Sheer Torture (Why we can't be confident Terri Schiavo is not feeling pain.)

The American Prowler ^ | 3/25/2005 | John Tabin

[nickcarraway]

Of all the arguments for the extraordinary effort to keep Terri Schiavo alive, the most powerful has always been that removing her feeding tube and allowing her to starve and dehydrate amounts to torturing her to death. Does it?

In theory, no -- whether or not Schiavo is neurologically capable of feeling pain, which is in dispute. When a feeding tube is removed, pain medicine is administered to stave off hunger pangs and thirst. No pain, no torture. But in the case of Kate Adamson, the author of Kate's Journey: Triumph Over Adversity, something went wrong. After a stroke, Adamson was misdiagnosed as being in a permanent vegetative state, when in fact she was in a "locked-in state," conscious but unable to move. She recovered to tell the tale of what it felt like when her feeding tube was removed so that doctors could perform surgery to remove a bowel obstruction that had developed.

Adamson felt everything, from the starvation and thirst to the surgery itself, for which she was not sufficiently anesthetized. She has described her hunger pangs and thirst as "sheer torture" that went on for days and was "far worse" than the hours she endured abdominal surgery.

Adamson apparently was either not given pain medication, or not given it in a sufficient dose. How could that happen? It happens every day, and not only to patients who are incapable of communicating their discomfort to their doctors. A Brown University study, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2002, found that 40 percent of nursing home patients with acute or chronic pain nationwide did not get treatment that brought them relief. Also in 2002, a study written by a panel for the National Institutes of Health estimated that between 26% and 41% of cancer patients are inadequately treated for pain.

Dr. Paul Frame of the Rochester University School of Medicine, a member of the NIH panel, pointed to federal and state drug regulations as exacerbating the problem. "Sometimes doctors don't want to go to the hassle of prescribing a triplicate drug," said Frame, referring to the forms that must be filed in many states when strong drugs are prescribed. "They may decide to use something less effective instead."

In 2003 alone, the Drug Enforcement Agency arrested 50 doctors and investigated hundreds more. The most prominent recent case was that of Dr. William Hurwitz, a chronic pain specialist convicted in December of drug trafficking because a small percentage of his patients misused the drugs he prescribed or sold them on the black market; federal prosecutors are seeking a life sentence. Small wonder that doctors are reluctant to treat pain as aggressively as they should. "Physicians' fears of using opioid therapy, and the fears of other health professionals, contribute to the barriers to effective pain management," says the American Medical Association on its website.

The DEA's actions don't just affect the doctors who have to worry about whether they can trust their patients or even the chronic pain sufferers who have trouble finding doctors willing to help them. Remember, even patients in hospitals and nursing homes, many of them on the verge of death, are being undertreated for pain. This isn't a new problem -- it was first identified in the 1970s -- and since at least the mid-'90s experts have urged doctors to be less stingy with synthetic and natural opioids than the conventional wisdom once advised. Surely, they'd have more success if drug warriors weren't sending the opposite message.

Whether or not you think Terri Schiavo ought to be allowed to die, there is no reason for her to die in pain. We can only hope that she is being medicated sufficiently. And if it's your loved one whose pain needs treatment, don't merely hope. Insist.

[nickcarraway]

ping

[politeia]

This provides even more reason for Jeb or George Bush to act to remove Greer and Michael from the case. Terri is not being "allowed" to die. Judge Greer has issued a clearly illegal order that no water or food can be given to Terri even by mouth. This is not just the removal of a feeding tube but this judge has denied a request by her parents to give her water and food naturally! No judge or court has this power and it does not take an attorney to figure this out. I defy anyone to find legal authorization, even in Florida law, for this order.

As is stated in another thread on an article by a doctor (William Anderson) in the Weekly Standard titled "Terri's Last Chance" there is no medical, legal or moral reason to not attempt a trial of natural drinking. He argues all the outcomes of such a trial, even if it results in a quicker death, are better than refusing to allow her to attempt to take food and water on her own. Only Greer's order stops this and such an order is not within the power of a court to make.

