Pray that Father Frank Pavone and the Schindlers are successful.
Threads by NYer and me.
Baby Joseph saved from life support removal – transfer to Michigan hospital likely
To join a Facebook page in support of the parents of Joseph Maraachli, click here.
LONDON, Ontario, February 17, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - One-year-old Joseph Maraachli of Windsor, Ontario, who was to have his life support removed Monday at 10 am. against his parents’ wishes, will now not die on the day that Ontario residents celebrate as Family Day. A hustle by pro-life and anti-euthanasia groups resulted in a change in legal counsel, which has led to at least a temporary stay of removal of the child’s ventilator.
Alex Schadenberg, head of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, informed LifeSiteNews Sunday evening that negotiations are underway to transfer Joseph to a hospital in Michigan.
In a statement released today, London Health Sciences Centre said it has received a request from a Michigan hospital “to review Baby Joseph Maraachli’s medical information regarding the feasibility and appropriateness of a potential patient transfer.”
“Our focus at this time is to work with the family on a patient care plan and to continue to provide compassionate and dignified care and comfort to Baby Joseph,” said the statement.
Tomorrow’s scheduled vigil in support of Baby Joseph and the Maraachli family is still happening at 9 am. outside Victoria Hospital at Wellington and Commissioners in London, Ontario.
To make a donation to cover the legal costs please click here.
Last week the Ontario Superior Court rejected an appeal by Josephs’ parents to bring him home where he can die under their care.
“Monday at 10 am. they will kill my baby,” Moe Maraachli, Joseph’s father, had told LifeSiteNews shortly after the ruling. “There’s no more humanity. There’s no more chance. I’ve tried everything for him. No more appeals, nothing.”
Joseph was taken to Victoria Hospital in London, Ontario in October where he was diagnosed with severe neurological issues. Doctors gave him no chance of recovery. Moe and his wife Sana have asked doctors to perform a tracheotomy so that they could take Joseph home, but the doctors refused, saying the procedure was too risky.
The Maraachlis’ daughter died from similar complications eight years ago, but in that case doctors performed a tracheotomy and they were able to take her home. Joseph’s parents want the same for him.
But in January, the Consent and Capacity Board of Ontario sided with the hospital, and a date for removing Joseph’s respirator was set. The family was able to hold it off by filing an appeal with the Superior Court.
Superior Court Justice Helen Rady also sided with the hospital, saying that Joseph is in a permanent vegetative state with no brain stem reflex. However, Joseph’s family members have said that the boy still responds to stimuli.
In a press release earlier Sunday, Campaign Life Coalition noted that “Baby Joseph (was) to be killed on Family Day.”
“I don’t understand it. Do doctors’ rights now trump parental rights?” asked Jim Hughes, national president of Campaign Life Coalition. “And what about the dignity of the child to die in the loving arms of his parents at home? This outrageous stripping of parental rights is very worrisome.”
To join a Facebook page in support of the parents of Joseph Maraachli, click here.
Contact Information:
Bonnie Adamson
President and CEO, London Health Sciences Centre
800 Commissioners Road East
London, Ontario Canada N6A 5W9
Phone: 519-685-8462
E-mail: bonnie.adamson@lhsc.on.ca
Dalton McGuinty, Premier
Legislative Building
Queen’s Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A1
Fax: (416) 325-3745
E-mail: Use this form.
Tim Hudak, Opposition Leader
The Ontario PC Party
19 Duncan Street
Suite 401
Toronto, ON M5H 3H1
Phone: 416-861-0020
Toll-free: 1-800-903-6453
Fax: 416-861-9593
Email: tim.hudakco@pc.ola.org
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Hospital threatens to remove baby Joseph’s life support anyway - parents denied private visitations
LONDON, Ontario, February 22, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - While things were looking up for the parents of Joseph Maraachli this past weekend, the picture has now become bleaker. In the latest twist in the case the London hospital where their dying son is being cared for is seeking to remove the parents’ decision-making power after they refused to have him taken off life support. Hospital security is also denying them private visitations.
Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, which has been offering support to the parents, Moe Maraachli and Sana Nader, says they are now only allowed to see their son with a security guard present.
“They fight my family. ... they put security for me. They never give me private to pray with my son,” Moe told Fox News this afternoon.
“Security watch me and security stay with me,” he added. “When I go to hospital I feel I am not in Canada. I feel I’m in jail or they kidnapped my baby.”
“It’s ridiculous. It’s not like they could pick the child up and take him home. The baby would die,” said Schadenberg.
Schadenberg said that Moe tried to bring him in to see Joseph on Monday, but security denied him access to the room, and told him to leave the premises. “It’s become crazy. The hospital’s going overboard and it makes no sense,” he said.
With the help of pro-life and anti-euthanasia advocates, Joseph’s parents have been trying to have their son moved to a hospital in Michigan. London’s Victoria Hospital, where Joseph has been treated since October, sent the records to the Michigan hospital Monday and the parents are still waiting to hear back.
But hospital officials now say that they may go ahead with removing Joseph’s life support even if the Michigan hospital or another agrees to the transfer. Because the parents refused to have Joseph’s life support removed Monday, the hospital has asked the Office of the Public Guardian to assume decision-making power. That office is expected to take a couple days, but could order his life support removed at any point.
The hospital originally appeared set to remove his life support on Monday at 10 a.m. after a Thursday ruling by the Ontario Superior Court.
“Monday at 10 am. they will kill my baby,” Moe had told LifeSiteNews shortly after the ruling. “There’s no more humanity. There’s no more chance. I’ve tried everything for him. No more appeals, nothing.”
But that was delayed over the weekend after the parents hired expert lawyer Mark Handelman, with the financial backing of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.
To make a donation to cover the legal costs please click here.
At that point, they learned that they could refuse to consent to the life support removal, which they did, prompting the hospital to go the public guardian.
Though Joseph has been at Victoria Hospital since October with a severe neurological disorder, his specific condition remains undiagnosed. Nevertheless, doctors have given him no chance of recovery. Moe and Sana have asked doctors to perform a tracheotomy so that they could take Joseph home, but the doctors refused, saying the procedure was too risky.
The Maraachlis’ daughter died from similar complications eight years ago, but in that case doctors performed a tracheotomy and they were able to take her home. Joseph’s parents want the same for him.
But in January, the Consent and Capacity Board of Ontario sided with the hospital, and a date for removing Joseph’s respirator was set. The family was able to hold it off by filing an appeal with the Superior Court.
Superior Court Justice Helen Rady also sided with the hospital, saying that Joseph is in a permanent vegetative state with no brain stem reflex.
The hospital says nine specialists have confirmed he’s in a “persistent vegetative state,” but the family and their close supporters disagree. Family members say Joseph is fully responsive to touch, particularly that he hates being touched by cold hands, tickles easily, and moves his head when his hair is brushed. They also say he responds to loud noises by turning his head toward the sound.
The hospital has warned the family that they will be banned from the hospital if they try to take videos, which is preventing the family from documenting Joseph’s responses and movements, said Sam Sansalone, who had to fight with the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children for his own daughter’s life nine years ago, and is now helping Joseph’s family as a media representative.
Over 5,000 people have rallied behind the parents through the Facebook page “Save baby Joseph”.
“This would be a second tragedy for the parents,” said Schadenberg. “Not only must they accept that their child is terminally ill, ... but their power to even decide how to care for their child is going to be removed from them - only because they love him.”
“Because of love they’re going to have their ability to make decisions for their child removed from them - in order for the hospital to take control,” he continued. “That’s a tragedy.”
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Fr. Pavone, the ‘Terri Schiavo Priest’, will pay to bring Baby Joseph to U.S.
ROME, Italy, February 25, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Father Frank Pavone, who became known as the “Terri Schiavo Priest” for his role in trying to save the life of the late Florida woman in 2005, has joined the fight to save a Canadian baby from a cruel early death.
“If I have to fly from Rome to Canada to get Baby Joseph out of the hospital and back home where he belongs, I am ready to do that right now,” said Father Pavone, who has been attending meetings at the Vatican this week.
