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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We have seen little in the media on Karen Weber, yet her case is quite similar to that of Terri. They do have a webpage for her and here it is, thanks to FV.

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Home | View Guestbook | Sign the Guestbook | Read More | Family Journal | Contact Karen's Family
Read More Links to articles and media in support of my sister, Karen. If you want to suggest a link, please contact us, Karensfamily@prayforkaren.com. Video WPBF Video Life Support Fight – FOX News CBS4 coverage   Articles http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=130982

Pray for Karen

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Haleigh Poutre update...status of the bill:

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The House of Representatives recently gave final approval to a bill that will toughen the laws meant to protect our most vulnerable children from abuse and neglect and ensure the protection of children is at the top of the state’s agenda with a new child advocate dedicated solely to child welfare.

The plan takes on tough issues in child welfare, from social disparities and mandated reporting to family engagement models and DSS caseloads.

The legislation establishes minimum educational requirements for social workers and their supervisors, mandates training for mandatory reporters and increased criminal penalties. The bill also creates the independent office of Child Advocate, which will receive notice of any serious injury to a child in the care of the Commonwealth and will have the power to conduct independent investigations.

The bill requires a comprehensive five-year plan to take on the tough issues in child welfare as identified by Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi’s House Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect last year from racial disparities and mandated reporting to family engagement models and Department of Social Service caseloads.

The legislation will also change the name of the Department of Social Services to the Department of Children and Families to reflect the mission of the agency.

The bill, which received final approval from the House and Senate last week, is the result of nearly two years of detailed research, extensive public hearings and debate that was prompted by the horrific details of the abuse allegedly endured by 11-year-old Haleigh Poutre of Westfield.

The bill now awaits Governor Patrick’s signature.

Child welfare laws to get tougher

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Janet Rivera

In this bone chilling case, the court appointed a guardian who promptly pulled the plug despite family protests. She is suffering the long painful death of dehydration right now. Lord help us!

Remind me not to live in any town named Sanger or Singer.

I may only post excerpts from this site.

Janet Rivera of Sanger has been without food or water since July 14, when a court-appointed public guardian had the tubes removed to end her suffering.

A hearing to determine whether the tubes should be restored is scheduled for 2 p.m. today in Fresno County Probate Court.

~Snip~

Rivera's husband, Jesus Rivera of Sanger, had been his wife's conservator until he was removed and replaced by the county guardian June 17. Chavez-Ochoa said he didn't know why Rivera was removed, but the family wants Emrich to take his place.

Jesus Rivera said he assumed the court would appoint another family member to be conservator....

Sanger man fights to restore wife's feeding tubes Fresno County hearing set today in life support struggle.

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More on Janet Rivera...

It is very late for her. For us, it is a time for prayer for her and her family. And, perhaps an unmasking of the evil perps who slipped this by in silence...

Oremus...

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Janet Rivera has now gone eleven days without nutrition or water despite her family's plea for help.

Rivera became severely brain damaged after a heart attack two years ago.

The family now has a lawyer, who plans to file a temporary restraining order but that could take days and no one is sure how much longer Rivera has left to live.

Rivera's husband lost control over his wife's medical decisions earlier this year. Jesus Rivera is battling prostate cancer and hoped another family member would step in to help. Instead, the court appointed a public guardian with Fresno County.

Shortly after the county took the case, the guardian decided Janet Rivera's condition was untreatable and irreversible and that she should be removed from life support.

The family says they expected Janet to die within days from a heart condition or low blood pressure but not from starvation. That's why they want the process stopped.

Janet’s brother, Michael Dancoff said, “If she dies, let her die on her own. Let her die from a real sickness, not kill her.”

The family’s attorney, Brian Chavez-Ochoa “We're going to seek an order requiring that the hydration and feeding be re-established and that the appropriate medical care be provided pending a hearing on the merits of the case."