Jeb and George Bush should blast Judge Greer out of the water on this illegal order and immediately give her water by mouth. This could allow time to dismiss Greer for violating her human rights by his order and overturn the guardian decision. I fear that everyone is so focused on getting her feeding tube reinserted that they are forgetting to challenge this outrageous and patently illegal order by Greer.

[thoughtomator]

More casualties of the War on Drugs. Why are we fighting it, again?

[sakic]

Likewise, we don't know whether she has been in torturous pain all of these years we've kept her alive.

[cyn]

Actually, we do.

There had been standing orders for Terri to receive pain medication (ibuprofen) during her monthly menses, when she would indeed get uncomfortable and say "Payyyy" . She had trouble saying the "n".

There has been an embargo on a free flow of information on Terri all these years -- Exhibit "A", Terri herself, was forbidden to leave the room. Nurse Carla Iyer used to defy Michael and take her out in her wheelchair to the nurses' station (see her affidavit, or catch her as a guest on a show). Michael, furthermore, did nothing about the contractures that could, SHOULD have been receiving ordinary therapy.

The spotty view we have of her from the videotapes (see at http://www.terrisfight.org), and eyewitness reports, are that she was not in chronic pain.

[amdgmary]

TERRI'S BROTHER SAYS MOVIE "PASSION" CHANGED HIS LIFE

`Passion' Helped Brother Overcome Anger

Mar 25, 2005
By MICHELLE BEARDEN

TAMPA - The anger was eating him up.

For Bobby Schindler, it became almost unbearable; anger at the legal system, his Catholic church and his God. The grueling court battles and legal maneuverings to keep his sister, Terri Schiavo, alive was almost too much to bear for him and his family.

Then last year before Easter, something happened. Schindler went to see the controversial film ``The Passion of the Christ.'' He still tears up when he recalls that turning point.

``I can't begin to tell you the profound effect it had on me,'' says Schindler, 40, his voice breaking. ``After I walked out of there, I re-evaluated everything in my life.''

He went to church on that Good Friday and sat for a long time in prayer. That was the beginning of his journey on the road back to God.

Now, a year later, the Tampa Catholic High School mathematics and science teacher depends on the strength of his renewed faith to carry him in these emotional days. The clock is ticking for his sister, so sleep and food are luxuries he can't afford. The past week has been a blur, from a trip to Tallahassee to lobby politicians to a barrage of media interviews.

He hears the critics who wonder why the Schindlers just can't let Terri go. He doesn't care what they think.

``She's our family,'' he says. ``We're doing everything we can to get her back home with us. If you faced the same circumstances, you'd be doing the same thing.''

He never wanted to be thrust in the public arena and in the media glare. What he likes best is listening to Bruce Springsteen and teaching spinning classes at Harbour Island Athletic Club. In the teacher's lounge at school, he's known for his quick wit.

But much has changed in his life since his older sister suffered a heart attack 15 years ago at age 26 and fell into what doctors call a persistent vegetative state. He hates that term, calling it ``offensive.''

He says it was tough in the beginning to visit her. The siblings had always been close - 13 months apart - and he mourned for the Terri he had lost.

``To see her in that condition ... and realize she could possibly be like that the rest of her life, that wasn't easy,'' Schindler says. ``I've changed a lot. Today, I want nothing more than to take care of her.''

He says his sister is still beautiful to him. He remembers seeing a caption on the infamous video of his mother leaning close in to Terri, getting her to smile - ``The Face That Changed the Nation.'' He says if Terry does die, she has done a lot of good for a lot of people, getting them to talk about issues that needed to be raised.

His life is altered as well. Schindler says he will continue to advocate for the disabled. He knows many people are uncomfortable even looking at disabled people, saying ``it puts mortality at their own doorstep.''

``The way they deal with their fear is to say, `Let her go, let her die, because we don't want to see her in that condition','' he says. ``But that's wrong, We have to take care of them and show compassion. We don't let them starve to death.''

