Posted on 07/30/2011 1:36:30 PM PDT by wagglebee
he death of Terri Schindler Schiavo in 2005 is a distant memory for most Americans. But for the family that spent seven years fighting Terri's estranged husband and the court system to stop the starvation of their daughter and sister, recollections of the 13 days Terri lingered without food or water before finally succumbing to death remain vivid and painful. And the knowledge that other brain-damaged patients could suffer a similar fate has propelled this once-ordinary family into around-the-clock activism.
"It was almost like there really wasn't an option," said Terri's sister, Suzanne Schindler-Vitadamo, when I interviewed her last weekend in Kansas City, Kan., at an end-of-life ethics conference sponsored by the St. Gianna Physician's Guild.
Along with her mother, Mary Schindler, and brother, Bobby Schindler Jr., Schindler-Vitadamo now works full time for the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network, a non-profit group that advocates for disabled patients threatened by health-care rationing and euthanasia.
"I used to be a stockbroker; Bobby used to be a high school teacher," Schindler-Vitadamo said. Yet, after witnessing how her brain-damaged sister died on the orders of judges and medical professionals who regarded Terri's life unworthy of even the basic care of food and water, she said, "none of us could ever imagine going back."
Before his death in 2009, Terri's father, Robert Schindler, also dedicated himself to raising awareness about the dangers posed by a culture that increasingly judges the right to life on a sliding scale, a scale on which lives like Terri's count for little.
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
Would you like me to ping you when I post a ZOT Lightning?
John Kerry is a little 2004, don’t you think?
That was a fairly east one once I figured out how to cut out the Viking Kitty head. All I then had to do was paste it into a photo and add the text. Maybe next week I’ll have a little time to work on something more. You have to keep your hand in or you forget how to do stuff...
” You have to keep your hand in or you forget how to do stuff...”
I won’t say it....
hehe.
Yes.
and Yes.
Will do.
And ;-)
Every time a troll is zotted on FreeRepublic, it means an angel just got his wings. . . .
Some things are best left unsaid. That’s why I was as discrete as possible...
*snort* giggle!
I dont understand why they hate Terri Schiavo so much. Shes been dead over six years, but somehow, she can never be dead enough for them. They cant resist an opportunity to bad mouth her.In the Liberal Universe there are GOOD DEAD PEOPLE (those who vote Democrat) and BAD DEAD PEOPLE (those who live on as symbols in the fight for human worth and human dignity that the liberals hate so much).
Your discretion is duly noted....thank you : )
“One of Ws last acts as governor was to sign a law that said that in TX anyone in Terrys condition who was receiving state aid to pay their medical bills could be denied food and water/or disconnected from life support if a commitee of doctors and hospital deemed their case hopeless.
And you know what? In my opinion that is a correct law.”
Really? So, after this year you will be all for State appointed “medical boards” making life and death decisions for anyone as acceptable? Heck, we are all going to be forced onto the government dole, so you are for the dictation of allowing some people to live. Right?
Yep, the transition to death panels is going to be rather simple in this society.
Don’t forget about oxygen. Oxygen is not life support either. Lots of oxygen tanks in Florida, portable.
Hitler’s army’s time in Netherlands unfortunately resulted in long held views about the value of human life and sick notions tied to global death cultists.
Thread by me.
VANCOUVER - A New Westminster, B.C., assisted-suicide foundation is headed to the B.C. Supreme Court Tuesday to renew a fight for what it calls the right to die.
The Farewell Foundation For The Right to Die, representing 113 members, hopes to pressure the Canadian government to adopt Switzerlands model for assisted suicides, which does not require a presiding doctor but insists on the patients full consent and proof of unbearable pain or unsustainable treatment.
Foundation director Russel Ogden filed a civil claim against the attorney general of Canada in early February, arguing a person has the constitutional right to kill himself.
In the last two decades, other places around the world have enacted laws enabling physician-assisted suicide, including Oregon, Washington, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Switzerland, however, has been practicing its non-physician model for 21 years. Ogden said under Swiss law, assisted suicides are fully accountable and coroners, police and the courts are brought in after each death to ensure no foul play is involved.
Coquitlam, B.C., resident Jim Preece, 77, said he has supported the foundation since its inception in February. He said many supporters suffer from long-term diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, cancers and other rigorous diseases. Preece added with assisted suicide, the patients end their own lives without interference.
