schindler Schiavo's life. He has gone home to his reward, and I know Terri will be the first to embrace him.
"Well done, good and faithful servant" will be the words he hears from Our Lord.
No 24 hour news coverage here, yet he certainly was in the news while his son-in-law was starving his daughter to death.
Keep his legacy alive. Fight the euthanasia in health care.



Dear LifeNews.com Readers,
It is with tremendous sadness that we reported this weekend on the passing of Robert Schindler, the father of Terri Schiavo.
From those who have experienced it, it is always a horrendous ordeal to outlive your children, but even worse when your daughter's life is taken away from you and your family by someone whose motivations are entirely different.
At the same time as we mourned the sadness of losing Terri to a tremendously painful starvation and euthanasia death, we pro-life people recognized -- perhaps none moreso than Bob Schindler and the rest of his family -- that Terri's death was an opportunity God put in our laps.
With the starting of the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation, Bob and his family sounded the alarm about how Terri's abhorrent treatment was but the tip of the iceberg. So many disabled, elderly and other people who need medical care and treatment are having it deprived them from doctors, hospitals, the government and even the ones they love.
Sadly, the situation is getting worse before it gets better.
The plight of Terri Schiavo has been followed by more states and more nations legalizing assisted suicide.
The health care bills in Congress push a quality of life ethic that tells patients the amount and type of medical care they should receive is based upon some arbitrary government standard and that some lives are not as worth living as others.
In HR 3200, doctors are given financial incentives to potentially push a reduced level of medical care or to suggest that grandma and grandpa may be better off to withdraw food and water or sign a DNR order prematurely.
Worse, in states like Oregon and Washington, our own government, in this government-run health care plan, would pay for physicians to suggest that patients consider the option of assisted suicide.
Our veterans, who have given so much for the freedom and liberties we enjoy every day, are seeing their own government send them materials telling them they may need to consider whether they are a burden on others. Here the heroes of America, who bore the burdens so many of us have never had to bear, are told they should consider sacrificing their own lives after they already sacrificed so much.
In such a short time since Bob Schindler and Mary and Bobby and Suzanne faced the nightmare of losing their daughter and sister to an estranged husband with his own agenda, the euthanasia movement is more forcefully pushing its agenda on us.
Will we push back? Will we fight against these notions that our bravest and most cherished people should get out of the way so we don't have to bear their burdens?
The Bible calls on people to bear each others burdens. The Schindler family did just for so many people that after Terri died. Now, it is our turn.
When it comes to the Schindlers, will you take time to pray for them as they mourn and grieve the loss of a loving father and husband?
When it comes to the disabled, the elderly, the sick and those who need a little extra help, will you support them? Please consider reading the LifeNews.com story about Robert and send a check to the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation to encourage their work to protect other Terris.
And if you have a little extra, please consider supporting LifeNews.com.
We will always cover pro-life issues on abortion, but we will never tire of joining our friends in the Schindler family by lighting a candle with them to shine a light on the plight of medically vulnerable people.
LifeNews.com will continue joining the Schindlers in taking the lead to highlight the growing culture of death that pushes euthanasia and assisted suicide. We will continue to keep you informed about what you can do to protect your family, yourself and others. We will battle back when that slippery slope gets slicker and the sanctity of human life is devalued further.
On behalf of LifeNews.com, we thank the Schindler family.
We know Bob and Terri are enjoying a warm embrace in Heaven. And we know they are looking down on us and asking every pro-life person to do just a little more to let the world know that life should be cherished, from the little baby before birth to the little lady near death.
I hope you'll join us in keeping up that fight. Enjoy the story about Bob Schindler and please consider a donation to help them and help us.
Steven Ertelt, Editor Life News

This photo of Suzanne Schindler Vitadamo and Brother Paul O'Donnell was taken at the Hyatt prolife confernce at the March for Life 2008. They carry on Terri's legacy by helping people whose loved ones are in similar situations.

