One year ago, in 2005, I was frantically blogging in hopes of preserving the sanctity of all human life. Although the life of the serverely handicapped woman, Terri Schiavo, was not valued by the state of Florida, I still stand by my writings in defense of life, which you may still read. | MAIN |
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Always Choose Life
We laugh, we cry, we live, we die. That is our world of simple gifts and simple pleasures. Yet at times the simplicity becomes complicated by human interference. That seems to be the Terry Schiavo case in a nutshell. I may be wrong, as I have not followed the saga of the Schiavo/Schindler families as closely as have many bloggers, who are indeed having a profound effect on the fate of Mrs. Schiavo. There are many unanswered questions in my mind, such as why this woman was not given therapy if it could improve her life? If her husband had given up hope for her recovery and he wanted to remarry, why could he not divorce her? If her injuries had been caused by domestic violence, why was that not investigated fifteen years ago. There are always two sides to every story, and it may just be that neither side of this story is a "good" one. It may just be that the love of money is the root of the evil here.In Terry's case, there are thousands, perhaps millions of people who would choose life for her. There are only a few people who want her to die. Why not let her live? It is simple; always choose life.
Monday, March 21, 2005
The Media Are Clueless!
We are now hearing the erudite newscasters spinning this morning's extraordinary intervention by Congress into a matter normally reserved to a state's judicial system. The press has declared that the conservative Republicans who led the effort--Senator Bill Frist, Senator Rick Santorum, and Congressman Tom DeLay, not to mention President Bush, --are flagrantly violating their own Republican federalist principles.
But are they? The very same liberal Democrats who are claiming to be upholding the Constitution against the onslaught of the federal judiciary, have no such restraints on the courts when it comes to abortion, homosexuality, civil rights, education, etcetera, which they say cannot be entrusted to local communities. Yet, they want no due process nor restraints on what they have entitled "the right to die". Federalism is not only about "states' rights", which applies only in areas that are not specifically delegated to the federal government. Federalism supports federal power in areas that are specifically delegated. Read the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
The State of Florida is violating the Constitutional rights of Terri Schiavo, and any other disabled U.S. citizens they have condemned to death by starvation. This is not a "right to die" case, this is a "right to kill" case, as Mrs. Schiavo is not on any life support. If fact, had not her guardian/husband and the Florida judiciary ordered her to be fed only by tube, she most probably could eat and drink by mouth. They have explained their prohibition for normal food on fear of her choking. That would be laughable if it were not so sad. They have saved her from choking, only to attempt to starve her to death. The Congress of the United States should defend the Constitution and its guarantee of life to all citizens; after all, each of its members has sworn an oath to do just that.
Terri Schiavo and the Law; Case for Life
Monday, March 21, 2005
14th Amendment
In addition, at the founding of our country, Thomas Jefferson wrote in THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION of the THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
~~14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Section 1.
"We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." - Thomas Jefferson
Monday, March 21, 2005
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
We now enter a national debate, because of Terry Schiavo and those who have fought in her behalf. Do handicapped people like her have a constitutional right to live? If the federal government concurs with the state of Florida that those who have become severely handicapped merit no such right, then we will need to debate how to rid the blessed land of these inconvenient humans. The state of Florida sanctions the deliberate starvation of the cognitively disabled. Is that the most humane procedure to terminate the lives of those deemed to be living in a vegetative state? We will need to study the protocols already adopted in places such as the Netherlands, where the medical community and the parents determine which handicapped children live or die. When they agree there is no hope for recovery, they administer an intravenous compound which puts the living child into the permanent sleep known as death. The debate will require us to peer into the heart and soul of our society. We will need to decide the value of a life such as Terri' s and we will need to determine if we show more compassion by killing the handicapped rather than caring for them.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Randall Terry on Scarborough
The following videos of Terri are at www.terrisfight.org, where they write "We believe the following videos clips give stunning testimony to Terri's awareness.
- Terri and her Mother
- Tracking a Balloon for Dr. Cranford
- Swab Test
- Asked to Open Her Eyes
- Terri Responding to Music
- "How's Your Cold?"
Randall Terry on Scarborough
Life or Death Struggle
Fifteen Years of Questions
Videotape: beyond the snippets
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Nancy Cruzan 1983
The Legacy of Nancy Cruzan ~ According to Marilyn Webb, author of "The Good Death", “Few people are more central to changing the shape of how we die in America than Bill Colby, the attorney [who] brought the case of Nancy Cruzan to national attention.”
