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Editor’s Note: Stephen Bloom is a Christian attorney with more than 20 years experience in private practice. He is a frequent media guest, speaker, and writer on Christianity and the law, a Lecturer in Management and Business at Messiah College, and a Consultant to the United Methodist Stewardship Foundation of Central Pennsylvania. He is a legal columnist for Good News Daily, former host of the "Practical Counsel - Christian Perspective" radio program, and founder of the Estate Planning Council of Cumberland County. Bloom has been actively involved in the leadership of numerous community and ministry organizations, including his church, where...

Cancer patients are to be denied drugs which could keep them alive after the NHS rationing watchdog ruled that they are too expensive. Patient groups said the decision, announced today by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), would condemn many sufferers of kidney cancer to an "early death". Four prohibited medicines include Sutent, which can prolong life in kidney cancer patients by up to two years. Nice said the drugs were too expensive, at about £24,000/year per patient, for the benefits they offered and would mean the health service was less able to afford more cost-effective drugs...

Chaim Shmuel Golubchuk, a"h, has gone to his Eternal reward. But the issues that pitted his children Percy Golubchuk and Miriam Geller against Grace General Hospital in Winnipeg over the last seven months will long be with us. After being informed by their father's doctors that they intended to end his life by removing his ventilation and feeding tube, the Golubchuk children sought an injunction against the hospital. They argued that their father would adamantly oppose any attempt to shorten his life, which is forbidden by Jewish law. After the entry of a temporary injunction, the hospital pursued an aggressive...

CHARLESTON, West Virginia, May 27, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Virginia family was shocked but relieved when their mother, Val Thomas, woke up after doctors said she was dead. 59 year-old Mrs. Thomas, while being kept breathing artificially, had no detectable brain waves for more than 17 hours. The family were discussing organ donation options for their mother when she suddenly woke up and started speaking to nurses. Ethicists have strongly criticised developments in organ donation criteria that would have made Mrs. Thomas a candidate for having her organs removed before she woke up. At 1:30 am Saturday May 17,...

London - Prime Minister Gordon Brown yesterday threw his weight behind a move to allow hospitals to remove organs from dead patients without explicit consent. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Mr. Brown said such a move would save thousands of lives and that he hopes such a system can start this year. The proposals would mean consent for organ donation after death would be automatically presumed, unless individuals had opted out of a national register or family members objected.

Loving Our ChildrenFor the past few years, I’ve been telling BreakPoint readers about our culture’s undeclared war on people with Down syndrome. Earlier this year, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended that all pregnant women, regardless of age, undergo amniocentesis. Obviously that’s to put them under increasing pressure to abort the child if a genetic defect is detected. I thought that I heard every possible argument for and against this barbarism, but I was wrong. Apparently, in addition to asking themselves “what would Jesus do?” women should ask themselves “what would Darwin advise?” But Dr. Frank Boehm of...

SHREWSBURY, Mass. -- Saved from being put to death, a two-faced cat has shown that beating the odds only takes a little love and faith. Milbury native Marty saved the cat from being euthanized almost seven years ago. "I just fell in love with him," Marty said. "I'm a bleeding heart." Marty named the cat Frank and Louis so each face would have a name. Frank and Louis have altogether two mouths, two noses and two working eyes. Cats with two faces are extremely rare. Most die within a few days of being born, but not Frank and Louis. "Everyday...

LONDON, August 15, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – This week, a popular BBC radio announcer told the public that she had entered into a “suicide pact” with friends should she be incapacitated by illness. Jenni Murray, the presenter of BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, a feminist and euthanasia advocate, said that she does not want to be “trapped” into caring for her mother who is ill with Parkinson’s disease. Murray, a member of the Order of the British Empire and a patron of the Family Planning Association, is airing her views tonight on a BBC television program called “Don’t Get Me Started.”...

