BRIDGEPORT,CT Thursday, March 31, 2005 - Following the tragic death of Terri Schiavo this morning, Bishop William E. Lori issued the following statement:
"This is a sad day for our country, and for all those who struggle to protect life.
"We mourn the death of Terri Schiavo and invite all Catholics and, indeed, all people of good will to pray for the repose of her soul and the comfort of her family. We extend our deepest condolences to Terri's parents, who waged a valiant battle to save her life, a life that, for all of its disability, was still a precious gift from God.
"We must remember that Terri was denied food and water, which is morally obligatory so long as it is useful to the patient. This was not extraordinary medical treatment or means, but basic nourishment that is everyone's fundamental right. Terri's human rights were violated.
"As we move forward, we must not forget Terri, nor allow her death to be in vain. I call upon every Catholic to advocate more forcefully on behalf of the vulnerable and helpless in our society to ensure that their basic human rights are protected. We must speak out to our elected officials, and Catholic Concerns Day in Hartford on April 7 is a good place to start."
Bishop Lori will join his fellow Catholic bishops, priests, deacons, Religious Sisters, and faithful of all ages in Hartford on Thursday, April 7, for Catholic Concerns Day, which is organized by the Connecticut Catholic Conference. All are invited to attend, and bus transportation from Fairfield County is available. For more information, visit: Connecticut Catholic Concerns Day.
3.31.2005
Killed by Euphemisms
March 31, 2005, 10:17 a.m.
Editorial Staff- Nation Review Online
There was an honest, forthright case for ending the life of Terri Schiavo. It was that her life no longer had any value, for herself or others, and that ending it — the quicker the better — would spare everyone misery. We disagree with that view, holding it wiser to stick with the Judeo-Christian tradition on the sanctity of innocent life. But the people who made this case deserve some credit for straightforwardness.
But while the public may have agreed with the removal of Schiavo's feeding and hydration tube, apparently there are limits to the public's willingness to tolerate euthanasia — and apparently its defenders recognized these limits. So we saw euphemism after euphemism deployed to cloud the issues.
Perhaps chief among these was the fiction that we were "letting her die." On March 18, Schiavo was in no medical danger of death. She was profoundly brain-damaged (although just how profoundly remains unknown), but she was not in a coma or on a respirator. She was not being kept alive by artificial means, any more than small children are kept alive by artificial means when their parents feed them. Her body was functioning, there is some reason to believe she was minimally conscious, and she was responsive to stimuli (it's been reported she was actually being administered pain medication). She had devoted parents and siblings who were willing to care for her. She could easily have gone on in these conditions for many years. She was not close to dying. For death to arrive, she would have to be killed.
And for that to happen, the use of words like "starvation" and "dehydration" would have to be discouraged. Those words might, after all, have reminded us that what was done to Schiavo would be criminal if done to an animal and provoke cries of "torture" and "cruel and unusual punishment" if done to a convicted capital murderer. And "killed," of course, was totally verboten. Schiavo was being "removed from life support," not denied basic sustenance. The phrase "persistent vegetative state" had to be repeated constantly — never mind that basic tests were never performed to establish this diagnosis, and such diagnoses have a very high error rate — and treated as though it meant "brain death."
We were told that her "choice to die" was being "honored," although the evidence that she had, at age 26, given any considered thought to her own mortality and potential incapacity was thin and highly suspect — its lone source being a husband who incongruously proclaimed his solemn fidelity to this purported wish of Terri even as he started up a new family, denied Terri basic care, and insisted on denying her heartbroken parents their desire to care for their child.
The charade here was not performed to protect Terri Schiavo's dignity but to increase the public's comfort with the devaluation of life. So it was that Michael Schiavo's lawyer, the euthanasia enthusiast George Felos, sketched for the media (which was naturally not permitted to observe Terri's deteriorating condition) a rosy portrait of Terri's extremis: radiantly beautiful, soothed by soft music and the comfort of a stuffed animal.
“Next time
it will be easier.
It always is.”
The scene, of course, was not set for her. By Felos's account, she was just an insensate, post-human corpse, for whom such tender touches were irrelevant — the comforts that would have made a difference, food and water, having been mercilessly denied. This was theater for the American people.
Why not kill Mrs. Schiavo quickly and efficiently, by depriving her of air to breathe? In principle, that would have been no different from denying her the other basic necessities of life. Why not give her a lethal injection? The law would not have allowed those methods; but the reason nobody advocated them was that they would have been too obviously murder. So the court-ordered killing was carried out slowly, incrementally, over days and weeks, with soft music, stuffed animals, and euphonious slogans about choice and dignity and radiance. By the time it ended, no one really remembered how many days and hours it had gone on. The nation accepted it, national polls supported it, and we all moved on to other things.
Next time it will be easier. It always is. The tolerance of early-term abortion made it possible to tolerate partial-birth abortion, and to give advanced thinkers a hearing when they advocate outright infanticide. Letting the courts decide such life-and-death issues made it possible for us to let them decide others, made it seem somehow wrong for anyone to stand in their way. Now they are helping to snuff out the minimally conscious. Who's next?
Editorial Staff- Nation Review Online
There was an honest, forthright case for ending the life of Terri Schiavo. It was that her life no longer had any value, for herself or others, and that ending it — the quicker the better — would spare everyone misery. We disagree with that view, holding it wiser to stick with the Judeo-Christian tradition on the sanctity of innocent life. But the people who made this case deserve some credit for straightforwardness.
But while the public may have agreed with the removal of Schiavo's feeding and hydration tube, apparently there are limits to the public's willingness to tolerate euthanasia — and apparently its defenders recognized these limits. So we saw euphemism after euphemism deployed to cloud the issues.
Perhaps chief among these was the fiction that we were "letting her die." On March 18, Schiavo was in no medical danger of death. She was profoundly brain-damaged (although just how profoundly remains unknown), but she was not in a coma or on a respirator. She was not being kept alive by artificial means, any more than small children are kept alive by artificial means when their parents feed them. Her body was functioning, there is some reason to believe she was minimally conscious, and she was responsive to stimuli (it's been reported she was actually being administered pain medication). She had devoted parents and siblings who were willing to care for her. She could easily have gone on in these conditions for many years. She was not close to dying. For death to arrive, she would have to be killed.
And for that to happen, the use of words like "starvation" and "dehydration" would have to be discouraged. Those words might, after all, have reminded us that what was done to Schiavo would be criminal if done to an animal and provoke cries of "torture" and "cruel and unusual punishment" if done to a convicted capital murderer. And "killed," of course, was totally verboten. Schiavo was being "removed from life support," not denied basic sustenance. The phrase "persistent vegetative state" had to be repeated constantly — never mind that basic tests were never performed to establish this diagnosis, and such diagnoses have a very high error rate — and treated as though it meant "brain death."
We were told that her "choice to die" was being "honored," although the evidence that she had, at age 26, given any considered thought to her own mortality and potential incapacity was thin and highly suspect — its lone source being a husband who incongruously proclaimed his solemn fidelity to this purported wish of Terri even as he started up a new family, denied Terri basic care, and insisted on denying her heartbroken parents their desire to care for their child.
The charade here was not performed to protect Terri Schiavo's dignity but to increase the public's comfort with the devaluation of life. So it was that Michael Schiavo's lawyer, the euthanasia enthusiast George Felos, sketched for the media (which was naturally not permitted to observe Terri's deteriorating condition) a rosy portrait of Terri's extremis: radiantly beautiful, soothed by soft music and the comfort of a stuffed animal.
“Next time
it will be easier.
It always is.”
The scene, of course, was not set for her. By Felos's account, she was just an insensate, post-human corpse, for whom such tender touches were irrelevant — the comforts that would have made a difference, food and water, having been mercilessly denied. This was theater for the American people.
Why not kill Mrs. Schiavo quickly and efficiently, by depriving her of air to breathe? In principle, that would have been no different from denying her the other basic necessities of life. Why not give her a lethal injection? The law would not have allowed those methods; but the reason nobody advocated them was that they would have been too obviously murder. So the court-ordered killing was carried out slowly, incrementally, over days and weeks, with soft music, stuffed animals, and euphonious slogans about choice and dignity and radiance. By the time it ended, no one really remembered how many days and hours it had gone on. The nation accepted it, national polls supported it, and we all moved on to other things.
Next time it will be easier. It always is. The tolerance of early-term abortion made it possible to tolerate partial-birth abortion, and to give advanced thinkers a hearing when they advocate outright infanticide. Letting the courts decide such life-and-death issues made it possible for us to let them decide others, made it seem somehow wrong for anyone to stand in their way. Now they are helping to snuff out the minimally conscious. Who's next?
REMEMBER TERRI SCHIAVO!
"The teachings of the Catholic Church on end-of-life issues is a model of clarity compared to that of all the other religions. It’s time that all world religions more forthrightly tackled these issues before it’s too late. And by that I mean before the secular bioethicists rule the day, for many of them don’t know the difference between a hamster and a human,” said William Donohue, president of the Catholic League.
"The court has washed its hands of the responsibility for this innocent woman's life. It is undeniable that we are quickly slipping into a culture of death. Terri Schiavo was very much fighting for her life and today, we are deeply saddened at that loss," said Tony Perkins, President of Family Research Council.
"This is a tragic and unfortunate event that should awaken Americans to the problems in our court system. As many in the nation mourn the passing of Terri Schiavo, we should remember that her death is a symptom of a greater problem: that the courts no longer respect human life," he added.
"Let us long remember Terri as a brave soldier who fought valiantly in her personal battle for life and has become a tragic causality in our modern day culture war. But her death is not in vain. Her death has purchased the beginnings of a social, moral awakening on the issue of the Sanctity of Life. March 31, 2005 must go down in history and our battle cry must be REMEMBER TERRI SCHIAVO!" wrote Troy Newman , President of Operation Rescue.
"The court has washed its hands of the responsibility for this innocent woman's life. It is undeniable that we are quickly slipping into a culture of death. Terri Schiavo was very much fighting for her life and today, we are deeply saddened at that loss," said Tony Perkins, President of Family Research Council.
"This is a tragic and unfortunate event that should awaken Americans to the problems in our court system. As many in the nation mourn the passing of Terri Schiavo, we should remember that her death is a symptom of a greater problem: that the courts no longer respect human life," he added.
"Let us long remember Terri as a brave soldier who fought valiantly in her personal battle for life and has become a tragic causality in our modern day culture war. But her death is not in vain. Her death has purchased the beginnings of a social, moral awakening on the issue of the Sanctity of Life. March 31, 2005 must go down in history and our battle cry must be REMEMBER TERRI SCHIAVO!" wrote Troy Newman , President of Operation Rescue.
3.30.2005
Storming the Hospice-When It's OK to Break the Law
Breaking the Law
Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life
I have never broken the law. I have never been arrested.
Yet I often think of Bishop Austin Vaughan, auxiliary bishop of New York, who
in the last years of his life of faithful service to the Church, was arrested and
imprisoned many times for rescuing unborn babies. He saw what Christians were
doing across the country as they peacefully blocked the doors of abortion mills to
put their bodies between the babies and the instruments of death. Then one day he
looked at his episcopal ring, and realized that the three figures on it -- St. Peter, St.
Paul, and the Lord Jesus -- had all been arrested and imprisoned! He no longer
hesitated to do so too, if it was the price to pay for saving lives.
Human reason, Scripture, and history teach us that while we are called to be law- abiding citizens, breaking the law is not always wrong. Take, for example,
someone who breaks down the door of a neighbor's apartment to put out a fire, or
jumps over a fence past the "no trespassing" sign into a neighbor's yard to save a
child drowning in a swimming pool. Those cases make it clear that saving life
takes precedence over laws the preserve less important values.
Lessons from Scripture abound. The apostles were given strict orders not to teach
in the name of Jesus (see Acts 4 and 5). Should they have obeyed? If they had, we
would not know the Gospel. Would we obey if that order were given to us? What
exactly would we say to the assembled crowd on Sunday morning if such a law
had been passed on Friday?
In Exodus, we read, "The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives...'When you
help the Hebrew women in childbirth ... if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let
her live.' The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of
Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live" (Ex. 1:15-17). They disobeyed
the king's order because it conflicted with a higher law, God's command never to
kill the innocent. Daniel went to the lion's den because he disobeyed a law
prohibiting prayer (Daniel 6).
History shows us Christians martyred for disobeying Caesar, people rescuing
slaves, protecting Jews from the Holocaust, and resisting segregation -- all in
violation of the law but in support of justice. The list of examples fills many
volumes.
We risk failure if we ignore the lessons of history and the principles of Scripture.
It's easy to look back at those who broke the law in these cases and praise them.
But when the same challenges that they faced face us, we find it difficult to
acknowledge that sometimes the law must be broken. That's because now, the
sacrifices will be made by us.
I have never broken the law. I have never been arrested. But I simply cannot
guarantee that I never will.
This column can be found online at
www.priestsforlife.org/columns/columns2005/05-03-28breakinglaw.htm
Remember to support our work at www.priestsforlife.org/donate
Comments on this column? Email us at mail@priestsforlife.org Priests for Life, PO Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314; Tel: 888-PFL-3448, 718-980-4400;
Fax: 718-980-6515; web: www.priestsforlife.org
Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life
I have never broken the law. I have never been arrested.
Yet I often think of Bishop Austin Vaughan, auxiliary bishop of New York, who
in the last years of his life of faithful service to the Church, was arrested and
imprisoned many times for rescuing unborn babies. He saw what Christians were
doing across the country as they peacefully blocked the doors of abortion mills to
put their bodies between the babies and the instruments of death. Then one day he
looked at his episcopal ring, and realized that the three figures on it -- St. Peter, St.
Paul, and the Lord Jesus -- had all been arrested and imprisoned! He no longer
hesitated to do so too, if it was the price to pay for saving lives.
Human reason, Scripture, and history teach us that while we are called to be law- abiding citizens, breaking the law is not always wrong. Take, for example,
someone who breaks down the door of a neighbor's apartment to put out a fire, or
jumps over a fence past the "no trespassing" sign into a neighbor's yard to save a
child drowning in a swimming pool. Those cases make it clear that saving life
takes precedence over laws the preserve less important values.
Lessons from Scripture abound. The apostles were given strict orders not to teach
in the name of Jesus (see Acts 4 and 5). Should they have obeyed? If they had, we
would not know the Gospel. Would we obey if that order were given to us? What
exactly would we say to the assembled crowd on Sunday morning if such a law
had been passed on Friday?
In Exodus, we read, "The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives...'When you
help the Hebrew women in childbirth ... if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let
her live.' The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of
Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live" (Ex. 1:15-17). They disobeyed
the king's order because it conflicted with a higher law, God's command never to
kill the innocent. Daniel went to the lion's den because he disobeyed a law
prohibiting prayer (Daniel 6).
History shows us Christians martyred for disobeying Caesar, people rescuing
slaves, protecting Jews from the Holocaust, and resisting segregation -- all in
violation of the law but in support of justice. The list of examples fills many
volumes.
We risk failure if we ignore the lessons of history and the principles of Scripture.
It's easy to look back at those who broke the law in these cases and praise them.
But when the same challenges that they faced face us, we find it difficult to
acknowledge that sometimes the law must be broken. That's because now, the
sacrifices will be made by us.
I have never broken the law. I have never been arrested. But I simply cannot
guarantee that I never will.
This column can be found online at
www.priestsforlife.org/columns/columns2005/05-03-28breakinglaw.htm
Remember to support our work at www.priestsforlife.org/donate
Comments on this column? Email us at mail@priestsforlife.org Priests for Life, PO Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314; Tel: 888-PFL-3448, 718-980-4400;
Fax: 718-980-6515; web: www.priestsforlife.org
Terri's family suffer new defeat, will appeal to Supreme Court again
ATLANTA, March 30, 2005 (CNA) “ The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has perhaps dashed the last hope for brain-damaged Terri Schiavo, who has been without food or water since her feeding tube was removed by court order on March 18th.