No doctor will be sticking a needle into your arm, he said. You are the person to ingest the pharmaceutical.
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association also has a similar action in court and represents five plaintiffs, the most recent being Taylor, 63, of Kelowna, B.C.
Its a criminal offence in Canada to assist a persons suicide; offenders can be jailed for up to 14 years.
Both filed in February this year, the court actions come 18 years after the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal of Sue Rodriguez, a woman suffering from ALS, of obtaining a physicians help in dying.
Thread by rhema.
Live Action President Lila Rose is leading a protest this coming Thursday, August 4, at Mercy Regional Medical Center in Durango, CO. The event, which will include a press conference, is intended to draw attention to the fact that Mercy Regional, a Catholic hospital, employs an abortionist on its staff.
Dr. Richard Grossman is a Quaker, an adherent of the Protestant Christian sect famous for its aversion to violence. He is 67-years-old, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, and spends his Fridays perpetrating abortions at the Durango Planned Parenthood.
Its undeniably true that one does not have to be Catholic or even Christian to be pro-life. It is also equally true that one cannot be Catholic without being pro-life. To quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae, by the very commission of the offense.
Abortion is different from other sins because of its gravity. It is the most final and audacious act the taking of a human life committed against the smallest, weakest, and most completely innocent of humans, the unborn child.
For this reason, the Church hands down the serious judgment of excommunication for anyone who willingly participates in abortion. You can disagree with the Church on a whole host pun intended of issues, and still remain in communion with the Catholic Church. But if you have an abortion, or take someone to have an abortion, or encourage someone to have an abortion, youre persona non grata as far as Rome is concerned.
As long as they employ Dr. Grossman on their staff, Mercy Regional is grossly misaligned with Catholic teaching.
When a person is confirmed a Catholic, as I was in 2007, she agrees to adhere to the teaching of the Church. She submits to the authority of the Church as the body of Christ on earth. She professes faith in the Catholic Church as holy. And as far as the Church is concerned, there is no such thing as a conscientious objector when it comes to the issue of abortion. This is one issue and maybe the only one on which Rome allows no wiggle room in the belief of the faithful. You can walk around Catholic secretly believing in women priests, gay weddings, and free condoms for teenagers, but if you are walking around Catholic secretly or not secretly believing in abortion rights, youve got a deadly serious problem.
The reason I perform abortions is because Im a Christian, Dr. Grossman has said in print. I havent read the doctors reasoning behind this statement, but I would imagine its short on reason. If theres one thing almost all Christians are in pretty close agreement about, its that the murder of innocent children is wrong. Dr. Grossman then goes on to say that he believes the woman empowers the fetus, in other words, that the fetus is not a child until the woman says it is. This is such unscientific, nonsensical drivel it makes me wonder how on earth the man is qualified to wield a scalpel.
But no matter what Dr. Grossman thinks, feels, or believes, the fact remains that Mercy Regional is a Catholic hospital. It is therefore not just important but absolutely necessary that the hospital sever all ties to Dr. Grossman, or sever all ties to the Church.
The hospitals website proclaims in its mission statement:
We celebrate the value of each persons life In this manner, we strive to create healing sanctuaries that carry on the ministry of Jesus Christ.
Well, Mercy Regional, step one in your mission of carrying on the ministry of Jesus is firing that guy who takes the day off every Friday to go kill babies.
By the way, Mercys website has a publicity section called Mercy In the News, but no mention is made of the ongoing controversy. I guess thats not the kind of publicity theyre looking for, but its exactly the kind we need to give them. This hospital needs to be told, and loudly, that the pro-life and the Catholic faithful of this country will not abide the resources of a Catholic hospital being used by a murderer, nor will we stand for women seeking a healing sanctuary in a Catholic hospital encountering a man who wounds their bodies and souls and kills their children.
Dr. Grossmans phone number at the hospital is 971-382-8800, and his fax number is 970-382-0122. The hospitals main number is 970-247-4311. They will not enjoy hearing from you. Call them anyway. Be polite, but tell them you are pro-life and think the idea of the Catholic Church, the single most important, vocal, and stalwart pro-life force on the planet, allowing an abortionist to operate within one of its hospitals is unconscionable. Tell them that until they fire Dr. Grossman (who by the way could not be reached for comment) you will be using social media to spread the word that Mercy Regional cannot be trusted and should not be relied on for medical treatment of any kind. If you happen to live in Colorado and have 4,000 Facebook friends, make sure they know that.