A seriously ill man has lost the last stage of his legal fight to insist on his right to food in the final stages of his life. Leslie Burke, from Lancaster, had his appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg rejected. Mr Burke, who has a degenerative brain condition, appealed against a UK ruling allowing doctors to decide treatment. The General Medical Council had said doctors had to be able to act in the patient's best interests. Mr Burke, 46, has cerebellar ataxia - an umbrella term for nervous system disorders that cause a lack of co-ordination,...

A High Court judge is to decide whether life-saving treatment can be withdrawn from a baby BBC ^ Posted on 03/03/2006 9:01:28 PM PST by ARAD Ruling due on right-to-life baby A High Court judge is to decide whether life-saving treatment can be withdrawn from a baby at the centre of a landmark right-to-life case. Baby MB, who cannot be named, has spinal muscular atrophy - a genetic condition which leads to almost total paralysis - and cannot breathe unaided. His family says he responds to them and ought to be allowed to stay alive. Doctors say his quality of...

Ruling due on right-to-life baby A High Court judge is to decide whether life-saving treatment can be withdrawn from a baby at the centre of a landmark right-to-life case. Baby MB, who cannot be named, has spinal muscular atrophy - a genetic condition which leads to almost total paralysis - and cannot breathe unaided. His family says he responds to them and ought to be allowed to stay alive. Doctors say his quality of life is so poor it is in his best interests to let him die. The case continues on Monday. We are hopeful we can persuade the...

by Fr. Frank Pavone Other Articles by Fr. Frank Pavone Blessing the Grave 10/29/05 I recently had the privilege of blessing the grave of Terri Schindler-Schiavo, who was murdered on March 31, 2005 by dehydration. Her grave is not far from the place where she died, and where people from around the world had gathered to protest and pray. Those who visit the gravestone, however, will notice something highly unusual. While on most graves there is an inscription of two dates — when the person was born and when he or she died — on Terri's there are three. Here's exactly...

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Three days after Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans, staff members at the city's Memorial Medical Center had repeated discussions about euthanizing patients they thought might not survive the ordeal, according to a doctor and nurse manager who were in the hospital at the time. Orleans Parish coroner Frank Minyard said investigators have told him they think euthanasia may have been committed. But (Dr. Byrant) King said he is convinced the discussion of euthanasia was more than talk. He said another doctor came to him at 9 a.m. Thursday and recounted a conversation with a hospital...

The parents of a brain-damaged baby have failed to overturn a court order that rules she should be allowed to die if she stops breathing. Darren and Debbie Wyatt, from Portsmouth, presented a letter at the Court of Appeal from doctors saying Charlotte has made remarkable progress. The 22-month-old has serious lung, brain and kidney damage. Doctors at St Mary's Hospital, in Portsmouth, won the legal right not to resuscitate her last October. Mr and Mrs Wyatt's solicitor, Richard Stein, said: "They are pleased that the court recognised Charlotte's continued improvement. "The doctor called her improvement remarkable and one of...

The Florida State Guardianship Association has chosen Michael Schiavo as its "Distinguished Guardian of the Year" for 2005, outraging many in the pro-life community. Schiavo is the former husband of Terri Schiavo, the brain-injured Florida woman whose life ended March 31 by court-ordered dehydration at her husband's request. While admitting that Schiavo was a "controversial choice," Michelle Kenney, president-elect of the association told the Associated Press that her group decided to bestow the honor on Schiavo because of his "commitment" to honoring what he claimed was his wife's wish "not to be kept alive artificially." "We see a lot of...

One sure way to start a lively argument at a dinner party is to raise the question Are we humans getting more decent over time? Optimists about moral progress will point out that the last few centuries have seen, in the West at least, such welcome developments as the abolition of slavery and of legal segregation, the expansion of freedoms (of religion, speech and press), better treatment of women and a gradual reduction of violence, notably murder, in everyday life. Pessimists will respond by citing the epic evils of the 20th century -- the Holocaust, the Gulag. Depending on their...