The attorney, Brian Chavez-Ochoa, helped with the Terri Schiavo case. Her family fought for years in court to keep her from being taken off life support. When the courts denied their requests, it took Schiavo 14 days to die after the hospital removed her feeding tube.

As for Janet's family, they only hope they have that long to appeal to a judge.

A cousin would also now like to be named as conservator or guardian.

There is no word on how much it costs to care for Janet Rivera but we are told her medical bills are paid for by taxpayers.

Click on the related links for information about creating a "Living Will".

Family Fighting to Keep Rivera on Life Support

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Did I ever mention what I thought of that obamanation of Islam, Barak Hussain Muhammad, whatever? You know, that Stalinist pinko commie slime ball anti-Christ? Well, if I hadn't, I really should give my opinion. But wait! There's more...

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The New York Times recently took note of five Obama flip-flops and dubbed him “The New and Not Improved Barack Obama.” His reversals: campaign fundraising, wiretapping legislation, allowing Christian organizations to get federal grants, the death penalty and gun control. The editorial ends with the blistering remark: “This country needs change it can believe in. “

We are more understanding of Obama’s flip-flops. None of his new positions seem fundamentally opposed to common sense or the natural law. In fact, we would like to see more flip-flops. He once wrote an essay about how troubled he was by Alan Keyes’ assertion that Jesus wouldn’t vote for him. He should follow his conscience and acknowledge the right to life of:

Children born alive during abortions (Obama opposed Illinois legislation that would protect them).

Children in the process of being born (Obama supports partial-birth abortion)

Women being kept alive by ordinary means (Obama says it was a mistake for the Senate to try to help Terri Schiavo, who was starved to death).

Wanted: More Flip-flops

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A remarkable story on Ambien in a thread by brityank...

In health, a remarkable breakthrough, a sleeping pill that can help people in a vegetative state wake up. Medical Reporter Stephanie Stahl has one Northeast Philadelphia family's story of hope.

29-year-old Jimmy Trainor has a brain injury so devastating, he is completely incapacitated........

Ambien, The Wake Up Pill? [Vegetative State Breakthrough?]

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[Dante3]

Paryers.

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Janet Rivera update...

The one media carrying the update for the moment is from a Gannett publication meaning I cannot even excerpt. But please go to the link for the story. The news is good although very very late in coming...

More is sure to follow on this update and wagglebee has a thread on her story I will post shortly.

Comatose woman should be placed back on life support, judge rules

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Here is the thread by wagglebee on Janet Rivera...

Fresno, CA (LifeNews.com) -- A California court is scheduled to hold a hearing today in a case of a disabled woman like Terri Schiavo who has been deprived of food and water for nine days. Janet Rivera lost her right to food and water on July 14 when a court-appointed guardian removed her feeding tube despite her family's wishes.

Rivera, 46, had a heart attack on February 2006 and she never regained consciousness. She has been on life support for two years

Jesus Rivera, her husband, had been his wife's conservator until June 17, when he was replaced for unknown reasons by David Hadden, the Fresno County coroner....

Woman Like Terri Schiavo Denied Food, Water for Nine Days; Hearing Today

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

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At least I can excerpt from the Fresno Bee...

A Fresno County Superior Court judge issued a temporary ruling this afternoon placing a Sanger woman back on life support. Judge Debra Kazanjian will hear evidence next week about Janet Rivera's condition before a decision on long-term care is made.....

Judge: Put Sanger woman back on life support

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More...

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The hearing was scheduled for two o' clock Monday. It only took 45 minutes for the judge to decide that Janet Rivera should remain on life support.

It's been a tough few years for the Rivera family. Janet Rivera suffered a heart attack in 2006. She's been on life support for for more than two years. Her condition got worse and she was admitted to community regional medical center on July 5th.

Janet's husband, Jesus Rivera, was the public guardian. He was replaced by county coroner Dr. David Hadden.

Hadden says Jesus was not fit to be her guardian. Hadden seeked advice from 5 physicians. All agreed Rivera's situation was bad and said it would be best to remove Rivera from artificial life support saying her condition was "untreatable and irreversible".