For the fourth time, the court rejected an appeal by Bob and Mary Schindler, Terri's parents, to re-hear their case for their daughter's life in light of new evidence.
The rejected petition stated that the Atlanta court violated a Supreme Court precedent requiring them to consider the full record of the case and not just proceedings from the state courts.
It added that new evidence needed to be considered before the courts could render a truly informed decision.
David Gibbs, attorney for the Schindlers said that he could prove to the federal court that "the 'evidence' supporting Terri's alleged wishes is not credible, and that a reasonable fact finder would hold -- under any standard of proof -- that her wishes were to the contrary."
The courts had previously sided with Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband, who has staged a nearly decade-long battle claiming that his wife would have never wanted to be kept alive in her current state.
Despite today's devastating setback, Terri's family is still holding on to prayerful hope for their daughter's life.
Terri's father told reporters that, "She still looks pretty darn good under the circumstances," but added, "You can see the impact of no food and water for 12 days. Her bodily functions are still working. We still have her."
Terri Schiavo's parents will appeal their latest judicial defeat to the U.S. Supreme Court. Robert and Mary Schindler met with their legal and spiritual advisors Wednesday afternoon following the rejection of their latest pleading.
Gary McCullough, director of the Christian Communication Network and a spokesman for Schiavo's parents announced that the family will continue their legal battle. McCullough told Cybercast News Service "I am in the room surrounded by family members right now and they are going to appeal it."
"They've been on the phone with the lawyers a lot and they are going to appeal it. The lawyers have been working, it seems like, around the clock, because we hardly ever see them," he said.
For the fourth time, the court rejected an appeal by Bob and Mary Schindler, Terri's parents, to re-hear their case for their daughter's life in light of new evidence.
The rejected petition stated that the Atlanta court violated a Supreme Court precedent requiring them to consider the full record of the case and not just proceedings from the state courts.
It added that new evidence needed to be considered before the courts could render a truly informed decision.
David Gibbs, attorney for the Schindlers said that he could prove to the federal court that "the 'evidence' supporting Terri's alleged wishes is not credible, and that a reasonable fact finder would hold -- under any standard of proof -- that her wishes were to the contrary."
The courts had previously sided with Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband, who has staged a nearly decade-long battle claiming that his wife would have never wanted to be kept alive in her current state.
Despite today's devastating setback, Terri's family is still holding on to prayerful hope for their daughter's life.
Terri's father told reporters that, "She still looks pretty darn good under the circumstances," but added, "You can see the impact of no food and water for 12 days. Her bodily functions are still working. We still have her."
Terri Schiavo's parents will appeal their latest judicial defeat to the U.S. Supreme Court. Robert and Mary Schindler met with their legal and spiritual advisors Wednesday afternoon following the rejection of their latest pleading.
Gary McCullough, director of the Christian Communication Network and a spokesman for Schiavo's parents announced that the family will continue their legal battle. McCullough told Cybercast News Service "I am in the room surrounded by family members right now and they are going to appeal it."
"They've been on the phone with the lawyers a lot and they are going to appeal it. The lawyers have been working, it seems like, around the clock, because we hardly ever see them," he said.
Court to Weigh Schiavo Emergency Motion
By RON WORD, Associated Press Writer
PINELLAS PARK, Fla. - A federal appeals court agreed to consider an emergency bid by Terri Schiavo's parents for a new hearing on whether to reconnect her feeding tube, raising their fading hopes of keeping the severely brain-damaged woman alive.
In its order late Tuesday, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals didn't say when it would decide whether to grant the hearing. It was not clear what effect reconnecting Terri Schiavo's feeding tube would have on her, as she approached her 13th day without nourishment. As of early Wednesday afternoon, no further word had come from the appeals court.
The Tuesday order issued allowed Bob and Mary Schindler to file the appeal, even though the court had set a March 26 deadline for doing so.
Its one-sentence order said: "The Appellant's emergency motion for leave to file out of time is granted." Three times last week, the court ruled against the Schindlers.
In requesting a new hearing, the Schindlers argued that a federal judge in Tampa should have considered the entire state court record and not whether previous Florida court rulings met legal standards under state law. It also stated that the Atlanta federal appellate court didn't consider whether there was enough "clear and convincing" evidence that Terri Schiavo would have chosen to die in her current condition.
Attorneys for the Schindlers didn't immediately return phone messages Wednesday. George Felos, Michael Schiavo's attorney, declined to comment.
Time was running out for Schiavo, however. Bob Schindler described his daughter on Tuesday as "failing."
"She still looks pretty darn good under the circumstances," Schindler said. "You can see the impact of no food and water for 12 days. Her bodily functions are still working. We still have her."
Doctors have said Schiavo, 41, would probably die within two weeks after the tube was removed March 18. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, insists he is carrying out her wishes by having the feeding tube pulled.
The request for a new hearing also asks to have the tube reinserted immediately "in light of the magnitude of what is at stake and the urgency of the action required."
The order was a ray of hope for the Schindlers, who are battling their son-in-law over their daughter's fate. The case has wound its way through six courts for seven years; the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene five times.
Legal experts say the Schindlers shouldn't read too much into the court's latest decision.
"I would not read that to mean there is a likelihood relief will be granted," said Atlanta attorney Craig A. Gillen. "The court is saying, 'We'll let you ask us for en banc.' That's it."
Another Atlanta attorney, Robert Schroeder, said the court is simply acting to make sure every legal argument has been aired.
"Basically the court is just saying that if you think we've made a mistake, we want to consider all legal arguments that might be out there," Schroeder said. "It is not saying there are more legal arguments out there."
Protesters keeping a 24-hour vigil outside the hospice praised the latest decision.
"There's a chance for a miracle," said Christine Marriott, who rushed to the hospice after hearing the news on TV. "Anything positive is a breath of life."
Dr. Sean Morrison, a professor of palliative medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, said it's hard to predict what would happen if the tube were reinserted because it's highly unusual to do that after life-prolonging treatments have been stopped.
He said that if her kidneys have already shut down, reinserting the tube at this point might prolong her life by just hours or days. However, it could also hasten her death, Morrison said, because it would supply fluids to a body that can no longer get rid of them.
The resulting fluid buildup could essentially drown Schiavo, and she could die gasping and choking, he said.
Morrison said Schiavo would have no awareness of this because of her persistent vegetative state, but reinserting the tube might "transform a peaceful death into one that can be very distressing for families and friends to witness."
Early Wednesday, a man was arrested when he tried to bring a plastic cup of water into the hospice. Officers stopped him at the gate as he shouted: "You don't know God from Godzilla!"
He became the 48th protester arrested since the tube was removed on a court order sought by her husband. Terri Schiavo suffered catastrophic brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped for several minutes because of a chemical imbalance apparently brought on by an eating disorder.
The Schindlers have maintained that their daughter would want to be kept alive.
Their attorneys raised the issue of the new request after a Saturday deadline set by the court, saying they have had more time to research the issues and have become convinced that the federal court in Tampa had "committed plain error when it reviewed only the state court case and outcome history."
Attorneys for the Schindlers have argued that Terri Schiavo's rights to life and privacy were being violated.
Federal courts were given jurisdiction to review Schiavo's case after Republicans in Congress pushed through unprecedented emergency legislation aimed at prolonging her life. But federal courts at three levels have rebuffed her parents.
Although supporters of the Schindlers have claimed the dehydrated woman is being denied comforts such as ice chips for her dry mouth or balm for chapped lips, Felos defended how Schiavo is being cared for.
"Obviously, the parents and the siblings are desperate. Desperation may lead to different perceptions," Felos told CNN. "I can only tell you what I've seen, and Terri is dying a very peaceful, cared-for death."
On Tuesday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson prayed with the Schindlers and first lady Laura Bush said the government was right to have intervened on behalf of Schiavo.
Jackson was in Tallahassee on Wednesday, and met with Gov. Jeb Bush.
PINELLAS PARK, Fla. - A federal appeals court agreed to consider an emergency bid by Terri Schiavo's parents for a new hearing on whether to reconnect her feeding tube, raising their fading hopes of keeping the severely brain-damaged woman alive.
In its order late Tuesday, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals didn't say when it would decide whether to grant the hearing. It was not clear what effect reconnecting Terri Schiavo's feeding tube would have on her, as she approached her 13th day without nourishment. As of early Wednesday afternoon, no further word had come from the appeals court.
The Tuesday order issued allowed Bob and Mary Schindler to file the appeal, even though the court had set a March 26 deadline for doing so.
Its one-sentence order said: "The Appellant's emergency motion for leave to file out of time is granted." Three times last week, the court ruled against the Schindlers.
In requesting a new hearing, the Schindlers argued that a federal judge in Tampa should have considered the entire state court record and not whether previous Florida court rulings met legal standards under state law. It also stated that the Atlanta federal appellate court didn't consider whether there was enough "clear and convincing" evidence that Terri Schiavo would have chosen to die in her current condition.
Attorneys for the Schindlers didn't immediately return phone messages Wednesday. George Felos, Michael Schiavo's attorney, declined to comment.
Time was running out for Schiavo, however. Bob Schindler described his daughter on Tuesday as "failing."
"She still looks pretty darn good under the circumstances," Schindler said. "You can see the impact of no food and water for 12 days. Her bodily functions are still working. We still have her."
Doctors have said Schiavo, 41, would probably die within two weeks after the tube was removed March 18. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, insists he is carrying out her wishes by having the feeding tube pulled.
The request for a new hearing also asks to have the tube reinserted immediately "in light of the magnitude of what is at stake and the urgency of the action required."
The order was a ray of hope for the Schindlers, who are battling their son-in-law over their daughter's fate. The case has wound its way through six courts for seven years; the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene five times.
Legal experts say the Schindlers shouldn't read too much into the court's latest decision.
"I would not read that to mean there is a likelihood relief will be granted," said Atlanta attorney Craig A. Gillen. "The court is saying, 'We'll let you ask us for en banc.' That's it."
Another Atlanta attorney, Robert Schroeder, said the court is simply acting to make sure every legal argument has been aired.
"Basically the court is just saying that if you think we've made a mistake, we want to consider all legal arguments that might be out there," Schroeder said. "It is not saying there are more legal arguments out there."
Protesters keeping a 24-hour vigil outside the hospice praised the latest decision.
"There's a chance for a miracle," said Christine Marriott, who rushed to the hospice after hearing the news on TV. "Anything positive is a breath of life."
Dr. Sean Morrison, a professor of palliative medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, said it's hard to predict what would happen if the tube were reinserted because it's highly unusual to do that after life-prolonging treatments have been stopped.
He said that if her kidneys have already shut down, reinserting the tube at this point might prolong her life by just hours or days. However, it could also hasten her death, Morrison said, because it would supply fluids to a body that can no longer get rid of them.
The resulting fluid buildup could essentially drown Schiavo, and she could die gasping and choking, he said.
Morrison said Schiavo would have no awareness of this because of her persistent vegetative state, but reinserting the tube might "transform a peaceful death into one that can be very distressing for families and friends to witness."
Early Wednesday, a man was arrested when he tried to bring a plastic cup of water into the hospice. Officers stopped him at the gate as he shouted: "You don't know God from Godzilla!"
He became the 48th protester arrested since the tube was removed on a court order sought by her husband. Terri Schiavo suffered catastrophic brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped for several minutes because of a chemical imbalance apparently brought on by an eating disorder.
The Schindlers have maintained that their daughter would want to be kept alive.
Their attorneys raised the issue of the new request after a Saturday deadline set by the court, saying they have had more time to research the issues and have become convinced that the federal court in Tampa had "committed plain error when it reviewed only the state court case and outcome history."
Attorneys for the Schindlers have argued that Terri Schiavo's rights to life and privacy were being violated.
Federal courts were given jurisdiction to review Schiavo's case after Republicans in Congress pushed through unprecedented emergency legislation aimed at prolonging her life. But federal courts at three levels have rebuffed her parents.
Although supporters of the Schindlers have claimed the dehydrated woman is being denied comforts such as ice chips for her dry mouth or balm for chapped lips, Felos defended how Schiavo is being cared for.
"Obviously, the parents and the siblings are desperate. Desperation may lead to different perceptions," Felos told CNN. "I can only tell you what I've seen, and Terri is dying a very peaceful, cared-for death."
On Tuesday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson prayed with the Schindlers and first lady Laura Bush said the government was right to have intervened on behalf of Schiavo.
Jackson was in Tallahassee on Wednesday, and met with Gov. Jeb Bush.
3.29.2005
Catholic League connects ideology supporting Terri's death with Nazism
New York, Mar. 29, 2005 (CNA) - While Terri Schiavo struggles in her last days of life in a Florida hospice, some commentators in the press have already declared the 41-year-old woman dead. This is “obscene,” said Catholic League president William Donohue, likening the ideology that is supporting Schiavo’s death to Nazism.
Donohue pointed out that James Kutkowski, Jordan Ross and Jim Seeber of the University of Mississippi, Oklahoma State University and Northern State University, respectively have each stated that Schiavo is “already dead.”
In particular, the president of the New York-based Catholic League focused on Christopher Hitchens, “a man whose comments are so obscene as to forever discredit him as a human-rights advocate for any cause.”
Donohue recounted how, on the MSNBC-TV show “Hardball” last week, Hitchens told him: “Mrs. Schiavo is dead and has been for some time.” Hitchens also described Schiavo as “nonlife” and wrote of her this week in the press as the “late and long-dead Terri Schiavo.”
Likening Hitchens’ position to those expressed during racist regimes in history, Donohue stated in a press release: “History has taught that deadly consequences follow when one segment of the human population declares another segment of the human population to be less than human.
“At various times in history, American Indians, Jews, African Americans, Asians, the unborn and infants have been classified as subhuman,” he said.
These people were dehumanized with terms like ‘parasites,’ ‘lower animals,’ ‘primitive animals,’ ‘inferior race,’ ‘inferior class of beings,’ ‘untamable, carnivorous animals,’ ‘beasts of burden,’ ‘sicklers,’ ‘transit material,’ ‘raw material,’ ‘anthropological specimens,’ ‘article of property,’ ‘rubbish,’ ‘garbage,’ ‘refuse’ and ‘nonpersons.’
“To this, Hitchens adds ‘nonlife,’” said Donohue.
Donohue then made a particular link between Hitchens’ position and Nazism: “Albert Speer, one of Hitler’s henchmen, once explained how it was possible for him to kill so many Jews. He emphatically denied hating Jews, saying only that ‘I simply depersonalized them.’ Get it Hitchens?”
Donohue pointed out that James Kutkowski, Jordan Ross and Jim Seeber of the University of Mississippi, Oklahoma State University and Northern State University, respectively have each stated that Schiavo is “already dead.”
In particular, the president of the New York-based Catholic League focused on Christopher Hitchens, “a man whose comments are so obscene as to forever discredit him as a human-rights advocate for any cause.”
Donohue recounted how, on the MSNBC-TV show “Hardball” last week, Hitchens told him: “Mrs. Schiavo is dead and has been for some time.” Hitchens also described Schiavo as “nonlife” and wrote of her this week in the press as the “late and long-dead Terri Schiavo.”
Likening Hitchens’ position to those expressed during racist regimes in history, Donohue stated in a press release: “History has taught that deadly consequences follow when one segment of the human population declares another segment of the human population to be less than human.
“At various times in history, American Indians, Jews, African Americans, Asians, the unborn and infants have been classified as subhuman,” he said.
