Lauren Richardson Becomes Next Terri Schiavo as Parents Debate Euthanasia (Delaware)

LifeNews ^ | 2/1/2008 | Steven Ertelt

[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.

[wagglebee]

To many people the cross means nothing. The fact that she was wearing one doesn’t mean that she is opposed to what is going to happen to her.

The FACT is that Lauren has NEVER indicated in any legally recognized fashion that she desires to be dehydrated and starved to death and the Cross around her neck certainly wouldn't lead a rational person to believe otherwise.

[floriduh voter]

Free Republic is a pro-life, conservative web site. Let's make that perfectly clear. Again.

Euthanasia is ILLEGAL but practiced anyway. It reminds me of the musical The Producers. Their show within a show is "Springtime for Hitler".

Is it springtime for Hitler in Amerika?

www.judgegeorgegreer.com and www.michaelschiavo.org

[floriduh voter]

bttt

[Sun]

“Thanks for posting the newsletter notice. I did a search on Geraldine Hayes in the news and came up blank. These are the cases that bother me, the ones not making it to the media. Glad the Schindlers found out.”

Yes, I know what you mean.

We have no idea of how many cases there are like this.

I wish more people knew about the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation, so they could contact them for help for their loved ones. There are very elederly people, who don’t know anything about computers, and I wish there were a way to get word out to them.

[8mmMauser]

So many people would rely only on the news sources they knew and grew to trust and believe all their years. Would they even believe those same trusted sources were pumping them through and through with propaganda and would omit key stories and news topics like ours?

But if we keep hammering, maybe some truth penetrates to a few and passes by word of mouth...

[8mmMauser]

Javona Peters is gone and now her mother who wanted to pull the plug is suing for malpractice...

..............................

"I lost her twice. Now she's an angel in heaven."

Javona Peters' mother mourned the 16-year-old's death this month with those heartbreaking words - four months after the girl fell into a coma at Montefiore Medical Center in what was supposed to be a routine operation.

Javona was an active high school junior who was declared forever deaf, blind, unable to move, talk, think or eat on her own following the neurological operation on Oct. 17.

Her story burst into the headlines in December, not just because of the many questions about what happened in the Bronx operating room, but because of a looming court battle that pitted one parent against the other.

Javona's mother, Janet Joseph, wanted to cut her off life support, to "let her go in peace." Her father, Leonard Peters, disagreed, saying, "I cannot take a life."

~Snip~

Joseph said her daughter's life support was not cut off. "Nothing was held back, she was getting oxygen when needed, she was getting fluids, and she was on a feeding tube," said Joseph, who is awaiting autopsy results. "She died from complications from the [October] operation. I am devastated."

~Snip~

"What I know is that she was fine when she went into surgery [in October], she was talking, she was happy, she was smiling, and then she was gone," Joseph said.

"Something happened in the operating room and we want to know what and who is responsible."

The surgeon who performed both surgeries on Javona was Dr. James Goodrich, director of pediatric neurosurgery at Montefiore.

He gained fame in 2003, when he led the team that performed a daring series of lifesaving surgeries on Carl and Clarence Aguirre, Filipino twins born joined at the head.

Montefiore spokesman Steve Osborne has said the coma was caused because "[Javona] had an extremely rare and unforeseeable allergic reaction to a routine anesthesia agent."

Responding to the news of Javona's death, Osborne said, "It's a very very tragic case and our hearts go out to the parents."

Joseph's lawyer Jeff Korek, who is handling her medical malpractice suit, said the hospital turned over Javona's medical records. "An expert is reviewing them and we'll know more when that's done," he said.............

Mom demands to know how hospital put girl in fatal coma

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[8mmMauser]

Website down, server problems today. Will be back later

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[mtbopfuyn]

She looked ot have had such a sweet smile. Prayers.

[Sun]

“But if we keep hammering, maybe some truth penetrates to a few and passes by word of mouth...”

Word of mouth is a great way to let folks know about the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation, if we know anyone who has an ill loved one in danger of losing their life.

