Let Lauren Live!

ChristtheKingMaine ^ | May 7, 2008 | Judie Brown

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LAUREN RICHARDSON - YOU CAN HELP!
By Judie Brown

It has been a source of ongoing sadness to read of the difficulties Lauren Richardson’s father has had over the course of the past several months. For those of you who are not familiar with her case, Lauren overdosed on heroin on August 28, 2006. She suffered oxygen deprivation and, as a result of the overdose, is now in a coma and unable to speak out for herself. At the time of the overdose, Lauren was expecting a baby. Her parents honored what they knew would have been her wish and did all they could to keep her healthy and comfortable until the child was born. Today, though Lauren may not be aware of it, she is the mother of Ember Grace, who was born in February 2007.

Since the birth of her daughter, Lauren remains unable to speak of her concerns, but she has a loving father who is doing all he can to protect her from suffering the same fate as Terri Schiavo. However, Lauren’s mother, who has been named her legal guardian, is sadly not of the same opinion and is working with attorneys to pressure the courts to permit Lauren’s starvation.

Lauren’s father has kept hope alive, even at times when there appeared to be no hope in human terms. Lauren’s father is a man of hope in Christ and is dedicated to spending every breath he has on defending Lauren, regardless of what it might cost him in physical exhaustion and worldly goods. The most recent update for those concerned about Lauren tells us the following:

We struggle at times as we seek to share with the public the details of what is happening with Lauren because of the disagreement we have with Lauren’s mother. We cannot understand her reasoning in refusing a path of hope, healing and restoration for Lauren and insisting on causing her death by withholding food and water from her. The issue in Lauren’s case is the eternal truth that all people, no matter what their medical condition, bear the image of God and deserve basic care and an opportunity to be restored to health.

Bobby Schindler, Terri Schiavo’s brother, has written about Lauren in an editorial earlier this year, "False Compassion," and is working closely with Lauren’s father in order to provide expertise that he is uniquely qualified to share during a trying time like this.

There are many links on the Life for Lauren web site that will assist you in tracking this case and learning who is supporting Lauren’s ongoing care and who is opposing it. More importantly, there is something you can do to express your concerns.

ACTION NEEDED NOW

The governor of Delaware, Ruth Ann Minner, is being asked by pro-life Americans across this nation to intervene in this case in order to save Lauren from what many fear is an imminent court order dictating that Lauren be starved and dehydrated to death. I am asking you to be one of those who communicates your passionate belief that Lauren’s life is sacred and deserves to be protected from those who would order her death. The governor’s e-mail address is governor.minner@state.de.us.

Further, it would mean a great deal to Lauren’s father, Randy, if you sent him a copy of your e-mail to Governor Ruth Ann Minner. Randy’s e-mail address is Lifeforlauren@aol.com. 

During a recent visit to Anchorage, Alaska where Bobby Schindler was invited to speak, he told a reporter from The Catholic Anchor, "Once we accept that killing is an acceptable answer to human suffering, we lose any type of parameters. Euthanasia is a form of abandonment. It is not compassion."

Truer words were never spoken. As I frequently tell people who argue that we pro-lifers are being heartless and cruel for fighting to defend the rights of a "hopeless case," "God is the author of every human being’s life, and He has never given permission to a single one of us to arbitrarily rob another human being of life for any reason including disability or illness."

As Flannery O’Connor once wrote on the subject of false compassion, "In the absence of faith, we govern by tenderness. And tenderness leads to the gas chamber."

Lauren Richardson is not terminal – she is severely disabled. Lauren Richardson should not be murdered.

Judie Brown is president of American Life League and a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life.

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And the death march continues...

Thanks, Leslie, for the tip. This is from Professor Pope's blog on Medical Futility. At the link is a discussion of living wills and their efficacy.

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On Friday afternoon, Strong Memorial Hospital removed Dorothy Livadas' life support not only without the consent of Dorothy's duly appointed health care agent but also over the agent's vociferous objections. The agent, Dorothy's daughter Ianthe, had been replaced with Catholic Family Center. As the new substitute decision maker, CFC authorized the removal of life support.