Schindler has read the evaluations and heard testimonies by doctors. Nothing will convince him Terri is not aware of her surroundings. Three years ago, he went to a Springsteen concert in Miami and got to shake his rock hero's hand. He returned home and excitedly recounted that moment to his sister.

He says Terri smiled at the news. And that didn't surprise him: She had given him his first Springsteen album.

``I know she hears me, and she knows what I'm saying to her,'' he says. ``She reacts all the time. It's not random, and it's not reflexive. And there's not a doctor in the world who can tell me otherwise.''

His best friend and fellow teacher, Mark Jacim, says the two talk a lot about their faith. He has watched his friend deal with the worst of circumstances yet avoid falling into self- pity.

``Instead of falling away from God and religion, he dives into it,'' Jacim says. ``And he helps me through my own problems, even though he's got enough of his own. I have nothing but admiration for Bobby.''

This summer, they're going to take a road trip out West. Two good friends, he says, single and on vacation, ``blowing off steam.'' He thinks it will be good for his buddy, no matter the outcome.

Schindler says he knows the outpouring of prayers from around the world have helped Terri and his family. Still, given the circumstances, he doesn't know whether he will feel joy this Easter. What he does know is when Terri's time to die comes, she will go to heaven.

And then, he says, it will be his time to forgive.

``I'll do what I have to do to get through this,'' he says. ``My relationship with God will only get stronger. I won't let anger take over my life.''

http://news.tbo.com/news/MGB7LUNWP6E.html

[amdgmary]

Sorry for the double post of the article. I asked the admin to delete the second post.

[cyn]

thanks for posting that. May God bless Bobby and all who love Terri with an even closer walk and a peace, a perspective that surpasses all understanding -- for the wisdom of the cross is foolishness to the world, but to those who are being saved, it is the very power of God.

the FL sky is crying today. Prayers for Terri, for you all, for us all.

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

Small wonder that doctors are reluctant to treat pain as aggressively as they should. "Physicians' fears of using opioid therapy, and the fears of other health professionals, contribute to the barriers to effective pain management,"

Blame that one on the war-on-drugs supporters.

[DJ MacWoW]

Blame that one on the war-on-drugs supporters.

No. Blame it on the junkies and druggies.

[sakic]

Are you referring to the video shot over many hours and edited to a few minutes to show the illusion of conscious life or a different set of videos?

Since you know that she is not in pain (how, I'm not sure) is it also your contention that her brain is capable of feeling pain despite the fact that it appears to be medically impossible for her to feel pain?

[cyn]

// Are you referring to the video shot over many hours and edited to a few minutes to show the illusion of conscious life or a different set of videos? //

ah, NO. I'm not. How much you seem to have missed in these MSM talking points.

Michael says she does not feel anything. Do you want to ask him how he knows that? Esp. since she's getting meds for menstrual pain -- as a standing order on her charts? How do I know? through checking things out for myself over the past two years, etc etc etc read my posts if you care to, go to terrisfight.org or anywhere else google takes you, if you care to.

If you have checked things out for yourself to that extent and still feel the way you do, then we'll just have to agree to disagree on this point. Funny, years ago, we went through the same things in the same way, point by point on the Waco threads.

I thank God and JimRob -- and people like you, Jeff! -- for FR and our ability to check things out to our hearts and minds content. Back later -- ya'll take care.

[Kitty Mittens]

Our Loving Lord Continue to Strengthen and Comfort the Entire Schindler Family during this Hellish Nightmare.

[Jeff Head]

Thank you cyn. Let me share some details of my experience with my brother's death last year.

When he entered the hospital for the last time in his three year struggle with lymphoma last year, he was in great pain and under the influence of Oxycotin or Fintinal(sp).

They had him sign a so-called standard DNR (Do not Rescissitate) form when he came in, in a barely conscious state. He couldn't read it, just signed. I got there three days later when it was clear things were very serious.

He was looking terrible. We noticed there was hardly any medication or hydration being given him and we asked what was in his drip and it was a very small amount of saline. We asked why he wasn't receiving more water and nourishment because he was too sick to take it by mouth. We almost exploded when they showed us the DNR and we read the details. The DNR included no hydration and nutrition!

