Posted on 02/01/2008 2:51:57 PM PST by Pyro7480
A Delaware woman has become the next Terri Schiavo as her parents engage in a massive legal and philosophical debate about whether to subject her to euthanasia. Richardson is a 23-year-old woman who overdosed on heroin in August 2006 while she was three months pregnant with a baby girl.
Doctors kept Lauren on life support until she delivered her baby in February 2007. Shortly thereafter, her parents began a fight that is reminiscent of the battle over Terri's life and death.
As in the Terri Schiavo case, physicians have been quick to label Lauren as having a persistent vegetative state -- something Terri's family called dehumanizing and medically inaccurate as patients have recovered from it.
Edith Towers, Lauren's mother, wants to remove her feeding tube and starve and dehydrate her to death in the same manner that Michael Schiavo subjected Terri.
Towers claims Lauren would never have wanted to live as a permanently disabled person, but Lauren, as with Terri, did not have a living will or other advance directive spelling out her treatment wishes. She claims Lauren told her during Terri's battle that she would not want to live like her.
On the other side is Randy Richardson, Lauren's father is fighting to save her life and wants to be appointed as her guardian to ensure she receives appropriate medical care and treatment.
"She's committed no crime and doesn't deserve to have this death imposed on her," Richardson told the News Journal newspaper on Wednesday. "We just want to give her a chance."
Lauren no longer uses a ventilator or other breathing apparatus and is not on artificial life support -- something Randy contends is showing progress.
Towers is winning the legal battle in court as she was awarded guardianship of Lauren, but Randy Richardson has filed an appeal.
The News Journal indicates Delaware Court of Chancery Master Sam Glasscock III has put any action taking Lauren's life on hold while the court reviews the guardianship ruling -- a process that could take as much as three months to complete.
Regardless of the decision, an appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court is expected.
Randy Richardson also has other concerns about his daughter and says that Towers, his ex-wife, has not allowed Lauren's baby to see her.
Richardson and the Delaware Pro-Life Coalition released a video on Wednesday that shows Lauren at a nursing home reacting to family members and a dog.
The pro-life group also organized a prayer vigil near the Arbors Rehab Center in New Castle.
...........My task as a Mainliner reminding fellow Mainliners of our progressive traditions is made easier by the fact that Mainline Protestantism in general has been supported and often led the way on a broad range of very non-Religious Right positions, dating back to the Social Gospel in the late 19th century and abolition before the Civil War.
At the height of the media’s preoccupation with Falwell and Robertson, my own Episcopal Church, for example, not only moved forward to ordain openly-gay clergy, but more recently has elected a woman as its presiding bishop--and she is now refocusing the denomination's considerable institutional energies on advancing the Millenium Development Goals to help lead a massive and immediate reduction in global poverty rather than letting the Religious Right continue to define abortion, homosexuality, stem cells, and Terry Schiavo as the “values” questions religious Americans are required to debate. “Enough already” seems to be the Mainliners’ new motto..........
Do Religious Conservatives Deserve the Soft Bigotry of Our Low Expectations?
8mm
Best,
Etixos
The exile you mentioned may be a feloser going bk to 2002-2003.
Clinical brain death means there is no brain wave activity. If there is clinical brain death, the heart stops and that is called natural death.
MEDICAL PEOPLE AND JUDGES, LAWYERS SHOULD NOT BE KILLING PEOPLE who are not brain dead. It is murder.
Javona died? God Bless her.
Well, Javona’s mom won’t be ridden with guilt for the rest of her days.
Jeb’s a has been. Aren’t we done going over that yet????? Do you know millions of people here and around the world would pick Terri over Jeb in a hypothetical contest ABOUT BRAVERY AND CHARACTER????
Best,
Etixos
WHY ARE PEOPLE WHO AREN'T BRAIN DEAD BEING KILLED? If they were brain dead, they wouldn't need to be killed cuz they'd already be dead.
This isn't rocket scientist, boys and girls.
"Well, that is clear enough. You imply yourself in the majority. So I presume, you are pro Jeb. By contrast I am pro-life."
Rae awakens. Another ray of truth?
They were battling www.michaelschiavo.org and www.judgegeorgegreer.com AND the ACLU.
Scuse me? Sun’s not a newbie. What are u?
“Hi, newbie here, was touched by your post and just wanted to reassure you that they have a whole battery of tests they run to be sure a person is truly brain dead before they do anything.”
Thanks, and while your post made me feel better, I just don’t completely trust today’s science.
For instance, lack of brain WAVES, don’t necessarily mean you’re brain DEAD.
“Sun”
P.S. WELCOME to FR.
Best,
Etixos
Thanks for clearing that up. FV
Best,
Etixos
Welcome from me, too!
8mm
Our fan from CP came to confirm our suspicions and went. Alas.
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