These people were dehumanized with terms like ‘parasites,’ ‘lower animals,’ ‘primitive animals,’ ‘inferior race,’ ‘inferior class of beings,’ ‘untamable, carnivorous animals,’ ‘beasts of burden,’ ‘sicklers,’ ‘transit material,’ ‘raw material,’ ‘anthropological specimens,’ ‘article of property,’ ‘rubbish,’ ‘garbage,’ ‘refuse’ and ‘nonpersons.’
“To this, Hitchens adds ‘nonlife,’” said Donohue.
Donohue then made a particular link between Hitchens’ position and Nazism: “Albert Speer, one of Hitler’s henchmen, once explained how it was possible for him to kill so many Jews. He emphatically denied hating Jews, saying only that ‘I simply depersonalized them.’ Get it Hitchens?”
Press Misrepresents Catholic Teaching on End of Life Issues
The prominence of the Terri Schiavo case has brought unprecedented media attention to the Catholic Church's teaching on end-of-life issues. But media portrayals of Church teaching are often inaccurate and misleading, according to two prominent Catholic ethicists.
Father Thomas Williams, dean of the theology department of Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University, and Richard Doerflinger, Deputy Director of the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, both said the Church makes a distinction between ordinary and extraordinary care. The first is always required while the second is not. "The Church teaches that we have a moral obligation to support life," Doerflinger said. "That obligation has limits. People talk about ordinary and extraordinary means. That just means that when the efforts to sustain life start doing more harm than good to the patient the moral obligation ceases to apply. Even then you should never abandon a patient and never deny them the basic care owed to everyone because of their human dignity."
Father Williams quotes from Pope John Paul II's 1995 encyclical, The Gospel of Life, when trying to define extraordinary means. "The Pope uses two sets of terms. For treatment to be considered extraordinary death must be 'imminent and inevitable' and the treatment would result in 'precarious and burdensome prolongation of life.'" An example might be a cancer victim who, after several rounds of treatment, has found chemotherapy to be ineffective and foregoes the treatment in order to avoid its side effects.
Father Williams and Doerflinger said that in some instances it can be extremely difficult to determine the difference between extraordinary and ordinary care and that in such instances people must follow their conscience. But both men said the Schiavo case is clear cut. "From a Catholic perspective, this is an open and shut case," Father Williams said. According to Doerflinger, "food and water should always be seen as basic care," a teaching made abundantly clear in an address by Pope John Paul II in March, 2004, he said.
A recent article in the Washington Post, "Catholic Stance on Tube-Feeding Is Evolving," tried to paint the papal pronouncement, that food and water are basic care, as contrary to the Catholic tradition. The article placed great stock in the teachings of two Spanish theologians of the 16th century, Francisco de Vitoria and Domingo Banez, as proof that the Pope has formulated a novel teaching. Banez "wrote that a sick man could refuse food without risk of committing a mortal sin if he had no hope of survival," the Post reported, and Vitora established "the guideline that 'ordinary' means of medical treatment were obligatory, but 'extraordinary' means - methods that would cause great pain or burdens - were not required."
Father Williams, says the two Spaniards are actually consistent with the teaching the Pope John Paul. "What they said does not mean that one can refuse to consume food for any length of time or refuse food that would save one's life. What they mean is that if you are dying and the food would make you sick to your stomach or you would die anyway, you can refuse the food." But even if Vitoria or Banez were at odds with the Pope, it would not mean that the Pope has made up a new teaching. "The fact is that you can find theologians on any point - even the most settled of moral doctrines like abortion, euthanasia, contraception - who disagree. That does not mean there is doubt or division or that there is not a Catholic position. The Church doesn't work that way. That's why we have a magisterium." Doerflinger, who was interviewed for the Post story, said the article failed to bring up the many statements calling food and water basic care that preceded the Pope's address. "Up until then it had not just been 'conservative' theologians versus 'liberal' theologians. There had been a number of Vatican documents. And there had been statements by the Pro-Life Committee of the US Bishops Conference that is chaired and run by cardinals and archbishops. "
Copyright 2005---Culture of Life Foundation. Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.
Culture of Life Foundation
1413 K Street, NW, Suite 1000
Washington DC 20005
Phone: (202) 289-2500 Fax: (202) 289-2502
E-mail: clf@culture-of-life.org
Website:
http://www.culture-of-life.org
Father Thomas Williams, dean of the theology department of Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University, and Richard Doerflinger, Deputy Director of the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, both said the Church makes a distinction between ordinary and extraordinary care. The first is always required while the second is not. "The Church teaches that we have a moral obligation to support life," Doerflinger said. "That obligation has limits. People talk about ordinary and extraordinary means. That just means that when the efforts to sustain life start doing more harm than good to the patient the moral obligation ceases to apply. Even then you should never abandon a patient and never deny them the basic care owed to everyone because of their human dignity."
Father Williams quotes from Pope John Paul II's 1995 encyclical, The Gospel of Life, when trying to define extraordinary means. "The Pope uses two sets of terms. For treatment to be considered extraordinary death must be 'imminent and inevitable' and the treatment would result in 'precarious and burdensome prolongation of life.'" An example might be a cancer victim who, after several rounds of treatment, has found chemotherapy to be ineffective and foregoes the treatment in order to avoid its side effects.
Father Williams and Doerflinger said that in some instances it can be extremely difficult to determine the difference between extraordinary and ordinary care and that in such instances people must follow their conscience. But both men said the Schiavo case is clear cut. "From a Catholic perspective, this is an open and shut case," Father Williams said. According to Doerflinger, "food and water should always be seen as basic care," a teaching made abundantly clear in an address by Pope John Paul II in March, 2004, he said.
A recent article in the Washington Post, "Catholic Stance on Tube-Feeding Is Evolving," tried to paint the papal pronouncement, that food and water are basic care, as contrary to the Catholic tradition. The article placed great stock in the teachings of two Spanish theologians of the 16th century, Francisco de Vitoria and Domingo Banez, as proof that the Pope has formulated a novel teaching. Banez "wrote that a sick man could refuse food without risk of committing a mortal sin if he had no hope of survival," the Post reported, and Vitora established "the guideline that 'ordinary' means of medical treatment were obligatory, but 'extraordinary' means - methods that would cause great pain or burdens - were not required."
Father Williams, says the two Spaniards are actually consistent with the teaching the Pope John Paul. "What they said does not mean that one can refuse to consume food for any length of time or refuse food that would save one's life. What they mean is that if you are dying and the food would make you sick to your stomach or you would die anyway, you can refuse the food." But even if Vitoria or Banez were at odds with the Pope, it would not mean that the Pope has made up a new teaching. "The fact is that you can find theologians on any point - even the most settled of moral doctrines like abortion, euthanasia, contraception - who disagree. That does not mean there is doubt or division or that there is not a Catholic position. The Church doesn't work that way. That's why we have a magisterium." Doerflinger, who was interviewed for the Post story, said the article failed to bring up the many statements calling food and water basic care that preceded the Pope's address. "Up until then it had not just been 'conservative' theologians versus 'liberal' theologians. There had been a number of Vatican documents. And there had been statements by the Pro-Life Committee of the US Bishops Conference that is chaired and run by cardinals and archbishops. "
Copyright 2005---Culture of Life Foundation. Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.
Culture of Life Foundation
1413 K Street, NW, Suite 1000
Washington DC 20005
Phone: (202) 289-2500 Fax: (202) 289-2502
E-mail: clf@culture-of-life.org
Website:
http://www.culture-of-life.org
3.28.2005
Terri continues to fight and to respond
PINELLAS PARK, Fla. - Described by her father as weak and emaciated, Terri Schiavo clung to life Monday, as police stepped up security outside her hospice room and demonstrators prayed for last-minute government intervention in her case.
Supporters of prolonging the severely brain-damaged woman's life carried their protests to the White House and Congress, while her father repeated his plea that she be kept alive.
"She's still communicating, she's still responding. She's emaciated, but she's responsive," Bob Schindler told reporters after a morning visit with his daughter, saying that she showed facial expressions when he hugged and kissed her. "Don't give up on her. We haven't given up on her, and she hasn't given up on us."
"She is still showing facial expressions," Mr. Schindler told reporters. "I hug her and I kiss her, and she is reacting to that and she is trying to talk. But she is very, very subdued. She's failing but she is still with us, and she is showing a determination to live that is incredible," he said, speaking outside the hospice.
Schiavo, 41, was in her 11th day without the feeding tube that sustained her for 15 years. Her parents pressed again for President Bush, Congress and the president's brother Gov. Jeb Bush to intervene to have the tube reinserted, and a small group of supporters protested outside the White House gates.
Schindler said he recognized that his daughter was dying but insisted that it was not too late to keep her alive, and that she was "fighting like hell to live and she's begging for help."
Terri Schiavo had an ''extraordinary'' reaction to a friend's Sunday night visit, her parents' spokesman reported Monday morning.
When the friend, identified as Sherry, recalled their days dancing and partying together, Schiavo ''raised her hands up and was moving and started making guttural sounds like she does when she talks to her mother,'' the spokesman said.
Felos also said that the chief medical examiner for Pinellas County, Dr. John Thogmartin, had agreed to perform an autopsy on Schiavo. He said that her husband wants proof of the extent of her brain damage.
As Schiavo drew closer to death, extra police officers blocked the road in front of the hospice, and an elementary school next door was closed so students could avoid the crowd.
After overnight wind and rain thinned their ranks, about 100 protesters returned Monday with signs and renewed prayers. The day also saw some of the harshest rhetoric, with some in the crowd mocking the police by goose-stepping like Nazis.
Schindler said he feared the consequences of morphine that has been used to relieve his daughter's pain.
"I have a great concern that they will expedite the process to kill her with an overdose of morphine because that's the procedure that happens," he said.
Felos disputed that, saying that hospice records show Schiavo was given two low doses of morphine — one on March 19 and another on March 26 — and that she was not on a morphine drip.
Hospice spokesman Mike Bell said federal rules kept him from discussing Schiavo specifically, but said "a fundamental part of hospice is that we would do nothing to either hasten or postpone natural death."
Comfort measures, including morphine drips, are used in consultation with a patient's guardian, physician and hospice care team, Bell said.
Supporters of prolonging the severely brain-damaged woman's life carried their protests to the White House and Congress, while her father repeated his plea that she be kept alive.
"She's still communicating, she's still responding. She's emaciated, but she's responsive," Bob Schindler told reporters after a morning visit with his daughter, saying that she showed facial expressions when he hugged and kissed her. "Don't give up on her. We haven't given up on her, and she hasn't given up on us."
"She is still showing facial expressions," Mr. Schindler told reporters. "I hug her and I kiss her, and she is reacting to that and she is trying to talk. But she is very, very subdued. She's failing but she is still with us, and she is showing a determination to live that is incredible," he said, speaking outside the hospice.
Schiavo, 41, was in her 11th day without the feeding tube that sustained her for 15 years. Her parents pressed again for President Bush, Congress and the president's brother Gov. Jeb Bush to intervene to have the tube reinserted, and a small group of supporters protested outside the White House gates.
Schindler said he recognized that his daughter was dying but insisted that it was not too late to keep her alive, and that she was "fighting like hell to live and she's begging for help."
Terri Schiavo had an ''extraordinary'' reaction to a friend's Sunday night visit, her parents' spokesman reported Monday morning.
When the friend, identified as Sherry, recalled their days dancing and partying together, Schiavo ''raised her hands up and was moving and started making guttural sounds like she does when she talks to her mother,'' the spokesman said.
Felos also said that the chief medical examiner for Pinellas County, Dr. John Thogmartin, had agreed to perform an autopsy on Schiavo. He said that her husband wants proof of the extent of her brain damage.
As Schiavo drew closer to death, extra police officers blocked the road in front of the hospice, and an elementary school next door was closed so students could avoid the crowd.
After overnight wind and rain thinned their ranks, about 100 protesters returned Monday with signs and renewed prayers. The day also saw some of the harshest rhetoric, with some in the crowd mocking the police by goose-stepping like Nazis.
Schindler said he feared the consequences of morphine that has been used to relieve his daughter's pain.
"I have a great concern that they will expedite the process to kill her with an overdose of morphine because that's the procedure that happens," he said.
Felos disputed that, saying that hospice records show Schiavo was given two low doses of morphine — one on March 19 and another on March 26 — and that she was not on a morphine drip.
Hospice spokesman Mike Bell said federal rules kept him from discussing Schiavo specifically, but said "a fundamental part of hospice is that we would do nothing to either hasten or postpone natural death."
Comfort measures, including morphine drips, are used in consultation with a patient's guardian, physician and hospice care team, Bell said.
Terri is still fighting!
Brother Paul O'Donnell, a spiritual advisor to Terri's parents, reports that Terri is doing "remarkable": still alert, responsive and fighting after ten days with her only nourishment a drop of the Precious Blood.
However, this was not a gesture of kindness on Michael Schiavo's part, to allow Terri to receive the Blessed Sacrament. "We're just grateful that it was done," the spiritual advisor states.
Judging by this interview, it is obvious that the MSM is focusing on Terri's death, not the fight that is left in her.
"Everyone is willing to write this woman's obituary except one person and that's Terri Schiavo." reports Brother O'Donnell. "She's hanging in there."
Isn't this enough of an indication of Terri's wishes?
However, this was not a gesture of kindness on Michael Schiavo's part, to allow Terri to receive the Blessed Sacrament. "We're just grateful that it was done," the spiritual advisor states.
Judging by this interview, it is obvious that the MSM is focusing on Terri's death, not the fight that is left in her.
"Everyone is willing to write this woman's obituary except one person and that's Terri Schiavo." reports Brother O'Donnell. "She's hanging in there."
Isn't this enough of an indication of Terri's wishes?
Joe Lieberman would give Terri life
It has been said that we should be thankful that our Rebuplican-led nation has intervened on behalf of Terri. But Jeb Bush says he's done all that he Constitutionally can do. Is that a Constitutional interpretation, or reality?
Joseph Lieberman, our Connecticut Senator, would err on the side of life for Terri. What a refreshing view to hear; end-of-life issues seem more clear cut to the senator (and less threatening to his party affiliation?) than those at the beginning.
Perhaps he can begin to stand firm on both ends of the spectrum.
Joseph Lieberman, our Connecticut Senator, would err on the side of life for Terri. What a refreshing view to hear; end-of-life issues seem more clear cut to the senator (and less threatening to his party affiliation?) than those at the beginning.
Perhaps he can begin to stand firm on both ends of the spectrum.
Easter Homily Cites Terri Schiavo-did your Pastor preach on Terri this Holy Week?
By now, we all know what St. Petersburg Bishop said in his carefully worded statement on the the Schindler-Schiavo feud and Terri's life, juxtaposed to the strong stand of Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada.
Overseas, Zenit reports Easter homilies across Europe preaching on the danger of viewing life as expendable.
On our homefront, Father Frank Pavone sent out an 11th hour fax with homily notes for a Good Friday homily for Terri. Seeing the fax in our church office, I knew Father Larry wouldn't be checking the fax machine on these busy Holy Week days. I took the fax and wedged it between his locked office door.
At home, our 10-year-old son Tommy told us,"I want Father Larry to talk about Terri in church."
"Why don't you ask him?" we encouraged. (We're happily training an orthodox Catholic "mole".)
"I'm going to tell him I want him to talk about Terri."
"OK Tommy, you approach him the way you'd like." We wouldn't want to put words in his mouth, would we?
When I asked Tommy how Father Larry responed to his request, he reported: "He said he'd try to work it in."
OK...
That night at our Good Friday service, Father Larry preached: we've all seen the Passion of the Christ, and find our Savior's cruel torture and death abhorrent. But we still live in a cruel society, where people are mistreated, cast aside, even murdered needlessly. Father Larry spoke of a little known saint, a nun, who, at the end of her life was confined to bed, suffering, being able to do God's work only from her confinement. She was visited by a great Cardinal who asked her, what is it you do? She replied, I do just as you do, your Eminence. Taken aback, the Cardinal asked how she could do great works as he. (not the brightest bulb in the box...) The saint responded, we do great works when we follow the Divine Will for us.
