Baby Joseph’s lawyer dropped from case: prayer vigils planned

LifeSiteNews ^ | 3/1/11 | Patrick B. Craine

[wagglebee]

To join a Facebook page in support of the parents of Joseph Maraachli, click here.

LONDON, Ontario, March 1, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The expert lawyer representing dying one-year-old Joseph Maraachli, whose hospital is seeking to remove his ventilator against his parents’ wishes, was removed from the case today.

Mark Handelman, who the family hired with the financial backing of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, had been negotiating with the hospital, and was successful in having the hospital delay removing the ventilator.  It is unclear at this point what effect Handelman’s removal will have on Joseph’s cause.  LifeSiteNews was unsuccessful in reaching Joseph’s parents as of press time.

Joseph Maraachli

At the same time, the Washington-based Christian Defense Coalition announced Tuesday that they and the Terri Schiavo Life and Hope Network are holding two prayer gatherings in London, Ontario this weekend for Joseph,

The prayer and public witness events will be on Saturday, March 5, from 12:00-2:00 p.m. and Sunday, March 6, from 1:00-3:00 p.m. in front of the London Health Sciences Centre’s Children’s Hospital.  They will be held on the corner of Wellington and Commissioners Rd.

There will also be a rally in support of Joseph’s family on Saturday from 4:00-6:00 p.m.  Location to be announced.

Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, traveled to Canada last week with Bobby Schindler, brother of Terri Schiavo.  The two met and prayed with the family, pledged their support, and sought to connect them to legal assistance and to help to locate a hospital for Joseph in America.

“We are gathering for prayer and public witness as we stand in solidarity with Baby Joseph and his family,” said Rev. Mahoney.  “We will not be silent when it comes to this tragic crushing of human rights. ... We must always speak out with passion and courage when we see the dignity of human life trampled.”

“We support the family as the ones who should be making the final decision on how to best deal with this beautiful child,” he added.  “The courts and the hospital have completely disregarded the wishes of the family and are crushing their parental rights.”

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 tracheostomy which would enable him to breathe on his own, so that they could take him home.  Their daughter died from similar complications eight years ago, but in that case doctors performed a tracheostomy and they were able to take her home.

The hospital said Monday that they are willing to send Joseph home, but will not perform the tracheostomy. Instead, once he’s home, they would remove his ventilator, after which he will almost certainly die within a matter of minutes.  It is unclear at this point how the family will respond to the offer.

Dr. Paul Byrne, a fifty-year veteran in the field of neonatology, told LifeSiteNews Monday that in his opinion Joseph should have had a tracheostomy “a long time ago.”  He also insisted that he has never seen a need to remove a child’s ventilator, saying that “if a baby has a disease process that’s so bad that they’re going to die, then they die on the ventilator anyway.”

The hospital had appeared set to remove Joseph’s ventilator last Monday, but was delayed when Handelman made clear to the family that they could refuse.  The hospital’s move came after a February 17th decision from Ontario Superior Court Justice Helen Rady upholding a January verdict from the Consent and Capacity Board of Ontario, which had supported the doctors’ move to take Joseph off life support against his parents’ wishes.

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 just over a week ago, 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.

The hospital is now asking Ontario’s Office of the Public Guardian to intervene and allow them to take Joseph off his ventilator, after the parents have continued to refuse consent.  That office has been unsuccessful in asking other family members to consent instead, and could intervene itself any day.

In the last week, 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.  Fr. Frank Pavone, national director of the U.S.-based Priests for Life, has pledged to pay for Joseph to be moved to a hospital in the U.S.

Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, has warned 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 13,000 people have rallied behind the parents through the Facebook page “Save baby Joseph”.

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

[wagglebee]

I'm not certain what this means, but it doesn't sound good.

[wagglebee]

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[trisham]

No, it doesn’t. I’m sorry.

[skr]

The lawyer was removed? By whom?

[wagglebee]

I'm not sure if it was the family or the Canadian court, either way I don't view it as a good sign.

