Posted on 01/29/2005 3:11:11 PM PST by amdgmary
Some thoughts on Terri Schiavo: Are the truths we once held to be self-evident no longer even relevant?
1/29/2005
By Karl Maurer
Without some kind of divine intervention, it is likely that in near future Terri Schiavo, brain damaged but still attentive, awake and alive, will be killed. This will be done when her guardian and husband Michael Schiavo, stops her feeding. Terri has a feeding tube inserted into her stomach because of an inability to control swallowing. Removal of that tube will deprive her of food and fluids and result in certain death.
The case of Terri Schiavo has generated enormous controversy. Her case has elicited a response from the Vatican and the direct intervention of Jeb Bush, the governor of Florida.
Pope John Paul II emphasized the evil of euthanasia last year, and insisted that the sick, like all other human beings, should be accorded care and treatment that respects the fundamental dignity of all human beings. Allowing the sick and helpless to die without care is contrary to every message Christ left us with, specifically, that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us, and the neglect we show the most helpless humans, so we do to Christ Himself.
In a remarkable last minute effort, Gov. Bush and the Florida general assembly pushed through laws mandating that Terri Schiavo's feeding tube be replaced during a week of political turmoil in which Terri's feeding tube had been removed, and she slid towards certain death. These laws were challenged and negated by the courts, in effect clearing the way for Terri Schiavo to be murdered before our very eyes. The muscle of the state will be there to see that the beastly and grizzly death is uninterrupted by pesky elected officials or overly sympathetic Christian fanatics.
For Christian America, Terri's cause has become battle cry. The failure of this nation's culture and legal system to spare her is an unspeakable tragedy
It's remarkable that Terri's husband would be so hell-bent to let his wife die such a hideous death. It is well know that he has been involved with another woman, and has children with her. Doctors examining Terri at the time of her stroke suggested that she showed signs of abuse. Terri is not in a "vegetative state" as the media has consistently mischaracterized: she responds to family members, vocalizes discomfort, and responds to therapy. Unfortunately, throughout the years of her recovery, Michael Schiavo has acted to limit, and even deny therapy for Terri that would lead to her recovery. Insurance proceeds and movie rights will all default to Michael Schiavo upon Terri's death. Schiavo's obsession with seeing his wife killed, especially when her parents have offered to assume all responsibility for her care, is bizarre and unexplainable.
Terri Schiavo's parents, the Schindlers, recently offered to give Michael Schaivo all movie rights, insurance proceeds, and in effect everything they own personally, in exchange for their daughter's life. Through his attorney, Michael Schiavo has indicated that Terri Schiavo has a "right to die."
Really? By whose hand, Mr. Schiavo? Certainly not her own. Suicide is illegal in all 50 states for obvious reasons. Murder is illegal in all 50 states. The withholding of care from the sick is a decision that is made only after all reasonable levels of care have been exhausted, or if the individual themselves authorizes that care to be withheld through their own decision, with witnesses or properly documented through their will.
Terri Schiavo made no such stipulations to be allowed to die. She is a Roman Catholic, and were she able to sit and say so, would tell the world that if anyone should decide her fate, it ought to be Pope John Paul II, not a heartless profiteer seeking to shuck the burdens of caring for the sick, and too gutless and cruel to accept the pleas of Terri's parents to spare their daughter's life.
In spite of the mountain of evidence that would inspire defense of Terri's rights to live, she has been abandoned by the very court system that was established 200 years ago to protect her.
Michael Schiavo and his attorney's may have been granted the ability by the secular authorities to proceed with their gruesome execution of Terri Schaivo. I predict there will be hell to pay.
We live in a nation that was founded on the principles that every citizen has been endowed by their Creator with the rights of life, liberty and to the pursuit of happiness. These laws are self-evident. That is, we don't need to explain them to anyone. Just as the sun rises in the morning, and a fallen plate breaks when it hits to floor, God has mandated that life and liberty are nonnegotiable, and by implication, that when questions arise over the course of human lives, we must default to saving a life rather than taking it.