We know of saints around the world who suffered in their confinement; eyes fixed on God.
Terri will be the next.
Overseas, Zenit reports Easter homilies across Europe preaching on the danger of viewing life as expendable.
On our homefront, Father Frank Pavone sent out an 11th hour fax with homily notes for a Good Friday homily for Terri. Seeing the fax in our church office, I knew Father Larry wouldn't be checking the fax machine on these busy Holy Week days. I took the fax and wedged it between his locked office door.
At home, our 10-year-old son Tommy told us,"I want Father Larry to talk about Terri in church."
"Why don't you ask him?" we encouraged. (We're happily training an orthodox Catholic "mole".)
"I'm going to tell him I want him to talk about Terri."
"OK Tommy, you approach him the way you'd like." We wouldn't want to put words in his mouth, would we?
When I asked Tommy how Father Larry responed to his request, he reported: "He said he'd try to work it in."
OK...
That night at our Good Friday service, Father Larry preached: we've all seen the Passion of the Christ, and find our Savior's cruel torture and death abhorrent. But we still live in a cruel society, where people are mistreated, cast aside, even murdered needlessly. Father Larry spoke of a little known saint, a nun, who, at the end of her life was confined to bed, suffering, being able to do God's work only from her confinement. She was visited by a great Cardinal who asked her, what is it you do? She replied, I do just as you do, your Eminence. Taken aback, the Cardinal asked how she could do great works as he. (not the brightest bulb in the box...) The saint responded, we do great works when we follow the Divine Will for us.
We know of saints around the world who suffered in their confinement; eyes fixed on God.
Terri will be the next.
3.27.2005
Terri Schiavo's Family Resigned She Will Die, Condition Disputed
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 27, 2005
Pinellas Park, FL (LifeNews.com) -- Out of legal options to stop Terri Schiavo's painful starvation death, Bob and Mary Schindler and the rest of Terri's family are resigned that the disabled daughter they have fought so hard to save will likely die.
Bob Schindler continued the family's plea for any help to spare Terri.
"She doesn't want to die, and she's showing signs of over a week now of starvation and lack of hydration. Anyone that has the authority to come in and to save Terri, they can do it. It is not too late," he said.
On Sunday, Terri went a ninth day without food and water -- an amount of time that is causing a slow and painful death. Although her condition remained in dispute, it's likely that major bodily organs, such as her liver, are beginning the process of shutting down. At that point there is little or no chance of recovery.
David Gibbs, the lead attorney for the Schindlers, told the media that Terri had "passed where physically she would be able to recover." He added that she was "declining rapidly."
However, a representative of the Schindlers said they didn't think that was the case yet.
Outside of Terri's hospice on Sunday, Terri's family hoped supporters and protesters on her behalf would spend the day with family members celebrating Easter. Instead, a small group of disability rights advocates showed up.
The threw themselves out of their wheelchairs and into the road, shouting "We're not dead yet" in solidarity with Terri.
About 100 other pro-life advocates came to Woodside Hospice on Sunday to support Terri.
Meanwhile, Monsignor Thaddeus Malanowski had been prohibited by Terri's estranged husband Michael from administering communion, but he said Sunday that he was able to place a drop of win on Terri's tongue.
However, her mouth was so parched and dry from the dehydration that he was unable to place a small morsel of bread in her mouth.
The announcement that Terri was able to receive communion drew cheers form the crowd.
Still, Terri's family was upset that Michael didn't readily agree to the communion request.
"I think a lot of the reason Michael is doing this is because of vindictiveness and maybe anger toward my family for whatever reason," said Terri Schiavo's brother, Bobby Schindler. "It doesn't make any sense to me why he's doing this."
LifeNews.com Editor
March 27, 2005
Pinellas Park, FL (LifeNews.com) -- Out of legal options to stop Terri Schiavo's painful starvation death, Bob and Mary Schindler and the rest of Terri's family are resigned that the disabled daughter they have fought so hard to save will likely die.
Bob Schindler continued the family's plea for any help to spare Terri.
"She doesn't want to die, and she's showing signs of over a week now of starvation and lack of hydration. Anyone that has the authority to come in and to save Terri, they can do it. It is not too late," he said.
On Sunday, Terri went a ninth day without food and water -- an amount of time that is causing a slow and painful death. Although her condition remained in dispute, it's likely that major bodily organs, such as her liver, are beginning the process of shutting down. At that point there is little or no chance of recovery.
David Gibbs, the lead attorney for the Schindlers, told the media that Terri had "passed where physically she would be able to recover." He added that she was "declining rapidly."
However, a representative of the Schindlers said they didn't think that was the case yet.
Outside of Terri's hospice on Sunday, Terri's family hoped supporters and protesters on her behalf would spend the day with family members celebrating Easter. Instead, a small group of disability rights advocates showed up.
The threw themselves out of their wheelchairs and into the road, shouting "We're not dead yet" in solidarity with Terri.
About 100 other pro-life advocates came to Woodside Hospice on Sunday to support Terri.
Meanwhile, Monsignor Thaddeus Malanowski had been prohibited by Terri's estranged husband Michael from administering communion, but he said Sunday that he was able to place a drop of win on Terri's tongue.
However, her mouth was so parched and dry from the dehydration that he was unable to place a small morsel of bread in her mouth.
The announcement that Terri was able to receive communion drew cheers form the crowd.
Still, Terri's family was upset that Michael didn't readily agree to the communion request.
"I think a lot of the reason Michael is doing this is because of vindictiveness and maybe anger toward my family for whatever reason," said Terri Schiavo's brother, Bobby Schindler. "It doesn't make any sense to me why he's doing this."
Terri supporters to leave roses at Michael Schiavo's home
Pinellas Park, FL, Mar. 26, 2005 (CNA) - Rev. Patrick Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition and Brandi Swindell, National Director of Generation Life announced that starting at 3 PM (EST), individuals will each leave a rose in honor of Terri.
"We are leaving these roses for Michael Schiavo to tell him that Terri life has dignity and worth. Even though Michael has said publicly that she died 15 years ago, on this Easter Sunday we celebrate that Terri is very much alive,” said Rev. Mahoney.
"As a woman, it is troubling for me to see Michael Schiavo continue to treat Terri as if she were his personal property. This Easter we are praying that Michael will be touched by God's love and healing power," said Swindell.
"We are leaving these roses for Michael Schiavo to tell him that Terri life has dignity and worth. Even though Michael has said publicly that she died 15 years ago, on this Easter Sunday we celebrate that Terri is very much alive,” said Rev. Mahoney.
"As a woman, it is troubling for me to see Michael Schiavo continue to treat Terri as if she were his personal property. This Easter we are praying that Michael will be touched by God's love and healing power," said Swindell.
Schiavo Nearing Death in Florida
By Jane Sutton
PINELLAS PARK, Fla. (Reuters) - A bitter family fight over the fate of Terri Schiavo neared its end on Sunday as the brain-damaged Florida woman edged closer to death, and her parents gave up their seven-year legal battle to keep her alive.
Protesters knelt for Easter mass services on the lawn of the hospice where Schiavo is being cared for after lawyers for Bob and Mary Schindler ended the legal fight that made the case a cause for Christian conservatives and drew in the U.S. Congress, President Bush and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
"I'm not saying we wouldn't be open to any idea that comes up. But at this point, it appears that time has finally run out," said David Gibbs, an attorney for the Schindlers, the St. Petersburg Times reported.
Schiavo, 41, passed her ninth day without nourishment and Gibbs said she was declining rapidly. "They've begun to give her morphine drip for the pain. And at this point, we would say Terri has passed the point of no return," he told CBS' "Face the Nation."
Randall Terry, a spokesman for the Schindlers, disputed Gibbs' description of Terri Schiavo's condition and said Florida Gov. Jeb Bush still had time to intervene.
"Terri is not at death's door and she is not past the point of no return medically," Terry said.
The Schindlers, who are practicing Roman Catholics, have attracted passionate support from an array of conservative Christians, right-to-life and anti-abortion activists.
Passions boiled over among the crowd of protesters holding vigil in front of the hospice in Pinellas Park, with the first two violent arrests.
One of those was Don McBurney, a member of the Denver Bible Church, who grabbed a paper cup of water and rushed the police lines standing guard in the driveway. Three policemen wrestled him to the ground. He struggled, screaming, "Bring her water."
There have been 38 arrests, mostly peaceful, in the past 10 days.
The crowd swelled to several hundred people at one point. Some suggested militias should form to storm the building. Others prayed quietly and sang hymns.
EASTER SYMBOLISM
Ardith Cooper of Morris, Illinois, sketched a chalk drawing of Terri Schiavo nailed to a crucifix. Christians mark Easter Sunday as the day they believe Jesus Christ was resurrected after being crucified.
Seven people in wheelchairs rolled to the driveway, hoisted themselves out their chairs and sat on the ground, screaming "We're not dead yet. Let Terri live."
A small group of protesters went to Michael Schiavo's home to lay symbolic dying roses on his lawn. Someone inside turned on the lawn sprinklers, drenching the demonstrators.
Michael Schiavo and the parents were alternating time at Schiavo's bedside -- having long ago stopped speaking to each other in a family feud that escalated into a highly politicized dispute.
Lobbied by evangelical Christians, the Congress raced through a law to push the case into federal courts. But federal courts turned down the Schindlers' request for an order to resume feeding.
Jeb Bush, the president's younger brother, told CNN on Sunday he had done everything within his power and could not violate a court order.
Congress' effort was assailed by critics as meddling in a family affair already decided by state courts. Opinion polls showed most Americans disapproved of the congressional move.
PINELLAS PARK, Fla. (Reuters) - A bitter family fight over the fate of Terri Schiavo neared its end on Sunday as the brain-damaged Florida woman edged closer to death, and her parents gave up their seven-year legal battle to keep her alive.
Protesters knelt for Easter mass services on the lawn of the hospice where Schiavo is being cared for after lawyers for Bob and Mary Schindler ended the legal fight that made the case a cause for Christian conservatives and drew in the U.S. Congress, President Bush and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
"I'm not saying we wouldn't be open to any idea that comes up. But at this point, it appears that time has finally run out," said David Gibbs, an attorney for the Schindlers, the St. Petersburg Times reported.
Schiavo, 41, passed her ninth day without nourishment and Gibbs said she was declining rapidly. "They've begun to give her morphine drip for the pain. And at this point, we would say Terri has passed the point of no return," he told CBS' "Face the Nation."
Randall Terry, a spokesman for the Schindlers, disputed Gibbs' description of Terri Schiavo's condition and said Florida Gov. Jeb Bush still had time to intervene.
"Terri is not at death's door and she is not past the point of no return medically," Terry said.
The Schindlers, who are practicing Roman Catholics, have attracted passionate support from an array of conservative Christians, right-to-life and anti-abortion activists.
Passions boiled over among the crowd of protesters holding vigil in front of the hospice in Pinellas Park, with the first two violent arrests.
One of those was Don McBurney, a member of the Denver Bible Church, who grabbed a paper cup of water and rushed the police lines standing guard in the driveway. Three policemen wrestled him to the ground. He struggled, screaming, "Bring her water."
There have been 38 arrests, mostly peaceful, in the past 10 days.
The crowd swelled to several hundred people at one point. Some suggested militias should form to storm the building. Others prayed quietly and sang hymns.
EASTER SYMBOLISM
Ardith Cooper of Morris, Illinois, sketched a chalk drawing of Terri Schiavo nailed to a crucifix. Christians mark Easter Sunday as the day they believe Jesus Christ was resurrected after being crucified.
Seven people in wheelchairs rolled to the driveway, hoisted themselves out their chairs and sat on the ground, screaming "We're not dead yet. Let Terri live."
A small group of protesters went to Michael Schiavo's home to lay symbolic dying roses on his lawn. Someone inside turned on the lawn sprinklers, drenching the demonstrators.
Michael Schiavo and the parents were alternating time at Schiavo's bedside -- having long ago stopped speaking to each other in a family feud that escalated into a highly politicized dispute.
Lobbied by evangelical Christians, the Congress raced through a law to push the case into federal courts. But federal courts turned down the Schindlers' request for an order to resume feeding.
Jeb Bush, the president's younger brother, told CNN on Sunday he had done everything within his power and could not violate a court order.
Congress' effort was assailed by critics as meddling in a family affair already decided by state courts. Opinion polls showed most Americans disapproved of the congressional move.
3.25.2005
Interview with Terri's nurse, Carla Sauer Iyer
Video of Carla Sauer Iyer on Michael Schiavo: "I want the public to know the truth"
This video was submitted by one Jackson's Junction's readers with the headline "Amazing Video - Schiavo Case". When you've finished watching it, we think you will agree.
Carla Sauer Iyer worked as a caregiver for Terri Schiavo and the story she tells is incredible. She claims that she reported Michael Schiavo to her supervisors and police for injecting Terri with
Insulin in an effort to deepen her comma or bring death to her quicker. She states she was fired from her job when she reported these and other allegations to proper authorities. And viewers,
according to Carla, a police report was filed.
This video was submitted by one Jackson's Junction's readers with the headline "Amazing Video - Schiavo Case". When you've finished watching it, we think you will agree.
Carla Sauer Iyer worked as a caregiver for Terri Schiavo and the story she tells is incredible. She claims that she reported Michael Schiavo to her supervisors and police for injecting Terri with
Insulin in an effort to deepen her comma or bring death to her quicker. She states she was fired from her job when she reported these and other allegations to proper authorities. And viewers,
according to Carla, a police report was filed.
Pope's suffering teaches 'message of the cross,' says papal biographer
Washington DC, Mar. 25, 2005 (CNA) - In the twilight of his pontificate, marked by suffering and physical weakness, Pope John Paul II is challenging the world with the message of the cross, said papal biographer George Weigel in a comment published Tuesday in the Washington Post.
Since the Pope's health took a sharp turn for the worse last month, a flurry of questions have been raised in the press and elsewhere about the future of the papacy and the possibility of the Pope resigning.
But these questions, though interesting, "miss the more compelling point," Weigel wrote.
While "the world tries to understand [the Pope] in political terms, as another power player on the global stage. … that is not who he is, or what he's about, at his deepest level," he wrote.
The Pope is "first and foremost, a Christian pastor who is going to challenge us with the message of the cross - the message of Good Friday and Easter - until the end."
The senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington commented on how contemporary Western society seeks to avoid suffering at all costs.
"Embracing suffering is a concept alien to us," he observed. "And yet suffering embraced in obedience to God's will is at the center of Christianity."
He compared the way the Pope is living his suffering with the way Jesus accepted and lived his Passion. "The Christ of the Gospels reaches out and embraces suffering as his destiny, his vocation - and is vindicated in that self-sacrifice on Easter.
"That is what John Paul II, not a stubborn old man but a thoroughly committed Christian disciple, has been doing this past month: bearing witness to the truth that suffering embraced in obedience and love can be redemptive," he wrote.
In his comment, the author of "Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II" shared parts of a recent conversation he had with Francis Cardinal Arinze in Rome.
According to Weigel, the Nigerian cardinal suggested that the Pope's example demonstrates that suffering can have meaning; it can teach and remind us that "we cannot control our lives, and it elicits a compassion that ennobles us."
The cardinal also suggested that the ailing pontiff is "a tremendous encouragement to the elderly, the sick, the disabled and the dying, who find strength and hope in his example," reported Weigel.
Weigel concluded by citing former Polish prime minister Hanna Suchocka, who described the 84-year-old Christian leader as someone living his way of the cross.
"It's not something the world has watched a Pope do for a very long time," Weigel wrote. "We should recognize it for what it is, and be grateful for the example."