Yesterday, on a plane from Albuquerque, I read a long post (14 single-spaced pages) that Ianthe had placed in the comments field of this blog. I agree that there is a significant likelihood that the living will did not reflect Dorothy's wishes. There is a significant probability that many living wills fails to reflect the wishes of their makers. But they are presumed to constitute "clear and convincing evidence." Ianthe's evidence about the rushed making of the living will was just not sufficient to overcome the presumption.

Like Schiavo, the case did not address end-of-life decision making principles. It was just a dispute about the condition of the patient and the evidence of the patient's wishes. On the other hand, it does indicate a clear trend of courts replacing surrogates who act contrary to either the wishes or best interests of the patient.

Posted by Thaddeus Mason Pope at 2:57 PM

Dorothy Livadas -- Life Support Removed Over Proxy's Objections

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Some in Congress acting like obamacidal maniacs...

And FOCA sounds like a swearword. Thread by wagglebee.

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WASHINGTON, September 23, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Writing to all members of Congress on September 19, Cardinal Justin Rigali warned against enactment of the proposed "Freedom of Choice Act" or "FOCA" (S. 1173, H.R. 1964).

"Despite its deceptive title," he wrote, "FOCA would deprive the American people in all 50 states of the freedom they now have to enact modest restraints and regulations on the abortion industry. FOCA would coerce all Americans into subsidizing and promoting abortion with their tax dollars. And FOCA would counteract any and all sincere efforts by government to reduce abortions in our country.".........

Bishops To Congress: "We Can't Reduce Abortion By Promoting Abortion"

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Two heroic people tell it like it is!

Thread by wagglebee.

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Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Two leading pro-life advocates are defending the use of the term "holocaust" to describe the deaths of 50 million unborn children from abortion over the last 35 years. The term has upset some Jewish leaders because it is typically used in reference to the genocide of Jews during Nazi rule in Germany.

Fr. Frank Pavone, the director of Priests for Life, and Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., issued a joint statement Tuesday about the use of the term.

They say the description of abortion as a holocaust "is not meant to trivialize what happened to our Jewish brothers and sisters."

"Approximately 50 million human beings have been killed in the United States since Roe v. Wade permitted abortion throughout pregnancy," they say. "Children have been torn limb from limb by surgical forceps and killed with suction tubes - not because of anything they did, but just because they existed."

"If abortion isn't a holocaust, we need to rewrite every dictionary," the pair explain.

King and Pavone continue their statement, saying: ....................

Pro-Life Advocates Defend Use of Term "Holocaust" Related to Abortion Deaths

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Sounds like it fits the dreams of Margaret Sanger and her worshippers...

We can guess what the Obamunists and leaders of the democratics believe.

Thread by wagglebee.

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Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new report from the research group associated with Planned Parenthood expands on its previous report showing abortions at their lowest point since 1974. The new Alan Guttmacher Institute report finds abortions are more likely to be done on women who are black, older, or lower-income.

The good news for pro-life advocates is that the rate of abortion in the United States is at its lowest level since 1974, having declined 33% from a peak of 29 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 in 1980 to 20 per 1,000 in 2004.....

New Report Finds Black, Older, Poor Women More Likely to Have Abortions

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Now, if those who like to snuff human embryos followed what they say, they would be obliged to follow this leader. But they don't, because in reality, it is about snuffing human life, not in finding some wonderful cures. Not cures, but death is their life.

Thread by wagglebee.

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Madison, WI (LifeNews.com) -- Wisconsin scientist James Thomson is considered the father of embryonic stem cell research for isolating the first embryonic stem cell in 1998. Now comes the news that Thomson's two research companies are merging and planning to focus their energies on stem cells that don't involve the destruction of human life.

Thomson's team made headlines last year when he and a separate group of researchers from Japan were able to reprogram adult stem cells into an embryonic-like state....

Leading Embryonic Stem Cell Researcher Shifts Focus to Ethical Alternatives

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This video in the thread by Alouette is too powerful to let pass. Catholic prepared, it is applicable to all of faith! The video is well worth sharing with friends still undecided but holding faith. It sums up what we are about.