Yesterday, I posted the Associated Press report that Senators Bill Frist and Rick Santorum were considering supporting a bill that would give additional funding towards an alternative form of embryonic stem cell research. Unfortunately, the AP report was quite vague about this “alternative,” so I placed calls to both Senators. Both offices told me they did not have the information on hand but would find the material, which they acknowledges possessing, and forward it to me. Senator Frist’s office never got back to me. But late yesterday I received a call back from Senator Santorum’s office. I don’t know if...

That’s Right! Thanks to the legislature’s “gut and amend” process physician assisted suicide is alive and well. All of the language of AB 654 (Berg) , which failed to get enough votes to pass the Assembly, has been put into AB 651 (Levine) which did pass the Assembly and is currently in the Senate. AB 651 As introduced, dealt with disease management, but the amended version of AB 651 is the reincarnated version of the California Compassionate Choices Act. My guess is that the author, Assemblyman Levine believes that it will have an easier time passing in the Senate. The...

BRITAIN’S top medical ethics expert has urged doctors to let the most premature babies die, with treatment offered only in exceptional cases. Baroness Warnock believes Britain should follow Holland in setting an age limit below which babies would not routinely be resuscitated. She says this would prevent doctors competing for the “triumph” of keeping babies alive at increasingly young ages even though they may not survive in the long term or may be left severely disabled. Warnock’s comments were backed in part by Britain’s most senior paediatrician, who said the setting of a lower limit should be considered. In Holland,...

A better way than a gun? Had he lived in Oregon, the terminally ill man who shot himself in the head at Oak Glen Home in Coal Valley last month wouldn't have needed the gun. There would have been no need for someone to put himself or herself at risk of criminal charges by slipping him the weapon. There would have been no possibility that other residents would be harmed by the bullet after it exited his head. There would have been no trauma for the nursing home staff. Instead, he could simply have asked that he be prescribed a...

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- A firefighter brain-damaged in a 1995 roof collapse had an "amazing" weekend, recognizing and speaking with his four sons and other family and friends for the first time in years, a family spokesman said Monday. "I want to talk to my wife," Donald Herbert said out of the blue Saturday at the skilled nursing facility where he has lived for more than seven years. Staff members put Linda Herbert on the telephone. It was the first of many conversations he had during a 14-hour stretch, Herbert's uncle, Simon Manka said. "How long have I been away?"...

For years the March of Dimes (MOD) has been boycotted by pro-life groups for its involvement in the abortion industry. Unfortunately, many well-meaning pro-life citizens continue to support MOD, not knowing one of the group's methods of preventing what it calls "Birth Defects" is to promote abortion.MOD was one of the major forces behind the development and widespread use of amniocentesis in the second trimester of pregnancy. Amniocentesis is a test commonly used to determine if an unborn child has a congenital abnormality, knowledge of which can facilitate the decision to abort "defective" children. Pat Robertson of CBN and the...

"Under the Florida Constitution, only the Judicial Qualifications Commission has authority to investigate complaints against Florida judges. Persons wishing to file a complaint should address materials to: Judicial Qualifications Commission 1110 Thomasville Road Tallahassee, FL 32303 (850) 488-1581 No further action will be taken by this office. Sincerely, Heidi Huelskoetter, M.S.W. Operations & Mgmt. Consultant Manager Office of Inspector General Department of Children and Families 850-488-1225 fax 850-488-1428

"...especially when it came to Ms. Shaivo's rights as declared would be protected by the laws of the the United States, the Declaration of Independence, Art. IX of the Confederation, ,and Art. VI of the U.S. Constitution."

A summary would not do this column justice ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL PIECES WE'VE EVER RUN!

Congressional leaders are playing a dangerous game with their intrusion into the hotly publicized fight in Florida over maintaining life support for a severely brain-damaged woman. With state legislative and court appeals being exhausted, the House and Senate began some grim one-upsmanship to stop the removal of the feeding tube from Terri Schiavo. She is the 41-year-old woman who has been in a persistent vegetative state for the last 15 years, with her parents contesting that sad diagnosis. They also challenged the careful decisions by Florida's trial and appellate courts, based largely on the testimony of her husband that their...