Since the Pope's health took a sharp turn for the worse last month, a flurry of questions have been raised in the press and elsewhere about the future of the papacy and the possibility of the Pope resigning.
But these questions, though interesting, "miss the more compelling point," Weigel wrote.
While "the world tries to understand [the Pope] in political terms, as another power player on the global stage. … that is not who he is, or what he's about, at his deepest level," he wrote.
The Pope is "first and foremost, a Christian pastor who is going to challenge us with the message of the cross - the message of Good Friday and Easter - until the end."
The senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington commented on how contemporary Western society seeks to avoid suffering at all costs.
"Embracing suffering is a concept alien to us," he observed. "And yet suffering embraced in obedience to God's will is at the center of Christianity."
He compared the way the Pope is living his suffering with the way Jesus accepted and lived his Passion. "The Christ of the Gospels reaches out and embraces suffering as his destiny, his vocation - and is vindicated in that self-sacrifice on Easter.
"That is what John Paul II, not a stubborn old man but a thoroughly committed Christian disciple, has been doing this past month: bearing witness to the truth that suffering embraced in obedience and love can be redemptive," he wrote.
In his comment, the author of "Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II" shared parts of a recent conversation he had with Francis Cardinal Arinze in Rome.
According to Weigel, the Nigerian cardinal suggested that the Pope's example demonstrates that suffering can have meaning; it can teach and remind us that "we cannot control our lives, and it elicits a compassion that ennobles us."
The cardinal also suggested that the ailing pontiff is "a tremendous encouragement to the elderly, the sick, the disabled and the dying, who find strength and hope in his example," reported Weigel.
Weigel concluded by citing former Polish prime minister Hanna Suchocka, who described the 84-year-old Christian leader as someone living his way of the cross.
"It's not something the world has watched a Pope do for a very long time," Weigel wrote. "We should recognize it for what it is, and be grateful for the example."
Schiavo Case Getting Notice on Good Friday
By RICHARD N. OSTLING, AP Religion Writer
As Christians reflect on Jesus' death this solemn Good Friday, some also are giving special attention to Terri Schiavo — particularly Roman Catholics who count Schiavo as one of their own, and whose church has been increasingly vocal this week in calling for the reinsertion of a feeding tube into the brain-damaged Florida woman.
Eternal Word Television Network, an Alabama-based Catholic cable service that reaches more than 100 million homes worldwide, is interrupting previously scheduled sacred programs for a Friday evening broadcast that expects to treat the Schiavo case through interviews with a family member and a neurologist.
News Director Raymond Arroyo said the network's "extraordinary" programming switch was driven by the public outpouring of concern over both Schiavo's plight and the frail health of Pope John Paul (news - web sites) II.
"You have a collusion of events that I think only the spiritually blind would ignore," Arroyo said. "It's not hard to see the similarities between the pope and what Terri Schiavo is going through, to some extent, and the sufferings of Christ that we commemorate Good Friday."
The Rev. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, visited Schiavo last month. He said many of the hundreds of clergy affiliated with his group planned to preach about Schiavo on Good Friday.
Pavone's own sermon will "speak about her suffering and what is happening to her under the law, and to compare that to what happened to Jesus under the law on Good Friday."
A Catholic who attended a parochial high school, Schiavo has gone about a week without hydration or nutrition, in accordance with what her husband says would be her wishes. Schiavo's parents dispute that and have been fighting desperately to have the tube reinserted.
Earlier this week, the Vatican (news - web sites) newspaper said Schiavo was an innocent person condemned to an "atrocious death: death from hunger and thirst," and many Catholic clerics in America have raised their voices in agreement.
The Rev. George Rutler, who leads a parish in New York City, was among those planning to mention Schiavo during the traditional three-hour service that recalls Jesus' torture and execution.
It's "particularly poignant," he noted, that she is dying of dehydration on the day when Christians meditate upon Jesus' statement "I thirst," one of his seven last words from the cross.
Rutler also draws the parallel between Schiavo and John Paul.
"The pope is now dying and he is dying the way God wants," Rutler said. "He has shown the world how to live, and now he's showing us how he dies and that may be one of his most important sermons."
On Palm Sunday, too, some clergy cited the Schiavo case, among them Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony who said at Masses that she should be provided with nutrition. The following day the U.S. Catholic hierarchy addressed another public issue, announcing a new campaign against the death penalty.
Mahony's spokesman, Tod Tamberg, said it's fitting to raise such matters during Holy Week: "There are examples of the Christ in need, the suffering Christ all around us. Certainly Terri Schiavo would fit into that category of someone in desperate need of help. Reminding people of that on a holy day is certainly appropriate."
By coincidence, this Good Friday is the 10th anniversary date of John Paul's 1995 encyclical "Evangelium Vitae" ("The Gospel of Life"), which called euthanasia "a grave violation of the law of God" and also decried abortion and most applications of the death penalty.
The pope distinguished between directly intended mercy killing and the morally allowable halting of "aggressive medical treatment" that is "disproportionate to any expected results" and prolongs life "when death is clearly imminent and inevitable."
On Thursday, Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore, chairman of the U.S. bishops' pro-life committee, said Schiavo is suffering death by starvation when "she needs only basic care and assistance in obtaining food and water."
Also Thursday, Chicago's Cardinal George said Schiavo's case doesn't involve "letting a terminally ill woman die a natural death" but "ending the life of a person with a significant disability prematurely."
The Rev. D. James Kennedy, of the 10,000-member Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., planned to address peoples' grief over Schiavo's suffering at midday Good Friday services, though in an announcement period rather than a sermon.
"The death of Christ is more important than any human being, as tragic as this is," Kennedy said.
Just before a Maundy Thursday communion service, Kennedy issued a statement calling on Gov. Jeb Bush to overrule courts and direct that Schiavo receive nourishment on grounds that the right to life and protection for the disabled are absolutes under the Florida constitution.
In a different sort of Good Friday event, the Interfaith Allliance planned an afternoon news conference for Baptist, United Church of Christ, Unitarian and Reform Jewish clergy to critique "the political manipulation of religion" in the Schiavo case.
As Christians reflect on Jesus' death this solemn Good Friday, some also are giving special attention to Terri Schiavo — particularly Roman Catholics who count Schiavo as one of their own, and whose church has been increasingly vocal this week in calling for the reinsertion of a feeding tube into the brain-damaged Florida woman.
Eternal Word Television Network, an Alabama-based Catholic cable service that reaches more than 100 million homes worldwide, is interrupting previously scheduled sacred programs for a Friday evening broadcast that expects to treat the Schiavo case through interviews with a family member and a neurologist.
News Director Raymond Arroyo said the network's "extraordinary" programming switch was driven by the public outpouring of concern over both Schiavo's plight and the frail health of Pope John Paul (news - web sites) II.
"You have a collusion of events that I think only the spiritually blind would ignore," Arroyo said. "It's not hard to see the similarities between the pope and what Terri Schiavo is going through, to some extent, and the sufferings of Christ that we commemorate Good Friday."
The Rev. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, visited Schiavo last month. He said many of the hundreds of clergy affiliated with his group planned to preach about Schiavo on Good Friday.
Pavone's own sermon will "speak about her suffering and what is happening to her under the law, and to compare that to what happened to Jesus under the law on Good Friday."
A Catholic who attended a parochial high school, Schiavo has gone about a week without hydration or nutrition, in accordance with what her husband says would be her wishes. Schiavo's parents dispute that and have been fighting desperately to have the tube reinserted.
Earlier this week, the Vatican (news - web sites) newspaper said Schiavo was an innocent person condemned to an "atrocious death: death from hunger and thirst," and many Catholic clerics in America have raised their voices in agreement.
The Rev. George Rutler, who leads a parish in New York City, was among those planning to mention Schiavo during the traditional three-hour service that recalls Jesus' torture and execution.
It's "particularly poignant," he noted, that she is dying of dehydration on the day when Christians meditate upon Jesus' statement "I thirst," one of his seven last words from the cross.
Rutler also draws the parallel between Schiavo and John Paul.
"The pope is now dying and he is dying the way God wants," Rutler said. "He has shown the world how to live, and now he's showing us how he dies and that may be one of his most important sermons."
On Palm Sunday, too, some clergy cited the Schiavo case, among them Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony who said at Masses that she should be provided with nutrition. The following day the U.S. Catholic hierarchy addressed another public issue, announcing a new campaign against the death penalty.
Mahony's spokesman, Tod Tamberg, said it's fitting to raise such matters during Holy Week: "There are examples of the Christ in need, the suffering Christ all around us. Certainly Terri Schiavo would fit into that category of someone in desperate need of help. Reminding people of that on a holy day is certainly appropriate."
By coincidence, this Good Friday is the 10th anniversary date of John Paul's 1995 encyclical "Evangelium Vitae" ("The Gospel of Life"), which called euthanasia "a grave violation of the law of God" and also decried abortion and most applications of the death penalty.
The pope distinguished between directly intended mercy killing and the morally allowable halting of "aggressive medical treatment" that is "disproportionate to any expected results" and prolongs life "when death is clearly imminent and inevitable."
On Thursday, Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore, chairman of the U.S. bishops' pro-life committee, said Schiavo is suffering death by starvation when "she needs only basic care and assistance in obtaining food and water."
Also Thursday, Chicago's Cardinal George said Schiavo's case doesn't involve "letting a terminally ill woman die a natural death" but "ending the life of a person with a significant disability prematurely."
The Rev. D. James Kennedy, of the 10,000-member Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., planned to address peoples' grief over Schiavo's suffering at midday Good Friday services, though in an announcement period rather than a sermon.
"The death of Christ is more important than any human being, as tragic as this is," Kennedy said.
Just before a Maundy Thursday communion service, Kennedy issued a statement calling on Gov. Jeb Bush to overrule courts and direct that Schiavo receive nourishment on grounds that the right to life and protection for the disabled are absolutes under the Florida constitution.
In a different sort of Good Friday event, the Interfaith Allliance planned an afternoon news conference for Baptist, United Church of Christ, Unitarian and Reform Jewish clergy to critique "the political manipulation of religion" in the Schiavo case.
Schiavo's Health Wanes
PINELLAS PARK, Fla. - As Terri Schiavo's health waned, a federal judge refused Friday to order the reinsertion of her feeding tube, thwarting another legal move from the brain-damaged woman's parents. They quickly appealed the ruling and said "something has to be done quick."
For a second time, U.S. District Judge James Whittemore ruled against the parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, who had asked him to grant their emergency request to resume their daughter's nourishment while he considers a lawsuit they filed.
The Schindlers appealed again to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (news - web sites) in Atlanta to review Whittemore's ruling. The Atlanta court refused earlier this week to overturn a previous Whittemore ruling.
Bob Schindler visited his daughter for about 15 minutes Friday morning. "Terri is weakening; she's down to her last hours," he said. "So something has to be done, and it has to be done quick."
He said the appeal to the Atlanta court is "very very viable and we're encourage the appellate court to take a hard look at this thing and do the right thing."
As of Friday morning, Terri Schiavo, 41, had been without food or water for almost seven days and was showing signs of dehydration — flaky skin, dry tongue and lips, and sunken eyes, according to attorneys and friends of the Schindlers. Doctors have said she would probably die within a week or two of the tube being pulled.
She has now been off the tube longer than she was in 2003, when the tube was removed for six days and five hours. It was reinserted when the Legislature passed a law later thrown out by the courts.
The governor's request to let the state take Terri Schiavo into protective custody was denied by a Pinellas Circuit judge on Thursday.
On Thursday, Bush said his powers "are not as expansive as people would want them to be. ... I cannot go beyond what my powers are and I'm not going to do it."
But Paul O'Donnell, a supporter of the parents, contended the governor still has the power to take her into protective custody.
"Bob and Mary are begging Governor Bush to save their daughter on this Good Friday day," O'Donnell, a Franciscan monk, said after Friday's ruling. "Now is the day. Now is the time for the governor to have courage. The governor needs to take action and take action soon. She's dying."
A spokeswoman for the governor, Alia Faraj, said Friday he was "saddened by the decision. ... Judge Whittemore's willingness to take a look at Terri's case gave us a ray of hope."
Thursday, Felos said he hoped the woman's parents and the governor would finally give up their fight.
"Jeb Bush does not own the state of Florida and just cannot impose his will on Terri Schiavo," he told CBS' "The Early Show" on Friday.
The Schindlers' emergency request to have the feeding tube reattached included claims that Schiavo's religious and due-process rights were violated.
"It's very frustrating. Every minute that goes by is a minute that Terri is being starved and dehydrated to death," said her brother, Bobby Schindler, who said seeing her was like looking at "pictures of prisoners in concentration camps."
For a second time, U.S. District Judge James Whittemore ruled against the parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, who had asked him to grant their emergency request to resume their daughter's nourishment while he considers a lawsuit they filed.
The Schindlers appealed again to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (news - web sites) in Atlanta to review Whittemore's ruling. The Atlanta court refused earlier this week to overturn a previous Whittemore ruling.
Bob Schindler visited his daughter for about 15 minutes Friday morning. "Terri is weakening; she's down to her last hours," he said. "So something has to be done, and it has to be done quick."
He said the appeal to the Atlanta court is "very very viable and we're encourage the appellate court to take a hard look at this thing and do the right thing."
As of Friday morning, Terri Schiavo, 41, had been without food or water for almost seven days and was showing signs of dehydration — flaky skin, dry tongue and lips, and sunken eyes, according to attorneys and friends of the Schindlers. Doctors have said she would probably die within a week or two of the tube being pulled.
She has now been off the tube longer than she was in 2003, when the tube was removed for six days and five hours. It was reinserted when the Legislature passed a law later thrown out by the courts.
The governor's request to let the state take Terri Schiavo into protective custody was denied by a Pinellas Circuit judge on Thursday.
On Thursday, Bush said his powers "are not as expansive as people would want them to be. ... I cannot go beyond what my powers are and I'm not going to do it."
But Paul O'Donnell, a supporter of the parents, contended the governor still has the power to take her into protective custody.
"Bob and Mary are begging Governor Bush to save their daughter on this Good Friday day," O'Donnell, a Franciscan monk, said after Friday's ruling. "Now is the day. Now is the time for the governor to have courage. The governor needs to take action and take action soon. She's dying."
A spokeswoman for the governor, Alia Faraj, said Friday he was "saddened by the decision. ... Judge Whittemore's willingness to take a look at Terri's case gave us a ray of hope."
Thursday, Felos said he hoped the woman's parents and the governor would finally give up their fight.
"Jeb Bush does not own the state of Florida and just cannot impose his will on Terri Schiavo," he told CBS' "The Early Show" on Friday.
The Schindlers' emergency request to have the feeding tube reattached included claims that Schiavo's religious and due-process rights were violated.
"It's very frustrating. Every minute that goes by is a minute that Terri is being starved and dehydrated to death," said her brother, Bobby Schindler, who said seeing her was like looking at "pictures of prisoners in concentration camps."
Terri Schiavo Shows Signs of Dehydration
By MARK LONG
PINELLAS PARK, Fla. (AP) - As Terri Schiavo's health waned, her parents pushed on to restore the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube after the nation's highest court and judges in Florida defeated their latest legal appeals.
Bob and Mary Schindler held onto the slim hope that Gov. Jeb Bush would somehow find a way to intervene or a federal judge who had turned them down before would see things their way. Bush warned, however, that he was running out of options.
"We're minute by minute right now. But it doesn't look like we have much left," Suzanne Vitadamo, Terri Schiavo's sister, told The Associated Press late Thursday.
As of early Friday, Terri Schiavo, 41, had been without food or water for almost seven days and was showing signs of dehydration - flaky skin, dry tongue and lips, and sunken eyes, according to attorneys and friends of the Schindlers. Doctors have said she would probably die within a week or two of the tube being pulled.