[Michel12]

Poor parents... Two such tragedies! It is heartbreaking!

[RnMomof7]

Who removed him? I know that the ACLJ ( a Christian law center) has become engaged in the fight for him .

[wagglebee]

I'm not sure if he was removed by the parents or the courts, either way I think it's a bad sign.

The ACLJ, Priests for Life, the Schindler family (Terri Schiavo's brother, sister and mother) and other groups are involved, but I fear that things are about to go horribly wrong.

[kaila]

“Fr. Frank Pavone, national director of the U.S.-based Priests for Life, has pledged to pay for Joseph to be moved to a hospital in the U.S.”

No way is a hospital in the US going to accept this patient. Home care would cost in the hundred of thousands of dollars if this baby managed to live another 6 months. Is this Father Pavone going to pay for that care? Doubt it.
He wants to dump this on the already fragile health care system with a non American family taking away US taxpayer dollars.
You can put diagrams on how simple a trach procedure is. However, the equipment needed and the support services required for home care is immense.

[wagglebee]

No way is a hospital in the US going to accept this patient.

Why do you say this?

Home care would cost in the hundred of thousands of dollars if this baby managed to live another 6 months.

Do you have a basis for this claim or are you just repeating the culture of death's talking points?

Is this Father Pavone going to pay for that care? Doubt it. He wants to dump this on the already fragile health care system with a non American family taking away US taxpayer dollars.

Again you are making a claim that has no basis in fact.

You can put diagrams on how simple a trach procedure is. However, the equipment needed and the support services required for home care is immense.

The culture of death loves to talk in non-specific, yet alarming, terms that cannot be substantiated.

This has been going on for decades:

“This person suffering from hereditary defects

costs the people 60,000 Reichmarks during his lifetime.

People, that is your money. Read ‘New People’.”

[trisham]

The culture of death loves to talk in non-specific, yet alarming, terms that cannot be substantiated.

*************************************

Facts are bothersome. Apparently, so is morality.

[kaila]

Yes, I do know how much it costs. A way lot more than you do. That is why a hospital will not accept this patient. There would also be a placement problem, where would this baby go? Home? The Canadian government will not pay for the care.
Are you afraid of dying?
We all will die someday.
Why should everyone die hooked up to a ventilator costing hundreds of thousands of dollars?
I would think, if you are religious, that dying is just another phase of our soul.
Right now, you are encouraging torture.
The Hitler comparison is stupid.
Hitler executed people with developmental disabilities. That is horrible.
We are talking about a dying child with probable minimal brain function.

[wagglebee]

Yes, I do know how much it costs. A way lot more than you do. That is why a hospital will not accept this patient. There would also be a placement problem, where would this baby go? Home? The Canadian government will not pay for the care.

As with all death mongers you place the value of money above that of life.

The problem is that the hospital REFUSES to perform a tracheotomy before Baby Joseph leaves.

Are you afraid of dying?

There is a difference between dying and being murdered.

We all will die someday.

And the culture of death wants to hasten it.

Why should everyone die hooked up to a ventilator costing hundreds of thousands of dollars?

We are talking about a tracheotomy, not a ventilator.

Right now, you are encouraging torture.

How so? If, as you claim, Baby Joseph has "minimal brain function" it cannot be "torture" no matter what the pro-death talking points state.

The Hitler comparison is stupid.

I'm sure it's unsettling for you, but that doesn't make it stupid.

Hitler executed people with developmental disabilities. That is horrible.

This is the same thing.

Have you even read what Father Frank Pavone has pledged to do? Here it is:

Father Frank's Alerts

Save Baby Joseph!

There's an 18-month-old baby boy in Canada who is about to be put to death by the Canadian government.

I'm writing to you today so that you can help Priests For Life save this baby's life if possible.

 Here's the situation … The baby, who is known as Baby Joseph, is suffering from a critical condition that requires him to have a breathing tube in order to stay alive.

