Posted on 09/04/2003 12:14:25 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
What do you call a country that sentences its prisoners to death by starvation and dehydration?
Barbaric, inhumane perhaps?
Fasts, even hunger strikes, often are self-imposed for periods of time. However, no one in his right mind passes up fluids.
Death by dehydration is a painful, agonizing and arduous process that takes 10 to 14 days.
In addition to feeling the pangs of hunger and thirst, the skin, lips and tongue crack. The nose bleeds because of the drying of the mucus membranes. Heaving and vomiting may ensue because of the drying out of the stomach lining. The victim may experience seizures.
As the fluid level in the body goes down, the blood pressure goes down and the heart rate goes up. Respiration often increases as blood is shunted from the periphery to the central part of the body in a desperate attempt to sustain the primary organs. The hands and feet become extremely cold.
Compared to starvation and dehydration, death by hanging, firing squad, even the electric chair seems humane.
What kind of country imposes such a death, even on those guilty of the most heinous crimes?
Look in the mirror! We the people of the United States of America now are guilty of allowing this kind of death sentence to be carried out not against murders, rapists and child molesters, but on some of the most disabled in our midst.
One week from today, on Sept. 11, 2003, as we observe the second anniversary of the terrorist attacks that killed over 3,000 innocent people in New York and Washington, D.C., a circuit judge in Florida will hold a hearing to decide when to remove the tube that is used to bring food and fluid to 39-year-old Terri Schiavo, who is slated to become the latest death-by-dehydration victim.
We call those people, who programmed and sent the terrorists into our country, barbarians. However, if we stand by and allow the state to kill an innocent woman like Terri Schiavo, whose only crime is being severely disabled, are we any better?
Terri is not on a respirator or any artificial life-support equipment. Any reasonable person who sees this woman reacting to her parents will realize she is not in a coma or, as it is sometimes called, a "persistent vegetative state." You can view the evidence for yourself.
In 1990, Terri Schiavo collapsed and suffered brain damage under unexplained circumstances. Having no durable power of attorney for health care, her husband, Michael Schiavo, became her guardian. He filed a malpractice lawsuit against the doctors who attended her and was awarded $1.3 million.
The bulk of the award was placed in a trust fund for her care and rehabilitation. However, in the last 10 years, she has received no meaningful rehabilitation treatment. Instead, her guardian husband hired a right-to-die advocate, George Felos, as his lawyer and began petitioning the courts to have her feeding tube removed, which, of course, will kill her.
Would a jury have set aside this money for her care if it had known that her guardian had planned to ask the court to end her life? Of course not!
Does the fact that Michael Schiavo would inherit any money left in her trust or is living with another woman with whom he has had a child and plans to marry once Terri is out of the way a conflict of interest? You bet it is!
Recently, Terri developed a serious infection, but Michael Schiavo refuses to allow doctors to treat her.
If a child is mistreated or denied proper care or medical treatment by a parent or guardian, the state will step in and place that child in the hands of someone who will protect the child from harm. Why should a disabled person be denied this protection?
Have we, as a nation, become so callous that we have bought into the "quality of life" argument that some people simply are not worth the effort to protect or rehabilitate?
Florida's governor, Jeb Bush, wrote a letter to the judge in charge of the case asking him to delay the removal of Terri's feeding tube stay her execution until her case could be investigated. He was ignored.
What Gov. Bush should do is have his attorney general bring an action by the state on Terri's behalf.
There has been a federal court hearing, but time is running out.
To date 27,000 people have petitioned Gov. Bush to save Terri Schiavo. That leaves 281,395,000 who should.
Atheists believe that the Bible is merely a very old book of allegories and stories, and that it holds no more authority (moral or otherwise) over them than a copy of Mad magazine. But, as to your point, you'll get no argument from me - with all the evidence to the contrary, atheists are idiots. But, they still have the right to their beliefs, and for somebody to presume to order them to believe in a (g)od is arrogance of the highest order.
What part of the phrase "the right to be left alone" are you having trouble understanding today?
Euthanasia advocates do not believe in God because Jesus said it is better for one to die himself than to harm one of the "little ones."
By your description, the term "little ones" could be used to refer to every person on the planet, and could further be used to justify involuntary cradle-to-grave monitoring, feeding, watering, and housing of those same teeming masses. I'm not prepared to watch my tax dollars be taken from me by a theocracy to feed, water, and house the world. Sorry, but I'm not.
I could never accept the state that Ms. Schiavo is in for myself (and I'm not saying that it was her fault). I've made it crystal-clear to my family, attorney, and everybody else that they are to pull the plug if something like that were to happen to me.
If you have love in your heart. How can one starve a person that smiles when she sees her parents?
'tis a puzzlement, at least to me.
And you are winning your fight for intolerant, forced "churching" of people. Torquemada could have used you at his side.
yet you attack those who believe the opposite because they will never accept your view.
I have never attacked a Christian for their beliefs unless they attacked me first. That's the difference between you and me - I'm perfectly willing from the standpoint of public and "official" life to let people worship whichever deity they believe in, or even none at all.
I agree too. But again, you're citing an "authority" (the Bible in this case) that atheists pay no more stock in than they do Mad magazine when it comes to the imposition of moral authority. It is a logical fallacy to appeal to an authority that the other side does not recognize or respect.
