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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Eulana Englaro...

Remember that "Schiavo" in Italian means "slave".

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ROME, JULY 11, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Milan's appeals court authorized Eulana Englaro's father to remove his daughter's feeding tube, who has been in a state of coma since 1992. The decision, in what has become known as the "Italian Terry Schiavo" case, has been strongly criticized by several bioethical and medical associations, which agree that it is a case of active euthanasia, and not a question of interrupting a disproportionate treatment.

Critics of the ruling affirm that 37-year-old Englaro's agony might be a long and painful death............

Debate Sparked Over "Italy's Schiavo"

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[tuckrdout]

According to his own book, “Still Me”, when Christopher Reeve was in the hospital, after his accident, his own mother wanted all efforts to keep him alive stopped. She did not think he should live in his condition. Not even after he told her that he wanted to live! She was appalled that her son, who had been so physical would be unable to move.

Guess mom doesn’t always know best.

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I notice some react with raw emotion seeing circumstance as something they, themselves could not dare to imagine for themselves and project that on to the poor victim. That way, they may even distort reality by thinking it would be for the victim’s own good to die. Sad, but probably more frequent than one would hope.

Didn’t realize that was the case with Christopher Reeve’s mom.

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With the spate of grim developments from Canada, this article is a more lucid assessment of the poor Italian woman's fate. Perhaps it is evidence the truth emanating from Terri's Legacy is taking root in diverse places...

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When Eluana Englaro dies in Milan, Italy, it will be because a court allowed her to be starved and dehydrated to death, just as was done to Terri Schiavo in Florida three years ago.

Englaro, 35, has been in a coma since a 1992 car crash. Unlike Schiavo, who could smile, experience pain and appeared to recognize family members, Englaro's only sign of consciousness is her ability to open and close her eyes in the rhythm of nightly sleep cycles.

Also unlike Schiavo, Englaro's parents are not fighting to keep her alive. Her father greeted with relief last week's court ruling that her feeding and hydration tubes can be disconnected.

How very sad that a parent would allow his child to suffer the torture of such a death. The Vatican is quite right to call this euthanasia. It would be one thing if Englaro were brain dead and connected to a respirator. But she is not being kept alive by machines, she is simply receiving the necessities of food and water. Doctors have declared Englaro's case hopeless and said she will never recover. Regardless of her prognosis -- and prognoses have been wrong -- she should not be allowed to die in this manner. Even if what her parents and friends say is true -- that she expressed her wish as a teenager not to be kept alive if something tragic were to happen to her -- it is difficult to believe she meant she'd rather die of thirst and starvation.

Medical literature indicates people in vegetative states tend to die of pneumonia from lying in bed for so long. Englaro should be fed, hydrated and kept comfortable so nature may take its course -- either recovery or death by natural causes.

Food and water aren't life support

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[8mmMauser]

Oh no! Not that Kingsley Guy again...

He takes the devil's advocate position again.

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................. This year, the Republican's presumptive nominee tossed away the Nixon playbook. John McCain paid respect to his party's right wing during the primary season, but he didn't kowtow to it when seeking the nomination. Neither did Charlie Crist two years ago when he sought the Republican nomination for Florida governor.

Crist correctly sensed a sea change taking place in GOP politics in the aftermath of the Terri Schiavo debacle. The party's far right had gone too far in its effort to interfere with an end of life decision, and a backlash was inevitable. Even many religious people were appalled and frightened by the GOP extremism.

McCain campaigned in Florida as a centrist, and support from the popular Crist put him over the top in the Sunshine State. The momentum from the Florida victory propelled McCain to the other primary victories he needed to secure the nomination.............

Barack Obama's flip-flopping his way to the presidency

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Tony Snow, R. I. P...

A great man and FReeper was taken so early...

Tribute in this thread by tcg, for all to visit and post...

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As tributes to this fine man pour in from all over the world, Catholic Online offers our prayers to his family and our deepest condolences on their loss. Tony Snow’s heroism in fighting cancer was another sign of the character which informed his stellar career as well as his commitment to family.