After a 1983 automobile accident, Nancy Cruzan, age 24, was resuscitated by paramedics into a persistent vegetative state and remained that way for seven years. She could breath on her own and required only a feeding tube. Her parents waged a legal battle to have her feeding tube removed, the case going all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled that there was no "clear and convincing evidence" of the patient's wishes to end medical treatment. Trial testimony consisted primarily of Nancy Cruzan's statements made to a roommate about a year before the accident that she would not want to live as a "vegetable".
Following the Supreme Court's decision, some of Nancy's friends came forward and gave additional testimony that she would have refused such treatment. The Missouri Courts ruled that testimony to be of "clear and convincing evidence", and Nancy Cruzan's feeding tube was removed. The Patient Self Determination Act was passed by Congress after the Cruzan decision, to allow patients to make their own decisions about end of life care if they be unable to make decisions for themselves.
See Life Support at Raven.
What happens when you withdraw food and hydration? Ethical Issues in Hydration and Nutrition
The Culture of Life
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Karen Ann Quinlan, 1975
Medical technology has progressed to the point where a patient's vital signs can be sustained almost indefinitely. When a patient becomes permanently comatose, unable to interact and communicate, unable to respond to touch of another human, and unable to function cognitively, is there a purpose to continue the life of the patient? In 1975, the U.S. media asked this question in the case of Karen Ann Quinlan, a 22-year-old, New Jersey woman.Several weeks after being rushed to a hospital emergency room, attending physicians described Karen Ann Quinlan as respirator dependent and in a chronic persistent vegetative state with no real hope of recovery. She was nourished by a nasogastric tube (artificial nutrition and hydration) and her breathing required a respirator. After several months of discussion with physicians, and Roman Catholic clergy, Karen's father asked the hospital to remove her from the respirator. They refused. Mr. Quinlan petitioned the New Jersey Courts to appoint him as Karen's guardian and give him permission to disconnect the respirator. He was denied, being opposed by Karen’s physicians, the local prosecutor and the state attorney general. The courts rejected the argument that there is a viable legal distinction between ordinary and extraordinary means to sustain life. Finally, the New Jersey Superior Court reversed the lower court's ruling, declaring that the patient’s constitutionally based right of privacy outweighed the State's interest in preserving life and, since Karen was incompetent, her father was a proper guardian of that right. The court allowed the respirator to be withdrawn without any liability to the medical community nor to her father.
Karen’s physicians weaned her from the respirator, and after its removal she continued to breathe on her own. Although the New Jersey Supreme Court had given permission for all life-support to be withdrawn, Karen's parents did not allow her to starve to death, therefore artificial nutrition and hydration continued. Karen lived another ten years until she was taken by pneumonia, demonstrating to the world the enduring will to live of the human spirit.
Withholding or Withdrawing Life-Sustaining Medical Treatment
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
The Book of Matthew, Chapter 25, from the Holy Bible (KJV)34: Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37: Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38: When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39: Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40: And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41: Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44: Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45: Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Hope Fades
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled that the family of Terri Schiavo "failed to demonstrate a substantial case on the merits of any of their claims" that her feeding tube should be reinserted immediately, describing their decision as "a question of law". One of the three judges dissented and he has been the only one to agree that there can be no justice for Mrs. Schiavo and her family if she is allowed to be physically damaged or to expire before the court can fully review her case. Judge Charles R. Wilson, saying that Terri's "imminent" death would end the case, wrote: "In fact, I fail to see any harm in reinserting the feeding tube".
Two federal courts have now refused to give life a chance, apparently believing that they are applying the law as it is written. We are a nation of laws, thank God. Unfortunately, in this case, the law is not our friend. The Schindlers are continuing the fight to save their daughter and sister, but the prognosis is not good. The U.S. Supreme Court is unlikely to intercede. There have obviously been legal mistakes on the side fighting for life; the Schindlers' attorneys, the U.S. Congress. The Schindlers, in their desperation, have called upon the strident Randall Terry to be a spokesman, which seems an unwise decision. Michael Schiavo is the legal guardian of his estranged wife and he wants her dead.
Our representatives, the Congress, spoke for us when they pleaded with the Federal Court in Florida to give the Schiavo case a new look. The federal judge heard two hours of testimony and refused to save Mrs. Schiavo's life and refused to take a fresh look at the circumstances of her case. He had the power to stop Terri's starvation. Instead, he snubbed the President, the Congress and "we the people" who had petitioned Congress for action.
