Eluana Transferred Late Tuesday Night to Clinic for Death by Dehydration

LifeSiteNews ^ | 2/3/09 | Hilary White

[wagglebee]

ROME, February 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Eluana Englaro, who is often referred to as “Italy’s Terri Schiavo,” was transferred late Tuesday night to a hospital that has agreed to participate in her killing by removal of her food and hydration tube. Television news coverage showed a group of pro-life activists gathered outside the clinic in Eluana’s home town of Lecco at about 1:30am, as an ambulance took her away, some shouting “Eluana, wake up!” and “Don’t kill her!”

Eluana Englaro, 38, suffered brain damage in a car accident in 1992 and has since been in a state of diminished consciousness. Eluana’s father, Beppino Englaro, who has been petitioning the courts for over a decade to euthanize his daughter, said her transfer to the new facility is “the first step... towards the liberation of my daughter. It seems we have finally succeeded.”

Beppino Englaro’s lawyer told media that La Quiete, a private clinic in the north eastern town of Undine, had agree to participate in her killing. Welfare Minister Maurizio Sacconi said the government is searching for a new way to prevent her death. The removal of Eluana’s food and hydration tube is set to be carried out in three days.

Death by dehydration has been described by medical authorities as “horrible” and “agonizing.” It was a common form of torture used by totalitarian states, including in well-documented cases by the Nazis in their death camps.

In cases of severe dehydration, toxins build up in the body and the body's chemical balances are disrupted. This disrupts the electrical system that triggers the action of muscles, including the heart. The tongue and lips crack and bleed. The eyes recede into their orbits. The skin becomes so sensitive it peels off upon firm contact. The lining of the nose can crack and bleed. Dried brain cells can cause convulsions. The mouth becomes dry and saliva thick, and there is cracking of the mucous membranes of the mouth and lips. The blood thickens, increasing the risk of stroke. As fluid decreases in the body, blood pressure drops and the heart rate increases, possibly causing shock and heart attack.

The move to kill Eluana has roused the ire of many in Italy, including Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, President of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers, said on Tuesday, “Stop this murder!”

“To stop giving food and liquids to Eluana is equivalent to abominable murder and the Church will not cease to proclaim this loud and clear.” Interviewed by the Rome daily La Repubblica, the cardinal said that Eluana’s court-mandated death by dehydration “will represent a defeat for the respect of human life.” His comments come after Pope Benedict XVI spoke on Sunday against euthanasia, saying it is a false answer to suffering.

The consequences, both legal and moral, should Eluana Englaro be euthanized in a Catholic Country, will be dire, pro-life advocates have warned. Carlo Caffara, the archbishop of Bologna, said at Mass last weekend, “In the body of this woman, and in her fate, there is an image of the fate of the West.”

Eluana has become a “‘sign of contradiction’ between a culture of death and a culture of life,” he said. “Her martyred body has become the question addressed to every conscience that reflects on man's destiny: To whom does man belong? Who has dominion over man's life and death? Who owns man?”

“The spiritual event of the West has come to the end of the line: If the life of man does not belong to man but to God, no one has control over it for any reason, [but] if the life of man belongs to man, it is consistent to hypothesize circumstances in which everyone can do what he wants with his life or ask others to put an end to it,” Cardinal Caffara continued.

The killing of Eluana, said Msgr. Ignacio Barreiro, the director of the Rome office of Human Life International, is going to be disastrous for others in similar situations in Italy. Msgr. Barreiro said, “It would create a precedent whereby judges, against the law, can decide it's right to kill patients. We are not fighting for Eluana's life because she has limited signs of consciousness but because of her dignity as a human being.”

Pro-life legal experts have been especially concerned that should Eluana be “legally” killed by dehydration, it would create a “back door” through which euthanasia could be legalized. The government is considering legislation that would allow the creation of “living wills” that could specify the removal of food and hydration.

In November, health and welfare minister, Maurizio Sacconi, issued a statement that in Italy it is “illegal” to remove the food and hydration of helpless disabled patients with the purpose of ending their lives. Secretary of Welfare, Eugenia Roccella, also said that there is “no obligation” for government-funded health care facilities to implement the court’s decision that patients can be dehydrated to death.