Disabled man saves UK from euthanasia law

Joanna Bogle blogs about this at A Catholic Journalist in London.
"Baroness Campbell has suffered since babyhood from a crippling disease, sometimes needing a ventilator to help her breathe. She cannot walk and is confined to a wheelchair. This has not stopped her having a distinguished career culminating in being appointed to the House of Lords. Her speech denouncing the notion of “assisted suicide” spoke passionately about the way in which it would put pressure on people who felt that their families found them a burden, and revealed the thoughts and feelings of one who knew only too well that she had more than once been deemed to have a life not worth enduring. This was a voice of truth and courage. "

This is why I blog; to let my voice be heard regarding the dignity of human life, before we completely to the Culture of Death.
Yet today two Senate committees approved taxpayer funding of abortions; in Washington DC and one in our proposed national health care. Democrats defunded tax vouchers for the poor in DC to attend private schools, but if they want to kill their children rather than educate them, why the taxpayer will foot the bill.
This ignores recent polling which shows Americans are increasingly prolife. Over 86% of Americans favor some restrictions on abortion. Under Roe v Wade, abortion is legal for the entire pregnancy.

Four years ago, Terri Schindler Schiavo's dehydration began

We must never forget the national scandal of starving and dehydrating Terri Schiavo. What kind of nation does this to a young disabled woman who is NOT in imminent danger of death/
Read the entire story at Life News.

Nightmare of mercy killing

Dr Davenport, an OB in California paints a horrifying picture in the following scenario of the not-too distant future when socialized health care removes a physician's ability to make ethical decisions.
This is already happening. My 82 year old aunt who is reasonably healthy though on dialysis for 3 years, was admitted to a Catholic hospital this week for complications related to gallstones. The doctor asked her children if they wanted to treat her, or let her die of her symptoms.
They were horrified. She was treated and is doing much better.
We are in the Brave New World of Aldous Huxley.

"You feel vaguely uncomfortable as you are placed in a darkened room in the Comfort Care wing of the hospital. In moments of lucidity, you wonder if you shouldn't have some oxygen, an IV or SOMETHING! But the appropriate therapy, kidney dialysis, is not on the approved list of treatments for patients over 65, having been deemed too expensive. The new regulations from the Department of Health and Human Services were presented just last month to your hospital's Futile Care Committee. It was decided at the highest levels that for those over 65 years of age, renal dialysis would not be a beneficial treatment, that the alternatives of a kidney transplant were too expensive, and that your quality of life on chronic dialysis would be too diminished.

Read the entire story on The American Thinker.

Poison in the Stimulus Package

I haven't posted much on the Stimulus Bill because I try to keep to life issues here, and once the contraceptive provision was eliminated the worst thing you could say about the bill is that it would put us in enormous debt forever, probably beholden to potentially hostile foreign powers. But then, we elected Democrats whose track record should have told us as much.
Unfortunately, that is not the end of the story on this dangerous stimulus bill, however. It's a sneak attack to re-write our healthcare system, virtually same program as Bill Clinton tried to foist on us publicly. But Obama is clever, he has learned from the debacle which Bill Clinton's plan suffered. His changes to the health care systemare to be accomplished by stealth, they are buried deep in the 2,000 page bill which was given first to lobbyists, THEN to members of Congress last night, so they'd have to read ALL NIGHT to cover all the provisions. It's a safe guess that few if any in Congress will have read the bill before the vote.
IF this is the beginning of socialized health care, and the anti-life appointees of the Obama administration are the ones deciding who gets what care, you can say goodbye to frail elderly, frail premature babies, or handicapped relatives. They are akin to the "useless eaters" of National Socialism(Nazi Party) of 1930s Germany. If you are too feeble to produce, you don't get care. IF you are a health care provider who disagrees with the denial of care, you're out of a job. This is a death sentence for many in this nation.
Here's an inteview on Lou Dobbs where the dangerous provisions of the Stimulus Plan are described. ( All comments in black are mine). This is from an email, the Lou Dobbs Show and the Conservative Caucus.
What the "Stimulus Bill" has hidden deep in page 496 has very disturbing implications. One world order is on the move. Everybody, down on your knees! It’s the only way we can weather this thing.