Thanks, narses, for the ping.

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CatholicVote pro-life ad (stunning!)

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[BykrBayb]

Thank you John. Now take a much deserved nap.

[BykrBayb]

"We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will give you no rest."

Þ

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We are back in business, with warm thanks to John Robinson! In the interim, I posted on the thread by wagglebee, Gianna Jessen: Above Obama's pay grade

Starting out with the blog by Alex Schadenberg with thanks to Leslie for the tip...

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Stephen Drake, the masterful research director for Not Dead Yet discovered that the blog for the American Journal of Bioethics featured an entry by Summer Johnson Ph.D., who came out supporting Warnock's call to euthanize people with dementia.

Link to the Not Dead Yet blog:
http://notdeadyetnewscommentary.blogspot.com/2008/09/bioethics-blog-defends-warnocks-call.html

On September 19, I reported on this blog that Baroness Warnock(84), a leading ethicist in the UK was suggesting that people with dementia had a duty to die.
Link to my blog entry:
http://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2008/09/dementia-sufferers-may-have-duty-to-die.html

Many people reacted by thinking these were just a few comments by a demented old woman, but in fact these are mainstream views among the euthanasia lobby who are busy planning for a day where they can obtain the "last-will-pill" or the "peaceful pill" and help mother out-of-her misery.

In case you think that Summer Johnson (pictured above) is possibly another thinker that is part of an extreme fringe, then just look at her bio:

Summer Johnson Ph.D. is the director of the Ethics in Novel Technologies, Research, and Innovation (ENTRI) program of the Alden March Bioethics Institute and a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Medicine. She is also the Director of Graduate Studies at AMBI at Albany Medical School.

Her bio goes on and is very impressive.

Thank you Summer Johnson for proving that Warnock is not alone.

The real question is: What are we going to do about this?

Posted by Alex Schadenberg at 6:53 AM

Bioethics Blog Defends Warnock's Call for Killing of People with Dementia

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Keeping on topic, wagglebee has a thread on that notorious Baroness Warlock!

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A waste. A burden. That is how influential medical ethics expert Baroness Warnock views people suffering from dementia. Lady Warnock, a prominent adviser to the British government, told the Church of Scotland's Life and Work magazine that people suffering from dementia should be allowed to kill themselves rather than continue to burden their families and Britain's National Health Service.

Sadly, Warnock's comments are all too consistent with our modern utilitarian view of life.......

Duty to Die: Why British Govt Advisor Wrong on Killing People With Dementia

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"Bella" the politically incorrect movie and its proponant, on YouTube...

Thread by wagglebee.

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Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- No sooner had the video gone up of popular Hispanic actor Eduardo Verástegui denouncing presidential candidate Barack Obama on abortion than YouTube officials took it down. The video sharing site removed the full version of the video, which showed graphic images of abortions.

It did, however, leave an edited version in place that contains the Bella actor urging Latinos to vote against Obama without the footage of babies who have died from abortions.

The Verástegui video has already caught fire across the Internet with more than 8,000 people viewing it in only two days....

YouTube Pulls Video of Eduardo Verástegui Denouncing Obama on Abortion

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Haleigh Poutre update...

I repeat my admiration and appreciation for Buffy Spencer and her paper, The Republican, for staying on top of this story. Without such media attention I shudder at what might have happened to poor child Haleigh as the squad lined her up for organ harvest and death.

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SPRINGFIELD - The effort by the state Department of Children and Families to bar the press from hearing 14-year-old Haleigh Poutre tell her story of child abuse goes against the constitutional rights of her stepfather to a fair trial and the press to have access to court proceedings, according to a document filed in court on Friday.

In the document, The Republican asks Judge Judd J. Carhart to reject the move by the state to ban the media from Haleigh's court appearances in the upcoming trial of Jason D. Strickland.

Along with citing extensive public interest in the case, attorney Joseph P. Pessolano, on behalf of the newspaper, cited the role the press played in bringing the Poutre case to the forefront of the effort that resulted in a major overhaul of the state agency in its oversight of child abuse cases. 