Greg was clearly in distress. His lips were parched and he was already bleeding from the nose. Eyes sunk in. He was very weak when he went in and it did not take long for him to get into that condition.

We immediately ordered, under pain of a possible law suite, for his hydration and nutrition to begin. It did and he improved quickly. He recovered form the initial condition but was still listed as terminal. About three weeks later, just before we were to take him home, he had a bad relapse and passed away 36 hours later.

But those three weeks were a God send for me and my brother Greg...and his other brothers as well. I was taking time off from work so was able to be there almost 24X7 with him. We talked a lot as you can imagine and reminissed. He told me of the pain and discomfort of that dedehydrated. To say that it is painless and euphoric is simply a lie...which anyone with common sense knows.

If they were totally comatose I imagine they would not feel it...but notice they are giving Terri morphine. It is clear they have no idea what she is feeling.

The hospital staff was practising, IMHO, a sort of triage on Greg. They wanted to move him out of there and free up the bed and since he was listed as terminal, the DNR allowed them to "help him along". As you can imagine we had some very direct conversations with those people.

I would not trade those last three weeks of my brothers life for anything. I am afriad this practise is wide spread in our country. People are being dehydrated to death much more than we know.

I pray to God that somehow, someway, somewhere it will be stopped...along with the terrible ill of this judicial tyranny. I pray someone in a position to (liek Jeb Bush) will stand up and use the power available to them to save such people, and to stanbd up directly to this judicial tyranny we are seeing.

I will tell you direct...had a judge ordered us out of there and told the hospital to continue, they would have had a "situation" on their hands as three brothers took over that part of the hospital and did all in their power...up to being willing to die...to prolong their brother's life according to his wishes.

Sorry for the length...I had to get that off my chest.

[MarMema]

People are being dehydrated to death much more than we know.

And before their time.

[Jeff Head]

Oh yes. They woulkd have denied my brother the last three weeks with his mother and brothers. I believe many, many more are dying even more prematurely based on that experience.

[cyn]

Jeff, thanks for sharing that experience with us, the good and the bad. I had no idea ... and am appalled at this story. I am glad it had the better ending it did have, tho bittersweet, for you and your family. FR is priceless for the knowledge and experience we can find here -- thanks again for all you do here.

[Kitty Mittens]

Jeff, I'm Speechless after Reading your Story, but I'm so Glad you had that Extra Time with your dear brother. God Bless and Keep you, FReeper FRiend.

[betty boop]

Dear Jeff, thank you so much for sharing the experiences of your family’s last times in this lifetime with your dear brother. The extra three weeks together – what an enormous blessing! For your whole family and particularly your brother: It must have given him so much joy and peace. And now he is the Lord’s, and with the Lord….

I particularly liked what you said about you and your brothers standing ready to confront authority, if necessary, by proportionate (that is to say rational) means. It recalled to my mind a fundamental law of human existence – that evil flourishes whenever and wherever good men do nothing. That is a law as reliable as gravity in the great scheme of things.

I don’t enjoy saying this, but Gov. Bush has squandered an unparalleled opportunity. He could have provided executive relief. He could have strode over to the hospice with the National Guard at his back, and would have been acting perfectly within the scope of his executive and statutory powers and authority as governor of Florida. Not only was this sort of behavior necessary in order to save Terri’s life from the jackels who just wanted a “right-to-die” precedent; but it was necessary to correct a judicial usurpation of executive authority as well, courtesy of Judge Greer. This unfolding tragedy just never seems to stop.

We must remember the fundaments of our constitutional scheme here: (1) the legislative branch makes the law. It is prospective, future-looking. (2) the judiciary tests the application of law in specific cases. That is, it tends to look retrospectively, to “precedent.” (3) the executive branch is tasked with executing the LAW, which is preeminently the Constitution of the State of Florida, and all its derivative statutes. Which is what the governor executes or “enforces.”

Thank you ever so much for writing, Jeff Head!

May God abundantly bless you, and all of yours in this Holy Season!

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you so much for the ping to your post!