The Schindlers appeared before a federal judge in Tampa late Thursday to make another emergency request that the feeding tube be reattached while they pursue claims that Schiavo's religious and due-process rights were violated. U.S. District Judge James Whittemore previously rejected a similar request and said Thursday he would work through the night to issue his new ruling.
"It's very frustrating. Every minute that goes by is a minute that Terri is being starved and dehydrated to death," said her brother, Bobby Schindler, who said seeing her was like looking at "pictures of prisoners in concentration camps."
Michael Schiavo's brother, Brian Schiavo, strongly disagreed with that assessment, telling CNN that Terri Schiavo "does look a little withdrawn" but insisting she was not in pain. He added that starvation is simply "part of the death process."
A lawyer for Michael Schiavo said he hoped the woman's parents and the governor would finally give up their fight.
"We believe it's time for that to stop as we approach this Easter weekend and that Mrs. Schiavo be able to die in peace," attorney George Felos said.
In the federal court hearing, Schindler lawyer David Gibbs III argued that Terri Schiavo's rights to life and privacy were being violated. Whittemore interrupted as Gibbs attempted to liken Schiavo's death to a murder.
"That is the emotional rhetoric of this case. It does not influence this court, and cannot influence this court. I want you to know it and I want the public to know it," Whittemore said.
A perimeter around the federal courthouse was evacuated during the hearing after a suspicious backpack was found outside. The hearing was not interrupted, and the package was safely detonated using a remote device.
Thursday evening, a man was arrested after he went to a gun store in Seminole and threatened its owner with a box cutter while demanding a weapon to "rescue" Terri Schiavo, the Pinellas County sheriff's office said.
Terri Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly from a chemical imbalance believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder. She left no living will, but her husband argued that she told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially. Her parents dispute that, and contend she could get better.
The dispute has led to what may be the longest, most heavily litigated right-to-die case in U.S. history.
Earlier Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court, without explanation, refused to order the feeding tube reinserted. The case worked its way through the federal courts and reached the Supreme Court after Congress passed an extraordinary law over the weekend to let the Schindlers take their case to federal court.
Later Thursday, Pinellas County Circuit Judge George Greer declined to hear Bush's new allegations that Schiavo was neglected and abused and that her diagnosis as being in a persistent vegetative state may be wrong.
"The requested intervention...appears to be brought for the purpose of circumventing the courts' final judgment and order setting the removal date in violation of the separation of powers doctrine," Greer wrote.
Bush appealed that decision to the 2nd District Court of Appeal. The Florida Supreme Court later declined to take up a separate appeal on a Greer injunction that blocked the state's social services agency from taking temporary custody of Schiavo while challenges are argued. State law allows the Department of Children & Families to act in emergency situations of adult abuse.
The department also filed another petition before Greer seeking to provide emergency protective services for Schiavo. Greer had not scheduled a hearing, but he indicated one could occur Monday, according to Bush's office.
"For this lockdown to occur without having the ability to have an open mind, and say, 'Well, maybe there are new facts on the table, maybe there are new technologies, maybe, just maybe, we should be cautious about this' ... is very troubling," Bush said.
In his ruling, Greer said an affidavit from a neurologist who believes that Schiavo is "minimally conscious" was not enough to set aside his decision to allow the withdrawal of food and water.
"By clear and convincing evidence, it was determined she did not want to live under such burdensome conditions and that she would refuse such medical treatment-assistance," Greer wrote.
---
Associated Press writers Mitch Stacy in Clearwater, Vickie Chachere and Jill Barton in Tampa, and Jackie Hallifax and Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee contributed to this report.
PINELLAS PARK, Fla. (AP) - As Terri Schiavo's health waned, her parents pushed on to restore the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube after the nation's highest court and judges in Florida defeated their latest legal appeals.
Bob and Mary Schindler held onto the slim hope that Gov. Jeb Bush would somehow find a way to intervene or a federal judge who had turned them down before would see things their way. Bush warned, however, that he was running out of options.
"We're minute by minute right now. But it doesn't look like we have much left," Suzanne Vitadamo, Terri Schiavo's sister, told The Associated Press late Thursday.
As of early Friday, Terri Schiavo, 41, had been without food or water for almost seven days and was showing signs of dehydration - flaky skin, dry tongue and lips, and sunken eyes, according to attorneys and friends of the Schindlers. Doctors have said she would probably die within a week or two of the tube being pulled.
The Schindlers appeared before a federal judge in Tampa late Thursday to make another emergency request that the feeding tube be reattached while they pursue claims that Schiavo's religious and due-process rights were violated. U.S. District Judge James Whittemore previously rejected a similar request and said Thursday he would work through the night to issue his new ruling.
"It's very frustrating. Every minute that goes by is a minute that Terri is being starved and dehydrated to death," said her brother, Bobby Schindler, who said seeing her was like looking at "pictures of prisoners in concentration camps."
Michael Schiavo's brother, Brian Schiavo, strongly disagreed with that assessment, telling CNN that Terri Schiavo "does look a little withdrawn" but insisting she was not in pain. He added that starvation is simply "part of the death process."
A lawyer for Michael Schiavo said he hoped the woman's parents and the governor would finally give up their fight.
"We believe it's time for that to stop as we approach this Easter weekend and that Mrs. Schiavo be able to die in peace," attorney George Felos said.
In the federal court hearing, Schindler lawyer David Gibbs III argued that Terri Schiavo's rights to life and privacy were being violated. Whittemore interrupted as Gibbs attempted to liken Schiavo's death to a murder.
"That is the emotional rhetoric of this case. It does not influence this court, and cannot influence this court. I want you to know it and I want the public to know it," Whittemore said.
A perimeter around the federal courthouse was evacuated during the hearing after a suspicious backpack was found outside. The hearing was not interrupted, and the package was safely detonated using a remote device.
Thursday evening, a man was arrested after he went to a gun store in Seminole and threatened its owner with a box cutter while demanding a weapon to "rescue" Terri Schiavo, the Pinellas County sheriff's office said.
Terri Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly from a chemical imbalance believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder. She left no living will, but her husband argued that she told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially. Her parents dispute that, and contend she could get better.
The dispute has led to what may be the longest, most heavily litigated right-to-die case in U.S. history.
Earlier Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court, without explanation, refused to order the feeding tube reinserted. The case worked its way through the federal courts and reached the Supreme Court after Congress passed an extraordinary law over the weekend to let the Schindlers take their case to federal court.
Later Thursday, Pinellas County Circuit Judge George Greer declined to hear Bush's new allegations that Schiavo was neglected and abused and that her diagnosis as being in a persistent vegetative state may be wrong.
"The requested intervention...appears to be brought for the purpose of circumventing the courts' final judgment and order setting the removal date in violation of the separation of powers doctrine," Greer wrote.
Bush appealed that decision to the 2nd District Court of Appeal. The Florida Supreme Court later declined to take up a separate appeal on a Greer injunction that blocked the state's social services agency from taking temporary custody of Schiavo while challenges are argued. State law allows the Department of Children & Families to act in emergency situations of adult abuse.
The department also filed another petition before Greer seeking to provide emergency protective services for Schiavo. Greer had not scheduled a hearing, but he indicated one could occur Monday, according to Bush's office.
"For this lockdown to occur without having the ability to have an open mind, and say, 'Well, maybe there are new facts on the table, maybe there are new technologies, maybe, just maybe, we should be cautious about this' ... is very troubling," Bush said.
In his ruling, Greer said an affidavit from a neurologist who believes that Schiavo is "minimally conscious" was not enough to set aside his decision to allow the withdrawal of food and water.
"By clear and convincing evidence, it was determined she did not want to live under such burdensome conditions and that she would refuse such medical treatment-assistance," Greer wrote.
---
Associated Press writers Mitch Stacy in Clearwater, Vickie Chachere and Jill Barton in Tampa, and Jackie Hallifax and Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee contributed to this report.
3.19.2005
Oscars for the Culture of Death
A "Disability Vendetta" Surfaces in Hollywood
HOLLYWOOD, California, MARCH 19, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The recent Academy Awards saw the triumph of two films that promote a favorable view of euthanasia. "Million Dollar Baby," a story about a female boxer severely wounded in a bout, won four of the top Oscars, including that of best director for Clint Eastwood. Hilary Swank won for best actress for her portrayal of Maggie Fitzgerald, who ends up prostrated with a spinal injury. Her pleas to be helped in seeking release from suffering by death are fulfilled.
The Oscar for best foreign film went to "The Sea Inside," which depicts the real-life case of Spaniard Ramón Sampedro, who ended up a quadriplegic after a diving accident. His requests to put an end to his life met were turned down after legal battles, but he committed suicide by drinking a cyanide-laced mixture.
The awards won by the films have focused attention on the situation of severely injured or handicapped people, with many protesting that the cinematic versions so popular in Hollywood are both dangerous and demeaning.
The British Telegraph newspaper reported Jan. 23 that the National Spinal Cord Injury Association, one of America's most respected organizations for disabled people, accused Eastwood of a "disability vendetta." The association described the concluding scene of "Million Dollar Baby" as a "brilliantly executed attack on life after a spinal cord injury." Protesters in Chicago from the organization Not Dead Yet claimed that the film "promotes the killing of disabled people as the solution to the 'problem' of disability."
Matthew Eppinette, from the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity, pointed out in a commentary published by the organization Feb. 28 that the film portrays humans as if they were mere animals to be put out of their suffering.
On the contrary, he stated, "Euthanasia, suicide and assisted suicide are wrong because they deliberately end a human life -- a life that bears the image of God." Moreover, even being a quadriplegic does not prevent us from deepening our relationship with God.
People in this situation certainly suffer greatly, Eppinette pointed out. But, as the example of Christopher Reeve amply demonstrated, "even the most severely paralyzed can live a rich and vibrant life, given proper care and support."
Real-life testimonies
In fact, many people in this situation have published testimonies affirming their will to live. Daniel Timmons, writing in Canada's National Post last Oct. 8, described how he has lost much of the use of his hands and legs. He suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. "Every day is not only a difficult physical struggle, but also a torturous psychological one," he explained.
"From my own experience, it's a challenge to see the purpose of living when your body declines so rapidly and fear fills your mind," stated Timmons. Nevertheless, he opposes assisted suicide, noting that it would be more accurate to call it assisted killing.
Our dignity does not depend on existing without pain, he added. "If people's suffering prevents them from seeing the value of living, they deserve our pity. But no one should deliberately act to kill them."
The case of another ALS sufferer, Jules Lodish, was described in the New York Times last Nov. 7. Reporters visited his Bethesda, Maryland, home when he had already lived for 10 years with the disease. By now almost every muscle in Lodish's body is paralyzed and he types into a computer by twitching the muscles of his cheek.
Asked how he feels about his life, Lodish responded: "I still look forward to every day."
Linda Ganzini, a professor of psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, told the New York Times that many patients have deep religious beliefs that help sustain them, and they are able "to find hope in the future, find meaning and tolerate the daily ongoing losses that they are experiencing."
Living flawed lives
From London, Jane Campbell, a commissioner for the Disability Rights Commission, spoke of her experience suffering from spinal muscular atrophy. Writing in the Times on Dec. 2, she explained what happened when in January 2004 she was admitted to hospital with severe pneumonia.
The consultant who was treating her commented that if she were to go into respiratory failure "he assumed that I would not want to be resuscitated on a ventilator." She replied: "Of course I would want to be ventilated." The same scenario was repeated the following day with another consultant, and Campbell feared for her life. Scared that the doctors would let her die, she refused to sleep for the next 48 hours.
"This incident, and similar ones that come to the attention of the Disability Rights Commission, reflect society's view that people such as myself live flawed and unsustainable lives and that death is preferable to living with a severe impairment," she explained in the article.
She also noted that the concept of terminal illness is not easy to define. More than a quarter of the doctors who authorize assisted deaths in Oregon said that they were not confident they could give an accurate six-month prognosis.
Another recent testimony came from Spain, where a champion of the Athens Para-Olympics, José Javier Curto, described to the newspaper La Razón that after 11 years of living in a wheelchair, due to a muscular disease, he is firmly opposed to euthanasia.
Our lives belong to God, he said, with or without suffering. Moreover, he affirmed that the case of Ramón Sampedro was not typical. In fact, he calculated that the great majority of paralyzed want to keep on living and are opposed to euthanasia.
Another case from England is that of Baroness Chapman of Leeds, reported in the Telegraph on Feb. 6. Baroness Chapman sits in the House of Lords, where the British government's Mental Capacity Bill at the time of writing was being debated. The bill, it is argued, would open the doors to euthanasia.
The baroness was born with brittle bone disease. At her birth, the doctors maintained she would be unable to communicate and would have no noticeable mental function. She took her seat in the Lords last October, and in her maiden speech condemned the Mental Capacity Bill, saying, "If this bill had been passed 43 years ago, I would not be here."
After a few months of her birth in 1961 she said the doctors sent her home, saying there was nothing more they could do for her. "They sent me home to die," she said, "and I'm still waiting."
Born with 50 bone fractures, she has suffered 600 fractures in all, and at only 2 feet 9 inches tall she has had to overcome serious obstacles. Yet, "I think that in any situation a person should be given every chance to survive," she argued.
True compassion
In a speech Nov. 12, John Paul II outlined the ethical principles that should guide medical treatment. "Medicine is always at the service of life," he told participants in the International Conference of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers.
And when treatment cannot overcome a serious disease, then efforts should be directed to the alleviation of suffering. In every case it is important to remember "the inalienable dignity of every human being, even in the extreme conditions of terminal illness," the Pope said.
Euthanasia can be motivated by sentiments of compassion, or by a false idea of preserving dignity. But instead of relieving suffering it just eliminates the person, the Holy Father pointed out. A lesson Hollywood needs to learn.
ZE05031902
HOLLYWOOD, California, MARCH 19, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The recent Academy Awards saw the triumph of two films that promote a favorable view of euthanasia. "Million Dollar Baby," a story about a female boxer severely wounded in a bout, won four of the top Oscars, including that of best director for Clint Eastwood. Hilary Swank won for best actress for her portrayal of Maggie Fitzgerald, who ends up prostrated with a spinal injury. Her pleas to be helped in seeking release from suffering by death are fulfilled.
The Oscar for best foreign film went to "The Sea Inside," which depicts the real-life case of Spaniard Ramón Sampedro, who ended up a quadriplegic after a diving accident. His requests to put an end to his life met were turned down after legal battles, but he committed suicide by drinking a cyanide-laced mixture.
The awards won by the films have focused attention on the situation of severely injured or handicapped people, with many protesting that the cinematic versions so popular in Hollywood are both dangerous and demeaning.
The British Telegraph newspaper reported Jan. 23 that the National Spinal Cord Injury Association, one of America's most respected organizations for disabled people, accused Eastwood of a "disability vendetta." The association described the concluding scene of "Million Dollar Baby" as a "brilliantly executed attack on life after a spinal cord injury." Protesters in Chicago from the organization Not Dead Yet claimed that the film "promotes the killing of disabled people as the solution to the 'problem' of disability."
Matthew Eppinette, from the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity, pointed out in a commentary published by the organization Feb. 28 that the film portrays humans as if they were mere animals to be put out of their suffering.
On the contrary, he stated, "Euthanasia, suicide and assisted suicide are wrong because they deliberately end a human life -- a life that bears the image of God." Moreover, even being a quadriplegic does not prevent us from deepening our relationship with God.
People in this situation certainly suffer greatly, Eppinette pointed out. But, as the example of Christopher Reeve amply demonstrated, "even the most severely paralyzed can live a rich and vibrant life, given proper care and support."
Real-life testimonies
In fact, many people in this situation have published testimonies affirming their will to live. Daniel Timmons, writing in Canada's National Post last Oct. 8, described how he has lost much of the use of his hands and legs. He suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. "Every day is not only a difficult physical struggle, but also a torturous psychological one," he explained.