Mr. Schiavo has claimed that his wife said that she would not want to live under such circumstances. Terri was a very young, healthy woman when tragedy struck and she had been raised as a Catholic. If her views on dying were so opposed to her Church's teachings, would she not have left written instructions? Why cannot the beliefs of that religion regarding life and death be assumed to be her beliefs, especially since she left nothing written to contradict her own church's dogma? Terri's life remains in the hands of a husband she was planning to leave, an overbearing husband some friends suspect of physical abuse, a man disliked by Terri's friends and caretakers, a man who cannot appreciate the agony of his estranged wife's family. Terri is not a sick woman. She is a damaged human being who probably can never be restored to her former self. She needs only food and water to survive. Why must she be condemned to death? We can only pray for a happy resolution.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
An MRI for Terry
Dr. Thomas Zabiega, a University of Chicago trained neurologist, said, “Should Terri be given an MRI? Any neurologist who is objective would say ‘Yes’”.
Those fighting for Terri's life are pleading for her to have new testings and new examinations by unbiased neurologists. This was the hope of the Congress when they intervened in the case. There are fifty neurologists who all say that she should be reevaluated, reexamined, as they have serious doubts as to the accuracy of the PVS diagnosis. The fifty neurologists are all board-certified; a number of them are fellows of the American Academy of Neurology; several are professors of neurology. Tragically, the federal courts have ignored the plea from Congress.
Terri has never been given an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), as her guardian/husband has repeatedly refused to consent. Neurologists are shocked when they learn this. Dr. Peter Morin, M.D., is a researcher neurologist specializing in degenerative brain diseases, with a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Boston University. When told that Michael Schiavo had refused MRI and PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scans of his wife's brain injuries, Dr. Morin was stunned. “That’s criminal,” he said, and then asked about her husband, “How can he continue as guardian? People are deliberating over this woman’s life and death and there’s been no MRI or PET?” He concluded “These people don’t want the information.”
Dr. Morin explained that he would feel obligated to obtain the information in these tests before making a diagnosis with life and death consequences. I told him that CT (Computer-Aided Tomography) scans had been done, and were partly the basis for the finding of PVS. The doctor retorted, “Spare no expense, eh?” I asked him to explain the comment; he said that a CT scan is a much less expensive test than an MRI, but it “only gives you a tenth of the information an MRI does.” He added, “A CT scan is useful only in pretty severe cases, such as trauma, and also during the few days after an anoxic (lack of oxygen) brain injury. It’s useful in an emergency-room setting. But if the question is ischemic injury [brain damage caused by lack of blood/oxygen to part of the brain] you want an MRI and PET. For subsequent evaluation of brain injury, the CT is pretty useless unless there has been a massive stroke.”Starving for a Fair Diagnosis: Terri Schiavo is not out of medical options. But that’s the “fact” her husband wants you to believe. By Reverend Robert Johansen
Thursday, March 23, 2005
Shakespeare Writes of Dying
"Vex not his ghost: O, let him pass! he hates him much That would upon the rack of this tough world Stretch him out longer." ~~William Shakespeare, "King Lear", Act V, Scene 111, Kent speaking of the dying King Lear.
Friday, March 25, 2005
More Schiavo Videos
These videos are from Trey Jackson.WATCH NOW- Carla Sauer Iyer, a former caregiver of Terri Schiavo.
Update II: WATCH- Interview with Terri's former nurse Heidi Law.
Update III: WATCH - Joe Scarborough makes a passionate plea for Terri.
Saturday, March 26, 2005
Dr. William Hammesfahr
Dr. William Hammesfahr is a board certified neurologist who claims to be able to rehabilitate Terri Schiavo. He is a controversial physician, as is Dr. Ronald Crandall, also known as "Dr. Humane Death", who is Michael Schiavo's physician of choice for his disabled wife. There are charges that Dr. Hammesfahr has padded his resume by claiming to be a Nobel Prize Nominee, which charges seem to have validity. Dr. Crandall is known as a professional "expert witness". Both of these physicians have had their day in court in the Schiavo case, along with three others. Unless they could convince the court that Terri's mental health could be improved, there was no hope for the parents to stop her guardian from removing the tube. Terri Schiavo was in essence, condemned to death by a "jury" of five physicians. Unfortunately for her, this was not a real jury, for only three of the five doctors concluded her life to be not worth living. Even though two doctors believed her life of value, she is dying by the court's fiat. If only she had committed a capital crime! In such a case, she would have needed a unanimous jury of twelve to be condemned to death. The Schiavo case revolves around her legal guardianship, which, as her blood family has seen, is impossible to change. Snippets of that hearing, Schiavo III, 800 So. 2d, are at 645, are at HealthLawProf Blog.