"It [the Stimulus Bill] promises several things. It promises that whatever the system is, it's going to eliminate inefficient care, excessive care, duplicate of care. It's going to eliminate disparities of care between one person and another…Whatever the federal government deems unnecessary care. Take a look at page 442. And worse yet, and now I'm speaking really to the physicians, this bill gives the secretary of health and human services the power to determine which doctors are "meaningful users of this new system." That's against the rules not to be. And empowers the secretary to use "increasingly stringent measures to enforce compliance." Translation: you better not claim that our new policies bother your conscience, or you're out of a job.
- Fmr. NY Lt Governor Betsy McCaughey on "Lou Dobbs Tonight" 2/10/09
Dear Fellow Republicans, Conservatives, Constitutionalists, and other Patriotic Americans:
Buried in the "Stimulus Bill" is a provision that gives the HHS Secretary the power to deny patients "excessive" care. What is excessive care and who decides what is excessive care? Answer; the HHS Secretary! (I thought liberals didn't want the government getting in the way of health decisions between the patient and his/her doctor – as they say when they defend legal abortion). In short, this bill makes the HHS Secretary America's health dictator. Is providing a feeding tube to a brain damaged woman excessive care? How about a feeding tube to a elderly or disabled person? How about cancer surgery to someone over 80?
I just found about this last night. Lord only knows how many other radical measures are buried in this bill. No wonder why they are rushing this through. Call your Senators and congressman and tell them to pull this out.
Below is the Lou Dobbs Tonight transcript and a Conservative Caucus bulletin.


Lou Dobbs Transcript:
DOBBS:Well, hidden deep within the stimulus package are provisions that could greatly limit the health care that we all receive. My next guest says those provisions in fact could give the federal government unprecedented control over our medical treatment. Betsy McCaughey is former governor of New York , she's the founder and the chair of the committee to reduce infection deaths. She's also senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. Great to have you with us. BETSY MCCAUGHEY, CMTE. TO REDUCE INFECTION DEATHS: Thank you. I really appreciate this opportunity to call to the public's attention and actually encourage them to look in this bill which anybody can download now. It looks big. But if you have a computer, you can download it. DOBBS: We're having warring legislation.
MCCAUGHEY: I've got my pink slips on mine. And this bill will affect every individual in the United States . The bill is emphatic about that. Every person in the United States , every individual, check out page 445, 454, 479. It says several things, Lou. First of all, it says that every single person in the U.S. must have their medical treatments entered into an electronic federal data base. Now, electronic medical records can be a good thing. It means if you have to go to the hospital, you can get your records instantly. That your doctor has more at his fingertips when he needs that information.
DOBBS: I think everyone would agree, absolutely beneficial.
MCCAUGHEY: Yes. DOBBS: And something that we would look forward to. Your problem -- MCCAUGHEY: It's compulsory, however. In addition, it goes much farther than that. It promises several things. It promises that whatever the system is, it's going to eliminate inefficient care, excessive care, duplicate of care. It's going to eliminate disparities of care between one person and another.
DOBBS: The issue is, in whose opinion is it --
MCCAUGHEY: That's right. Whatever the federal government deems unnecessary care. Take a look at page 442. And worse yet, and now I'm speaking really to the physicians, this bill gives the secretary of health and human services the power to determine which doctors are "meaningful users of this new system." That's against the rules not to be. And empowers the secretary to use "increasingly stringent measures to enforce compliance." DOBBS: You know the proponents of this legislation are saying that it's only about the technology, only about the data. How do you respond?
MCCAUGHEY: First of all, I'd like to know why it's slipped in here, this is a stimulus bill. It's about taxing and spending. The spending --
DOBBS: I know you well enough to know when you ask a question, you've got the answer.
MCCAUGHEY: I looked at page 196 of Tom Daschle's book. Remember, he was planning on being secretary of HHS, Health and Human Services. On page 196 he said he was going to advise the next president, this was written before President Obama was elected, that any health care legislation be slipped into a budget bill, so that it would avoid debate or delay. He said this issue is so important, that it should not be stalled by senate protocol. Well, senate protocol is his word for it. I call it democracy.
DOBBS: We wouldn't want to burden government with a little thing like a vote, and actual hearings. A little bit like the economic stimulus legislation, isn't it.
MCCAUGHEY: That's right. Where is the transparency they promised?
DOBBS: And where are we headed with this legislation? We'll find out.


CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS:
Dear Fellow American,
I urge you to immediately call your two U.S. Senators at 202-224-3121 and urge them to vote NO on the "Stimulus" bill. Hidden in the massive stimulus bill is the first part of the socialized health care system we've been dreading, and it could kill you—literally.
Government bureaucrats will draw up charts assigning arbitrary values to each element of health care, and weigh them against factors such as age and medical history; and someone you will never be able to meet will decide whether or not your life is insufficiently valuable to treat, and they could prevent your doctor from providing the treatment you need.
In 2006, a similar English system ordered that elderly patients with macular degeneration had to wait until they went blind in one eye before they could get a costly drug to save the other eye. That could become an everyday drama in hospitals and doctors offices across the country. They might as well tattoo "Die" on the victim's foreheads.
This was one of the ideas Senator Daschle recommended, and while public outrage kept him from being confirmed to be the HHS Secretary, his deadly idea lives on, hidden in the stimulus bill which will be voted on anytime in the next few days. The bill number is H.R. 1, but it's just known as the Stimulus Bill. You can call it the "Death Stimulus Bill" when you call, just so they get the point.
Please call both your senators at 202-224-3121 now. Tell them to vote NO on the stimulus bill and that there is health care rationing in the bill. Post it on blogs and websites. Call and email talk shows. Email a letter to the editor of your newspaper. You can email your Senators, but please call them first because they will notice if we jam the phone lines, but they could ignore email until after the vote.
You can also call the Senator's home-state offices, you'll find the numbers on their websites at www.Senate.gov. Senate emails: www.conservativeusa.org/mega-cong.htm.
We must spread the alarm immediately to stop this bill.

You can read the bill yourself at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h1eh.txt.pdf or read the status at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.1: (you do need the colon at the end of this address). Most of the dangerous health care parts of the bill are on pages 190-192, 442, 444-446, 479, 511, 518 and 540-541.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Art HarmanWebmaster
The Conservative Caucus

UPDATE:
A prolife doctor friend was very discouraged by this news and wrote:
"I don't know what the future holds for our country. Some days it is just all too depressing. Looks like I may have to find another career... or go underground, but then the govt probably wouldn't give me a medical license to practice since they already control that."

Eulana Englaro dehydrated to death

An Italian version of Terri Schiavo's tragic dehydration death has come to Italy, in the shadow of the Vatican. This time it was the victim's own father who insisted on killing her, despite efforts from the Italian Parliament, and Prime Minister, she has died.
"Last week, the comatose 37-year-old Italian woman was taken by her father Beppino from a hospital in Lecco, Italy, where Eluana was receiving care from Sisters of Mercy. She had been in a coma since 1992 as a result of injuries she sustained in a car accident.
Her father acted without legal authorization, in order to place Eluana in a medical clinic in Udine that was willing to kill her by depriving her of the food and hydration she required through a feeding tube in order to stay alive. "
Why is it that one person, with a will to kill a loved one can overcome the efforts of an entire national government? It happened with Terri Schiavo. Her husband Michael overcame the efforts of both Governor and President Bush, and the US Congress and successfully dehydrated his wife to death. The Culture of Death grows stronger with each tragedy like this. Don't be complacent and think this can't happen to you; a new study shows that 40% of comatose "vegetative state" patients are misdianosed.
Read the entire story at the NCR blog.