Also, are letters to the editor. My mom and my aunt have never even turned on a computer, but read editor’s letters.

[Sun]

Prayers for Javona and all concerned, and prayers so this will not happen again to who knows how many others.

[8mmMauser]

Ya think??

.....................................

The University of Calgary's Juliet Guichon and Christopher Doig (Who Decides When Enough Is Enough? — Feb. 19) have contributed a thoughtful and sensitive reflection on one of the most pressing issues of our time: the matter of life and death, and who decides when to withdraw life support and move to palliative care.

The momentary focus is on the case of Samuel Golubchuk, an 84-year-old Orthodox Jewish man on life support at Winnipeg's Grace Hospital. Mr. Justice Perry Schulman of Court of Queen's Bench recently ruled in favour of the family, which had sued to maintain Mr. Golubchuk on life support contrary to the wishes of doctors.

This is not a "religion versus medicine" issue. It is more a human-rights issue — specifically, the right to live.

Admittedly, Mr. Golubchuk's brain activity is severely compromised, but not a single doctor has said he is brain dead. He is on a breathing machine and a feeding tube, but he does interact at some level with his family. Are we prepared, in Canada, to tell family members who want a loved one to be sustained alive that this request cannot be honoured? Do we want to create a situation wherein we hand to the doctors this awesome power over life and death?...............................

In the matter of life and death, the family should rule

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[8mmMauser]

Where is David Frum? Perhaps he is busy writing on the great compromisers of history or compassionate extremism.

...................................

FP: How is the abortion issue working for the GOP?

Frum: In the past, it worked well. Only a small minority of Americans cared intensely about abortion, and of that minority a majority were prolife. I worry however that this may be about to change. If the prolife movement pushes ahead of the national consensus, which remains broadly prochoice, it could provoke a backlash just as Roe v. Wade once did. In the end, abortion will be reduced in much the same way as the US reduced alcohol abuse: by persuasion and education. Over-reliance on legal sanctions will not only fail, but will likely prove counter-productive – and not only for prolifers, but for the whole conservative movement. That’s what happened in the Terri Schiavo case.

FP: What is the place of environmentalism in future Republican politics?

Frum: It will have to be near the center – because it will be near the center of national politics. When you think of environmentalism, don’t think only of the favored headline issues of the big name enviro groups. Voters are at least as likely to be thinking of the town dump and six-lane highways when they refer to “the environment” as they are to global warming and biodiversity. It may be that our party’s first responders on these issues will be local and state officials. Practical successes to small scale problems can do a lot to rehabilitate our party’s image of unconcern....................................................

Comeback

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[8mmMauser]

Resigned to the fact, a thread by markomalley about a Bishop in England who shows some Moxie. Thanks to narses and TheSarce for the ping...

LONDON, February 22, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - After three years of investigations and disputes, Cormac Cardinal Murphy O'Connor has asked the entire board of directors of a London Catholic hospital to resign in order to facilitate the implementation of a Catholic ethics code that would preclude abortion referrals, IVF and contraception.

A spokesman for the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, who is patron of the hospital and the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, is quoted by the Guardian saying, "In light of recent difficulties and challenges the cardinal asked the board to resign their office.".............

Cardinal asks for Resignation of Entire London, England Hospital Board

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[8mmMauser]

Here is another case of a solution desperately seeking a problem as some "scientists" think they have found a reason, an excuse for harvesting cells from babies. Thread by neverdem. Thanks to fetal heart beats by 21st day for the ping.

One of the most sought-after prizes in embryonic stem (ES) cell research is a method to turn the cells into pancreatic beta cells. These cells produce insulin in response to sugar in the blood, and they are damaged or missing in type 1 diabetes. If scientists could find a reliable way to make beta cells from human ES cells, they might be able to replenish patients' supply. But so far, no one has managed to produce functional beta cells in the laboratory..........