How poignantly (and truly) you have put it.
And even more cruel than denying Terri flowers and visits is the husband's denial of physical therapy to her.
Several experts have testified that Terri could have a chance at rehabilitation if she were allowed to have aggressive therapy.
I'm reminded of the actress Patricia Neal, and the struggle she had to go through after suffering a series of strokes. It took years, but eventually she recovered her ability to speak, and nearly all else she had lost.
If Neal's husband had refused therapy for her, she would never have recovered.
In late February 1965, this shocking newspaper headline flashed around the world: "Film Actress Patricia Neal Dies from Stroke at 39."[But Neal was not dead]...a congenital aneurysm had burst in her brain. After the operation, Neal showed no sign of coming out of her coma.
Three weeks later, she was finally able to gently squeeze her husbands hand. That was the first bit of hope that I would actually survive, says Neal.
As Neal regained consciousness, she was horrified to discover she couldnt speak or understand conversation. She was seeing double and she was totally paralyzed on her right side.
...I was a divine patient until I got home, says Neal. It was only then that I realized how utterly debilitated I was...
Like a toddler, she had to learn to speak and walk. And the feelings of alienation and worthlessness were devastating. I found myself hating the doctor who saved my life, hating God, my husband and hating myself for hating."
Neal and her husband found there was a life-saving utility to her rage. Were all made up differently, but my anger stirred my resolve to get better.
Patients see that Im not perfect. I dont walk well, cant see out of the side of my right eye... but Im still up and around...
I have to credit my now ex-husband Roald for really shoving me into my rehabilitation, says Neal. He used my anger to push and push and push me to work my body and my mind with the help of various therapists.
While Neal was still pregnant, the family moved back to England. Her therapy continued... By then, though, the initial fuel of her rage had burned out, and what Winston Churchill called the black dog of depression began to claw menacingly at her door.
"What was hurting me most was that I had lost my place in my childrens lives, says Neal. So Neals husband devised an informal system and schedule that kept Neals body and mind occupied every minute of everywaking day. Neighbors and friends were constantly with me,says Neal, walking, cooking, playing board games to help my coordination and other activities that would force me to try speaking even the most simple words.
Then Lucy Neal Dahl was born at 8:23 a.m. August 4, 1965 169 days after Neals stroke...
Even with that joyful and uneventful birth, the fangs of Neals depression wouldnt let go. It was even more apparent to me after Lucy was born that I didnt consider myself a competent homemaker or mother but the lessons for my recovery carried on."
Her speech and reading continued to improve slowly. I described everything as either very good or evil. Thats what a great conversationalist I was at the time, says Neal.
...A new person was about to cross her threshold and prove that Neal could accomplish more than she could ever dream. Valerie Eaton-Griffith suddenly came into my life, and we began to work together, says Neal. She was brilliant in the mind, and I, clearly, was not.
A special bond quickly developed between the two. Wed playbridge and croquet and read plays together. She was a magnificent teacher. I cant describe the connection, but for the first time, she made me believe that all the help Id received from my friends and family was going to pay off in wonderful and unexpected ways.
Even the most miraculous of opportunities often are met with skepticism and even outright fear...Acting offers unexpectedly began to trickle in, remembers Neal. Unbelievably, I was tentatively offered the role of Mrs.Robinson in The Graduate. While no one couldve been more perfect than Anne Bancroft, I was simply too terrified to entertain the initial proposition. I simply had no faith I could pull it off.
Next, came an offer from Peter Sellers for a role in Whats New Pussycat? Again, Neal turned it down.
Then came the film adaptation of the Pulitzer-winning play,The Subject Was Roses. It was 1968, only three years and endless struggles from her dance with death. She was to play opposite Jack Albertson and mother to a young Martin Sheen. The part was perfect like putting on her best head-turning dress.
Neal balked again.How did I get the guts to do it? I didnt want to do it at all. It was my husband, God bless him, who insisted, Youre gonna do it. Youre going to work!"
And work she did, reluctantly at first. I started out on the film more than a little grumpy, says Neal. But by the third day, I was showing a little interest, and toward the end I adored it. Having the courage to act again was the largest victory in the rehabilitation process for me.
Her courage was rewarded. Neal received an Academy Award nomination for her performance, and her busy and acclaimed acting career was suddenly rejuvenated.
I came to realize that I could do anything with help, says Neal.
In 1978, the Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center in her hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee, dedicated the Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center (PNRC) in her honor. Since then, the PNRC has served almost 20,000 inpatients and more nearly than 30,000 outpatients as they learn to walk, talk, eat and live independently following a stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injuries or other traumas.
Its a fabulous hospital, says Neal. I visit several times a year, because I believe people want to see what you can come to if you work hard.
Patients see that Im not perfect. I dont walk well, cant see out of the side of my right eye, and my hand can be uncooperative, but Im still up and around, says Neal.
Of course, I have my little speech, adds Neal. Its so important that you work on your rehabilitation. You need people to push you for a long time.
The magic is that we now understand that recovery never ceases and patients and their families can take strength in knowing that how you start out after a stroke is not the end of your life story.
For information, call 1 (800) PAT NEAL or go to www.patneal.org
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