In January, two pro-life advocates launched a legal challenge to the appeals court in Milan, arguing that the decision to allow Eluana’s killing had been made without sufficient medical examination to determine her condition. At that time, more than 700 Italian doctors had signed an open letter opposing the killing of Eluana, saying that such an action is an attack against the “basic rules of good medical practice as established in the declaration of Helsinki.”

EMBASSY OF ITALY IN THE UNITED STATES
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EMBASSY OF ITALY IN LONDON
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Other Italian Embassies:

http://www.esteri.it/MAE/Templates/SediTemplate.aspx?NRMODE=...

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

700 Italian Doctors ask that Eluana’s Life be Spared
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jan/09011301.html

It is “Illegal” to Stop Food and Hydration of Vulnerable Patients: Top Italian Minister
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/dec/08121703.html

[WVKayaker]

Please address me when talking about me.

Which statement is complete contradiction to belief in God.

Your "opinion" is no better than any other. Your manners are worse.

”There are no facts, only interpretations.” -Nietze) For further research, see: Evolution, or "Anthropogenic global warming".

The only truths are God's truths...

Romans 8:28 (NIV)

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

[little jeremiah]

Carry on, I’m not going to waste my time reading your comments. Have fun!

[wagglebee]

Eluana Enlargo had Died

Rest in Peace Eleuana

The murderers had begun withdrawing food and water on Friday.

Thread by Pyro7480

Italian woman in right-to-die debate dies (Eluana Englaro)

The 38-year-old woman who ignited a fierce right-to-die debate that convulsed Italy and dragged in the Vatican died Monday just as lawmakers in Parliament rushed to pass a bill designed to keep her alive.

Eluana Englaro had been in a vegetative state since she was in a car accident 17 years ago. She died Monday night at the Udine clinic where she had been for the past week, said family attorney Vittorio Angiolini.

"Yes, she has left us," the ANSA news agency quoted her father, Beppino Englaro, as saying. "But I don't want to say anything, I just want to be alone."

Englaro's doctors had said her condition was irreversible. Late last year, her father won a decade-long court battle to allow her feeding tube to be removed, saying that was her wish. In line with the high court ruling, medical workers on Friday began suspending her food and water. . .

"We will not be silent.
We are your bad conscience.
The White Rose will give you no rest."

[wagglebee]

It looks like Tiller the Killer will have has biggest advocate in the Cabinet.

Thread by Fred.

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Kathleen Sebelius, the pro-abortion governor of Kansas who has been criticized for supporting late-term abortions, is now seen as the most likely pick for Health Secretary. Should President Barack Obama select her, it would add to his growing pro-abortion record as president. . .

[wagglebee]

The link:

President Obama May Name Pro-Abortion Kathleen Sebelius as Health Secretary

[wagglebee]

The vast majority of folks, probably 90% or so, fall somewhere in between and they have questions and value open discussion without name-calling.

So, you believe that "90% or so" are ambivalent on pro-life vs. pro-death issues? What hole did you crawl out of?

I have posted thousands of pro-life thread here and have yet to find ANYONE who did not have strong feelings one way or the other.

[wagglebee]

Eluana's neurologist has stated that Eluana was physically healthy prior to the removal of food and water on Friday.

Based on this, it was predicted that it would take from 12 to 14 days for her to die. So, why did she die so quickly? Could something have been done to speed it up out of fear that the government would be successful in preventing her murder?

Thread by me.

Neurologist for Eluana Englaro Admits She is Healthy, Euthanasia Unnecessary (Eluana Died Today)

Rome, Italy (LifeNews.com) -- The neurologist for Eluana Englaro, the disabled woman who has become the center of an international debate over whether she should be killed via euthanasia, says she is healthy. All of the medical tests conducted prior to Friday's stoppage of food and water reveal a healthy patient.

Englaro was injured in an automobile accident in 1992 and has been in a minimally conscious state ever since. Her father recently won the legal right to kill her by removing her feeding tube.

Carlo Alberto Defanti, who is overseeing the withdrawal of food and water, made the comments in an interview with the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera.

“She has never had any diseases and has no need for antibiotics," Defanti admitted. "[Englaro] does not have any damaged or injured internal organs. The tests performed at the hospital in Lecco, before her departure [to the center where she will be killed] were perfect.”

Defanti also mentioned that Englaro recovered from a mild medical problem last fall concerning some internal bleeding she had.

“She got better on her own, without any external help. She had lost a lot of blood. She got better on her own, without transfusions, and this is a sign of good physical condition," he explained.