"From my own experience, it's a challenge to see the purpose of living when your body declines so rapidly and fear fills your mind," stated Timmons. Nevertheless, he opposes assisted suicide, noting that it would be more accurate to call it assisted killing.
Our dignity does not depend on existing without pain, he added. "If people's suffering prevents them from seeing the value of living, they deserve our pity. But no one should deliberately act to kill them."
The case of another ALS sufferer, Jules Lodish, was described in the New York Times last Nov. 7. Reporters visited his Bethesda, Maryland, home when he had already lived for 10 years with the disease. By now almost every muscle in Lodish's body is paralyzed and he types into a computer by twitching the muscles of his cheek.
Asked how he feels about his life, Lodish responded: "I still look forward to every day."
Linda Ganzini, a professor of psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, told the New York Times that many patients have deep religious beliefs that help sustain them, and they are able "to find hope in the future, find meaning and tolerate the daily ongoing losses that they are experiencing."
Living flawed lives
From London, Jane Campbell, a commissioner for the Disability Rights Commission, spoke of her experience suffering from spinal muscular atrophy. Writing in the Times on Dec. 2, she explained what happened when in January 2004 she was admitted to hospital with severe pneumonia.
The consultant who was treating her commented that if she were to go into respiratory failure "he assumed that I would not want to be resuscitated on a ventilator." She replied: "Of course I would want to be ventilated." The same scenario was repeated the following day with another consultant, and Campbell feared for her life. Scared that the doctors would let her die, she refused to sleep for the next 48 hours.
"This incident, and similar ones that come to the attention of the Disability Rights Commission, reflect society's view that people such as myself live flawed and unsustainable lives and that death is preferable to living with a severe impairment," she explained in the article.
She also noted that the concept of terminal illness is not easy to define. More than a quarter of the doctors who authorize assisted deaths in Oregon said that they were not confident they could give an accurate six-month prognosis.
Another recent testimony came from Spain, where a champion of the Athens Para-Olympics, José Javier Curto, described to the newspaper La Razón that after 11 years of living in a wheelchair, due to a muscular disease, he is firmly opposed to euthanasia.
Our lives belong to God, he said, with or without suffering. Moreover, he affirmed that the case of Ramón Sampedro was not typical. In fact, he calculated that the great majority of paralyzed want to keep on living and are opposed to euthanasia.
Another case from England is that of Baroness Chapman of Leeds, reported in the Telegraph on Feb. 6. Baroness Chapman sits in the House of Lords, where the British government's Mental Capacity Bill at the time of writing was being debated. The bill, it is argued, would open the doors to euthanasia.
The baroness was born with brittle bone disease. At her birth, the doctors maintained she would be unable to communicate and would have no noticeable mental function. She took her seat in the Lords last October, and in her maiden speech condemned the Mental Capacity Bill, saying, "If this bill had been passed 43 years ago, I would not be here."
After a few months of her birth in 1961 she said the doctors sent her home, saying there was nothing more they could do for her. "They sent me home to die," she said, "and I'm still waiting."
Born with 50 bone fractures, she has suffered 600 fractures in all, and at only 2 feet 9 inches tall she has had to overcome serious obstacles. Yet, "I think that in any situation a person should be given every chance to survive," she argued.
True compassion
In a speech Nov. 12, John Paul II outlined the ethical principles that should guide medical treatment. "Medicine is always at the service of life," he told participants in the International Conference of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers.
And when treatment cannot overcome a serious disease, then efforts should be directed to the alleviation of suffering. In every case it is important to remember "the inalienable dignity of every human being, even in the extreme conditions of terminal illness," the Pope said.
Euthanasia can be motivated by sentiments of compassion, or by a false idea of preserving dignity. But instead of relieving suffering it just eliminates the person, the Holy Father pointed out. A lesson Hollywood needs to learn.
ZE05031902
3.18.2005
Prayer for Terri
Please join your 60,000+ fellow CatholiCity Citizens on the eve of the Feast of Saint Joseph the Husband, in a prayer to save Terri's life.
Let us begin "In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit..."
"O Saint Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so
prompt before the Throne of God, we place in you all our interests and desires. O Saint Joseph do assist us by your powerful intercession and obtain for us from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord; so that having engaged here below your Heavenly power we may offer our Thanksgiving and Homage to the most Loving of Fathers. O Saint Joseph, we never
weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms. We dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press Him in our name and kiss His fine Head for us, and ask Him to return the Kiss when we draw our dying breaths. Saint Joseph, Patron of Departing Souls, pray for us, and for the life of Terri Schiavo. Amen."
Let us begin "In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit..."
"O Saint Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so
prompt before the Throne of God, we place in you all our interests and desires. O Saint Joseph do assist us by your powerful intercession and obtain for us from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord; so that having engaged here below your Heavenly power we may offer our Thanksgiving and Homage to the most Loving of Fathers. O Saint Joseph, we never
weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms. We dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press Him in our name and kiss His fine Head for us, and ask Him to return the Kiss when we draw our dying breaths. Saint Joseph, Patron of Departing Souls, pray for us, and for the life of Terri Schiavo. Amen."
If Terri Schiavo is killed, Republicans will pay a political price.
by Peggy Noonan
...Why kill her? What is gained? What is good about it? Ronald Reagan used to say, in the early days of the abortion debate, when people would argue that the fetus may not really be a person, he'd say, "Well, if you come across a paper bag in the gutter and it seems something's in it and you don't know if it's alive, you don't kick it, do you?" No, you don't.
So Congress: don't kick it. Let her live. Hard cases make bad law, but let her live. Precedents can begin to cascade, special pleas can become a flood, but let her live. Because she's human, and you're human.
A final note to the Republican leadership in the House and Senate: You have to pull out all the stops. You have to run over your chairmen if they're being obstructionist for this niggling reason and that. Run over their egos, run past their fatigue. You have to win on this. If you don't, you can't imagine how much you're going to lose. And from people who have faith in you.
Bill Frist and Tom DeLay and Jim Sensenbrenner and Denny Hastert and all the rest would be better off risking looking ridiculous and flying down to Florida, standing outside Terri Schiavo's room and physically restraining the poor harassed staff who may be told soon to remove her feeding tube, than standing by in Washington, helpless and tied in legislative knots, and doing nothing.
Issue whatever subpoena, call whatever witnesses, pass whatever emergency bill, but don't let this woman die.
...Why kill her? What is gained? What is good about it? Ronald Reagan used to say, in the early days of the abortion debate, when people would argue that the fetus may not really be a person, he'd say, "Well, if you come across a paper bag in the gutter and it seems something's in it and you don't know if it's alive, you don't kick it, do you?" No, you don't.
So Congress: don't kick it. Let her live. Hard cases make bad law, but let her live. Precedents can begin to cascade, special pleas can become a flood, but let her live. Because she's human, and you're human.
A final note to the Republican leadership in the House and Senate: You have to pull out all the stops. You have to run over your chairmen if they're being obstructionist for this niggling reason and that. Run over their egos, run past their fatigue. You have to win on this. If you don't, you can't imagine how much you're going to lose. And from people who have faith in you.
Bill Frist and Tom DeLay and Jim Sensenbrenner and Denny Hastert and all the rest would be better off risking looking ridiculous and flying down to Florida, standing outside Terri Schiavo's room and physically restraining the poor harassed staff who may be told soon to remove her feeding tube, than standing by in Washington, helpless and tied in legislative knots, and doing nothing.
Issue whatever subpoena, call whatever witnesses, pass whatever emergency bill, but don't let this woman die.
3.17.2005
ACTION NEEDED TO SAVE TERRI SCHIAVO
Call Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R.-Tenn.) and your state’s two senators and tell them you want the Senate to act today on a bill that could save Terri Schiavo’s life. The U.S. House has passed the bill and President Bush is sure to sign it, so the U.S. Senate is the last obstacle. Terri is scheduled to be starved and dehydrated to death tomorrow at 1:00 pm, so there is no time to lose.
The bill is a little different from the one that Congress was previously considering and that we mentioned in our Weekly Briefing earlier this week. This new bill is called the Protection of Incapacitated Persons Act of 2005, and its bill number is HR 1332. Politely tell the offices of Sen. Frist and your home state senators something like, “I’m a pro-life American, and I expect the U.S. Senate to vote on this bill before the process of Terri Schiavo’s execution begins.”
Sen. Frist’s phone number is 202-224-3344.
Other senators’ numbers can be found at www.senate.gov or by calling the U.S. Capitol switchboard, 202-225-3121. _________ PRI P.O. Box 1559 Front Royal, VA 22630 USA
Phone: (540) 622-5240 Fax: (540) 622-2728
Email:
Media Contact: Joseph A. D’Agostino
(540) 622-5240, ext. 204
_________
© 2005 Population Research Institute. Permission to reprint granted. Redistribute widely. Credit required. _________
If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to PRI, please go to https://pop.org/donate.cfm. All donations (of any size) are welcomed and appreciated. _________
To subscribe to the Weekly Briefing, send an email to: or email and say "Add me to your Weekly Briefing." __________ The Population Research Institute is dedicated to ending human rights abuses committed in the name of "family planning," and to ending counter-productive social and economic paradigms premised on the myth of "overpopulation.”
The bill is a little different from the one that Congress was previously considering and that we mentioned in our Weekly Briefing earlier this week. This new bill is called the Protection of Incapacitated Persons Act of 2005, and its bill number is HR 1332. Politely tell the offices of Sen. Frist and your home state senators something like, “I’m a pro-life American, and I expect the U.S. Senate to vote on this bill before the process of Terri Schiavo’s execution begins.”
Sen. Frist’s phone number is 202-224-3344.
Other senators’ numbers can be found at www.senate.gov or by calling the U.S. Capitol switchboard, 202-225-3121. _________ PRI P.O. Box 1559 Front Royal, VA 22630 USA
Phone: (540) 622-5240 Fax: (540) 622-2728
Email:
Media Contact: Joseph A. D’Agostino
(540) 622-5240, ext. 204
_________
© 2005 Population Research Institute. Permission to reprint granted. Redistribute widely. Credit required. _________
If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to PRI, please go to https://pop.org/donate.cfm. All donations (of any size) are welcomed and appreciated. _________
To subscribe to the Weekly Briefing, send an email to: or email and say "Add me to your Weekly Briefing." __________ The Population Research Institute is dedicated to ending human rights abuses committed in the name of "family planning," and to ending counter-productive social and economic paradigms premised on the myth of "overpopulation.”
3.16.2005
Congress Ponders Terri Schiavo’s Fate
By Joseph A. D'Agostino
It’s an odd world in which a disabled Florida woman can be killed by a method outlawed as too cruel for animals, and in which she is not covered by the habeas corpus protections granted to murderers. When it comes to federal legal protection, Terri Schiavo ranks below Ted Bundy, and when it comes to protection from suffering, she ranks below an unwanted pet.
“When is that b---- going to die?” Terri’s husband, Michael, once asked, according to a nurse. He was wrong: Terri is no b----, not only because she is a human person, but also because a female dog has more rights under Florida law—rights he will not allow Terri. Dogs in Florida cannot be legally dehydrated and starved to death, as Terri will be if Congress does not act. Meanwhile, Michael lives with a woman he calls his fiancé, who has borne him two children since Terri’s collapse (or beating—only Michael
knows) in 1990—but he refuses to divorce Terri. His legal bills in his fight to murder his wife with state permission have been paid by the $1 million that an insurance company paid to provide Terri with rehabilitation, therapy that Michael prevented from taking place. He melted down Terri’s wedding and engagement rings to make a ring for himself. He even had Terri’s cats put down, presumably by a method more humane than the one he intends to use on his better half.
Terri’s parents the Schindlers have offered to take care of Terri, but Michael has refused. They made the same offer about the cats, but that didn’t work, either.
Right now, Republican leaders in the U.S. House and Senate are deciding whether to allow votes on a bill that could save Terri Schiavo’s life.
Pro-life Americans should consider expressing their opinions on saving Terri to these leaders and to their congressmen and senators.
Terri is scheduled to be executed by dehydration and starvation beginning March 18, when her feeding tube is to be disconnected. That tube is the closest thing to life support that Terri is on. She cannot swallow, but she is not in a vegetative state, can recognize her family, and responds to stimuli. She tries to talk.
Two federal legislators from Florida, Rep. Dave Weldon (R.) and Sen. Mel Martinez (R.), have introduced the Incapacitated Persons Legal Protection Act in the House and Senate, respectively. The proposed law would extend federal habeas corpus protection to severely disabled people and enable federal courts to determine if they are being put to death illegally.
Habeas corpus is often used by death row inmates, but does not apply to innocents such as Terri because they are not under arrest. Thus, federal courts have refused to determine if Terri’s right to life is being violated by state court Judge George Greer, who has ordered her execution at the request of Terri’s husband.
If Terri is murdered, her case will be another step forward for the culture of death. Killing a conscious disabled person not on life support will receive official government sanction.
Kate Adamson experienced an attempt to kill her by the same method, but fortunately woke up from her coma before it was too late. She told Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly in 2003, “When the feeding tube was turned off for eight days, I thought I was going insane. I was screaming out in my mind, ‘Don't you know I need to eat?’ And even up until that point, I had been having a bagful of Ensure as my nourishment that was going through the feeding tube. At that point, it sounded pretty good. I just wanted something. The fact that I had nothing, the hunger pains overrode every thought I had.”
Wesley J. Smith wrote in an article posted on the Weekly Standard’s website Nov. 12, 2003 that the practice is not uncommon. “Beyond the Terri Schiavo case, it is undisputed that conscious cognitively disabled patients are dehydrated in nursing homes and hospitals throughout the country almost as a matter of routine,” he wrote. “Dr. [Ronald] Cranford, for example, openly admitted in his Wendland testimony that he removes feeding tubes from conscious patients. Thus, many other people may also have experienced the agony described by Adamson and worse, given that dehydrating to death goes on for about a week longer than she experienced.”
EXPRESS YOUR OPINION
Politely express your opinion on this matter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R.-Ill.) and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R.-Tenn.). They will decide if the House and Senate versions of the Incapacitated Persons Legal Protection Act come to the floor for votes.
You could say something like this after introducing yourself: “Please allow a floor vote on the Incapacitated Persons Legal Protection Act as soon as possible, in order to protect the life of Terri Schiavo.”
Also, contact your congressman and your two senators and let them know what you think. Politicians pay especial attention to people who can vote against them. The bill number of the Incapacitated Persons Legal Protection Act in the House is HR 1151, and in the Senate it is S 539.
House Speaker Hastert: 202-225-0600, House Speaker Hastert Senate Majority Leader Frist: 202-224-3344
For contact information for other congressmen and senators, go to www.house.gov and www.senate.gov, or call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at 202-225-3121.
Joseph A. D’Agostino is Vice President for Communications at PRI. _________ PRI P.O. Box 1559 Front Royal, VA 22630 USA
Phone: (540) 622-5240 Fax: (540) 622-2728
Email: jad@pop.org
Media Contact: Joseph A. D’Agostino
(540) 622-5240, ext. 204
_________
© 2005 Population Research Institute. Permission to reprint granted. Redistribute widely. Credit required. _________
If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to PRI, please go to https://pop.org/donate.cfm. All donations (of any size) are welcomed and appreciated. _________
To subscribe to the Weekly Briefing, send an email to: JOIN-PRI@Pluto.Sparklist.com or email pri@pop.org and say "Add me to your Weekly Briefing." __________ The Population Research Institute is dedicated to ending human rights abuses committed in the name of "family planning," and to ending counter-productive social and economic paradigms premised on the myth of "overpopulation.”