The family disagreed and requested a temporary restraining order to keep life support measures in place.

Another hearing is scheduled for Tuesday. At that hearing Janet's brother Michael Dancoff says the family wants a change of guardianship.

Sanger Woman Stays on Life Support

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Meanwhile, back in Italy, and from India...

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VATICAN CITY (CNS): Withholding artificial nutrition and hydration from a patient in a persistent vegetative state amounts to "euthanasia by omission," said the former president of the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations.

Dr. Gianluigi Gigli, a professor of neurology at the University of Udine, Italy, spoke to the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, July 23 about the case of an Italian woman who has been in a vegetative state for 16 years. Eluana Englaro, 37, was injured in a car accident in 1992.

Initially on a respirator for three months, she has been breathing on her own since then and opens her eyes in the morning and closes them at night. She shows no other signs of awareness.

Her father, Beppino Englaro, has been waging an eight-year legal battle trying to convince a court to allow him to stop providing his daughter with food and water and let her die.

Milan's civil Court of Appeals ruled July 9 that he could withhold nutrition and hydration because of the "extraordinary duration" of her vegetative state and her own wishes for her life, which were "irreconcilable with the total and irreversible loss of her mental faculties."

However, July 22 the Milan procurator general announced he was taking the court's ruling to the Supreme Court, which could block removal of the feeding tubes for up to one year.

Neurologist calls withholding hydration 'euthanasia by omission'

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A "View" through a different prism! Thread by wagglebee.

Hollywood, CA (LifeNews.com) -- Sherri Shepherd, a co-host of the popular women's television program "The View," said in a recent interview that she's had numerous abortions. She says that she didn't began to change her promiscuous behavior until she became a Christian.

In the interview with Precious Times, a magazine for black Christian women, Shepherd, who is 41, said she was "sleeping with a lot of guys and had more abortions than I would like to count."

"I felt if someone killed me, it wouldn't even make a difference," she said, talking about how the abortions and other problems caused a low point in her life. "But God showed me that it would make a difference."

Shepherd upset her view co-hosts with the comments and they came up on The View at the beginning of Wednesday's program....

The View Co-Host Sherri Shepherd Talks About Her Numerous Abortions

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A Terri's Lister and a dedicated friend of Terri, EV and with Alan Keyes, candidate in the true Reagan tradition...God bless you!!

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Fenton, MI – July 23, 2008 – In a statement released today by America’s Independent Party, Chairman Tom Hoefling welcomed California’s American Independent Party to the growing ranks of AIP state affiliates.

Hoefling, commenting in the wake of a statement from the office of the California Secretary of State recognizing Edward C. Noonan as the rightful chairman of the American Independent Party and the legitimacy of the actions of the July 5th State Convention in Sacramento, said, “We gratefully accept the AIP State Central Committee’s decision to affiliate nationally with us. We share a common bond based on faith in God and a fundamental respect for America’s founding principles. We have the utmost confidence that the leaders of the American Independent Party share our vision for rebuilding politics in this country from the ground up. The California AIP is now the cornerstone of the new national AIP and the vanguard of the historic next stage of the modern conservative movement.”....

AIP welcomes the AIP! - The American Independent Party joins America’s Independent Party

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[wagglebee]

Thank God!

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Suzanne Gonzales appeared a happy 19-year-old woman, then committed suicide with the help of a suicide Web site. The parents, Mary and Mike Gonzales found they could do nothing about this and other such sites.

The parents are now in Washington to lobby for "Suzy's Law" which would make it a crime to use the Internet to teach someone how to commit suicide.

The Washington Times saw this story important enough to put it on its first page.

[BykrBayb]

The coroner was appointed as Janet Rivera’s guardian. Her condition immediately deteriorated. The coroner ordered her starved and dehydrated to death.

Who didn’t see that coming?

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[BykrBayb]

Prayers for Karen Weber.

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A judge rules for a patient? In the United States? Shocking!