In this case, the Florida courts can show no mercy to the family of Terri Schindler Schiavo, who cannot prove that their daughter can be rehabilitated. They claim she has not been given a chance to improve, but they want to care for her as she is. The only one who could bestow mercy upon them, is the "so-called" husband of their daughter, and he will not, even during Passion Week. NewsDay.com 15 Apr 2003
Dr. William Hammesfahr spoke for Terri after examining her and is hopeful of improvement. The video is from Hannity.com. You may Watch Here!
This is audio from New York's Christian Radio WMCA 570 & 970 of Dr. William Hammesfahr:
Segment One
Segment Two
Segment Three
Dr. William Hammesfahr - Written analysis of Terri
Saturday, March 26, 2005
Do Not Starve 'The Least of These'
Michael Schiavo, Woodside Hospice and the Florida courts, during this Passion Week, have refused food and drink to the Savior, Jesus Christ. This is what Jesus taught:
"I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink ..." His followers asked, "... Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst .... and did not minister unto thee?" Jesus said "Then shall He answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me." ~~Matthew 25:42-45
The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats
Monday, March 28, 2005
No Mercy for the Schindlers
Litigation As Spiritual Practice by George J. Felos
Who Is George J. Felos
When the soul of Terri Schiavo leaves her body, I for one, shall not want to witness the Schindler family fight with Michael Schiavo over her mortal remains. The family valiantly tried to save her from court-ordered starvation, but were not successful, as Judge Greer had appointed the ex-husband of their daughter as her legal guardian. According to law, Michael speaks for Terri. The Schindlers could not overcome the Culture of Death team of lawyers, physicians, hospice care, and courts that Michael Schiavo was able to purchase, using Terri's own insurance settlement. There is no hope that they can have a say in her burial, unless their erstwhile son-in-law were to find a drop of mercy in his heart, which seems very unlikely.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Judicial Murder
is how Nat Hentoff in "The Village Voice" describes the death by dehydration of Terri Schiavo. As the world watches, "a 41-year-old woman, who has committed no crime, will die of dehydration and starvation in the longest public execution in American history"."The courts . . . have [also] ordered that no attempts be made to provide her water or food by mouth. Terri swallows her own saliva. Spoon feeding is not medical treatment. This outrageous order proves that the courts are not merely permitting medical treatment to be withheld, they have ordered her to be made dead." ~~from the Ralph Nader-Wesley Smith Report
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Terri's Exit Protocol
On October 27, 2003, Michael Schiavo explained to Larry King why he was fighting to remove his wife’s feeding tube. He insisted that he wanted to help his wife “die with dignity,” saying “It’s painless, and probably the most natural way to die. It is a very easy way to die — probably the second best way to die, the first being an aneurysm.” At the exact time he was exulting death, in Terri’s medical file there existed a document prescribing a slow and painful death by starvation and dehydration for her. The document was labeled "Exit Protocol", and was discovered by Cheryl Ford, R.N., who was reviewing Terri’s medical file at the request of the Schindler family. In order to explain this document in detail, the actual protocol is in bold print, and is followed by Nurse Ford’s comments.The cruelty Cheryl Ford has seen Terri endure is “not even believable,” she said. “In this case, Dr. Kevorkian would be more humane than what they intend to do to Terri.” Terri's Exit Protocol
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Not Dead Yet
The Culture of Death and the MSM keep reminding us that the polls are strongly in favor of removing the feeding tube of Terri Schiavo, as if that is reason enough that she should be dehydrated to death. When the true story eventually comes into the focus of the public, and they realize that it was not a brain-dead woman, but a brain-damaged one, who was starved to death by court order, there will be a dramatic reverse in the polls, I predict. Joe Ford is a severely disable student at Harvard University who shares his experiences in The Harvard Crimson.The case of Terri Schiavo has been framed by the media as the battle between the “right to die” and pro-life groups, with the latter often referred to as “right-wing Christians.” Little attention has been paid to the more than twenty major disability rights organizations firmly supporting Schiavo’s right to nutrition and hydration. Terri Schindler-Schiavo, a severely disabled woman, is being starved and dehydrated to death in the name of supposed “dignity.” Polls show that most Americans believe that her death is a private matter and that her removal from a feeding tube—a low-tech, simple and inexpensive device used to feed many sick and disabled people—is a reasonable solution to the conflict between her husband and her parents over her right to life.
