Battle Over Possible Euthanasia of New York Teenager Gets Pro-Life Attention

Bronx, NY (LifeNews.com) -- The battle over the life and death of a teenage girl in New York has drawn the attention of pro-life advocates in recent days. The fight to save Javona Peters reminds some of the struggle of the Schindler family in Florida to save the life of Terri Schiavo, a beloved daughter and sibling whose former husband eventually took her life.

In this case, Peters' parents are disagreeing on whether or not to remove her feeding tube and take her life.

Peters fell into a coma in October while she had a routine medical procedure at Montefiore Medical Center. Doctors have pegged her as being in a persistent vegetative state, a medical diagnosis pro-life advocates dispute because so many patients have partially or fully recovered.

Peters' parents were never married and are estranged and have considered a medical malpractice suit against the hospital, according to a New York Daily News report.

But Janet Joseph and Leonard Peters are also feuding over Peters' care and have each filed separate requests to be given custody of their daughter. Peters has been opposed to removing the feeding tube but has wavered recently.

Edward Gersowitz, an attorney for Joseph, told the newspaper that "Because of her condition, she cannot make decisions for herself, and the court will have to appoint a guardian to make decisions for her."

As a teen, Peters doesn't have a living will or some other advanced directive providing guidelines for the type of medical treatment, or withdrawal, she favors.

The case has drawn the attention of the Schindler family, which sent out a notice about the case from its foundation, which helps disabled patients receive legal help and appropriate medical care.

Leading bioethics watchdog Wesley J. Smith has also commented on it and he says the PVS diagnosis seems "rushed" to him.

Smith says he sympathizes with the father and the pressure he is under to take Peters' life.

"We know that too often medical teams and social workers pressure and cajole for such outcomes," he said.

Smith draws comparisons to the case of Haleigh Poutre, a Massachusetts girl whom LifeNews.com reported was also declared PVS, but who has recovered from the abuse she suffered.

In that case, state government officials had ordered her feeding tube removed but she recovered from the PVS state shortly beforehand.

Waking from a coma, in this thread by TheDon. Thanks, wagglebee, for the ping.

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THE COMA

It remains a mystery who bashed in Randy Hall's skull the night of April 19, 2000 – possibly the jealous husband of his latest conquest or a jilted lover. No one was arrested and the Orange County Sheriff's Dept. has closed the case. What's not a mystery is who saved Randy's life as he lay in a coma for two years.

It was Alan – smart, articulate, stubborn Alan. With a background as a fraud investigator and an HMO director, he knew how to battle the system.

.....

After six months, Randy stabilized and Alan agreed to move him. He found a respected coma facility, with sweeping ocean views and dozens of patients. One had survived 13 years. Finally, Alan thought, his brother would recover. Or would he?

Didn't your last doctor tell you?the new doctor asked.

"Tell us what?"

He only has 30 percent of his brain function left. He's never going to come out of the coma.

.....

Medical miracle: Two-year coma survivor defies odds

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Now, the rest of the story...

Thread by wagglebee.

TENNESSEE, January 8, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Children of God for Life reports that a recent stem cell breakthrough that turns adult skin cells to "embryonic" is not a pro-life solution as currently done. On November 21st and 22nd, Dr. Shinya Yamanaka and Dr James Thomson published back-to-back studies that were hailed as moral alternatives to embryonic stem cell research. Both studies involved introducing genes into adult stem cells through a lentivirus, which reprogrammed them to become "embryonic" or induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells, without destroying human embryos. But pro-lifers may have celebrated too soon, without studying the methods used in the papers.

Both researchers used several versions of the 293 aborted fetal cell lines to modify the DNA of the host adult skin cells, in order to accomplish the reprogramming.

"Unless you read the papers published by Dr Yamanaka in Cell and Dr Thomson in Science, you would have no idea where the DNA came from that was used to transform the adult cells", stated Debi Vinnedge, Executive Director of Children of God for Life, a pro-life watchdog organization focused on stem cell research and aborted fetal cell lines in medical products. "And even then you would have to know what you were looking for to understand it", she added............

Huge "Ethical" Embryonic-Like Stem Cell Discovery Not So Ethical After All - Fetal Cells Used

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Hollywood???

