Posted on 02/03/2008 10:18:11 AM PST by wagglebee
Contact: Michael Hichborn of American Life League, 1-540-226-9178
WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Judie Brown, president of American Life League, released the following statement concerning an order by Delaware Court of Chancery Master Sam Glasscockon to give guardianship of Lauren Richardson to her mother, who wants to remove Lauren's feeding tube.
Lauren is 23 years of age and, due to a heroin overdose, is now in a persistent vegetative state. At the time of the overdose, Lauren was expecting the birth of her baby and reports indicate that she was kept alive to allow her to give birth, which she did in February of last year. Her daughter is now about to celebrate her first birthday, but Lauren may never have another birthday.
Of interest is the fact that, during the pregnancy, Lauren relied on feeding tubes and a breathing machine to keep her alive. Today Lauren has a feeding tube only. But there is a struggle going on regarding whether or not Lauren will live or die.
Lauren's case is more than a sad commentary on the plight of a family battling over what each of the opponents believes would be in her best interest. Her story is a testimony to the growing philosophy in this country that some, because of their condition, are better off dead than alive.
Like Terri Schiavo before her, Lauren is not dying nor is she in a terminal condition. She has been diagnosed as someone in a persistent vegetative state, someone who is very much alive but locked in her body and unable to express her desires to anyone. The only thing Lauren is relying on is a feeding tube without which she will starve to death. Lauren's mother, who is Laurens guardian, wants the feeding tube removed while Lauren's father is fighting to keep Lauren alive.
This family is in our prayers. We hope that, in the interest of respecting Lauren's dignity as a human being whose future improvement or lack thereof is known only to God, the court will listen carefully to those who argue in favor of Lauren's right to life. It is a tragedy beyond description when any human beings fate rests solely on the subjective opinion of others, some of whom truly believe that patients like Lauren have no quality of life and therefore are better off dead.
The culture of death CANNOT be allowed to succeed.
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Prayers for Lauren.
Starvation is euphoric............
When they were killing Terri, they loved to talk about how she was feeling “euphoric,” which was somewhat ironic when you consider that their argument in court was that Terri was “brain dead” and couldn’t “feel” anything.
In Saudi Arabia, an innocent woman gets 200 lashes for being gang-raped (or WOULD have, had it not been for the world outrage). In America, an innocent woman has her feeding tube removed and is left to starve to death for being a vegetable.....Islam and liberalism become indistinguishable.
WHo is paying for her care?
Here we go again... Better and cheaper to just let the weak die off or starve to death, than to have a bit of compassion and err on the side of life....
(is a sarcasm tag even necessary?)
Just what do these people know of the quality of death?
I don’t know.
Oddly enough, I don’t think I’m on your “moral absolutes” ping list. Please add me. :-)
I don’t either but I’ll wager they’ve never given it much thought and are probably too fearful to try.
Who has guardianship? Was there any sort of written, recorded statement by Lauren, prior to her OD, regarding her wishes in circumstances such as these?
Personally, I offer my prayers for Lauren and for her child. But, at the same time...this decision should be left to the guardian and any recorded wishes of the patient. I know that position will not win any friends on FR, but it is borne of my belief that we, each, have the benefit (or curse) of free will, granted by God, the Almighty. Consequently, if we do not make our wishes known ahead of time, we are acquiescing de facto in the decisions of those appointed to our guardianship should the need arise.
Do others have a voice? Perhaps, but only a voice...not a vote.
I am also NOT blindly granting anything to the government, absent an appointed guardian. IMO, the government has no business in family business...any family business.
That is the dichotomy of the insane. If someone is brain dead then why the rush to free them from the situation? If one can not feel anything then how can they be suffering? It is really not about the individual with the feeding tube it is about the irrational emotions and often selfish desires of those who remain. I personally think that we should err on the side of the individual who can not speak for themselves. Would we not feed a retarded individual who had no hands?
It says a lot about us and our culture of convenience. The sad thing though is the individuals who in both Terri’s case and this case with Lauren could easily discharge their responsibility over the individual in their care to someone who wishes to take care and provide for them. So it comes down to law that emboldens irrational and inhuman behavior.
Even with Terri they rushed to proclaim that she could not possibly improve and then tried to twist the results of her brain scan and autopsy to prove it. What they show is a brain that had deteriorated but not so unlike the brains of others as they age or special conditions as shown in the first link below. The one thing we do know is that we can not have confidence in the recommendations of doctors when they say a patient is in a PVS and will not recover. Increasing numbers of people are waking up and are recovering. A friend of mine did. The doctors told his mom he would never come out of the coma, he did, they said he’d never walk, he did. That is why I err on the side of life.
http://drx.typepad.com/psychotherapyblog/2007/07/man-with-tiny-b.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,,1870279,00.html
I don't know and it isn't relevant.
bump 4 LIFE!
Prayers needed.
What NOBODY wanted to take into account with Terri was the amount of brain damage that occurred after thirteen days without hydration or nutrition.
He toatally dodged the Terri Schiavo case.
McCain was on the right side
“I think that the motivation of my colleagues is that we want to give this young woman’s family a chance to care for her for as long as she lives,”
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