Italian nuns refuse to kill Eluana Englaro!!

God bless these brave nuns who refuse to comply with a court order to dehydrate this Italian woman! They are part of the resistance to the Culture of Death.
MILAN, November 17, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) –
The nuns who run the hospice in which Eluana Englaro has been living for 14 years have refused to carry out the court order to remove her food and hydration tube. On Friday, the highest court of appeals of Italy upheld a previous court’s ruling that Eluana Englaro, the young disabled woman who has been in a state of diminished consciousness since being in a car accident in 1992, may be killed by the removal of her food and hydration tube.
In a letter published in yesterday’s Avvenire, the daily newspaper of the Italian Bishops Conference, the Misericordine nuns of Lecco said, “Our hope, and that of many like us, is that the death by hunger and thirst of Eluana, and others in her condition, will not be carried out.”
Read the entire story on Life Site.

"It's against public policy to starve a woman"

The Delaware Legislature is defending a woman who cannot defend herself. She overdosed on heroin, and her father is caring for her against her mother's wishes. Last year, she gave birth to a baby girl, Ember Grace.
Lauren's father confirmed, "We struggle at times as we seek to share with the public the details of what is happening with Lauren because of the disagreement we have with Lauren's mother. We cannot understand her reasoning in refusing a path of hope, healing and restoration for Lauren and insisting on causing her death by withholding food and water from her. The issue in Lauren's case is the eternal truth that all people, no matter what their medical condition, bear the image of God and deserve basic care and an opportunity to be restored to health."
HT World Net Daily

The Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation is pleased with this ruling. Read more here.

Florida bishops tell Gov Christ to suspend executions

This is a good move in union with Pope John Paul II who said that in Western Countries the death penalty is rarely necessary to protect society, as long as no liberal judge can let these criminals out.
One question however, where were these bishops when Terri Schiavo was being systematically dehydrated and starved? Her own Bishop Lynch actually sent a priest as a witness for her husband, Michael Schiavo who wanted her dead, saying erroneously that the Church approved of the withholding of food and water from a woman who was obviously not near death. Pope Benedict has since reiterated Pope John Paul II's statement that food and water are NOT extraordinary care and may NOT be withheld unless the patient is dying and their administration would cause the patient discomfort.

HT CNS, Life Site News

Oregon to cancer patient: no more treatment, but we'll pay for suicide

"The state apparently considers suicide part of end-of-life 'comfort care.'
Barbara Wagner is dying of lung cancer, and Oregon won't pay for any more treatment.
But it will cover a fatal dosage of drugs so she can kill herself."

Didn't pro-lifers predict this when Oregonians approved assisted suicide? Pretty soon, both Grandma AND junior will be killed to save money in our national health care system for the taxpayers needed to support it.
Read entire article here.
HT Citizen Link

Another Terri Schiavo in the making

Lauren is a disabled young woman whose life is in danger because she can't speak for herself.
Lauren's father wants Lauren to live. Her mother, who has custody wants to dehydrate her to death a la Terri Schiavo.

"Lauren has not received rehabilitative treatment and therapy that could lead to her recovery. We marvel that though Lauren was given up for dead, that she gave birth to a daughter in her condition and even after the removal of a respirator and sealing of a tracheotomy opening, she continued to live and has steadily improved, all this with only minimal medical intervention. How much further would she progress with basic rehabilitation services?"

from her father's website
LET LAUREN LIVE!

Society is truly in love with death when a mother would let a hospital intentionally kill her own daughter BEFORE trying even the normal rehabilitation.
HT Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation

Now, here's an appropriate college speaker!