It's merely a guess - and an admittedly presumptuous one, too - but here's some unsolicited advice for attorney George Felos - as long as Jeb Bush reigns over Florida, your client Michael Schiavo will never be permitted to allow his brain-damaged wife Terri to die. Even if courts continue to rule in Michael Schiavo's favor? Nope, not even then. Not even if indeed it was Terri's wish never to be simply kept alive as the world's leading Larry King prop?Nope, not even then. Not even if the medical evidence supports the argument that Terri Schiavo's consciousness slipped away 15...

By J.R. By now anyone who watches the news on the television, listens to news on the radio, or reads a newspaper has heard of the Terri Schiavo case. Terri Schiavo, a woman, who at age 26, collapsed and suffered brain damage under ambiguous circumstances, is said to be in a constant vegetative state according to her husband, Michael Schiavo. Mr. Schiavo wants to have her feeding tube removed so that she will die and says that's what Terri would have wanted. The Schindlers, Terri's parents, have been fighting a 10 year legal battle with Mr. Schiavo, their son-in-law, in...

FEBRUARY 21, 2005 God is Speaking: Are We Listening? by Thomas A. DroleskeyAn Associated Press report of February 13, 2005, was e-mailed to me by some unknown person. The report speaks for itself: HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — For 20 years, Sarah Scantlin has been mostly oblivious to the world around her — the victim of a drunken driver who struck her down as she walked to her car. Today, after a remarkable recovery, she can talk again. Scantlin's father knows she will never fully recover, but her newfound ability to speak and her returning memories have given him his...

by Craig E. Richardson    Kerry’s Catholic Supporters 10/29/04 There has been much discussion about whether Catholics in good standing can support Senator John Kerry for president because of his extreme views on abortion. His voting record and public statements on life issues clearly contradict the Church’s teaching and many Catholics are insistent that this disqualifies him for consideration. There are Catholics, however, who are actively supporting Kerry’s presidential bid and they are not shy about expressing their opinions. One such group is Pax Christi USA (peace of Christ), an organization calling itself “the national Catholic peace movement.” Auxiliary Bishop...

   by Fr. James Farfaglia Other Articles by Fr. James FarfagliaContact this Author America at the Crossroads 10/25/04 On Tuesday, November 2, all Americans eligible to vote will once again have the responsibility to make prudent choices concerning those who will govern us for the next few years. Catholics across the nation need to keep in mind that they have a moral obligation to choose those candidates who will defend life from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death. The war between the culture of life and the culture of death has become so dramatic that the very...

Wednesday, October 13, 2004 Life gets a little cheaper Posted: October 13, 20041:00 a.m. Eastern By Joseph Farah © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com "See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil."– Deuteronomy 30:15 When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down all state laws restricting abortion in 1973, a few wise souls warned the ruling would open up a Pandora's box that would some day lead to state approval of murder of innocents on a broader scale. Illegitimately legalized mass murder has brought us a holocaust of tens of millions of babies killed in the womb since that...

by Ken Concannon Other Articles by Ken Concannon Sliding Down the Slope 08/02/04 Thirty-one years ago last January, newspaper and television reports about the Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions described them as legalizing abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy and hailed the abortion decisions as triumphs for women's rights. Those of us at the time who were already concerned about the abortion issue believed otherwise. Unlike most of the media, anti-abortion activists took the time to read both decisions and concluded that they legalized abortion not just through the first trimester, but through all...

Leading doctors today called for a major overhaul to avoid babies being born alive after abortions. Pregnancy expert Professor Stuart Campbell has demanded rules should be tightened after it was revealed that at least nine babies are known to have survived terminations in recent years. He said injections that were supposed to end their lives in the womb failed to do so - and he called for stricter regulations to be enforced on the methods of abortion. Professor Campbell said that all abortions carried out after 18 weeks of pregnancy should include an injection, followed by drugs, to induce labour...