Father Pavone said Priests for Life will pay all expenses to bring Baby Joseph and his family to a hospital in the United States that would agree to perform the tracheotomy that would make it possible for him to go home.
“The parents of this precious boy are asking only to be allowed to bring Baby Joseph home, where he can die surrounded by those who love him,” said Father Pavone, national director of Priests for Life. “It’s beyond imagination that they would have to ask. This is not an issue that belongs in the court, or in the hands of his doctors. This is their son; he needs to be home with his family.
“This couple lost a child to this same disease eight years ago so they know exactly what they are dealing with, and what to expect as Baby Joseph reaches the end of his life. The small comfort they could take from Zina’s death was to know she died in peace surrounded by those whose lives she had touched in her own short life. They want the same for Baby Joseph.”
Father Pavone was with Terri Schiavo’s parents, brother and sister in her hospital room in the hours before the Florida woman died in 2005, two weeks after a court declared she could be denied food and water to bring on her death. Like the Maraachli family, the Schindlers wanted to bring Terri home.
“This same barbaric act is what the Canadian court is asking Baby Joseph’s family to endure,” Father Pavone said. “It is cruel, it is criminal and it cannot be allowed to happen again.”
Priests for Life is the largest Catholic pro-life organization in the U.S. dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia.
Last Thursday, Ontario Superior Court Justice Helen Rady upheld the January verdict of the Consent and Capacity Board of Ontario that supported the doctors’ move to take Joseph off life support against his parents’ wishes. Representatives for the family announced Thursday that their lawyer is working to broker a deal with his hospital.
In the last couple days, the case has drawn attention from major pro-life and anti-euthanasia groups in the U.S. who hope to find a hospital willing to take over Joseph’s care.
Bobby Schindler, brother of Terri Schiavo and executive director of the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network, traveled to Ontario Thursday by invitation from the family to advocate for Joseph. He was joined by Rev. Pat Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition in Washington, D.C.
The hospital had appeared set to remove Joseph’s life support on Monday at 10 a.m., but that got delayed when the family hired expert lawyer Mark Handelman over the weekend with the financial support of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.
Justice Rady’s decision was based on doctors’ testimony that he is in a permanent vegetative state with no brain stem reflex. But the family says that footage released Thursday by LifeSiteNews belies the doctors’ claim. The videos, taken over the weekend, show him flailing and reacting to tickling. They also show that his hands have been tied down - a measure the hospital took after Joseph removed the tube from his throat on at least two separate occasions.
Joseph suffers from a severe neurological disorder, but his specific condition remains undiagnosed. Doctors have given him no chance of recovery, so his parents, Moe Maraachli and Sana Nader, have asked them to perform a tracheotomy which would enable him to breathe on his own, so that they could take him home. The doctors have refused, saying the procedure is too risky.
Their daughter died from similar complications eight years ago, but in that case doctors performed a tracheotomy and they were able to take her home.
The family has been trying to have Joseph transferred to a hospital in the U.S., where they believe he’ll get better care or at least a reassessment, and possibly the tracheotomy they need to bring him home.
The family has also expressed concerns that hospital security is following them around and denying them private visitations with Joseph.
On Tuesday, Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, where the family had hoped to have Joseph transferred, refused to take him despite previous assurances that they would. The family says, however, that they are far from out of options.
The clock is ticking for the family, however, as Joseph’s current hospital has asked Ontario’s Office of the Public Guardian to assume decision-making power after the family refused to have Joseph’s life support removed on Monday. The public guardian could order it removed at any point.
Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, warned in a Fox news interview that the court decision facilitates a system where doctors are authorized to force life and death decisions on patients. He has said he believes it is far worse than the “death panels” recently debated in the U.S. as part of the federal health care law.
“It’s the hospitals and the doctors once again usurping their power over the people,” he said. “That’s what’s happening. And they have significant power - they have the money and the courts behind them. It’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Over 11,000 people have rallied behind the parents through the Facebook page “Save baby Joseph”.