However, the Canadian government has decided that they don't want to spend any more money on Baby Joseph to keep him alive.

And, to everyone's horror, the government won't even let Baby Joseph go home with his parents. His parents need to obtain better health care for Baby Joseph by bringing him to the United States where a hospital -- preferably a Catholic hospital where the baby will NOT be euthanized.

My experience in the case of Terri Schiavo back in 2005 showed me how devastating it is when a person -- no matter how young or how old -- is put to death by the "health care" system that pretends to help the sick, the poor, the indigent, the elderly, and those with terminal illnesses.

In reality, the government "health care" system doesn't want to spend money on anyone if they can't make money on that patient.

Therefore, since the Canadian government -- because of their system of rationing health care -- is determined to put Baby Joseph to death by removing his breathing tube, we at Priests For Life are stepping up to the plate and offering to bring Baby Joseph to the United States so that he can receive better health care and possibly survive his illness rather than being put to death because of rationed health care.

You see, the Canadian government is refusing to let Baby Joseph's parents take care of him. His parents don't want him to die. They already had one child die from a similar illness, and they don't want it to happen again.

But because of the Canadian government's system of "socialized" health care, Baby Joseph is in danger. They won't take care of him. Therefore, we have to.

The first thing I urge you to do is contact the officials in the Canadian government who are holding Baby Joseph's life in their hands. All you have to do is click here and your message will be sent immediately to these Canadian officials to implore them to release Baby Joseph back to his parents so that he can get the proper health care he needs and not be put to death in the painful, inhumane method of removing his breathing tube.

The second thing you need to do is pray for Baby Joseph and his parents for a sensitive solution to this problem.

And then, third, please forward this alert to everyone on your email list!

I will keep you updated on our progress in this crucial fight to save Baby Joseph. Please keep reading these alerts and forwarding them to all your friends and family members so that the word can get out about the injustices inflicted upon little children by the Culture of Death.

 

Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director

[Brian Kopp DPM]

Yes, I do know how much it costs. A way lot more than you do.

Why should everyone die hooked up to a ventilator costing hundreds of thousands of dollars?

Right now, you are encouraging torture.

You do not know what you are talking about. Read the article:

his parents, Moe Maraachli and Sana Nader, have asked them to perform a tracheostomy which would enable him to breathe on his own, so that they could take him home. Their daughter died from similar complications eight years ago, but in that case doctors performed a tracheostomy and they were able to take her home.

There would be no ventilator at home, so no hundreds of thousands of dollars in cost. Just a trache. I have patients walk in my office every day with traches without being on vents, breathing normally through the trache tube in their throat and otherwise living normal lives.

That is all this family is asking for their baby. Give him a trache so we can take him off the vent and bring him home, where he will breathe on his own without a vent until he dies a natural death, just like his sister did.

You are the one advocating torture, in refusing to let him die breathing on his own, at home, with his family.

[kaila]

“Justice Rady’s decision was based on doctors’ testimony that he is in a permanent vegetative state with no brain stem reflex.”

I do not believe you are a medical doctor. Please read the above sentance again.
Do you know what loss of brain stem function is?
Please go back to medical school.
The baby needs a ventilator to breathe. Quit fudging the facts.

[kaila]

I might also add,
I would bet a Pediatric pulmonologist and pediatric neurologist in Detroit reviewed his chart.
They did not accept this baby to their hospital.
They know the true story.
We are only hearing one side- the parents.

[DJ MacWoW]

Are you afraid of dying?

Are you afraid of a baby living? You certainly argue passionately for death.

[Brian Kopp DPM]

The baby's sister had the same exact diagnosis. She was given a trache and breathed on her own for 6 months at home without a vent until she died a natural death with her family.

Which puts the lie to these "doctors'" assertions.

[kaila]

The sister probably did not lose her breathing reflex.
Probably was not on a ventilator.
This baby is further along the process.
I do not beleive in prolonging death for stupid reasons.
We all die. Get used to it.
This is torture.