"Just as the press was instrumental in supporting and fostering the reform of (the state Department of Social Services), so the press' critical role continues as it covers the legal proceedings in this most newsworthy and important case," wrote Pessolano.

He called it "curious, and some would say ironic," that the agency that failed to protect Haleigh "now waves her privacy interests as a banner" in an effort to violate the constitutional rights of Strickland and the press.

Strickland, 34, was accused, along with his late wife, Holli A. Strickland, Haleigh's adoptive mother, of assaulting the then-11-year-old girl in Westfield in September 2005, resulting in a serious brain injury. He has pleaded innocent to charges of assault and battery on a child, with substantial bodily injury, and is due to face trial late next month.

The Department of Children and Families has custody of Haleigh, and filed a motion asking Carhart to exclude the media from any court appearance of Haleigh. Now undergoing treatment at a rehabilitation hospital in Boston, Haleigh was to be called to testify at a pre-trial hearing to determine if she is competent to appear as a witness against her stepfather.

A hearing on the state's request to bar the press is set for Oct. 1 before Carhart. That hearing will immediately precede the start of the competency hearing.

In the motion on the newspaper's behalf, Pessolano wrote, "To a large extent, the public interest in this case arises from the failure of the Department of Social Services (now the Department of Children and Families) to protect the child from harm in the face of clear indications that she was being physically abused."

"In fact, public disclosure by the press of DSS's failures and omissions in this case led to an outcry for legislative reform," Pessolano added.

Gov. Deval L. Patrick signed into law last July legislation which imposed new rules on how the agency handles the cases of children who have had previous contact with state social workers.

"The case is of enormous public interest and has been followed closely by both print and broadcast media, locally, statewide, and even nationally," Pessolano wrote. "The Republican alone has published some 172 articles concerning the case, identifying Ms. Poutre as the victim of abuse, and in many of those cases publishing her photograph."

Banning the media from the proceedings would leave The Republican in the "the patently absurd position that all interested members of the public would be free to attend the competency hearing but a reporter from the newspaper is to be barred from the courtroom because his or her presence, seated with a notepad among spectators, will adversely affect the child," the motion argues.

That would leave the newspaper in a position to interview someone in attendance for a second-hand version of what transpired, "virtually ensuring an inaccurate report," Pessolano said. "Such a ridiculous limitation upon the proper role of the press cannot be sanctioned."

Earlier in the week, Strickland's defense lawyer, Alan J. Black, also filed a motion opposing the move to ban the media from the proceedings.

Newspaper urges judge to give access to media

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[floriduh voter]

Dementia can range from losing car keys to wandering away from home or not recognizing people. If they want to kill people with dementia, that could be lots of people thirty and up to be honest.

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Haleigh Poutre update...

Again, The Republican fights to see justice for Haleigh.

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The state's Department of Children and Families has asked a judge in Hampden Superior Court to bar the press from hearing the testimony of a teenage girl in a criminal case of child abuse. We, the press, are the public's eyes and ears, and we are opposing that request.

Haleigh Poutre, now 14, was living in Westfield when she was injured. After she was hospitalized in September 2005, her stepfather, Jason D. Strickland, and his wife, Holli A. Strickland, were accused of abusing her. The girl had suffered brain injuries, and now she is being treated at Franciscan Children's Hospital in Boston.

Holli A. Strickland, who was Haleigh Poutre's adoptive mother, died a few days after her arrest in what West Springfield police said was a murder-suicide at the hands of her grandmother. The Poutre case became a searing one for the people who operate the state's child welfare system, and Gov. Deval L. Patrick signed a law earlier this year that enacted new rules aimed at preventing abuse of children who have already received some contact with state social workers. 

Poutre had been seen by social workers for the Department of Children and Families numerous times before she wound up in Westfield's Noble Hospital three years ago, but they failed to protect the girl and prevent the injuries she suffered. Apparently Haleigh Poutre had told social workers she was being abused, but they did nothing to protect her.

