Eluana Transferred Late Tuesday Night to Clinic for Death by Dehydration

LifeSiteNews ^ | 2/3/09 | Hilary White

[wagglebee]

ROME, February 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Eluana Englaro, who is often referred to as “Italy’s Terri Schiavo,” was transferred late Tuesday night to a hospital that has agreed to participate in her killing by removal of her food and hydration tube. Television news coverage showed a group of pro-life activists gathered outside the clinic in Eluana’s home town of Lecco at about 1:30am, as an ambulance took her away, some shouting “Eluana, wake up!” and “Don’t kill her!”

Eluana Englaro, 38, suffered brain damage in a car accident in 1992 and has since been in a state of diminished consciousness. Eluana’s father, Beppino Englaro, who has been petitioning the courts for over a decade to euthanize his daughter, said her transfer to the new facility is “the first step... towards the liberation of my daughter. It seems we have finally succeeded.”

Beppino Englaro’s lawyer told media that La Quiete, a private clinic in the north eastern town of Undine, had agree to participate in her killing. Welfare Minister Maurizio Sacconi said the government is searching for a new way to prevent her death. The removal of Eluana’s food and hydration tube is set to be carried out in three days.

Death by dehydration has been described by medical authorities as “horrible” and “agonizing.” It was a common form of torture used by totalitarian states, including in well-documented cases by the Nazis in their death camps.

In cases of severe dehydration, toxins build up in the body and the body's chemical balances are disrupted. This disrupts the electrical system that triggers the action of muscles, including the heart. The tongue and lips crack and bleed. The eyes recede into their orbits. The skin becomes so sensitive it peels off upon firm contact. The lining of the nose can crack and bleed. Dried brain cells can cause convulsions. The mouth becomes dry and saliva thick, and there is cracking of the mucous membranes of the mouth and lips. The blood thickens, increasing the risk of stroke. As fluid decreases in the body, blood pressure drops and the heart rate increases, possibly causing shock and heart attack.

The move to kill Eluana has roused the ire of many in Italy, including Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, President of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers, said on Tuesday, “Stop this murder!”

“To stop giving food and liquids to Eluana is equivalent to abominable murder and the Church will not cease to proclaim this loud and clear.” Interviewed by the Rome daily La Repubblica, the cardinal said that Eluana’s court-mandated death by dehydration “will represent a defeat for the respect of human life.” His comments come after Pope Benedict XVI spoke on Sunday against euthanasia, saying it is a false answer to suffering.

The consequences, both legal and moral, should Eluana Englaro be euthanized in a Catholic Country, will be dire, pro-life advocates have warned. Carlo Caffara, the archbishop of Bologna, said at Mass last weekend, “In the body of this woman, and in her fate, there is an image of the fate of the West.”

Eluana has become a “‘sign of contradiction’ between a culture of death and a culture of life,” he said. “Her martyred body has become the question addressed to every conscience that reflects on man's destiny: To whom does man belong? Who has dominion over man's life and death? Who owns man?”

“The spiritual event of the West has come to the end of the line: If the life of man does not belong to man but to God, no one has control over it for any reason, [but] if the life of man belongs to man, it is consistent to hypothesize circumstances in which everyone can do what he wants with his life or ask others to put an end to it,” Cardinal Caffara continued.

The killing of Eluana, said Msgr. Ignacio Barreiro, the director of the Rome office of Human Life International, is going to be disastrous for others in similar situations in Italy. Msgr. Barreiro said, “It would create a precedent whereby judges, against the law, can decide it's right to kill patients. We are not fighting for Eluana's life because she has limited signs of consciousness but because of her dignity as a human being.”

Pro-life legal experts have been especially concerned that should Eluana be “legally” killed by dehydration, it would create a “back door” through which euthanasia could be legalized. The government is considering legislation that would allow the creation of “living wills” that could specify the removal of food and hydration.

In November, health and welfare minister, Maurizio Sacconi, issued a statement that in Italy it is “illegal” to remove the food and hydration of helpless disabled patients with the purpose of ending their lives. Secretary of Welfare, Eugenia Roccella, also said that there is “no obligation” for government-funded health care facilities to implement the court’s decision that patients can be dehydrated to death.

In January, two pro-life advocates launched a legal challenge to the appeals court in Milan, arguing that the decision to allow Eluana’s killing had been made without sufficient medical examination to determine her condition. At that time, more than 700 Italian doctors had signed an open letter opposing the killing of Eluana, saying that such an action is an attack against the “basic rules of good medical practice as established in the declaration of Helsinki.”