And thank you, Jeff Head, for sharing your testimony concerning your brother's final days. I fully agree with your position. Thank God for you and for showing us how it should have been for Terri.

For a very long time, I’ve stayed away from most of the Terri threads. My prayer has been for God’s will to be done and for blessings and peace for Terri. The events of this week have hurt me deeply as I know they have so many on this forum.

I am horrified that laboratory and companion animals receive more mercy under the law than Terri – that an estranged spouse retains the right to speak for one he no longer treats as his wife – that Terri cannot so much as receive an ice cube to her parched lips – that the judiciary has no soul – that the judge doesn’t want a PET scan or MRI to confirm his findings and that he is not taken aback by the fact that she doesn’t drool.

Today, in my prayer and Bible reading, I was again praying for God’s will and in His mercy He led me to a passage whereby I know that the saga of Terri’s death is a very important Spiritual matter, it is not merely a political or legal issue:

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed [thee]? or thirsty, and gave [thee] drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took [thee] in? or naked, and clothed [thee]? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done [it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [it] unto me.

Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did [it] not to one of the least of these, ye did [it] not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. – Matt 25:34-46

You and marron and I have often mused that life today seems like a great ship passing through deep water – splitting the seas and leaving a wake. Indeed, it seems as if man is being brought urgently to that deciding point – where he must choose. He can no longer sit on the fence – the Spirit is moving, dividing the waters.

IMHO, we must look up, look to God to keep our eyes on what it at stake – and trust Him to see that justice is done in every thing – whether a single person like Terri, a sweeping moral issue like abortion, or matters concerning nations and faith:

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. – Gal 6:7

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but [rather] give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance [is] mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. – Romans 12:19

[Jorge]

Good point!

[Serenissima Venezia]

Thanks for sharing your story about your brother. I am shocked that a DNR order includes water and food! I don't consider that medical care or an extreme measure, just what we need to live. It's a cruel way to treat a patient.

It sounds like hospitals and medical staff are no longer willing to care for the living and want to move them on quickly, even painfully. This is scary!

[Serenissima Venezia]

Thanks for sharing your story about your brother. I am shocked that a DNR order includes water and food! I don't consider that medical care or an extreme measure, just what everyone needs to live. It's a cruel way to treat a patient.

It sounds like hospitals and medical staff are no longer willing to care for the living and want to move them on quickly, even painfully. This is scary!

[Serenissima Venezia]

sorry for the double post!

[tertiary01]

DNR used to mean Do Not Resuscitate in the event of sudden cardiac arrest, stroke, or basically anything that would require CPR, intubation, cardiac stimulation. And at no time was it legal if signed by the patient under certain medications, in a critical physical or mental state without family witnesses, friends, or other advocates present.

I know at one of the hospitals I worked at, they started having problems with doctors withholding critical care, even antibiotics from DNR patients. And there were numerous hospital directives put out telling physicians and nurses that DNR did not mean Do Not Give Care. It has evidently evolved even further for the worst.

In my Dad's case, he was initially admitted for a four day stint to receive antibiotics by IV, but he started contracting hospital infections. They initially were Gung Ho in treating his infections (C Diff amongst other) and pneumonia, until my mother blurted out to a physician that he was going to be cremated. I swear that was the turning point, his care deteriorated afterward, as he he picked up more repeated infections.

In spite of them refusing to give him adequate pain relief for his arthritis throughout his five week ordeal, when we came in and found him on a Morphine drip and in kidney failure I knew they had written him off. This was done without any such directive from us, in the hospital system that was the Hillary Care model.

[Conservative Goddess]

Thank You for sharing your experience. It should serve as a warning and a rallying cry for all. We must end this practice at once.