I am sure that other Freepers have already posted this information somewhere else, but this is such an urgent matter that I am not willing to take the chance that this info may not get out to the public.. At this moment Terri Schiavo is in grave danger, and her supporters need to rally to her aid. Reports have been issued that Terri has begun to vomit. This is very dangerous for Terri. The liquid nutrients she is being fed will likely fill her mouth and then enter into her respiratory tract causing severe pneumonia that would most likely end...

Continent Death Euthanasia in Europe. By Wesley J. Smith Too many people think with their hearts instead of their brains. Wanting the world to suit their desires, when faced with hard truths to the contrary, they refuse to face facts they don’t want to believe. This common human failing has a name: self-delusion. Self-delusion is rampant in the euthanasia movement. Most proponents recognize that it is inherently dangerous to legalize killing. But they desperately want to believe that they can control the grim reaper. Thus, they continue to peddle the nonsense that "guidelines will protect against abuse" despite overwhelming empirical...

Legislators can't have Eucharist, bishop says Don't serve supporters of abortion rights, euthanasia, Burke says By TOM HEINENtheinen@journalsentinel.com Posted: Jan. 8, 2004 In what one national group called an unprecedented action, La Crosse Bishop Raymond L. Burke has issued a document that says Catholic legislators who support abortion rights or euthanasia should not present themselves to receive Communion and should be refused if they do so. Burke's Notice Here is an excerpt from Bishop Raymond Burke's notification to Catholic legislators: A Catholic legislator who supports procured abortion or euthanasia, after knowing the teaching of the Church, commits a manifestly grave...

<p>MIAMI, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- A hearing in Clearwater, Fla., Tuesday will start the process of determining whether "Terri's law" is constitutional.</p> <p>Terri Schiavo, 40, has been in what doctors call a persistent vegetative state for 14 years and efforts to allow her to die have been thwarted in the state Legislature and the courts.</p>

I know the following editorial opinion will not be popular in all quarters. And for those deeply offended by my position, I defend your right to differ. The opposition to my position will fall on religious grounds, I assume. And there is no value arguing religious positions. So accept it for what it is - my opinion. Daillyn Pavia is a nurse in suburban St. Louis. In May 2001, 86-year-old Julia Dawson suffered a severe stroke in her south St. Louis home. She was placed on life support. And the prognosis was dismal. Frail to begin with, Dawson’s son would...

ONE EVENING, during the second term of President Ronald Reagan, Terri Schiavo and her husband Michael decided to watch a television movie about Karen Ann Quinlan. Quinlan, as most readers know, had a tragic life. After overdosing on a combination of drugs and alcohol, she fell into unconsciousness and never awakened. Her parents won a lawsuit in the New Jersey Supreme Court allowing them to disconnect her ventilator. Karen didn't die immediately--she lived on for 10 more years before finally expiring from pneumonia. While discussing the movie, Michael claims that Terri stated she would not want to live hooked up...

With crowds cheering wildly, an ambulance took Terri Schindler-Schiavo from the Pinellas Park, Fla., hospice to a nearby hospital, where, on orders from Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, she was re-connected to a feeding tube to rehydrate her after six days of court-ordered starvation. With only a few hours remaining before she sliped beyond the point where she could be saved, Florida lawmakers delivered to the governor legislation empowering him to order Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted and Bush signed and implemented the life-saving law two hours later. Schiavo is being rehydrated and fed at Morton Plant Hospital. The surprise intervention came...

Last Wednesday, my wife's feeding tube was removed. For over 6 years, I have struggled with the Schindlers in court. On Wednesday, I joined them in grief. I understand what the Schindlers are going through at this time. I feel the same loss. For years after this happened to Terri, I tried desperately to find a cure for her. I went from one doctor to another. Almost all of them told me there was no possibility she would recover. Any doctor that gave me a glimmer of hope that some new treatment or therapy would work was given free reign...

THE FRONT LINES: Is Catholic Church Apostasy the Cause of Terri Schiavo's Plight? "Bye Bye, I must go now. No more discussion on this matter." 10/16/2003 8:47:00 PM By Barb Kralis On October 15, 2003, I called Cardinal Ratzinger's office in Rome,wishing beyond hope that I could get the CDF behind Terri Schiavo's plight and defend her life with the many wonderful Church teachings. I spoke to Fr. Jorge (or it could be Fr. George, but for clarification I will refer to him as Fr. Jorge), who said he was the secretary to Cd. Ratzinger, which means he's the under...