A Sweet Success for Embryonic Stem Cells

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[8mmMauser]

Grasp of the obvious as this thread by wagglebee explores the model laid before the death enthusiasts and their ilk in bioethics today...

..................................

The lab coats, microscopes and medical instruments on display at the Science Museum of Minnesota are typically seen as noble symbols of knowledge, healing and rational inquiry.

In the case of a new exhibit, however, they are artifacts of science gone astray and medicine perverted to serve the goals of "racial hygiene," mass forced sterilization, segregation, euthanasia and ultimately genocide.

"Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race" is the story of the eugenics movement implemented by Nazi Germany in the 1930s and '40s. The exhibit, created by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., opens Wednesday in the downtown St. Paul museum.

Eugenics is the belief that the human species could be improved by discouraging or stopping reproduction by people with genetic defects or undesirable traits and encouraging reproduction among those believed to have desirable, inheritable traits. It was carried out to its most horrifying extremes in Nazi Germany.

But the exhibit, which includes artifacts, photos and video testimonials, shows that advocacy for eugenics predated the rise of Hitler and that many in the scientific and medical communities embraced its use.

The theory also was promoted and practiced in places beyond Germany, including the United States and Minnesota............................................

Science Museum exhibit explores how Nazi eugenics effort lead to the Holocaust

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[8mmMauser]

The list compiled by Coleus on pro-life issues keeps growing and just boggles my mind. What a resource!

Pro-Life Threads

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[8mmMauser]

The model described just upthread at #375 takes on a new light as we comprehend what this guy, Spitter, is trying. Thread by Coleus with thanks to Sun and narses for the ping.

“There is much good news to report on the pro-life front. Nationally, abortions have fallen to their lowest rate since 1976, as more people, particularly young people, are taking a fresh look at abortion and seeing not empowerment for women but the killing of a generation of babies. While the pro-abortion movement celebrates a ‘woman’s right to choose,’ and demands even easier availability of abortions, most Americans are slowly coming to terms with what our society has wrought, and they are turning away from this horrific ‘choice.’

“Oddly, many abortion advocates look at the lower abortion rates and rather than rejoice at lives saved, instead see a threat. Here in New York, Gov. Eliot Spitzer has acted aggressively to make abortion even more available and common than it already is, while stomping on the rights of religious providers like Catholic hospitals. His euphemistically titled ‘Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act’ would raise abortion to the level of a fundamental right, like the freedom of speech, and would therefore prohibit virtually any restrictions at all................

Statement on NY Gov. Spitzer's radical abortion plan

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[8mmMauser]

Busily conserving their inventory of spare body parts, the industrialists in the UK seek selectivity in parsing them out to the most deserving. How thoughtful of those who decide who lives and who dies! Thread by wagglebee.

AN astonishing survey of medics for their in-house Doctor magazine has revealed they believe those suffering from what they see as self-inflicted diseases, like smokers, drinkers and the obese, should not receive free treatment. Have they got a point? PHIL DOHERTY reports . . .

WHEN football legend George Best underwent a liver swap operation because of years of drinking it is said to have led to a fall in those signing up to donor cards.

The argument was he brought it on himself and the organ should have been given to a more deserving cause. That the Manchester United legend, pictured below right, was an alcoholic and thus suffering from a disease cut little ice........

Docs call to ban treatment for some (Socialized medicine in the UK)

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[8mmMauser]

Wesley Smith explains a bit about euthanasia in this thread by wagglebee which is drawing attention from those more happy with the enthusiasts.

KENNEWICK -- Former Washington state Governor Booth Gardner launched a campaign last month to legalize assisted suicide. Today, Wesley Smith spoke at St. Joseph's Church to tell people why euthanasia is wrong. Smith was able to convince some people in his audience that assisted suicide is the wrong way to go for terminally ill patients.

"When people first hear about it, they might think it's a decent idea, but when they learn the reasonings and what it could lead to, education has really changed me to another direction," said Julia Hiatt, who heard Smith's speech today.................

Anti-Assisted Suicide

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[Dante3]

I agree.