[Conservative Goddess]

Thanks for posting this. Seems like common sense is on the wane....and that is true for both sides of the pain relief issue.....here's my story:

I had a wart removed from my foot many years ago. Amounted to nothing more than a big scrape, done with benefit of Novocaine. After it was over, the doctor wrote me a prescription for an antibiotic and vicodin for "postoperative" pain. I looked at that and said, "You've got to be kidding me! I'm going to be in THAT much pain?" He said, you might be...men usually are. Two drugs, written on a single script...so I took it to the pharmacist and asked for the antibiotic only. She looked at me in amazement and said, you might need this later, sure you don't want it? And I declined. Dr. and pharmacist seemed to be pushing it. That was an instance where I thought there was overkill in the prescription of pain medication that could have lead to heaven only knows.

A couple of years ago, I had and the anterior cruciate ligament of my knee reconstructed. For that, I received single strength percoset (sp?)...and I took nearly the whole bottle the day after the surgery. It was awful. My pain was definitely under treated at that time.

The two instances were separated by several years, and seem to be consistent with the growing reticence to prescribe appropriately. Really appears to me that this is like a pendulum that swings too far in each direction and that common sense and decency are on the decline.

[Zeroisanumber]

John Tobin doesn't make his case very effectively. He mentions Terri, and then goes off on a wild goose chase by comparing her to a bunch of people whose cases are not at all like hers.

[marron]

life today seems like a great ship passing through deep water – splitting the seas and leaving a wake. Indeed, it seems as if man is being brought urgently to that deciding point – where he must choose. He can no longer sit on the fence – the Spirit is moving, dividing the waters.

We are in the final hours of this struggle. I admire the Schindlers. I could not have faced such a fight with the grace that they have shown. They have been through a long, slow-motion nightmare and the ordeal is not yet over, somehow they must find the strength to carry on for at least a few hours more.

As you say, this is one of those events that forces people to choose, and in choosing, to reveal who they are. This is like one of those flares fired into the sky above a battlefield, which for a moment reveals the shape and contours of the fight, casting a weird glow over it all for a moment before going out.

In the glow of this girl's final moments I can see who is who in a way that I could see before only dimly.

People die every day. Injustices occur every day. It is not every day that an innocent is murdered in public, as the bien-pensant cheer their approval. Our intellectual betters lecture us from every platform that we should defend this girl's right to die, judges all up and down the line have all agreed that her right to die must not be infringed.

A right to die, enforced by robed government employees, backed by deputies with side-arms, is no right at all. The right we ought to celebrate and defend is the right to life, which no government, no armed official, ought have the right to deny us. We have been fooled by a sleight of hand that no one should ever fall for, and yet we have fallen for it.

When did Americans become so conformist and so weak that a middle-aged lawyer could order us to let our child die, and we would stand to the side and do it?

For the men in law enforcement, who I normally admire beyond almost every other profession, how much is your paycheck worth, that you could obey such an order, to deny water to a dying woman? You became a cop to defend the innocent, to catch bank-robbers, to stop the evil-doers. Did it not occur to you that some of the most dangerous people wear suits and carry brief cases?

For doctors, and nurses, and aids who work in this facility, again how much is your paycheck worth, that you could be a party to such a monstrosity? Its not enough to say that this is nothing unusual, patients are offing themselves all the time now in just this way, taking advantage of their right to die and free up their bed for someone else. You didn't go into the medical profession to kill people, you didn't aspire as a little girl to one day murder the ill and the incapacitated. When did you go off the track?

Its weird to grieve for someone you don't know. I've had to turn off the TV, I can't bear to hear another empty word, and I can't bear to watch this family's agony any longer. And I can't escape the feeling that we have just been weighed in the balance, and found wanting. Actually, that happens to me all the time, but not usually in such stark and dramatic terms as now.

[betty boop]

A right to die, enforced by robed government employees, backed by deputies with side-arms, is no right at all.

marron, what a sublime essay. It says it all. I, too, have had to turn off the TV. I can't bear to witness the agony of the family any more. But this frees up more time for prayer. I am praying for Terri and her devoted, suffering family. And also for all the rest of us.... May God forgive us, and help us!

[xzins]

I want to do something about my sadness and anger, but there is no leader.

I'm reminded of William Wallace speaking to the Bruce in "Braveheart" when he says: "They will follow you....If you will just lead them!"

Those in our highest positions of leadership could have called us to gather, and we would have done so.