The case has been reported on extensively for three years. Now the agency claims that it has "evaluated the effect of press coverage on the privacy and future of the minor child" and decided that coverage would "significantly impact the child's privacy as well as impact the ability to find a long-term permanent placement resource for the child."

I'll leave it to the lawyers for this newspaper to argue before the court for openness in this matter, but it is stunningly disingenuous for a state agency that failed in its role of protecting a child to now argue that if the press is present in the courtroom to hear testimony about how the agency did or did not perform its duties this would violate the child's privacy.

Our executive editor, Wayne E. Phaneuf, had this to say in our story about the attempt to exclude the press.

"This case is of national significance and has already led to changes in the law to protect children who were victimized by the failure of the state agencies to act promptly and properly on their behalf. At every step of the way those state agencies have tried to suppress the public knowledge of this case because of their embarrassment."

Not everyone will agree with us in our efforts to be present during the hearing.

Justin Gorman, of West Springfield, wrote a letter to the editor saying he was alarmed by our challenge.

"This further substantiates the media's tendency to gravitate towards the most controversial information, no matter what the cost," Gorman wrote. "On one side, we have a 14-year-old girl. ... On the other side, we have the largest newspaper in Western Massachusetts trying to get to the front of the line to exploit the testimony of a minor."

Gorman went on to say that the newspaper is irresponsible by putting its readership over the fundamental privacy of a minor "who will have to relive a traumatizing story in the hopes that justice can be served against the alleged abuser."

He concluded with this: "For once, try to set a precedent and put grace over glory."

Gorman's comments indicate a sizable lack of knowledge about this newspaper's body of work and its history. To suggest that the newspaper is somehow seeking "glory" is, at best, ridiculous. There is no glory for anyone in the case of a young girl who was abused the way Haleigh Poutre was, nor should there be any place for a state agency responsible for protecting her to hide and not be accountable.

Openness in our trial courts and our state and local government is essential to sustaining our democracy and providing accountability. It is not surprising that a state agency or a prosecutor would seek to bar the press from a hearing. Some of them prefer that the public never know what they do, how they do it and why.

Matters of privacy matter to us, but so does our role of government watchdog and public advocate. We consider such matters carefully, as we did in this case.

Case is about accountability, not 'glory'

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Haleigh in Boston.com...(Boston Globe, an excerpt...)

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Since 14-year-old Haleigh Poutre emerged from a coma three years ago, just before her life support was nearly removed, she has reached more medical milestones than doctors ever imagined possible: She can breathe on her own, communicate sentences, and concentrate long enough to attend a special day school.

And this week, a Springfield judge is set to determine whether this brain-injured child has attained yet another level of recovery, the mental competence to testify against her stepfather who, prosecutors say, contributed to her violent head injuries. Prosecutors want to call Haleigh as a witness, setting the stage for what would be one of the most dramatic victim-defendant confrontations in state history.

"The judge will want to see that she knows the difference between truth and deception," said Michael O. Jennings, a veteran criminal defense attorney in Springfield who is not involved in the case. "And he will also concentrate on her ability to observe, remember," and express herself...............

Prosecutors want Poutre's account... Judge to determine competence of teen

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From Pro Life Blogs...

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Why is it that a severely injured person is called a vegetable? Mark Pickup writes:

Eight years ago, Kevin Monk of Casper Wyoming was in a terrible car accident. He suffered severe physical and brain injuries. For eighteen days after the accident Monk had no brain function and remained in a coma for another three months. During that time, his doctors tried to persuade is family to let him die.

Contrary to the doctors' predictions that Mr. Monk would never recover, he did waken from his coma. In a recent interview with the Casper Star-Tribune, Monk (33) said, "Some of the doctors told Mom and Dad to just pull the plug," His mother added, "From every place we went, they told us he'd never be anything but a vegetable." Some vegetable!
Today, Kevin Monk is well on his road to recovery and even walks unaided.

Labeling Monk in this manner was demeaning and dehumanizing and is exactly what the press commonly did to Terri Schiavo (click here). The question is why? Why attack the dignity of a defenseless person who is unable to speak for themselves?