The reason for this public support of removal from ordinary sustenance, I believe, is not that most people understand or care about Terri Schiavo. Like many others with disabilities, I believe that the American public, to one degree or another, holds that disabled people are better off dead. To put it in a simpler way, many Americans are bigots. A close examination of the facts of the Schiavo case reveals not a case of difficult decisions but a basic test of this country’s decency.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
No Hydration - No Nutrition
"Vex not his ghost - Oh let him pass; he hates him that would upon the rack of this tough world stretch him out longer." ~~William Shakespeare, "King Lear", Act V, Scene 111, Kent speaking of the dying King Lear.What happens when you withdraw food and hydration? Ethical Issues in Hydration and Nutrition
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Terri's Choice
Long, long ago when Terri was a young woman, she made the choice to die by the slow and "seemingly" painful process of starvation and dehydration. We know she made that choice, because, under oath, her former spouse and two of her former in-laws declared that she did, and the court of Judge Greer, found it to be true.
We know that Terri rejected the beliefs of the religion she professed, she rejected the beliefs of her parents and siblings. We know that her friends who testified that she viewed the sanctity of life in accord with her church, were mistaken. We know these things, because Judge Greer ruled them to be true.
We know that the majority of Americans believe that this was Terri's choice, with which no one, including the federal government, should interfere. We know the majority of the public would also want to die the same type of death as Terri is now dying, if they were in her same disabled condition. We know this because the MSM, including CBS News has reported the polling that has been done.
As a nation we watch her slow, slow death by starvation knowing that this was her choice, and knowing that she feels no pain, and knowing that she looks peaceful and beautiful, because that is being reported by those that the court has declared to be truth tellers. Still, one has to wonder, if Terri wanted to die this way, why does she not die? Why has she lingered with life for almost two weeks?
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Justice, Mercy and the Law
Throughout these past dying weeks of Theresa Schindler-Schiavo, the legal scholars have reiterated that the courts were following the law when they sentenced her to death by dehydration. They told us that there was no legal way, for the courts, to show mercy for those who wanted to save the life of a mentally disabled person. If it is true, as the scholars say, that the law can show no mercy, how can it be justice? The answer is, there is no justice, for "Justice without mercy is cruelty," taught Saint Thomas Aquinas.No Mercy, No Justice: "Justice and mercy work beautifully together, and make no sense apart. Justice leads up to mercy, and mercy picks up where justice ends. Justice that does not allow for mercy is cold and inhuman. Mercy that does not presume justice is irresponsible and sentimental."Thomas Aquinas said that mercy "does not destroy justice, but is a certain kind of fulfillment of justice. ..Mercy without justice is the mother of dissolution; (and) justice without mercy is cruelty."
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Terri's Exit Protocol
On October 27, 2003, Michael Schiavo explained to Larry King why he was fighting to remove his wife’s feeding tube. He insisted that he wanted to help his wife “die with dignity,” saying “It’s painless, and probably the most natural way to die. It is a very easy way to die — probably the second best way to die, the first being an aneurysm.” At the exact time he was exulting death, in Terri’s medical file there existed a document prescribing a slow and painful death by starvation and dehydration for her. The document was labeled “Exit Protocol,” and was discovered by Cheryl Ford, R.N., who was reviewing Terri’s medical file at the request of the Schindler family. In order to explain this document in detail, the actual protocol is in bold print, and is followed by Nurse Ford’s comments.The cruelty Cheryl Ford has seen Terri endure is “not even believable,” she said. “In this case, Dr. Kevorkian would be more humane than what they intend to do to Terri.” Terri's Exit Protocol
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Not Dead Yet
The Culture of Death and the MSM keep reminding us that the polls are strongly in favor of removing the feeding tube of Terri Schiavo, as if that is reason enough that she should be dehydrated to death. When the true story eventually comes into the focus of the public, and they realize that it was not a brain-dead woman, but a brain-damaged one, who was starved to death by court order, there will be a dramatic reverse in the polls, I predict. Joe Ford is a severely disable student at Harvard University who shares his experiences in The Harvard Crimson.The case of Terri Schiavo has been framed by the media as the battle between the “right to die” and pro-life groups, with the latter often referred to as “right-wing Christians.” Little attention has been paid to the more than twenty major disability rights organizations firmly supporting Schiavo’s right to nutrition and hydration. Terri Schindler-Schiavo, a severely disabled woman, is being starved and dehydrated to death in the name of supposed “dignity.” Polls show that most Americans believe that her death is a private matter and that her removal from a feeding tube—a low-tech, simple and inexpensive device used to feed many sick and disabled people—is a reasonable solution to the conflict between her husband and her parents over her right to life.
