PLEASE SIGN PETITION FOR TERRI
Without 11th-hour help Terri Schindler-Schiavo will soon be
starved to death. Husband Michael Schiavo -- thanks to yet
another outrage by an activist judge -- again has a death
sentence from the Florida courts to execute this courageous woman by removing her feeding tube.
Your quick help is needed! Please go to ConservativePetitions.com to see what is at stake not only for Terri but for all Americans.
Here's the address:
http://www.conservativepetitions.com/petitions.php?id=298
Act NOW to spare Terri's life! The Schiavo family has asked Fr. Frank Pavone, Alan Keyes, Randall Terry and all caring Americans to join with them and not only right this terrible wrong to their daughter, but fix the system that allows such judicial tyranny.
First, sign petitions to Governor Bush to intervene, and to
President George W. Bush to nominate only U.S. Supreme Court Justices who will faithfully interpret the Constitution as written -- and PROTECT INNOCENT LIFE. Then stand ready to help as encouraged by subsequent email alerts!
Here's your chance to stop judicial tyrants who blithely order the death of an innocent, handicapped woman while denying her the right to be fairly represented in court, refusing to honor her family's love or religious convictions, or even taking objective expert medical or forensic opinion into account. Send a message
to activist judges everywhere by setting a precedent in this nationally publicized case. Here's where to make your stand:
http://www.conservativepetitions.com/petitions.php?id=298
In subsequent e-mails as Terri's situation unfolds, Dr. Keyes will offer you the opportunity to help the Declaration Alliance flood Florida with mail and emails, phone calls and faxes, pushing Gov. Bush and the legislature to act courageously TO SPARE TERRI'S
LIFE! Let them re-establish legal precedent in favor of
protecting the vulnerable and innocent disabled! Here again is where to act:
http://www.conservativepetitions.com/petitions.php?id=298
You've got freepmail.
With mixed pleasure and sorrow, I have signed the petition.
Statement of the Catholic Medical Association : Regarding the provision of artificial nutrition and hydration in the case of Mrs. Terri Schindler-Schiavo.
The mission of the Catholic Medical Association (CMA) is to uphold the truth of the Catholic Faith in the science and practice of medicine. In July 2003, the CMA published a statement regarding the provision of artificial nutrition and hydration in the case of Mrs. Terri Schindler-Schiavo. The circumstances surrounding this case have been widely publicized. In 2003, after summarizing the ethical directives found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care, we concluded that based upon the current teaching of the Church the withdrawal of nutrition and hydration could not be justified.
Two subsequent events compel us to update our former statement to uphold the truth and defend the life of Mrs. Schindler-Schiavo.
In March 2004, Pope John Paul II addressed an international congress of health care professionals convened in Rome to discuss the scientific advances and ethical dilemmas in the vegetative state. In the statement by the Vicar of Christ, “Life Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State,” he declares clearly and unequivocally that “the sick person in a vegetative state still has the right to basic health care…the administration of water and food, even when provided by artificial means, always represents a natural means of preserving life, not a medical act…Its use furthermore, should be considered in principle, ordinary and proportionate, and as such morally obligatory…Death by starvation or dehydration is, in fact, the only possible outcome as a result of their withdrawal. In this sense it ends up becoming, if done knowingly and willingly, true and proper euthanasia by omission.”
This papal statement makes it absolutely clear that the withdrawal of food and water from Mrs. Schindler-Schiavo constitutes euthanasia, a gravely immoral act. We would add furthermore, that it represents a violation of her constitutionally protected right to life and a violation of her religious freedom as a Catholic.
Second, recently published data in the journal Neurology indicates that magnetic resonance imaging can be a very powerful tool in the evaluation of “awareness” in patients with severe neurological injury. The findings were so remarkable Dr. Joy Hirsch, director of the Functional MRI Research Center at Columbia University Medical School and an author of the study, said, “The most consequential thing about this is that we have opened a door, we have found an objective voice for these patients, which tells us they have some cognitive ability in a way they cannot tell us themselves. The patients are more human than we imagined in the past, and it is unconscionable not to aggressively pursue research efforts to evaluate them and develop therapeutic techniques.”
These two events, the definitive papal statement and the scientific evidence of new diagnostic techniques required to adequately assess the severely brain injured patient, support our former conclusion in July 2003. There is no rational justification, moral or medical, to withdraw food and water from Mrs. Terri Schindler-Schiavo.
Finally, we recognize that many will not agree with our conclusion. In a country that legally justifies the destruction of innocent human life in its most vulnerable stage of development, within the womb of the mother, it will come as no surprise that our courts have failed to defend her right to life. The darkness of death shrouds the conscience of America.
Therefore, we conclude this statement by making a sincere appeal to all who do agree with us. Please join us in prayer on behalf of Terri, her family and our country; that by the Grace of Almighty God some intervention will save her life and save us from the inevitable consequences if she were euthanized.