Dehumanization is necessary to euthanasia proponents and the Culture of Death in general because taking control of the value of human life is key to their agenda. Terri Schiavo's case revealed that our courts and society have taken a low view of human life, one that measures a person's worth by the scale of the young and healthy. The core values of this death oriented belief system have been festering below the surface for decades, emerging with the legalization of abortion in 1973.

What has surprised many is the that the Culture of Death is progressive and has turned from the oppression of those hidden in the womb to strike out against the weak and helpless in plain view of society and by the authority of the State and Federal governments.

This evolution follows from the belief that human life derives its worth based on its characteristics and utilitarian benefit as determined, of course, by others in society.

Wesley J. Smith is on the mark as he comments on proposed experimentation on "living cadavers":

When we lose sight of the crucial ethical presumption that all humans have intrinsic value simply and merely because they are human, when we say that the value of a life depends on its presumed quality, we open the door to the worst forms of oppression and exploitation.

As noted by Smith, the valuation of human life on the basis of a characteristic, quality or contribution inevitably leads to the oppression of the undesirable; those whom others find "inconvenient" or of little worth. This type of valuation requires some defining characteristic to provide worth and another person to recognize it. Of course, when the quality is lost the value of the person's life is diminished as well.

Mark Pickup writes,

This phenomenon is of great interest to me: I may be called a vegetable at some point in the not so distant future. After all, I am incurably ill with aggressive multiple sclerosis that is slowly stripping me of function.

Many other societies have progressed down this path and have left a legacy of horror and atrocity.

The true value of humans is intrinsic. Human life is precious and worth protecting and sustaining because of the value placed upon it by a transcendent source (God) apart from each person's health status, maturity, intelligence, race, abilities, etc. The application of demeaning labels does not change this truth.

Related: Visit the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation

Demeaning Labels

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Florida Senate...

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Of the 20 Senate seats up for grabs this year, just two races seem to have the potential to flip the power balance. In Orlando, incumbent Democrat Gary Siplin faces Republican Belinda Ortiz. And in the Sarasota area, Democrat Morgan Bentley is facing Republican Nancy Detert in a race to replace term-limited GOP senator Lisa Carlton.

Though Democrats will be outnumbered in the Senate for the foreseeable future, their votes could be used by a moderate Republican to secure the necessary votes to be Senate president.

The scuttlebutt is another chapter in the ebbing and flowing tension in the chamber between conservative and moderate Republicans who have feuded in recent years over social issues such as abortion and the Terri Schiavo intervention.

The in-fighting for the presidency reflects the power of the position. The Senate president, along with the House speaker, has virtual veto power over every bill that the Legislature considers..............

Next Senate Presidency Still Up in Air

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[Dante3]

Worth repeating: “Openess in our trial courts and our state and local government is essential in sustaining our democracy and providing accountability.”

[Dante3]

BUMP

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Here is an interesting twist. Conservatives are dismayed over recent years and what became of their friend, the Republican Party. Well, parrot that concept, and sneak in the opposite reason as an explanation and you know how liberals think. In this way, they try to redefine conservative values from their bent prism. In this case it is the Pitts, really.

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Except, according to my correspondents, those conservatives in charge weren't really conservative at all.

As Roy from Sanger, Calif., put it in an e-mail: "If you believe what we have had in D.C. so far this century is a conservative Washington, your perceptions are colored by a memory loss of what real conservatism looks like. Bring back to life 'real' conservatives who died before 1996, and they would think only one party ruled in D.C. now, the tax and spend, spend and spend some more party."

The funny thing is, I agree.

~Snip~

But I have a question for them: Where have you been the last 15 years? Where were you when conservatism was untethered from principle, unhooked from reality? Where were you when it became smug and self-righteous, when it traded its integrity for situational outrage, its credibility for angry certitude, its honor for ballot box success? Where were you when it sold out to evangelicals and anti-intellectuals? Where were you when it got hijacked?.............

Wake-up time for conservatives with a conscience

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