In his address to the graduates of Catholic University he spoke these words:... But see, there’s more. Once you’ve gotten past the mirror phase, then things begin to get really interesting. You begin to confront the truly overwhelming question: Why am I here? And that begins to open up the whole universe, because it impels you to think like the child staring out at the starry night: “Who put the lights in the sky? Who put me here? Why?” And pretty soon you are thinking about God. Don’t shrink from pondering God’s role in the universe or Christ’s. "

BREAKING: Tony Snow Dead at 53, A Tribute

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UTube bows to the PC of the evil left...Thread by wagglebee.

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Detroit, MI (LifeNews.com) -- The popular video sharing web site YouTube is the subject of criticism again for removing a pro-life video exposing abortion. In this new case, YouTube took down a video from Citizens for a Pro-Life Society showing an abortion center that was investigated for illegally dumping medical waste.

The video also showed the remains of babies who were victimized by abortion and thrown by staff at the Women's Advisory abortion business into the dumpster behind the facility.

The pro-life group obtained the bodies of the babies and gave them a proper burial in a special religious ceremony two weeks ago.

Monica Migliorino Miller, the director of the Detroit-area pro-life group, talked with LifeNews.com about the YouTube problems................

YouTube Bashed Again for Removing Another Pro-Life Video Exposing Abortion

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Rev. Pat Mahoney, great friend of Terri blasts the Obama Nation...

Thread by wagglebee.

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A pro-life group that has launched a new campaign highlighting presidential candidate Barack Obama's support for taxpayer-funded abortions says his campaign hasn't denied that's the case. In its official response, the Obama campaign said nothing to refute the contention.

Earlier this week, the Christian Defense Coalition launched a national campaign called, "Barack Obama: The Abortion President.".....

Pro-Life Group: Barack Obama Camp Doesn't Deny Tax-Funded Abortion OK

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Good news from another country far away in this thread by wagglebee...

Chandigarh, India (LifeNews.com) -- Seema Sood made headlines worldwide when she sought permission from the president of India for a mercy killing. As with almost every nation in the world, India prohibits euthanasia and the request of the former well-educated engineer was declined.

Sood tells the Times of India she's glad her petition was rejected.

Just two years ago, Sood longed for death as a rheumatoid arthritis made it so the 37-year-old lost movement in all of her limbs for a period of 15 years.

Today, Sood is up and walking again, after a knee replacement surgery and she's thankful she's still alive.....

Euthanasia Activist in India Happy President Denied Request, Embraces Life

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Youth in Georgia, not youth in Asia...

Thread by wagglebee...

A high school senior from Georgia won the National Right to Life oratory competition this past weekend, emphasizing in his speech how abortion “is but a branch to the Post Modernist root.”

“They cannot say that an unborn child is or is not a person, because hey, it’s all relative. It may be a human to you, but not to me,” Blake Adams from Powder Springs, Ga., expressed in his entry titled “Truth.”......

Ga. High School Senior Wins Nat'l Right to Life Contest

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[Dante3]

Prayers for Tony’s family.

[wagglebee]

I noticed a couple weeks ago that Tony hadn’t posted here or been on TV in a while; I hoped he was just relaxing, but I feared the worst.

Prayers for his family, he was a true gentleman and a great conservative.

[Dante3]

I thought he was doing well. He appeared healthy. This came as a shock.

[wagglebee]

I just noticed that I hadn’t seen him on TV. Scott McClellan’s book was released in the beginning of June, Tony wasn’t on any of the news shows talking about it and that seemed a little odd.

[Lesforlife]

Tony had a really sweet spirit. Not a word used often for men
but he was so warm and genuine.

He will be missed for his positive ability to deliver most
any message.

Sincere condolences to his bereaved loved ones.

[Lesforlife]

I’m actually surprised that CO is so low since so much of the
death cult stuff started here. “Duty to Die” Dick Lamm pushed so
hard to enlist our citizens into complying with his medical model.

And of course he began the abortion holocaust with his 1967
first permissive abortion law in the land.

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Why we persevere...

Every once and a while the topic gets aired again and once again the misinformed, the swallowers of Kool Aid, those who cling to long worn and disproved mantras return as if it were a new subject and as if their ideas were brilliantly original. It is a reflection of the effect of leftist propaganda and the value of repeating lies so often the lightly informed swallow it as fact, absorbing it emotionally, rather than rationally. In this thread by wagglebee, the article is telling, the responses just once more bringing out the same dreary drivel playback of the left.