This is not rocket science. Common sense and basic human decency require Terri be given back to her parents. For the diabolically minded - like Michael Schiavo and his twisted attorneys - mercy, charity and human dignity mean nothing when money, or perhaps even more sinister motives, are involved.
When Terri Schiavo is put to death, a brain damaged woman will not be the only casualty. As Americans, we will be entering a new chapter of our nation's tragic decline, one in which the truths we once held to be self-evident are no longer even relevant.
For every American, that is a fate worse than death.
Ping
As Americans, we will be entering a new chapter of our nation's tragic decline
And the American Republican politicians are silent on this outrage!
After tens of millions of the innocent have been slaughtered, literally pulled limb from limb with the approval of their own mothers who should have nurtured them in the womb and by doctors who took an oath to preserve life...it is not too surprising that Terri should be killed by the state and by her husband...but no less tragic.
No doubt this is horribly sad. Husband, former or whatever, DOES have the decision ... which he will have to live with the rest of his life.
It would be interesting if HE ever needed "undue" measures to survive.
/Darwinist-Evolutionist-Myths
When food and water are at issue, your statement is either an error or a lie. I'd prefer to believe it's an error. Here are the facts:
Pope John Paul II has stunned Catholic health care providers, ethicists and theologians by announcing emphatically that hospitals are ''morally obligated'' to continue artificial feeding and hydration for people who are in a persistent vegetative state, even if they remain so for years.This was widely reported at the beginning of April. The Chicago SunTimes provided the quote above.
The intentional starvation of a mentally disabled human being, in the US, is beyond the scope of imagination. Were one to do this to a 'companion animal', they would be sent to jail. Anyone who subscribes to this atrocity should be required to be a witness to the event!
Catholic Ping - please freepmail me if you want on/off this list
The possible decision of withdrawing nutrition and hydration, necessarily administered to VS patients in an assisted way, is followed inevitably by the patients' death as a direct consequence. Therefore, it has to be considered a genuine act of euthanasia by omission, which is morally unacceptable.That is the official teaching of the Catholic Church. Sorry you don't like it.
I read the document.
1. This is about the vegestative state....not about old people, to which I was referring. You know that. I wasn't talking about the VS. And you know that too.
2. Willfull? lol. You might just TRY getting off your high horse and TRY to see if you can come down and treat others like adults, instead of the kindergarten teacher that you sound like.
3. I read the article and it doesn't say that you must force feed the elderly. It's all about the VS. The elderly are NOT in a VS. You know that too, but seem to enjoy the high horse...which is NOT the high moral ground, by the way.
4. The Vatican document doesn't judge people. You do. Why don't you TRY to emulate the Vatican document for a change? Might be character building for you. We can all use that.
5. Sorry if you don't like it.
This is what you wrote in the post to which I responded: "Feeding and breathing tubes ARE allowed to be withdrawn. If people cannot feed themselves or breathe on their own, 'undue' measures CAN be withdrawn." A simple "I was mistaken" would be gracious. Unlikely, but gracious.
Thanks for the ping!
Terri ping! If anyone would like to be added to or removed from my Terri ping list, please let me know by FReepmail!
If the parents were to take Terri home, their out-of-pocket costs associated with Terri's care would be roughly comparable to those associated with caring for a teenager. She would require more personal attention, but the parents would be able to provide that themselves.
Michael is spending much more trying to get Terri killed than the parents would have to spend providing lifetime care, if they were allowed to do so.
BUMP! Bttt.
Perhaps you are confusing Terri with someone who is brain dead. Terri is NOT brain dead; she is brain damaged. There are children that need a feeding tube for nourishment, and they sent Terri greeting cards of suuport.
Terri is not in a vegetative state. See videos of Terri on Terrifight.org, keeping in mind that Terri would be even better if her husband, Michael, allowed her therapy. Sadly, Michael doesn't want her to improve; he wants her to die. But Terri wants to live.
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