Attorney Who Aided Terri Schiavo’s Husband Now Advising Barack Obama

Life News ^ | 12/7/08 | Steven Ertelt

[wagglebee]

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- An attorney who won an award for representing Terri Schiavo’s husband Michael in his efforts to kill his disabled wife is now an advisor to the transition team of incoming president Barack Obama.

Thomas Perrelli, who raised over $500,000 for the pro-abortion presidential candidate and is the managing partner of a Washington law firm, Jenner & Block LLP, is helping advise Obama on putting together a Justice Department team.

However, Perrelli provided Michael Schiavo with legal advice during his response to the Congressional bill that President Bush signed allowing the Schindler fail to take their lawsuit seeking to prevent Terri’s euthanasia death from state to federal courts.

Perrelli led the Jenner & Block team that developed the legal briefs opposing appeals for Michael and he ultimately received the Albert E. Jenner, Jr. Pro Bono Award in October 2006 for representing Terri’s former husband at no cost.

On Michael’s legal team, Perrelli worked with infamous pro-euthanasia attorney George Felos as well as lawyers from the Florida chapter of the ACLU.

Obama’s selection of Perrelli to participate on his Justice Department transition team is no surprise given his comments on Terri’s painful 13-day starvation and dehydration death during the presidential campaign.

During his debate with Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary, Obama said his biggest mistake was voting with a unanimous Senate to help save Terri.

In March 2005, just weeks before Terri died, Congress approved legislation allowing her family to take its case from state courts to federal courts in an effort to stop the euthanasia from proceeding.

Terri was not on any artificial breathing apparatus and only required a feeding tube to eat and drink. Her family had filed a lawsuit against her former husband to allow them to care for her and give her proper medical and rehabilitative care.

The Senate unanimously approved a compromise bill, which the House eventually supported on a lopsided bipartisan vote and President Bush signed, to help the disabled woman.

Obama said he should have stood up against the life-saving legislation.

“It wasn't something I was comfortable with, but it was not something that I stood on the floor and stopped,” Obama said.

“And I think that was a mistake, and I think the American people understood that that was a mistake. And as a constitutional law professor, I knew better,” he added.

That wasn't the first time Obama said he regretted supporting the bill to protect the disabled woman.

During an April 2007 debate, Obama said, "I think professionally the biggest mistake that I made was when I first arrived in the Senate. There was a debate about Terri Schiavo, and a lot of us, including me, left the Senate with a bill that allowed Congress to intrude where it shouldn't have.”

"And I think I should have stayed in the Senate and fought more for making sure [Terri's parents couldn't take their case to federal court to save her life]," he explained.

Since Terri’s death, the Schindler family has established a foundation to help disabled and elderly patients obtain proper medical care and legal and other assistance when they are denied it.

Related web sites:
Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation - http://www.terrisfight.org

[wagglebee]

Surprise, surprise, the New York Times gets it right.

Thread by neverdem.

Abortion Politics Didn’t Doom the G.O.P.

AN iron law of recent American politics dictates that any Republican setback at the polls will be quickly pinned on the pro-life movement. You might think that the Republican Party’s 2008 debacle would be an exception to this rule. John McCain probably mentioned earmarks about a thousand times more often than he let the word “abortion” slip his lips. The Republican ticket’s weak attempts to play the culture-war card — a Bill Ayers here, a Joe the Plumber there — had nothing whatsoever to do with Roe v. Wade. And why should abortion opponents, of all conservative factions, take the blame for the financial meltdown, or the bungled occupation of Iraq, or the handling of Hurricane Katrina?

But never mind. Pro-choice Republicans, in particular, know exactly whom to blame for their party’s showing. As Christie Whitman, the former New Jersey governor and Bush administration E.P.A. chief, explained after the election, it lost because “the party was taken hostage by ‘social fundamentalists,’ the people who base their votes on such social issues as abortion.”

The conservative columnist Kathleen Parker made the same point more vividly: “The evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the G.O.P. is what ails the erstwhile conservative party.” The neoconservative writer Max Boot was diffident about the matter (“I don’t think Republicans need to panic,” he wrote, but “one area where I do see some room for adjustment is on the issue of abortion”) and the right-wing humorist P. J. O’Rourke was blunt (pro-lifers should “give the issue a rest”). The message is clear: If the Republican Party would only jettison its position on abortion, it would be back on its feet in no time.