It’s an odd world in which a disabled Florida woman can be killed by a method outlawed as too cruel for animals, and in which she is not covered by the habeas corpus protections granted to murderers. When it comes to federal legal protection, Terri Schiavo ranks below Ted Bundy, and when it comes to protection from suffering, she ranks below an unwanted pet.
“When is that b---- going to die?” Terri’s husband, Michael, once asked, according to a nurse. He was wrong: Terri is no b----, not only because she is a human person, but also because a female dog has more rights under Florida law—rights he will not allow Terri. Dogs in Florida cannot be legally dehydrated and starved to death, as Terri will be if Congress does not act. Meanwhile, Michael lives with a woman he calls his fiancé, who has borne him two children since Terri’s collapse (or beating—only Michael
knows) in 1990—but he refuses to divorce Terri. His legal bills in his fight to murder his wife with state permission have been paid by the $1 million that an insurance company paid to provide Terri with rehabilitation, therapy that Michael prevented from taking place. He melted down Terri’s wedding and engagement rings to make a ring for himself. He even had Terri’s cats put down, presumably by a method more humane than the one he intends to use on his better half.
Terri’s parents the Schindlers have offered to take care of Terri, but Michael has refused. They made the same offer about the cats, but that didn’t work, either.
Right now, Republican leaders in the U.S. House and Senate are deciding whether to allow votes on a bill that could save Terri Schiavo’s life.
Pro-life Americans should consider expressing their opinions on saving Terri to these leaders and to their congressmen and senators.
Terri is scheduled to be executed by dehydration and starvation beginning March 18, when her feeding tube is to be disconnected. That tube is the closest thing to life support that Terri is on. She cannot swallow, but she is not in a vegetative state, can recognize her family, and responds to stimuli. She tries to talk.
Two federal legislators from Florida, Rep. Dave Weldon (R.) and Sen. Mel Martinez (R.), have introduced the Incapacitated Persons Legal Protection Act in the House and Senate, respectively. The proposed law would extend federal habeas corpus protection to severely disabled people and enable federal courts to determine if they are being put to death illegally.
Habeas corpus is often used by death row inmates, but does not apply to innocents such as Terri because they are not under arrest. Thus, federal courts have refused to determine if Terri’s right to life is being violated by state court Judge George Greer, who has ordered her execution at the request of Terri’s husband.
If Terri is murdered, her case will be another step forward for the culture of death. Killing a conscious disabled person not on life support will receive official government sanction.
Kate Adamson experienced an attempt to kill her by the same method, but fortunately woke up from her coma before it was too late. She told Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly in 2003, “When the feeding tube was turned off for eight days, I thought I was going insane. I was screaming out in my mind, ‘Don't you know I need to eat?’ And even up until that point, I had been having a bagful of Ensure as my nourishment that was going through the feeding tube. At that point, it sounded pretty good. I just wanted something. The fact that I had nothing, the hunger pains overrode every thought I had.”
Wesley J. Smith wrote in an article posted on the Weekly Standard’s website Nov. 12, 2003 that the practice is not uncommon. “Beyond the Terri Schiavo case, it is undisputed that conscious cognitively disabled patients are dehydrated in nursing homes and hospitals throughout the country almost as a matter of routine,” he wrote. “Dr. [Ronald] Cranford, for example, openly admitted in his Wendland testimony that he removes feeding tubes from conscious patients. Thus, many other people may also have experienced the agony described by Adamson and worse, given that dehydrating to death goes on for about a week longer than she experienced.”
EXPRESS YOUR OPINION
Politely express your opinion on this matter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R.-Ill.) and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R.-Tenn.). They will decide if the House and Senate versions of the Incapacitated Persons Legal Protection Act come to the floor for votes.
You could say something like this after introducing yourself: “Please allow a floor vote on the Incapacitated Persons Legal Protection Act as soon as possible, in order to protect the life of Terri Schiavo.”
Also, contact your congressman and your two senators and let them know what you think. Politicians pay especial attention to people who can vote against them. The bill number of the Incapacitated Persons Legal Protection Act in the House is HR 1151, and in the Senate it is S 539.
House Speaker Hastert: 202-225-0600, House Speaker Hastert Senate Majority Leader Frist: 202-224-3344
For contact information for other congressmen and senators, go to www.house.gov and www.senate.gov, or call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at 202-225-3121.
Joseph A. D’Agostino is Vice President for Communications at PRI. _________ PRI P.O. Box 1559 Front Royal, VA 22630 USA
Phone: (540) 622-5240 Fax: (540) 622-2728
Email: jad@pop.org
Media Contact: Joseph A. D’Agostino
(540) 622-5240, ext. 204
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© 2005 Population Research Institute. Permission to reprint granted. Redistribute widely. Credit required. _________
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3.09.2005
Express your views to Rep. Nancy Johnson's for her comments to Terri Schiavo's Family
Government Representatives met yesterday with the Schindlers as reported by Catholic News Agency.
"It was very powerful for the representatives to meet Schiavo’s parents and “to have to look into their eyes and see that this is a human being, not just another test case.”" reported Lori Kehoe, Congressional Liaison for the NRLC.
"She noted that one of the few harsh reactions came from Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-CT) who “looked right at [Schiavo’s brother] and said ‘that’s not life…how long has she been in that coma and how much is it costing us?’” Rep. Johnson is notorious for her pro-death stance.
“It was really bad”, Kehoe noted."
Write to Nancy Johnson, especially her constituents from western Connecticut.
You can use or edit this letter:
Dear Representative Johnson,
This note is to express my outrage at the insensitivity of your comments to Terri Schindler-Schiavo's family.
As my representative YOU DO NOT EXPRESS MY VIEWS IN YOUR UTTER DISREGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE FROM WOMB TO TOMB.
Be assured that I will bring this to the attention of more constituents in my area. The only acceptable action is to issue an apology for your impudence.
It would do you well to learn all the facts before making harsh judgements. There is a wealth of information circulating on Terri Schiavo; there is no excuse for ignorance concerning the facts of this case.
"Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends."
Sincerely,
"It was very powerful for the representatives to meet Schiavo’s parents and “to have to look into their eyes and see that this is a human being, not just another test case.”" reported Lori Kehoe, Congressional Liaison for the NRLC.
"She noted that one of the few harsh reactions came from Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-CT) who “looked right at [Schiavo’s brother] and said ‘that’s not life…how long has she been in that coma and how much is it costing us?’” Rep. Johnson is notorious for her pro-death stance.
“It was really bad”, Kehoe noted."
Write to Nancy Johnson, especially her constituents from western Connecticut.
You can use or edit this letter:
Dear Representative Johnson,
This note is to express my outrage at the insensitivity of your comments to Terri Schindler-Schiavo's family.
As my representative YOU DO NOT EXPRESS MY VIEWS IN YOUR UTTER DISREGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE FROM WOMB TO TOMB.
Be assured that I will bring this to the attention of more constituents in my area. The only acceptable action is to issue an apology for your impudence.
It would do you well to learn all the facts before making harsh judgements. There is a wealth of information circulating on Terri Schiavo; there is no excuse for ignorance concerning the facts of this case.
"Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends."
Sincerely,
Pro-life supporters, Terri’s brother hopeful about new legislation aimed at saving Schiavo
Washington DC, Mar. 09, 2005 (CNA) - Yesterday, U.S. Representative Dave Weldon (R-FL), and Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) introduced a piece of legislation which many hope could save brain-damaged Terri Schiavo’s life.
According to Weldon’s office, House Bill 1151, the Incapacitated Person’s Legal Protection Act would “explicitly clarify fundamental due process rights for those who are incapacitated, are under court ordered removal of nutrition and hydration and have no written advanced medical directive in effect.”
If passed, the bill would give the family of 41-year old Schiavo access to a federal court to argue for their daughter’s life.
Florida judge George Greer ruled February 25th in favor of Michael Schiavo, Terri’s husband, who has been trying for years remove the feeding tube, which gives food and hydration to his wife.
Lori Kehoe, Congressional liaison for the National Right to Life told CNA that she is encouraged by yesterday’s introduction of the bill.
Basically, she said, “[representatives] fell into one of two categories: those who were extremely supportive of the bill and those who were very ambivalent and didn’t really know all the facts.”
Kehoe said that it was very powerful for the representatives to meet Schiavo’s parents and “to have to look into their eyes and see that this is a human being, not just another test case.”
She noted that one of the few harsh reactions came from Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-CT) who “looked right at [Schiavo’s brother] and said ‘that’s not life…how long has she been in that coma and how much is it costing us?’”
“It was really bad”, Kehoe noted.
Bob Schindler, Terri’s brother who also spoke with CNA this morning said that, “the secular media has really miscalculated [his] sister’s condition…and has really dehumanized her.”
In response to Representative Johnson’s comments to him yesterday, Schindler noted that, “she had already made up her mind and didn’t want to listen to me.”
While he tried to point out that his sister was not on life support or in a coma, he observed that Johnson “didn’t really know anything about the case and didn’t want to hear it.”
Notwithstanding Johnson’s comments, Kehoe has high hopes for the new bill. She noted positive reactions from some senators who she said “are usually very hard.”
“The most difficult part now,” she said, “ is the time line.”
Judge Greer set a date of March 18th for Terri’s feeding tube to be removed, an act which will effectively end her life.
“It will be difficult but doable”, Kehoe added, “We’re just praying that this moves fast.”
According to Weldon’s office, House Bill 1151, the Incapacitated Person’s Legal Protection Act would “explicitly clarify fundamental due process rights for those who are incapacitated, are under court ordered removal of nutrition and hydration and have no written advanced medical directive in effect.”
If passed, the bill would give the family of 41-year old Schiavo access to a federal court to argue for their daughter’s life.
Florida judge George Greer ruled February 25th in favor of Michael Schiavo, Terri’s husband, who has been trying for years remove the feeding tube, which gives food and hydration to his wife.
Lori Kehoe, Congressional liaison for the National Right to Life told CNA that she is encouraged by yesterday’s introduction of the bill.
Basically, she said, “[representatives] fell into one of two categories: those who were extremely supportive of the bill and those who were very ambivalent and didn’t really know all the facts.”
Kehoe said that it was very powerful for the representatives to meet Schiavo’s parents and “to have to look into their eyes and see that this is a human being, not just another test case.”
She noted that one of the few harsh reactions came from Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-CT) who “looked right at [Schiavo’s brother] and said ‘that’s not life…how long has she been in that coma and how much is it costing us?’”
“It was really bad”, Kehoe noted.
Bob Schindler, Terri’s brother who also spoke with CNA this morning said that, “the secular media has really miscalculated [his] sister’s condition…and has really dehumanized her.”
In response to Representative Johnson’s comments to him yesterday, Schindler noted that, “she had already made up her mind and didn’t want to listen to me.”
While he tried to point out that his sister was not on life support or in a coma, he observed that Johnson “didn’t really know anything about the case and didn’t want to hear it.”
Notwithstanding Johnson’s comments, Kehoe has high hopes for the new bill. She noted positive reactions from some senators who she said “are usually very hard.”
“The most difficult part now,” she said, “ is the time line.”
Judge Greer set a date of March 18th for Terri’s feeding tube to be removed, an act which will effectively end her life.
“It will be difficult but doable”, Kehoe added, “We’re just praying that this moves fast.”
A "No" to Homophobia, and Homosexual Acts
MEXICO CITY, MARCH 9, 2005 (Zenit.org).- It is one thing not to discriminate against homosexuals -- but quite another to promote same-sex relations.
So says a document published by a commission of the Mexican bishops' conference when analyzing a governmental campaign against homophobia.
"The term 'homophobia' is relatively new and it is used to signify an 'obsessive aversion toward homosexual persons,'" explained the note published by the Family Pastoral Care Commission, signed by its president, Bishop Rodrigo Aguilar MartÃnez of Matehuala.
"A campaign that promotes that a homosexual person should not be rejected, is something worthy of recognition," it said.
"A homosexual person has all the dignity that corresponds to him/her as the human person that he/she is," the note states. "The Catholic Church does not insult, attack or incite the discrimination of any person; on the contrary, it defends, respects and promotes the dignity of each and all, also homosexuals."
The bishop clarified that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered. However, a distinction must be made between the homosexual inclination and homosexual acts. The inclination is disordered in itself, but it does not, on its own, constitute a fault if there is no intention to fuel that inclination through homosexual acts."
The Church "has always stated that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered," Bishop Aguilar observed. "They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not stem from a true emotional and sexual complementarity. They cannot be approved in any case."
The episcopal note was in response to an advertising campaign launched by the Health Secretariat, a ministry of the Mexican government, and the National Center for the Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS.
Bishop Aguilar's note stated: "If the campaign against homophobia pretends to present to society a homosexual person as a legitimate personal option, with the 'right to be different,' it assumes a position of apparent humanity and respect for the person by attempting to base itself on the criteria of pluralism, tolerance and nondiscrimination.
"However, it is basing itself on false and deceitful anthropological bases, distorting the concepts and language."
The prelate added: "It cannot be upheld that just as some have the inclination to a heterosexual relationship and love, others have the right to a homosexual relationship and love, in a way similar to the acceptance and respect owed to a person regardless of whether he/she is right- or left-handed, or has a different color of skin."
ZE05030921
So says a document published by a commission of the Mexican bishops' conference when analyzing a governmental campaign against homophobia.
"The term 'homophobia' is relatively new and it is used to signify an 'obsessive aversion toward homosexual persons,'" explained the note published by the Family Pastoral Care Commission, signed by its president, Bishop Rodrigo Aguilar MartÃnez of Matehuala.
"A campaign that promotes that a homosexual person should not be rejected, is something worthy of recognition," it said.
"A homosexual person has all the dignity that corresponds to him/her as the human person that he/she is," the note states. "The Catholic Church does not insult, attack or incite the discrimination of any person; on the contrary, it defends, respects and promotes the dignity of each and all, also homosexuals."
The bishop clarified that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered. However, a distinction must be made between the homosexual inclination and homosexual acts. The inclination is disordered in itself, but it does not, on its own, constitute a fault if there is no intention to fuel that inclination through homosexual acts."
The Church "has always stated that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered," Bishop Aguilar observed. "They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not stem from a true emotional and sexual complementarity. They cannot be approved in any case."
The episcopal note was in response to an advertising campaign launched by the Health Secretariat, a ministry of the Mexican government, and the National Center for the Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS.
Bishop Aguilar's note stated: "If the campaign against homophobia pretends to present to society a homosexual person as a legitimate personal option, with the 'right to be different,' it assumes a position of apparent humanity and respect for the person by attempting to base itself on the criteria of pluralism, tolerance and nondiscrimination.
"However, it is basing itself on false and deceitful anthropological bases, distorting the concepts and language."
The prelate added: "It cannot be upheld that just as some have the inclination to a heterosexual relationship and love, others have the right to a homosexual relationship and love, in a way similar to the acceptance and respect owed to a person regardless of whether he/she is right- or left-handed, or has a different color of skin."
ZE05030921
3.03.2005
Letter from Governor Bush
Thank you for contacting Governor Bush to ask for his help in the case of Terri Schiavo. He has asked me to respond on his behalf.
The Governor shares your concern for this young woman and has pledged to do whatever he can within the laws of Florida to protect her life. The next few weeks will be very difficult ones for Ms. Schiavo, her family and all of those who care about her. The Governor asks that you keep her and her family in your prayers during this difficult time.
Again, thank you for writing Governor Bush about this important issue.
Sincerely,
L. O’Connor
Office of Citizens’ Services
The Governor shares your concern for this young woman and has pledged to do whatever he can within the laws of Florida to protect her life. The next few weeks will be very difficult ones for Ms. Schiavo, her family and all of those who care about her. The Governor asks that you keep her and her family in your prayers during this difficult time.
Again, thank you for writing Governor Bush about this important issue.
Sincerely,
L. O’Connor
Office of Citizens’ Services
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