Thread by rhema. Thanks, wagglebee, for the ping.

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In the movie Knocked Up, blond-and-beautiful television producer Alison is tapped for her on-air dream job, but while celebrating she gets pregnant during a one-night stand. She decides not only to keep the baby but also to build a relationship with the father.

In Bella, a soccer star's life is upended when he kills a young girl in a traffic accident. Realizing a new reverence for life, he convinces a friend to carry her unplanned pregnancy to term.

In Noelle, a priest whose job is to shut down ailing parishes encourages an unmarried woman to keep her baby, the fruit of a liaison with the arrogant heir of a wealthy family.

In the comedy Juno, the title character, a pregnant teenager, decides to carry to term and place her child for adoption—because a pro-life teen picketing the abortion clinic where Juno had gone to terminate her pregnancy points out that Juno's baby already has fingernails. The film is nominated for a Golden Globe Award.

Has Hollywood tilted off its reliably pro-abortion axis? With the 2007 debut of these films, has the American abortion debate finally reached a tipping point, where more art now imitates pro-life?

Yes, says Steve McEveety, producer of Braveheart and executive producer of Bella and The Passion of the Christ. He believes moviegoers will see "a lot more films" with an underlying reverence for the unborn "and a lot more pro-life people coming into the film industry based on pure logic."..................................

The plots thicken: As Roe v. Wade turns 35, some in Hollywood changing minds about "choice."

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Killary's voice versus the Dakota Voice...

Carrie Hutchens speaks out once again.

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In Hillary's victory speech last night, she thanked the people of New Hampshire for helping her find her own voice. I wonder what it is that voice will say in comparison to all the other voices we have heard in the past months upon months of listening to her. Curiosity is not something I have ever denied having. I even wonder if the Clinton new-found voice will accidentally give voice to others more deserving.

It is no secret that I don't like Hillary Clinton, nor do I believe in her way of life or politics. However, Hillary does deserve credit for doing what has needed to be done for years. She destroyed the illusion that "polls" are pure gospel in reflecting true public opinion. After all, the poll results leading up to the NH primary were anything but what actually happened, and they didn't even have any trick questions to trip up the poll-voters. What does that say about polls and polling?

Maybe the message in Hillary's New Hampshire win is that polls are not the ultimate last word. They are not necessarily accurate. Sometimes they don't represent, even in the slightest, what the public thinks and feels. So maybe...just maybe...they ought to be demoted back to the rank of importance they were initially designed to hold--a "tool" to get an idea of public opinion--and not considered the absolute final vote of what the majority of people think about anything. And definitely not a tool utilized to sway the votes of those who simply want to go along with the crowd and therefore presumably with the winner.

In Terri Schiavo's case, the polls, in my opinion, were often stacked against even getting a hint as to what the public actually thought, or might think, simply by the way the questions were being asked and the answer options available. The suggestion was often that Terri Schiavo was actually "brain dead" and merely being kept alive by machines. Little did many know that the "life support" being referred to was merely a feeding tube. Little did many people know that their uninformed opinion in a poll might one day be utilized to kill off the young woman that was guilty of nothing more than being disabled through no fault of her own.

Terri Schiavo never had a chance to find her voice, such as what Hillary Clinton claims to have discovered in New Hampshire after the votes proved the polls to be a totally untrue representation--a mere delusion! After all, apparently (by their reaction), until tonight those news people reporting on the election thought the polls were the absolute in defining what was and what was to come!

Too bad the realization of defective polls didn't slap people up side the head a couple of years ago when it might have saved the life of an innocent woman. But it didn't. However, with Hillary's win in New Hampshire, nobody can deny that poll results are defective and unreliable. Maybe that will be the voice heard from here on out! The actual votes will tell!

Hillary Clinton Claims Own Voice in Wake of NH Win

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Sadly the brilliant intellectuals in the oh so literary world cannot dig past the thin film of mantras to the essence. I guess that is a penalty of being so smart.

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Nobody's an innocent. I don't think that any of the characters are innocent. Before we judge, we have to look at ourselves. What Jarvis has to do in order to move on, you see where she came from and who she's become, and you see why she acts the way that she does.