For pro-lifers, these refrains are as frustrating as they are familiar. But more frustrating than the blame game is the equally familiar advice that...

"We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will give you no rest."

[wagglebee]

Without social conservatism, the conservative movement is worthless.

Thread by 2ndDivisionVet.

Mark Hillman: In Defense of Social Conservatives

Today's Republican Party seeks to advance freedom through limited government, strong national security, personal responsibility and traditional family values.

Although many Republicans generally adhere to all four of those elements, some do not; yet they remain allied because they are so strongly committed to one, two or three of those principles. Despite inner-party squabbles, most Republicans rationally accept that we must work together to form an electoral majority.

Recently, some have grumbled that social conservatives - pro-lifers, opponents of same-sex marriage and the so-called "Religious Right" - are to blame for the party's recent set backs and should be muzzled. If the goal is winning elections, rather than purging membership rolls at the country club, throwing social conservatives under the bus is a catastrophic idea.

[wagglebee]

The response to this will be very interesting.

Thread by me.

British TV Will Show Man's Death at Swiss Euthanasia Clinic, Family Not Charged

London, England (LifeNews.com) -- A national controversy in Britain has been sparked by news that a British television show will reveal footage of 59-year-old Craig Ewert taking his life at a euthanasia clinic in Switzerland. Meanwhile, Ewert's family will escape any charges in connection with his death despite the UK's law against assisted suicide...

[wagglebee]

The abortionist "researcher" spoke IGNORED all but 21 of 700 women.

Thread by me.

Johns Hopkins Researcher Responds to Criticism on Abortion-Mental Health Study

Balitmore, MD (LifeNews.com) -- The lead author of a study last week denying that abortion increases the risk of subsequent mental health problems for women is responding to criticism of his research. Johns Hopkins University professor Robert Blum specifically responded to LifeNews.com articles taking the study to task.

Blum's team at JHU examined numerous studies and drew the conclusion that abortion doesn't increase the risk for mental health problems...

[Dante3]

BUMP

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[MHGinTN]

Seems appropriate; Obama sought to cancel the Constitutional rights of newly born alive infants in order to protect the abortion slaughter in Illinois, so adding another dead soul wicked man to the Obama dead squad fits the mold(s).

[wagglebee]

This is sickening.

Thread by me.

Scottish MP Pushes Assisted Suicide Bill that Includes Right to Die for Children

EDINBURGH, December 10, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Despite attracting little support from colleagues, Scottish Parliament Member Margo McDonald is continuing to fight for a bill to legalize assisted suicide. McDonald’s bill is so broad that it would entitle children of 12 and younger to choose to kill themselves.

McDonald held a consultation yesterday on the End of Life Choices (Scotland) Bill in an effort to garner more support. So far, McDonald has the support of only three other Parliament members, whereas eighteen are needed for the bill to merit review at Holyrood.

During the consultation, McDonald said that the age limit for assisted suicide consent should coincide with the age when children are allowed to decide which parent to live with after a divorce. Children older than 12 are typically consulted in Scotland's custody battles, with exceptions occasionally made for younger children deemed mature enough.

[wagglebee]

This should have been done decades ago.

Thread by GonzoII.

Abortion Foes Open a New Front

Abortion opponents are pressing state and local governments to stop sending taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood, arguing that the nonprofit group has plenty of cash and shouldn't be granted scarce public funds at a time of economic crisis...

[wagglebee]

The war to protect innocent life is entering its darkest days.

Thread by me.

The Failure of Our Pro-Life Leadership

December 9, 2008 (InsideCatholic.com) - I recently attended a meeting of pro-life leaders from around the country, called in order to formulate a national strategy on how to defeat the promised Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). During the 2008 presidential campaign, President-elect Barack Obama infamously stated, to much applause, "Well, the first thing I'd do as president is, is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That's the first thing that I'd do."

The intent here is to codify the decision in Roe v. Wade, preventing future politicians (and courts outside the Supreme Court) from giving any more power to the states to place limits on abortion. In doing so, FOCA actually goes beyond Roe, calling abortion a "fundamental right" guarded by the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution (and not just the illusory "right to privacy" created in Griswold v. Connecticut, with Roe being part of its progeny).