Terri Schiavo's brother, Bobby Schindler will address students at Villanova University, the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Princeton University and the University of Notre Dame.
Since Terri's deliberate and horrific death on March 31, 2005, Bobby and other members of the Schindler family have been invited to speak in nearly 150 cities across the United States and internationally, as well.
The Schindlers have dedicated their lives to helping families, educating the public and raising awareness not only about the misinformation that continues regarding Terri's situation, but also about the ongoing threat of euthanasia against the tens of thousands of others with disabilities similar to Terri's.
If you would like to attend any of these events, or have any questions, please contact Terri's Foundation or go to Terri's fight.

Bobby Schindler, brother of Terri Schindler Sciavo

At the Filipino Family Fund Champions for Family Award Celebration, I met Bobby Schindler, who impulsively hugged me when I shared how deeply his sister's murder affected me, the mother of a disabled child. When Terri died, I felt suddenly vulnerable, as I was painfully aware that my daughter Christina, who has Down syndrome, may someday be a target for denial of medical care.
It happened as recently as the 1980s. The life expectancy of individuals with Down syndrome has doubled since then, not due to any great strides in research (none was being done till quite recently) but because the life-saving heart surgery required by up to half of this population was no longer considered a waste of time. If Hillary Clinton takes control of the health care system, this surgery may once again be considered wasteful.
Bobby Schindler recently released this report on the Catholic clergy's active participation to hasten Terri's dehydration/starvation death.
Schindler stated that his sister "was not dying, not attached to any type of machinery and was only being sustained by food and water via a feeding tube." He noted that Catholic teaching does not allow a person "regardless of any advanced directive or even the sworn testimony of another person" to refuse food and water with the intent to cause their own death or that of another.
Still, Fr. Gerard Murphy of the Diocese of St. Petersburgh, Florida actually helped Judge Greer make the decision to dehydrate and starve Terri to death. Fr. Murphy did not consult with any members of Terri's family and did not even visit Terri. Murphy did however consult with Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, an assisted suicide/euthanasia activist, and testified on behalf of Michael Schiavo.
Bishop Lynch of the Diocese of St. Petersburg refused to help the family stop the euthanasia death order and supported Father Murphy's seriously flawed position. The bishop eventually issued a confusing statement that was of no help to the situation and after that the Florida bishops supported Bishop Lynch's position.
What a shame that Bobby wasn't supported by his bishop.

A letter from Bobby Schindler on the third anniversary of the death of Terri

Letter from Terri's Brother on the Third Anniversary of Her Death.Week of March 31, 2008Dear Friends,Today, March 31st, marks the third anniversary of Terri's death, and I want to thank everyone who has contacted my family with their words of support and prayers offered for my sister Terri and my family.The overwhelming response from people and groups that are participating in Terri's Day has been touching and one that my family really did not expect. It has provided us with much comfort during this very difficult time.Sadly, in today's culture, which seems to be declining further into a moral void every single day, people like Terri are looked upon as worthless. We are continually manipulated into believing that it is perfectly acceptable to kill them because they are "suffering." And when suffering is being taught this way, as something that is inherently bad and therefore must be completely eliminated, we begin to see why so many are able to justify the killing of the disabled even when it means barbarically dehydrating them to death.During our fight to save Terri, I thought it was ironic that so many viewed her as having no value because of her disability although, in the end, God's hand was so evident in her life. Even when she was isolated from the world and denied all but the most basic contact, He allowed Terri to touch and continues to allow her to touch the lives of millions.She reached hearts with the message that human life is precious simply because it is human life. She put a face on the evil of euthanasia and in doing so has saved many others from a similar fate.It is my hope that my beautiful sister Terri, whose light still shines brightly even after her death, will be remembered for years to come - as a child of God and as a chosen instrument that sparked the beginning of the end of an evil affliction against the sanctity of human life.Again thank you and a special thanks to Father Pavone and Priests for Life, as well, for all of their help reminding people of the anniversary of Terri's death.Words can't adequately express how much my family appreciates all of you being with us in prayer on this very special day remembering my sister Terri. Sincerely,Bobby Schindler and the Schindler Family