Every time a Catholic organization endorses legislation that will endanger the lives of the unborn, help to uphold abortion rights, or place women in the path of more pro-abortion counseling and harmful birth control pills, I cringe. The pro-life movement has enough opposition to contend with from unrepentant pro-abortion radicals. We shouldnt have to fight lukewarm, post-modernized Catholics as well, although we routinely do. Its not enough to just call yourself Catholic, or call yourself pro-life, or both. If we believers in the rights of the unborn fail to loudly, unabashedly stand up for those rights, this movement is simply doomed.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn said, Let evil come into the world, even dominate the world, but not through me. Solzhenitsyn wrote from prison camps in which he was incarcerated by a ruthless, Godless, corrupt, and unjust government. We dont have that kind of government in the United States not yet. And we will not as long as the people keep a very close eye on our leaders. Apathy, though, can be our downfall, in our country and in our Church. To the Catholics reading this: Its our Church. It belongs to the faithful, not the faithless. It belongs to the obedient, not those who pervert and stretch and ignore its teachings. In short, the Catholic Church is a pro-life Church, with no exceptions.
Refuse to participate in the kind of apathy that allows a hospital to call itself Catholic while ignoring the most important tenets of the faith. Its the same kind of apathy that has let abortionists get away with murder.
Do what I just did: Call Mercy Regional and tell them what you think. Then post it to your Facebook. Link this article on your Wall. Tweet your head off. Whatever you need to do. But get the word out.
Because I want him to have something to read in between abortions, I just faxed Dr. Grossman a copy of this article. I hope he enjoys it.
Thread by me.
A tragic letter was published in the current British Medical Journal (no link). It is from a Dutch doctor who has twice euthanized patients, but now prefers terminal sedation, in part, because of the stress killing causes her. She ends her letter on a poignant note. From the BMJ BMJ | 6 AUGUST 2011 | VOLUME 343:
Although as a doctor I favour euthanasia, as a person I find it hard to perform. It is a great burden on my personal life and causes me extreme stress. The days before I performed my second (and so far last) euthanasia were very emotional. I shifted between enjoying life and extreme sadness that life had nothing to offer my patient that could make up for the suffering she experienced. There is also the stress of doing it right and waiting to see whether the committee decides you abided by the rules and will not prosecute.
Euthanasia law grants a patient the right to determine what is and is not psychologically and physically bearable. As a doctor I sometimes feel caught between my desire to do well and the fact that I have to be the means to a patients self determination. I wanted to be a doctor to help patients, not to kill them.
Allena M Silvius general practitioner, Leyden, Netherlands
So, don’t kill them, Dr. Silvius. It is a line no doctor should cross. Killing isn’t medicine. Euthanasia isn’t mercy. It is abandonment.
Still, this letter illustrates a point rarely made: Euthanasia/assisted suicide isn’t ultimately about “patient choice,” but that of the doctor. If you ask to die and he or thinks your life not worth living, you get the poison. If not–of if it upsets the doctor’s “personal life” too much–you don’t.
Thread by NYer.
A documentary set to air in South Korea tomorrow is alleging that Chinese hospitals are selling aborted babies and stillborn children to a drug company which is grinding them up and selling them as "stamina" pills for men, according to news reports.
Dr. Kyle Johnson sent CMR this story from that was originated by a Korean newspaper called the New Daily. I ran it through Google translation and Weird Asia News is now running a version of the story.
When the hospital has a deceased baby case, the staff, who are openly involved, are instructed to immediately notify the medicine company. The documentary team reveals the super secret process of how the Dead Baby Pill is made.A documentary will air on the 6th of August in South Korea showing that test results found hair and nails.
The medicine company stores these dead babies in a normal family’s refrigerator, so no one can find out. Then, when ready to use, they put the dead baby in a medical drying microwave, also located in someone’s house. Once dry, they grind it up and put it in the capsule.
At a very high price the documentary team got their hands on some of these pill and had them tested.
The results: 99.7% HUMAN
I know that Terri and Tim are smiling down on us.
And South Korea is a country we are protecting.
Exactly. You nailed it.
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