The reason for this public support of removal from ordinary sustenance, I believe, is not that most people understand or care about Terri Schiavo. Like many others with disabilities, I believe that the American public, to one degree or another, holds that disabled people are better off dead. To put it in a simpler way, many Americans are bigots. A close examination of the facts of the Schiavo case reveals not a case of difficult decisions but a basic test of this country’s decency.
Thursday, March 31, 2005
No Hydration - No Nutrition
"Vex not his ghost - Oh let him pass; he hates him that would upon the rack of this tough world stretch him out longer." ~~William Shakespeare, "King Lear", Act V, Scene 111, Kent speaking of the dying King Lear.What happens when you withdraw food and hydration? Ethical Issues in Hydration and Nutrition
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Terri Martyred
Today, Theresa Marie Schindler Schiavo, becomes a martyr for the mentally and cognitively disabled.The Martyrdom of Theresa
Edith Stein was gassed by the Nazis on 9 August 1942. When she became a Carmelite nun of the Catholic Church, she became Teresa. The ages now know her as Saint Teresa Benedicta. Because of her Jewishness, the Nazis devalued her humanity and sent her to Auschwitz. American Daughter has a lovely illustrated post featuring others named Theresa.
Friday, April 01, 2005
Death's Springtime Rendezvous
We continue our watch of the Passion Play which has been unfolding before our awestruck eyes since the approach of Easter Week. We watched an innocent child of God, a daughter of mother Mary, die an unnatural death decreed by the Culture of Death. We witnessed her cheated of God's time and God's will by the acolytes of the Evil One, to become a martyr for the imperfect. Now we watch the great Pope, the saintly John Paul II, approach the veil of death. We watch a natural death, a death walked in God's way. We pray for John Paul the Great as he winds his way to Heaven. We pray also for ourselves; that our own rendezvous with death will not be hastened by the law of the land.I HAVE a rendezvous with Death
At some disputed barricade,
When Spring comes back with rustling shade
And apple-blossoms fill the air—
I have a rendezvous with Death
When Spring brings back blue days and fair.
It may be he shall take my hand
And lead me into his dark land
And close my eyes and quench my breath—
It may be I shall pass him still.
I have a rendezvous with Death
On some scarred slope of battered hill,
When Spring comes round again this year
And the first meadow-flowers appear.
God knows 'twere better to be deep
Pillowed in silk and scented down,
Where love throbs out in blissful sleep,
Pulse nigh to pulse, and breath to breath,
Where hushed awakenings are dear...
But I've a rendezvous with Death
At midnight in some flaming town,
When Spring trips north again this year,
And I to my pledged word am true,
I shall not fail that rendezvous.
~~Alan Seeger (1888 -1916) [death, Pope, Schiavo, poetry]
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Bill Maher & Jesse Jackson
Anti-Christian, anti-American Bill Maher has admonished the Reverend Jesse Jackson for his belated role in supporting the Schindler family's fight to save their daughter. Maher is totally bewildered as to why the Christian minister would risk such a stand, knowing that it could result in black voters turning Republican. Jesse, why could you not play the role of Judas, for the Democrats sake? Oh Reverend Jesse, you have really disappointed Bill! Trey Jackson, of Jackson's Journal, presents the evidence. Watch the Video!The self-described political humorist lectured the black activist; "How could you, of all people, throw in with the likes of Tom Delay and Rick Santorum? Reverend Jackson responded; "I threw in with Terri, who I felt had been induced to die through starvation and dehydration, for which I found no moral and ethical foundation". Maher whined on: "But you know that the Republicans are trying to make inroads to the black vote, through the Christian Right, because a lot of black folks go to church and are susceptible to that appeal? Don't you think that you are providing yourself as a bridge for that? The Reverend, true to form, lambasted the Republicans for everything from saving fetuses to interfering with the Schiavo case and the Florida Courts. However, he said ".... Terri's a person, and in her request for food and water, a particular concern that I had, I still am glad that I stood with her and her family."
Bill continued, wondering why Christians do not prove their beliefs in a hereafter, and just die, as the Pope did. "I don't understand how the people who claim to be most spiritual seem most reluctant to get on to the next life." Reverend Jackson reminded him that the Pope had received every life-saving treatment available. Of course, Bill disagreed. Watch the Video and try to find the "humor".
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