President's Statement on Terri Schiavo
The case of Terri Schiavo raises complex issues. Yet in instances like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws, and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life. Those who live at the mercy of others deserve our special care and concern. It should be our goal as a nation to build a culture of life, where all Americans are valued, welcomed, and protected - and that culture of life must extend to individuals with disabilities.
prying1 sez:
The Left complains of ill treatment to terrorists(Click for Andrew C. McCarthy's article) yet desires even worse treatment for this woman!!! -
I would suggest to all reading this that you and your loved ones make out a living will. It does not have to be complicated. A simple note with a couple of friends signing it will be better than nothing.
ReplyDeleteBush started the statement by saying this case raises complex issues.
- For one it is heresay evidence the judge is running on. NO ONE ELSE besides her husband had heard her make the statements her husband claims she made... Please check some of the other posts and links. It really is complicated and both sides have good points.
Personally I feel it is better to err on the side of life.
http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2005/03/20/regarding-the-cat-scan-of-terri-schiavos-brain/
ReplyDeleteHere's a link that demonstrates why this is a pointless exercise. She is dead already.
Could this page be true?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theempirejournal.com/0319054_terri_schiavo_says_she_w.htm
If so does it change the arguement?
And Rev. Robert Johansen states:
I have spent the past ten days recruiting and interviewing neurologists who are willing to come forward and offer affidavits or declarations concerning new testing and examinations for Terri. In addition to the 15 neurologists? affidavits Gibbs had in time to present in court, I have commitments from over 30 others who are willing to testify that Terri should have new and additional testing, and new examinations by unbiased neurologists. Almost 50 neurologists all say the same thing: Terri should be reevaluated, Terri should be reexamined, and there are grave doubts as to the accuracy of Terri?s diagnosis of PVS. All of these neurologists are board-certified; a number of them are fellows of the prestigious American Academy of Neurology; several are professors of neurology at major medical schools.
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/johansen200503160848.asp
Why the rush to put her in the ground? If she is dead why do they have to starve her for 7 - 15 days?
If she is dead already couldn't they bury her today? I understand Michael Schiavo want to cremate her. Perhaps it would be quicker than dehydration & starvation! - Deut. 30-19 - Choose life -
Paul--
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't change things for me because people in a pvs do this kind of thing from time to time. The question is can they do it in response to stimul, and the answer to that is no.
She has no cortex. There is no Terri there any longer, nor will there ever be. She is not like coma patients who wake up after years of slumber. The lights are on but nobody's home. A functioning brain stem can keep her breathing and heart rate steady for decased. But is that we mean we describe human life? Her will, her personality, her capacity to reason and understand, to experience joy--all of these things are gone for good, because the reside in the cortex. She is no longer a person in any meaningful sense of the word.
This kind of thing happens all the time without any attention being paid at all. It is a sad but regular occurrence all across the country that has resulted from meical technology's ability to keep a brain stem alive. Had she lived at any other time in human history she would have already been dead. And had her family been all of one mind she would have been, which is what happens in every other case of this nature that never gets publciized. But why this one? It is only because the pro-life movement has been able to exploit a difference of opinion between her family members. If it is such a travesty Paul, then why have you and others not been protesting all of the cases that happen like this every day? If it's so wrong, why aren't there prayer vigils held for the hundreds of other people whose families will pull out their feeding tubes this week in exactly the same circumstances? Where are the offers of millions of dollars to "save" any of those people from their evil relatives? How many columns has Hugh Hewitt devoted to any other pvs patient who is having their tube pulled? How many times will Congress go into emergency session to write legislation to keep other people's spouses from making the decision that Micheal Schaivo has made? That's why it is so hard to take all of this "support" for Terri seriously. To folks on the other side it just seems like a cynical expolitation of a sad family situation, rather than a commitment to saving people in a pvs. That was buttressed over the weekened by the "talking points" that the Republicans were circulating amongst themselves with obvious glee regarding the politics of this matter--which os really all this is.
What is being done here is very dangerous and could have the federal government reaching into areas it has never feared to tread, this by people who say they want less government and not more. These have been sacred decisions between husbands and wives for centuries, Paul, but no more.
Public Theologian
Once again I urge people to make a living will. Put your desires concerning situations like this on paper and update it yearly. Perhaps even twice a year when the clocks change.
ReplyDeleteGo to Google and type in 'free living wills'. That way you and yours will not become a topic of conversation on the internet.
Continue to pray for Terri Schiavo and her family. Pray for Michael Schiavo too. Perhaps he needs prayer more than the rest.
Is Terri inside her body or is it a shell without human occupation? Does the soul reside in the cortex? One side or the other is wrong. I still believe it is important for us to err on the side of life.
All of that is very good advice, Paul.
ReplyDeleteAt one point on this post/comments I stated that there was only one voice claiming Terri had stated her wishes to die. I heard on the radio today that there are 4 witnesses to make this claim. The only one mentioned was Michael's brother, Terri's brother-in-law. Her parents apparently claim that the testimony is false. This still leaves the truth up in the air.
ReplyDeleteCan the brother-in-law be trusted?
This question brings in doubt which , I pray, the court will consider in it's deliberations.
Paul--
ReplyDeleteEvery court that has looked at this has found that Michael Schaivo and not her parents are telling the truth, including now the federal court. The only questions that are bing asked about credibility are by those who don't like any of the answers they have gotten. Both the law and the medicine have been deicded on this issue for a generation. Take a look at this bioethicist's comments:
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/03/22/father_john/index.html
This is no wild-eyed liberal. He is a Catholic priest who is against abortion.