EMBASSY OF ITALY IN THE UNITED STATES
3000 Whitehaven Street, NW - Washington, DC 20008
Tel (202) 612-4400 - Fax (202) 518-2154
Press and Public Affairs Office
Tel (202) 612-4444
Fax (202) 518-2154
e-mail: stampa.washington@esteri.it

Embassy of Italy in Ottawa
275 Slater Street, 21st Floor
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5H9
CANADA
Tel +1.613.232.2401 - Fax +1.613.233.1484
ambasciata.ottawa@esteri.it
Press and Information
Tel: +1-613-232-2401
Fax: +1-613-233-1484
email: info.ottawa@esteri.it

EMBASSY OF ITALY IN LONDON
14, Three Kings Yard
London W1K 4EH
Tel.: +44 (0)20 73122200
Fax: +44 (0)20 73122230
ambasciata.londra@esteri.it
Gianluca Grandi, First Counsellor
Domestic Politics, EBRD
bers.amblondra@esteri.it

Other Italian Embassies:

http://www.esteri.it/MAE/Templates/SediTemplate.aspx?NRMODE=...

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

700 Italian Doctors ask that Eluana’s Life be Spared
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jan/09011301.html

It is “Illegal” to Stop Food and Hydration of Vulnerable Patients: Top Italian Minister
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/dec/08121703.html

[WVKayaker]

...so you know who to verbally attack for loving Him and following His commandments. ..

I am amazed, and sorry, that your need to be the holier-than-thou superior, you keep trying to judge me, and deny it.

You don't see the forest, do you? Have a nice day.

[BykrBayb]

They’ve chosen to remain blind.

[BykrBayb]

That’s an interesting link you provided, to back up what I’ve been saying, and negate your own claims.

In one of his sermons, he says “There is a power of God and there is a power which is of Satan.” Then he goes on to explain how easy it is to recognize the difference. He tells about some fakers who came into church pretending to be Christians, but were actually serving Satan and mocking God, like you do.

He explains that once a person is baptized in the Holy Spirit, they will follow God, not Satan. If they’re not adhering to God, then we know they don’t have the Spirit within them.

Thank you for providing a link in support of what I’ve been saying.

http://www.smithwigglesworth.com/sermons/ftp5.htm

[wideminded]

Terri Schiavo WAS otherwise healthy.

Other than having severe irreversible brain damage.

[wagglebee]

Why is it so much easier to provide a feeding tube? Why is it murder if none is given, or if it removed to allow God's will? Oh, I forgot, you are apparently an arbiter of God's will.

Is THIS God's Will? Because it seems pretty clear about food and water for the sick.

31 And when the Son of man shall come in his majesty, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit upon the seat of his majesty. 32 And all nations shall be gathered together before him, and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. 34 Then shall the king say to them that shall be on his right hand: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in:

36 Naked, and you covered me: sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me. 37 Then shall the just answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry, and fed thee; thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 And when did we see thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and covered thee? 39 Or when did we see thee sick or in prison, and came to thee? 40 And the king answering, shall say to them: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me.

46 And these shall go into everlasting punishment: but the just, into life everlasting.
-- Matthew 25:31-46

[wagglebee]

Brain injuried DO NOT cause premature death and it should be noted that Terri was doing much better BEFORE her rehabilitation was stopped.

Also, how do you account for the brain injured people, some of whom had been in conditions worse than Terri’s and for longer periods, who DO recover? That doesn’t sound irreversible to me.

[WVKayaker]

Is THIS God's Will? Because it seems pretty clear about food and water for the sick.

[wagglebee]

Eluana Enlargo Update

The Italian government MAY have found a technicality which could prevent Eluana's murder at least for the time being.

Thread by me.

Italy govt. tries new tactic in right-to-die case (Eluana Englaro)

ROME (AP) - Italy's health minister declared Sunday there were problems with the clinic hosting a woman in a hotly debated right-to-die case, as the government appeared to be trying a new tactic to keep her alive.

Minister Maurizio Sacconi also said the "La Quiete" clinic in Udine isn't the hospice or hospital facility called for by the Milan appeals court, which has ruled that Eluana Englaro's feeding tubes can be removed.

Englaro, 38, has been in a vegetative state since she was in a car accident 17 years ago. Her doctors have said her condition is irreversible. Her father won a decade-long court battle to remove her feeding tubes, saying it was her wish.

But Italy's center-right government, backed by the Vatican, has been trying to keep her alive and hopes to pass legislation this week forbidding food and water from being suspended for patients who depend on them. . .

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

[wagglebee]

So, you believe that Scripture prohibits the utilization of technological advances?

[wagglebee]

From what I've seen with the 'Rats the past few weeks taxes seem to be optional until you are nominated for a Cabinet post, so maybe that can be an out.

Thread by Salvation.

US Bishop Protests Taxes-for-Abortions [Justin Cardinal Rigali]

WASHINGTON, D.C., FEB. 6, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The United States has some "modest, common-sense" policies supported by pro-lifers and abortion advocates, and a U.S. bishops' official is urging Congress to protect them.

This appeal came in a Feb. 5 letter written by Cardinal Justin Rigali, chairman of the bishops' Committee for Pro-life Activities.