STARVATION DAY 6 Flurry of activity to help save Terri Disabilities group seeks abuse probe, lawmakers consider bill but don't act Posted: October 20, 2003 5:00 p.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com Supporters of Robert and Mary Schindler's efforts to keep their daughter Terri Schindler-Schiavo alive are maintaining a frantic pace six days after the brain-disabled woman's feeding tube was removed by a judge's order. The Tallahasse-based Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities has filed for an injunction to keep her alive in order to have time to investigate whether removal of her life-sustaining feeding tube was an act of abuse...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MY NOTE: TERRI has been without water for longer than we knew -- 72 hrs. Gov. Bush -- Please act now and have faith! Our prayers continue to all involved in this, especially ‘behind the scenes’. We are told to continue calls & emails -- please pass this on to mailing lists and friends. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Jeb.Bush@MyFlorida.comfl_governor@eog.state.fl.usphone -- 850 - 488 - 4441FAX -- 850 - 922 - 4292 FL atty Gen. Charlie Crist email -- ag@oag.state.fl.usPHONE -- 850 - 487 - 1963FAX -- 850 - 487 - 2564 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~477 posted on 10/16/2003 6:55 PM PDT by floriduh voter (www.conservative-spirit.org) To...

PINELLAS PARK - Terri Schiavo's feeding tube is going to be removed today, and her parents fear they will not be allowed at her bedside when she dies. Bob and Mary Schindler had been warned by Schiavo's husband and legal guardian, Michael, that if they released a videotape of Terri Schiavo, their visitations with their daughter would be restricted. The Schindlers released the tape Tuesday anyway, as they were surrounded by supporters carrying signs outside Hospice House Woodside, which is providing care for their daughter. Hours later, one of Michael Schiavo's attorneys, Deborah A. Bushnell, made that warning a reality....

The leader of the shock rock band 'Hell on Earth' took to the airwaves Wednesday to explain why someone would want to commit suicide during the groups concert at the State Theatre in St. Petersburg this month.Billy Tourelot told 98 Rock that a terminally ill person in the Bay Area contacted him VIA email through the band's website.He says the stunt is not to gain publicity for Hell on Earth. 'They would rather have an assisted suicide because the way the law is written, they cant do it, (now) Tourelot said in an interview Wednesday morning. So bringing dying with...

This is an excerpt: TAMPA -- An industrial rock band's claim that it will feature a "live suicide" onstage during a St. Petersburg gig next month has gotten the attention of the concert hall's owners and police. The Tampa group, Hell on Earth, said on its Web site that a terminally ill member of a right-to-die group planned to commit suicide on stage during an Oct. 4 performance at the State Theater. The volunteer, who the Web site said would not be identified until the day of the show, wanted to carry out the suicide onstage to "raise awareness for...

Florida Band to Stage Suicide Hell on Earth plan to host fan's death at upcoming show Florida industrial rockers Hell on Earth are planning to host an on-stage suicide during their October 4th show at St. Petersburg's State Theater. A terminally ill member of a euthanasia society, whose identity and condition have not been revealed, intends to raise awareness for the cause of dying with dignity by committing suicide during the concert, according to the band's singer, Billy Tourtelot. "I support the right to die with dignity," Tourtelot says. "I got an email a few weeks ago from this person,...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another 9-11 date with death -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: September 4, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com What do you call a country that sentences its prisoners to death by starvation and dehydration? Barbaric, inhumane perhaps? Fasts, even hunger strikes, often are self-imposed for periods of time. However, no one in his right mind passes up fluids. Death by dehydration is a painful, agonizing and arduous process that takes 10 to 14 days. In addition to feeling the pangs of hunger and thirst, the skin, lips and tongue crack. The nose bleeds because of the drying of the mucus membranes....