This is the second story that's come up in an author interview in which a character has a life partner in a comatose state, the other being John Fulton's "The Sleeping Woman. Why does that story and the Terri Schiavo case resonate so much with authors?

For me it was an upfront metaphor for just letting go in general. At the time, I was trying to let go of a past relationship. I think that authors want to understand what it feels like, that life and death situation. It's a compelling question--what would you do in that situation? Life and death is the biggest question we can answer.

Bostonist Interview: Jami Attenberg, Author

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Death drones are driven to push euthanasia. Following the footsteps of state sanctioned killing in Oregon, Washington is on the same trail. Thread by wagglebee.

Olympia, WA (LifeNews.com) -- As expected, former Washington Gov. Booth Gardner paved the way for an intense statewide debate over assisted suicide as he filed papers to make it the second state after Oregon to legalize the grisly practice. Pro-life groups will likely rally along with disability advocates and the medical community in opposing the bill.

~Snip~

Gardner, a Democrat, was Washington's governor from 1985 to 1993, and his measure would allow doctors to prescribe lethal doses of drugs to kill terminally ill patients. Two physicians would have to agree that the patient had fewer than six months to live and was mentally capable of making the decision.

Ironically, just months ago Gardner underwent deep brain surgery for Parkinson's Disease, which could possibly be used to help incapacitated patients like Terri Schiavo....

Washington Begins Assisted Suicide Debate as Former Governor Files Papers

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Cast a Killary tear in their general direction, as the kill team is on strike, refusing to kill kids for all those waiting eagerly in line. Perhaps this is a new trend in the Running of the Bull. Force people to live. That'll show 'em.

Thread by wagglebee.

SPAIN, January 9, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In the face of numerous police raids, arrests, and negative media reports against their abortion facilities, the members of the Spanish Association of Accredited Clinics for the Interruption of Pregnancy (ACAI) began a "strike" yesterday that is scheduled to last until Saturday, January 12.

According to ACAI spokesman Santiago Barambino, the members of the Association will be protesting the fact that they are treated as "monsters, mafiosos, and delinquents" for killing unborn children up to to the sixth month of gestation, a practice they justify on their website for preserving the "psychological and social well-being" of the mothers......

Spanish Abortion Clinics go on "Strike" to Protest "Persecution"

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Duncan Hunter is the only candidates with no negatives. Naturally, that means he is shunned by the media and odd bedfellows, Republican elites. He is still there battling those formidable naysayers and Nevada stands up for him. Duncan Hunter was an unequivocal supporter of Terri.

The Nevada Republican Assembly held a Presidential Endorsing Convention on Sunday Jan 6, 2008, choosing to endorse Congressman Duncan Hunter.

The endorsement by NVRA by more than a two thirds majority is a significant statement about the character and principles of a living and practicing conservative Republican. Duncan Hunter's record as a 26 year member of Congress places him squarely at the lead of all the GOP contenders, as the standard bearer of conservative Republican example.

Hunter Wins Nevada Republican Assembly Endorsement

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Javona update...

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The fight between a mother and father over the fate of their comatose 16-year-old daughter will move to the courtroom on Monday.

The parents, who are estranged and had never married, disagree over whether life support for Javona Peters should be discontinued. Both will seek guardianship rights at a hearing before Judge Edgar Walker at Bronx Supreme Court.

Javona, who has been unresponsive since an operation three months ago at Montefiore Medical Center, was transferred from Montefiore to the renowned Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston on Monday.

"Montefiore told me there was nothing more they could do for her and wanted her moved to a nursing home, a permanent setting," said the teen's mother, Janet Joseph of Providence, R.I.

Teams of doctors at Spaulding are performing extensive tests to determine the extent of Javona's brain function and her chances for any recovery, Joseph said........

~Snip~

Javona's father, Leonard Peters of Mount Vernon, has so far resisted Joseph's desire to disconnect feeding and breathing tubes and "let her go in peace."

Battle over coma teen goes to court

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Dr. Death is not dead enuf yet...