The call to action in the meeting was admirable, but in the final analysis, it spoke volumes about the pro-life leadership in our country today: It is a group completely on the defensive and has accepted Roe as a framework to work within, rather than a fight to overcome. Choosing to operate within Roe's strictures has proven to be a failed strategy, bringing us to the point where there is a real possibility of FOCA being visited upon our nation...

[wagglebee]

Father Neuhaus is a great defender of life and a true leader to Catholics and Evangelicals alike.

Please pray for him at this most difficult time.

Thank you and God Bless.

Thread by NYer.

Prayer Request for Father Richard John Neuhaus

The great Fr. Richard John Neuhaus has inspired so many over the years. CMR requests prayers for him as he's been diagnosed with cancer. Fr. Neuhaus wrote this personal note on "First Things" today:

I cannot begin to respond to the deluge of assurances of prayer and concern about my health. Please be assured that I am grateful and count mightily on being remembered by you before the Throne of Grace. Or, as Catholics are wont to say, on your storming the gates of heaven. The nature of the cancer is beginning to come into clearer focus, and I hope to have more details in short order. Meanwhile, I will, please God, continue to be as engaged as possible in the work of First Things and other apostolates, even as I am compelled by grace to know more deeply our solidarity within the Body of Christ.

HT Southern Appeal

[Sun]

“Despite attracting little support from colleagues, Scottish Parliament Member Margo McDonald is continuing to fight for a bill to legalize assisted suicide. McDonald’s bill is so broad that it would entitle children of 12 and younger to choose to kill themselves.”

Margo McDonald is one sick individual. Unbelievable. This is just plain demonic.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[ntnychik]

Terri’s case was intended (by the attorney) to be a precedent. His mission has succeeded. The living will form presented to my Dad at the hospital last week included nutrition as an extreme measure to artifically prolong life.

[wagglebee]

The living will form presented to my Dad at the hospital last week included nutrition as an extreme measure to artifically prolong life.

When the culture of death can produce a person who can live WITHOUT food and water, I'd love to hear about it.

[floriduh voter]

bttt

[wagglebee]

The slippery slope keeps getting steeper.

Thread by GOPGuide.

British Prime Minister: 'Helping someone to commit suicide is a matter of conscience', says Brown

Helping someone to commit suicide is a matter of conscience, the Prime Minister said today.

Gordon Brown condemned the idea of new laws to allow assisted suicide - but he did nothing to stop it in the wake of a landmark test case decision that paved the way for more deaths in the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.

His response in the Commons to the outcry over the televised suicide of motor neurone disease sufferer Craig Ewert appealed instead for compassion for families agonising over the suffering of a loved one...

[wagglebee]

In times past, monarchs were stripped of their power to preserve rights, now one is losing power to destroy rights.

Thread by GonzoII.

Pro-Life World Coming to the Defence of Luxembourg Monarch’s Stand against Euthanasia

ROME, December 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The US-based Alliance Defence Fund (ADF) has announced they will be launching a legal challenge to a new law in Luxembourg legalizing euthanasia. Last week, the world was shocked when the parliament of the tiny but venerable European state of Luxembourg proposed to strip its head of state, the Grand Duke Henri, of his veto powers when the latter announced he would refuse to give royal assent to the law...

[wagglebee]

This is the TRUTH that the abortion history has fought the hardest to cover up.

Thread by cpforlife.org.

American Society of Reproductive Medicine Statement Confirms the Pill Causes Abortion

December 12, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Amidst an ongoing debate among prolife advocates about whether to classify the Pill as an abortifacient or a prophylactic, pro-abortion advocates have published an authoritative statement declaring that the Pill prevents implantation of embryos, thereby causing an abortion...

[wagglebee]

Our good FRiend Steven Ertelt has a story and a thread explaining just the sort of power the abortionists expect from Zero.

Pro-Abortion Groups Issue Marching Orders for Barack Obama Admin

Washington, DC -- A coalition of dozens of pro-abortion groups have issued a 55-page memorandum and the web site for the Barack Obama transition team posted it online. The new memo from groups like Planned Parenthood and NARAL gives Obama his marching orders for the next four years...