Posted on 10/15/2003 12:18:18 PM PDT by Brian S
Edited on 04/13/2004 2:44:25 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
"Florida the Death State
My proposal is to rename the former Sunshine State as the Death State. I think this is a solid proposal since the state of Florida now agrees that brain damage is a reason for someone to be dehydrated to death.
Terminal dehydration, as the medical community calls it, is a horrid, slow, agonizing death for the non-terminal, disabled people who are forced to endure it. Very soon, the recognition of this fact will cause the general population in this country to agree to euthanasia by injection. Physicians in various states are even now testing this barrier by injecting curare derivatives or potassium chloride into patients, patients who have not requested help in dying, and whose families have not requested death for the person killed. To the best of my knowledge, charges have only occasionally been filed against these physicians, in spite of the their having taken matters of life and death into their own hands.
Quite some time ago a very wise man once said this, ""The physician should and may do nothing else but preserve life. Whether it is valuable or not, that is none of his business. If he once permits such considerations to influence his actions, the doctor will become the most dangerous person in the State". Little did this German physician, Christopher Hufeland, realize at the time how prophetic his words would become in his own country..
Currently pediatric specialists in Boston are proposing in medical journals that we need not wait until death has occurred in order to harvest organs from a patient. (Sept, 2003, Critical Care) I am sure it is difficult to see those useful organs being "wasted" in brain damaged and dying children every day. Nonetheless, we must make a small attempt, at least, to restrain ourselves from rushing to kill our own population of "useless eaters". Otherwise we will then join Florida as a society of marchers in the Culture of Death."
| 2280 Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of. |
| 2270 Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.
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| 336 From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. "Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life." Already here on earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united in God. |
| 2367 Called to give life, spouses share in the creative power and fatherhood of God. "Married couples should regard it as their proper mission to transmit human life and to educate their children; they should realize that they are thereby cooperating with the love of God the Creator and are, in a certain sense, its interpreters. They will fulfill this duty with a sense of human and Christian responsibility." |
| 1524 In addition to the Anointing of the Sick, the Church offers those who are about to leave this life the Eucharist as viaticum. Communion in the body and blood of Christ, received at this moment of "passing over" to the Father, has a particular significance and importance. It is the seed of eternal life and the power of resurrection, according to the words of the Lord: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." The sacrament of Christ once dead and now risen, the Eucharist is here the sacrament of passing over from death to life, from this world to the Father. |
| 2273 The inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation: "The inalienable rights of the person must be recognized and respected by civil society and the political authority. These human rights depend neither on single individuals nor on parents; nor do they represent a concession made by society and the state; they belong to human nature and are inherent in the person by virtue of the creative act from which the person took his origin. Among such fundamental rights one should mention in this regard every human being's right to life and physical integrity from the moment of conception until death." "The moment a positive law deprives a category of human beings of the protection which civil legislation ought to accord them, the state is denying the equality of all before the law. When the state does not place its power at the service of the rights of each citizen, and in particular of the more vulnerable, the very foundations of a state based on law are undermined. . . . As a consequence of the respect and protection which must be ensured for the unborn child from the moment of conception, the law must provide appropriate penal sanctions for every deliberate violation of the child's rights." |
| 2288 Life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God. We must take reasonable care of them, taking into account the needs of others and the common good. Concern for the health of its citizens requires that society help in the attainment of living-conditions that allow them to grow and reach maturity: food and clothing, housing, health care, basic education, employment, and social assistance. |
| 1007 Death is the end of earthly life. Our lives are measured by time, in the course of which we change, grow old and, as with all living beings on earth, death seems like the normal end of life. That aspect of death lends urgency to our lives: remembering our mortality helps us realize that we have only a limited time in which to bring our lives to fulfillment:
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| 1641 "By reason of their state in life and of their order, [Christian spouses] have their own special gifts in the People of God." This grace proper to the sacrament of Matrimony is intended to perfect the couple's love and to strengthen their indissoluble unity. By this grace they "help one another to attain holiness in their married life and in welcoming and educating their children." |
SWAT teams breaking into homes to take kids away. Who would have thought of such a thing in America? Thanks to the Terri Schiavo case in Florida, this picture will be repeated many more times. The courts now have the authority to take people and kill them arbitrarily.
Yes, and also that they have figured out how to regain function in some:
Given what is at stake, it is almost eerie what one skilled man can do. In some cases, just by working his fingers deep into muscles and stimulating nerve endings, Giacino "can actually coax patients into consciousness." Some diagnosed as being in a minimally conscious state can speak. "Some tell him their names, others tell him to leave them alone. As soon as he removes his hands, they slip away again," Zimmer writes.
My father died in this manner. Laryngeal cancer ( the tumor ) cut off his esophogus and he was unable to swallow. He was too weak to have a feeding tube inserted although he wanted one. The Dr's would not risk it because of his condition. He would attempt to consume liquid to quell his thirst. Whatever he tried to swallow would come out of his nose. He would cry in pain and misery because he could not drink and he was so thirsty. Even his generous doses of morphine weren't enough for him to forego his natural instinct to eat or drink or the pain that came with being unable to do either. He would beg God to let him swallow one drop. He would constantly beg me to apply lotion to his skin as it dried out. I did. Some may say that since he was dying that it did not matter. It did matter. Because the cancer would have caused his death anyway, I would have much rather seen him die a more peaceful death. Instead he suffered immensely. That this is being intentionally forced upon Terri is an outrage. For those that say starvation or dehydration is not painful, I challenge you to go without food or drink. I challenge you to do so just to the point of discomfort, not to death. I guarantee you that at the first twinge of hunger pangs or severe thirst your ability to consume food or drink will be something that you never again take for granted. But, as you relieve your discomfort, remember that Terri cannot do this for herself. Also, KNOW that it gets worse after the initial discomfort you feel. You can stop your discomfort. Terri is powerless to stop that which will lead to her agonizing death.
I know your intentions were good though.
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