Defanti told the newspaper that Englaro’s “physical state is optimal. Probably, and I underscore the term, she has resistance that is above-average."

. . .

[Sun]

Prayers for Eluana.

Perhaps the drugs killed her. From my email from Terri’s foundation:

‘Eluana Englaro, Italy’s “Terri Schiavo,” has died only four days after doctors began a “gradual” reduction in her food and water intake with the intent to cause her death.

The announcement was made by Italy’s Health Minister on the floor of the Italian Senate, which was debating a bill that would have saved Englaro’s life.

Although no cause of death has been announced, earlier news reports indicated that Englaro’s intake of nutrients was being replaced with a heavy dose of sedatives. Palliative medication in high doses can cause a patient to die prematurely.”

[JustaDumbBlonde]

"So, you believe that "90% or so" are ambivalent on pro-life vs. pro-death issues?"

No, that is not what I said. Try again.

"What hole did you crawl out of?"

I didn't. How 'bout you?

"I have posted thousands of pro-life thread here and have yet to find ANYONE who did not have strong feelings one way or the other.

Yes, you have, and on every single one of those threads folks can either agree strongly with you or be attacked. We've gone through this several times and I'm still sick of your holier-than-thou attitude.

Since you've pinged your cabal, I'll expect several more attacks and could not possibly care less. Y'all have a good time.

[little jeremiah]

Oh my God. Very sad news.

[BykrBayb]

Since you've pinged your cabal...

This is the Terri's Dailies Thread, it is a caucus thread, and Wagglebee pings those of us who have requested to be on the Terri's Dailies Ping List.

I suggest you direct your complaints about the pro-life nature this thread to Jim Robinson, and not to his guests who are merely following his rules, not dictating them.

[JustaDumbBlonde]

"I suggest you direct your complaints about the pro-life nature this thread to Jim Robinson,..."

I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with the pro-life nature of this thread, nor did I ever indicate that I did, therefore I have no need to complain to Jim Robinson. However, I assure you that if I ever feel the need to take a comment/problem/solution/suggestion to Jim, I certainly will. I was responding to wagglebee's post #146, and that post only. Is it the rules of this forum that y'all be pinged when wagglebee is posting to me about something that I posted? When did this begin?

For the record, it is possible to be pro-life without being a zealot about it. You attract nobody to your side by calling them and assuming that you are more righteous than anyone else.

[JustaDumbBlonde]

correction in the second paragraph: by calling them names

[BykrBayb]

LOL ~ You are the one doing the name calling. Then you post a correction to your name calling, with a comment about name calling. Do you have any idea how ridiculous that is?

[JustaDumbBlonde]

The correction was not a comment, but the addition of a word to a comment already posted. I sincerely apologize for trying to complete the sentence.

No more ridiculous than you insisting that you were pinged because it was forum rules. LOL!

[BykrBayb]

If I had said what you have falsely accused me of saying, that would have been ridiculous.

Why can’t anyone support killing innocent people like Eluana and Terri, and be honest about it at the same time?

[JustaDumbBlonde]

"Why can’t anyone support killing innocent people like Eluana and Terri, and be honest about it at the same time?"

Don't have a clue Bayb. I don't support killing anyone.

[BykrBayb]

Then you’re not very good at advocating for Eluana and other potential victims to live.

No, I don’t believe you support the right to life for people whose lives you deem worthless. I don’t believe you’re being honest at all.

[JustaDumbBlonde]

"No, I don’t believe you support the right to life for people whose lives you deem worthless. I don’t believe you’re being honest at all."

I never said that any of these folks are 'worthless' -- that is a total fabrication -- and I don't care what you believe about me. Good night.

[BykrBayb]

I believe you adhere to the position you promote.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I support the right of innocent people to not be deprived of the basic necessities of life. I don’t argue in favor of my views, and then deny having those views when confronted about it.

Why can’t you come right out with it, and state plain and simple, without any of the games, what it is you truly believe? Why must you hide behind dishonest wordplay? You argued against Eluana’s right to food and water, while cleverly avoiding accurately stating your position. If you’re too ashamed to admit that you supported the killing of Eluana, why did you spend so much time and energy supporting that position?

Just admit which side you’re on. If you truly believe you’re on the right side, why can’t you admit which side you’re on? If you truly believe it was right to kill Eluana, why can’t you admit it?