He noted that one of Congress' first orders of business this session is examining appropriations bills to keep federal programs funded, and in this process, the bishop warned against removing anti-abortion clauses.

Noting the widespread lack of support for the Freedom of Choice Act, he cautioned: "While an extreme proposal like FOCA would overturn hundreds of pro-life laws at once, we are equally concerned that such laws may be overturned one at a time during Congress' appropriations process."

"Lawmakers who disagree about the legal status of abortion have long agreed that Americans should not be forced by government to support or participate in abortion against their will," the cardinal added. "Efforts to coerce consciences in this way violate any possible definition of 'pro-choice,' and undermine our nation’s long tradition of respect for conscience and religious freedom."

. . .

[BykrBayb]

The deathbots believe that it’s only acceptable to use technology for evil, like Dr. Kevorkian’s machine. Using technology to help provide basic care that God orders us to provide is considered evil by them.

[WVKayaker]

So, you believe that Scripture prohibits the utilization of technological advances?

Moral absolutes aren't!

God is in control, in spite of man's "technological advances". Man always wants to play be god... just ask a Mormon so you can find out how you can be one, too!

[MountainFlower]

God's will is NOT to snuff out a life that He values, even when everyone else will. I know 2 young men, very young, who are brothers on feeding tubes and trachs. THEY know what you are saying when you talk to them. They track with their eyes when you walk into the room. One of them is an artist (I am too). I took books and shared pictures of Art with him. One book showed a marked difference in the style of art and we watched as the style changed over the years of the artist's work. He KNEW! I saw the recognition in his eyes. I watched him as he looked at the pictures intently and saw the differences I talked about. For ANYONE to say they would withhold the feeding tube or trach from this young man, who is not able to verbalize for himself, would be KILLING a man of value! His brother has been taught over the years to make noises the indicate his happiness or being in pain! He GETS jokes!! You tease him about the good looking nurses and his eyes and facial expressions respond. HE tracks with his eyes. They are labeled comatose!

The picture does not speak a thousand words, that you posted. It shows nothing about the PERSON who is connected to those tubes. They ARE people! They DO hear, see, have responses. I watched, helpless, while a woman was starved to death. It took 4 long weeks and I was powerless to do anything to stop it. It was horrible. There is no dignity, no respect, and it is far from painfree to die from starvation and dehydration. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

[wagglebee]

Your response is totally nonsensical. Does God want us to utilize advances in medicine that are moral? YES or NO?

[MountainFlower]

In case someone wants to label me, let me assist you ..... a child of God who values all life at all stages.

[wagglebee]

The deathbots believe that it’s only acceptable to use technology for evil,

You know what, that sounds EXACTLY like the Islamofascists; they prefer to live like it's the 7th Century, but will happily utilize the latest technology to KILL PEOPLE.

[WVKayaker]

Using technology to help provide basic care that God orders us to provide is considered evil by them.

Please cite the chapter which states "thou shall hook up to a machine, so you may maintain a vegetative state, just in case I change My mind, saith the Lord...". I missed that one in my Bibles.

I am not in favor of starting the feeding tubes. Maybe your faith is in the tube (or whatever technology). I am convinced that you place your faith in the ministrations of the medical community. Maybe your faith ought better to be placed on God raising her to prove His might. For research, see: Lazarus

My faith is in the God who made me... not on the learned medical community with all it's tricks. I use doctors, and I take my meds. But, I am ready...

The details of scenes are secondary to the dialogue between Jesus and the other characters! Jesus says to Martha: "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me, even though that person dies, will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" And later he says to her: "Have I not told you that if you believe you will see the glory of God"(11:40)?

Whatever we can say about the Lazarus of history, he stands for us as a symbol of our resurrection destiny. If we believe in the risen Lord and live as he teaches us, we too shall see the glory of God. We too shall be raised up. That's the bottom line. "Unbind him and let him go free." Jesus would unbind us now from the fear that wraps us about death, and 'later from the reality of death itself.

[wagglebee]

I use doctors, and I take my meds.

WHICH medications are you willing to use? I am unaware of a single medicine, other than possibly some opiates, in current use that has been around for more than a hundred years or so.

Will you be X-rayed?

Would you use a pacemaker?

Do you use toothpaste?

Do you or anyone in you family wear glasses or contacts?

[BykrBayb]

The deathbots like to pretend to be Christians, to lend credibility to their claim that God hates disabled people and wants them to be tortured to death. Does anyone actually believe their lies?

[BykrBayb]

The deathbots are always willing to take care of their own health. It’s always someone else’s death they lust after. The snake worshiper won’t stop eating and drinking, taking medicine, living inside a building, covering up with warm clothing and blankets, turning the heater up to a comfortable temperature, etc. But they sure advocate depriving others of such necessities, “for their own good.”