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Michael is the widower of Theresa Marie Schindler “Terri” Schiavo, who died on March 31, 2005, after being judicially executed—as her husband wanted.

She had collapsed on February 25, 1990, having experienced a heart attack that caused respiratory and cardiac arrest, which resulted in extensive brain damage. She was diagnosed by several doctors to be in PVS—persistent vegetative state. She was placed in—and brought out of—several hospitals for 15 years.

In 1998, Michael, her husband and guardian, petitioned a Florida Court to remove her feeding tube. Robert and Mary Schindler, her parents, opposed the petition. They claimed that she was conscious and responded to their cooing and kissing. They saw her pucker her lips to kiss them back and could see that she was attempting to speak to them.

The court, placing itself in Terri’s place, ruled that if she could only speak she would tell everyone that she did not want to be kept alive. For seven years the legal controversy—between Michael and Terri’s parents—became an international affair. Politicians, expert doctors, pro-life and disabled-persons’ advocates debated with pro-euthanasia advocates, sometimes appearing on CNN, BBC and other globally shown TV programs.

Would you have petitioned the court to shut off her life-support system as Michael Schiavo did?

I wouldn’t..............

Would you do a Michael Schiavo to your wife?

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[8mmMauser]

Eluana Englaro update...

From Calgary, more reason pours out from the keyboards of our neighbors to the north...

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When Eluana Englaro dies in Milan, Italy, it will be because a court allowed her to be starved and dehydrated to death, just as was done to Terri Schiavo in Florida three years ago.

Englaro, 35, has been in a coma since a 1992 car crash. Unlike Schiavo, who could smile, experience pain and appeared to recognize family members, Englaro's only sign of consciousness is her ability to open and close her eyes in the rhythm of nightly sleep cycles.

Also unlike Schiavo, Englaro's parents are not fighting to keep her alive. Her father greeted with relief last week's court ruling that her feeding and hydration tubes can be disconnected.

How very sad that a parent would allow his child to suffer the torture of such a death. The Vatican is quite right to call this euthanasia. It would be one thing if Englaro were brain dead and connected to a respirator. But she is not being kept alive by machines, she is simply receiving the necessities of food and water. Doctors have declared Englaro's case hopeless and said she will never recover. Regardless of her prognosis -- and prognoses have been wrong -- she should not be allowed to die in this manner. Even if what her parents and friends say is true -- that she expressed her wish as a teenager not to be kept alive if something tragic were to happen to her -- it is difficult to believe she meant she'd rather die of thirst and starvation.

Medical literature indicates people in vegetative states tend to die of pneumonia from lying in bed for so long. Englaro should be fed, hydrated and kept comfortable so nature may take its course -- either recovery or death by natural causes.

Food and water aren't life support

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[Lesforlife]

I met Dr. Mark Mostert at the American Right to Life
hospitality suite during the recent National Right to Life
convention in Washington, D.C.

His new program at Regent University is impressive.

http://www.regent.edu/acad/schedu/uselesseaters/

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This is the latest on the Disability blog of Dr. Mostert. I encourage checking out the site and following the other topics as well. Thanks, Leslie.

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Never mind the difficulties of talking about euthanasia (see blog below), we better start talking about how, increasingly, doctors are acting, literally, as the sole authority on who gets to live or die.

It’s not only the Dr. Hootan Roozrokhs of the world, pumping patients full of morphine and atavan to hasten their deaths to get at their organs:

Doctor Power is alive in Britain.

No shock there. Still, read on:

BBC News reported last week that Ellie Westwood, 88, was in a government hospital where she was being “treated for dementia” and an infection following shoulder surgery. The infection spread to Ellie’s throat, making it difficult for her to swallow. Unsurprisingly, she became malnourished.

Enter Doctor Power:

Ms. Westwood [Ellie’s daughter, Kathleen] said she and her father were called into a room at Selly Oak Hospital on 8 February and told doctors had decided to withdraw all fluids, food and hydration.

They said they had begun giving Mrs. Westwood morphine "because she is dying."

Uh-huh.

Well, we are all dying in a sense, but Ellie wasn’t immediately dying. Her dementia obviously wasn’t rendering her “dying.” Neither was her infected throat, because she was being fed and hydrated via tubes.................

The New Generation of Dr. Deaths

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