[expatpat]

EXACTLY. I can if a stretch a long way, understand the rationale behind not using a feeding tube, but there is no justification possible for denying her food and hydration via the mouth -- that is monstrous.

[Grampa Dave]

It is amazing that this is happening during the Holy Week. Below is the reading for the Sixth Station of the Cross:

The Sixth Station of the Cross:

Veronica wipes Jesus' face


He who welcomes you welcomes me; and he who welcomes me, welcomes him who sent me. And I promise that whoever gives a cup of cold water will not want for a reward.

A woman named Veronica
kindly washed your face with a towel.
Such a simple thing!
A towel, a cup of water, a loving word.
By your meeting with Veronica, Lord,
help us value such small things,
so great when given in your name.

[xzins]

Ping

[NYer]

Woman arrested for trying to bring water to Terri!

St. Francis Catholic worker Lana Jacobs (C) is put into the back of a waiting van by Pinellas Park Sheriff deputies after being arrested for trespassing at the Woodside Hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida March 22, 2005. Jacobs tried to take a bottle of water into the Woodside Hospice for Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged woman who resides at the Hospice and had her feeding tube removed last Friday, March 18, by a court order. REUTERS/Rick Fowler

Pinellas Park, Fla., police and Pinellas County Sheriff's deputies arrest Lana Jacobs, center, of Columbia, Mo., after she attempted to bring Terri Schiavo water Tuesday afternoon March 22, 2005 at the Woodside Hospice in Pinellas Park, Fla. A federal judge earlier in the day refused to have Terri's feeding tube reinstalled. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)

[unlearner]

How ironic it is that this is happening during the week of Christ's crucifixion. Here is the scripture which is quoted in the title:

Matthew 25:31-46

When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He shall sit upon the throne of His glory:

And in front of Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats:

And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.

Then shall the King say to them on His right hand, "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me food. I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink. I was a stranger, and you took Me in, naked, and you clothed Me. I was sick, and you visited Me. I was in prison, and you came to Me".

Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying, "Lord, when did we see You hungry, and fed You? or thirsty, and gave You drink? When did we see You a stranger, and took You in? or naked, and clothed You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and came to You?"

And the King shall answer and say to them, "Truly I say to you, inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these My brethren, you have done it to Me".

Then shall He say also to them on the left hand, "Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave Me no food. I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink. I was a stranger, and you took Me not in - naked, and you clothed Me not, sick, and in prison, and you visited Me not".

Then shall they also answer Him, saying, "Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to You?"

Then shall He answer them, saying, "Truly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to Me".

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.

[TruthSetsUFree]

I have been thinking about this the last number of hours, and much as I respect the law of the land, there is a higher law to which we MUST obey, and it disturbs me greatly that as a nation, if not as individuals, we are committing such an atrocity in not obeying it. My heart weeps.

"Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink.... Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me....

"Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink."

(Matthew 25)

[Delphinium]

I kept the TV on last night and hardly slept.

This is a horrible time in our nation.

I am very upset that President Bush has not stepped in.

[Dust in the Wind]

I have no argument with this.

The judge and husband better pray they are never in the same situation they have put Terri.

May the arms of Christ enfold her in his love and comfort.

[fatnotlazy]

I'm posting this reply really to everyone.

To be honest, I don't like any of the parties involved in this matter, particularly the husband and the parents. I wish that of the 19 or so judges who have heard some aspect of this case, one of them would have put the parties in a locked room and made them work out some agreement. Now this whole situation has become a veritable three ring circus with all sorts of pundits and so-called witnesses coming out of the woodwork hurling accusations, spreading rumors and half-truths and telling some outright lies.

I've worked for attorneys for more than 30 years. Based on that experience, I can tell you that this is not about whether Mrs. Schiavo should live or die. It's about money. 99.99% of cases like this are about money. The family members want money -- Mr. Schiavo wants to keep his malpractice setlement; the Schindlers want a piece of that settlement. Money. For Congress and the President, this is a chance to get their names in the media, to round up votes and build power. And power means money. For all the so-called experts and alleged witnesses, this is about exposure to a wide audience, maybe writing a book, and making money. Everyone involved is going to make money on this....whether Mrs. Schiavo lives or dies is now irrelevant.

I am unhappy that government (state and federal) has become involved in this. I wonder whether Congress and the President will intervene when it comes time for me to depart this world. Will they pass legislation to keep me alive even though my living will says to terminate life support when there is no hope for recovery? Or how about this: what if some stranger has decided I'm not fit to live; will Congress and the President pass a law to kill me off even though I'm healthy and in my prime? Think these scenarios are far fetched? Trust me, they're not.