Conflicting reports have him now speaking back at the University of Florida (FU) this month,

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Location: Stephen C. O'Connell Center
Date and Time: 1/15/2008 8:00:00 PM
Dr. Jack Kevorkian, is an advocate for the legalization of assisted suicide

Details: Dr. Kevorkian, an advocate for the legalization of assisted suicide, will speak at the O'Connell Center at 8 p.m. Free tickets are required and are available at the University Box Office. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for students with Gator 1 cards at Gate 2 and for the general public at 7 p.m. Seating is on a first come, first serve basis. No backpacks will be allowed. Following Kevorkian's speech, a panel discussion will be held with UF faculty members from disciplines including law, medicine and philosophy. Submissions for the post show Question & Answer session can be submitted to accentstaff@sg.ufl.edu.

Accent Speaker Series: Dr. Jack Kevorkian

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Not all are thrilled with the veneration of Dr. Death for getting away with wholesale murder and now hawking his wares at FU.

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An upcoming speech at UF from Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who spent eight years in prison for assisting more than 130 suicides, has spurred about 1,000 e-mails to UF's administration in the past few days.

The letters all request one thing -- cancel the date with Dr. Death.

Kevorkian is scheduled for a speech at the O'Connell Center Tuesday night sponsored by Accent, Student Government's speakers bureau.

Kevorkian, a retired doctor who specialized in disease diagnosis, was released on parole in June.

Janine Sikes, UF spokeswoman, said she and UF President Bernie Machen plan to respond to every e-mail.

Although each one is from a different address, they are all identical in form, and UF doesn't know who's leading the effort, Sikes said.

"With the forced starvation of Terri Schiavo still fresh in our nation's memory," one e-mail states, "I am appalled that a convicted felon like Dr. Kevorkian is being given the microphone at the University of Florida."

Katherine Schinn, president of UF's Pro-Life Alliance, said she didn't know about the e-mails or who was responsible for them, although her organization plans to protest the speech Tuesday.

Schinn and her group plan to demonstrate with signs and fliers but "no crazy stunts," she said.

She said she disagrees with Kevorkian's actions because many of the 130 patients Kevorkian helped die were not physically ill but rather suffering from depression.

Several services for suicidal students exist at UF and in most cities, but Kevorkian's patients weren't offered similar help, Schinn said.

Yiana Michalakopoulos, a UF classics and pre-med sophomore, said she's interested in what Kevorkian has to say, even though she doesn't support his beliefs.

Michalakopoulos volunteers at Haven Hospice, a community for the terminally ill. She said she has aided people with as few as two weeks to live, but she doesn't believe a bleak prognosis would justify aided suicide.

"Even people with terminal illnesses should be given the opportunity to finish their lives with dignity," Michalakopoulos said.

Despite strong student opposition, Sikes said UF does not plan to cancel the speech.

"Dr. Kevorkian is certainly a controversial speaker, but we've had controversial speakers on this campus before," Sikes said.

Machen's inbox flooded with anti-Kevorkian e-mails

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Whither to wander, Libertarians?

Reason: Why shouldn’t libertarians vote Democratic this year to punish the GOP?

Flake: We’re better than the other guy. Maybe we’ve learned a few lessons. Maybe the [Terri] Schiavo experience or the prescription drug deal or some of the other items have taught us a lesson. I can’t honestly say that they have...................

Who Deserves the Libertarian Vote? Reason asks Democrats, Republicans, and Libertarians why supporters of "Free Minds and Free Markets" should vote for their candidates.

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A little Texas story on grasping the obvious...

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When it comes to abortion, I generally fall in the pro-life camp. Not as “pro-life” as many of you, no doubt, but a good 90% of the way there.

Which is why I can understand why someone might claim that the recent debates over embryonic stem cells, or Terry Schiavo, or partial-birth abortion have had an effect on their thinking about the issue of Life.

All of those issues have impacted mine. My position changed and developed. I grew.

But I’m pretty darn sure there hasn’t been a great leap forward in medical technology that is responsible for my shift in opinion.

Sonograms these days may come in color or 3-D or HDTV-level clarity, but way back in 1996 it was still pretty clear to me that the little fella on the TV screen was a future Boy Benzion, not some mysterious glob of goo growing inside my wife..........................

Choose Logic

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