I also believe that there is a contingent out there which wants to limit or eliminate living wills. If that happens, our freedom to decide for ourselves, or to appoint those to make the decisions for us, will be lost. I don't know about everyone else here, but I don't want my rights in this regard to be taken away.

And if our lawmakers are so concerned about life, why aren't they working on legislation to benefit more than one person? How about some federal laws toughening sentences for pedophiles so we don't have any killings like that of Jessica Lunsford? Or how about finding ways to apply RICO statutes against street gangs to shut them down so our streets will become safer? There are a lot of pro-life issues out there our lawmakers could be working to address. Why aren't they?

Sorry to go on and on (comes from working for attorneys), but this whole situation really bothers me.

Thanks for letting me vent.

[Salvation]

BTTT!

[shhrubbery!]

Yes. But there is no way to try anything with Terri unless custody is taken away from Michael Schiavo, who has forbidden any attempt to feed Terri by mouth for years.

Those nurses who did successfully feed Terri juice, jello and pudding a few years ago? They had to do that surreptitiously for fear of the wrath of Michael Schiavo.

(By the nurses' testimony, Terri was not only able to swallow pudding and jello, but she clearly enjoyed tasting something for a change!)

There is a completely legal way to take custody away from this monstrous man: The state Division of Child and Family Services is going into Greer's court TODAY to "request" an opening of Terri's medical records so there can be a state investigation of allegations of abuse committed by Michael Schiavo. (Those records were sealed by Greer.)

Even if Greer releases those records to DCF --which he almost certainly won't-- DCF still needs time to investigate the matter adequately.

This would require Jeb Bush to send the DCF to take custody of Terri until the allegations of abuse can be resolved.

I hope and pray Jeb will do it.

[Salvation]

The Catechism of the Catholic Church


Euthanasia

2276 Those whose lives are diminished or weakened deserve special respect. Sick or handicapped persons should be helped to lead lives as normal as possible.

2277 Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable.

Thus an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator. The error of judgment into which one can fall in good faith does not change the nature of this murderous act, which must always be forbidden and excluded.

2278 Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of "over-zealous" treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one's inability to impede it is merely accepted. The decisions should be made by the patient if he is competent and able or, if not, by those legally entitled to act for the patient, whose reasonable will and legitimate interests must always be respected.

2279 Even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted. The use of painkillers to alleviate the sufferings of the dying, even at the risk of shortening their days, can be morally in conformity with human dignity if death is not willed as either an end or a means, but only foreseen and tolerated as inevitable Palliative care is a special form of disinterested charity. As such it should be encouraged.

[Spiff]

Why was a woman arrested yesterday for attempting to bring her a bottle of water? Why can't the parents attempt to feed her by mouth? If someone considers the feeding tube to be "life support", they can't also consider natural feeding by mouth to be "life support". So, let the attempt be made. If not, then this is plainly the deprivation of food and water of a woman deemed to be too mentally impaired without a strong enough possibility of significant improvement. You know what - there are many people who would meet that definition. Should they too be starved to death because they are too inconvenient to care for?

Also, even a convicted murderer is allowed a stay of execution to preserve the status quo (his life) until his case can be reviewed fully and the appeal process can be fully met. These judges didn't even give Terri Schiavo the same protection that they give a serial killer.

[winstonchurchill]

Everyone in "right to die" land is saying "Let her go NATURALLY." OK....if that is accepted, then it is only fair, judicious, humane, and NATURAL to have a good faith attempt by totally uninvolved, neutral caregivers to give her food and water orally.

Setting aside the pejoratives, I agree. My aggressive defense of Judge Greer's orders is based upon the clear and convincing evidence of her wishes not to be kept alive by artificial means. That determination does not extend (nor has it ever been so held) to delivery of food and water by natural means.

BTW, just a final defense of the judicial orders here. All Judge Greer ever ordered, so far as I can determine, was to authorize the guardian to withdraw the feeding tube. Period.

[OPS4]

6:7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
6:8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
6:11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

[fso301]

bump

[P-Marlowe]

Why was this thread designated to "personal and bloggers"?

This is News and Activism. It is also relevant to Religion.

Please re-post it under a more visible category.

[johnb2004]

Should infants be killed because someone must feed them artificially? Food and water, tube or not, are not extraordinary measures when one is far from death and the body can process such nutrition. Euthanasia, or murder, is legal in our death culture.

[Salvation]

The Beatitudes!

[Schwarzeneger]

Better to just use a glucose IV. This will hydrate and provide sustinance