[k2blader]

bump to your post..

[onyx eyes]

Assisted suicide is against the law in Florida. Withholding water and food from a woman who is not dying but who has been "diagnosed" PVS, is something else. You know what that is. In the normal situation, we only take out the tubes when a person is clearly dying.

[Corin Stormhands]

Those in our highest positions of leadership could have called us to gather, and we would have done so.

Would we have followed x? I'm not so sure. As much as I've wanted to see intervention from the Governor or the President I can't fault them. I wasn't there. I don't know. I'm not a legal scholar.

I hate to admit it, but I'm weary of the whole episode. And I cannot begin to imagine the weariness of the Schindler family and all involved. But I personally just can't follow the news any more.

I have to rest in the knowledge that Terri is in God's hands. And perhaps the prayer for her now is the prayer of Simeon.

Luke 2:29
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word...

[xzins]

While what we feel now is total demoralization, there was a time after Congress passed its bill that we would have responded to the call of a leader.

Maybe even now, if they would just stand.

[joanie-f]

Gov. Bush has squandered an unparalleled opportunity. He could have provided executive relief. He could have strode over to the hospice with the National Guard at his back, and would have been acting perfectly within the scope of his executive and statutory powers and authority as governor of Florida. Not only was this sort of behavior necessary in order to save Terri’s life from the jackels who just wanted a “right-to-die” precedent; but it was necessary to correct a judicial usurpation of executive authority as well, courtesy of Judge Greer. This unfolding tragedy just never seems to stop.

Exactly! We are in want of a courageous leader right now, but none appears to be stepping up to the plate. I can't help but wonder what Ronald Reagan would have done, were he President now.

In a completely unrelated child custody case several years ago in California, a respondent stated the following, which is a reflection with which I think all of us can sadly identify now:

_____________________________________________________________________

This respondent has had enough. The rules … are neither fair or decent. Its victims are truth, justice and common sense. I am not a respondent, I am a human being … that has been misrepresented and distorted by the egos, prejudices, and just plain laziness of court officials who do not seem capable of keeping simple facts straight, let alone deal with the complexities of personalities. Like Diogines walking through the streets of Athens in the daylight with a lighted lamp looking for an honest man, I do not think I will ever find anyone that has the courage or decency to be honest in this system. I believe that all our doings should be guided by love, compassion, and wisdom. I now feel compelled to take a stand … I know that I am a good and decent person. But the courts do not know that because they do not treat me as a human being, but as an abstraction where all that counts is the courts rules and procedures.

Vaclav Havel, a man I much admire for his principles and thought said: ‘You do not become a ‘dissident’ just because you decide one day to take up this most unusual career. You are thrown into it by your personal sense of responsibility, combined with a complex set of external circumstances. You are cast out of the existing structures and placed in a position of conflict with them. It begins with an attempt to do your work well, and ends with being branded an enemy of society.’

At this point I have become a ‘dissident’ not by choice but by a sense of moral outrage.

_____________________________________________________________________

The inmates are running the asylum. I feel as though we are living in some kind of different dimension. This isn’t my America.

Michael Schiavo is a man who is at least suspect in physically abusing his wife, perhaps even to the point of having inflicted the injuries that resulted in her initial hospitalization. He is a man who, according to countless of their friends, was controlling and abusive throughout their brief marriage. He is a man who, once a large amount of money came into his possession, did everything within his power to ensure his wife’s deliberate deterioration and eventual demise. He is a man who, for all intents and purposes, is now married to another woman and the father of her children. He is a man who has not sought a divorce from his disabled wife, for the sole reason that divorce would render him no longer eligible to be her legal guardian, and therefore render him incapable of completing her premeditated murder. Loss of guardianship would also disallow him from preventing post-mortem investigations of past injuries, because he has announced that, contrary to her family’s wishes and her own religious beliefs, he will order her to be cremated.

Michael Schiavo is a literal adulterer, a figurative bigamist, a liar, and a soon-to-be murderer. And yet the order to disconnect Terri’s access to food and water is supposedly based mostly on his (hearsay) testimony that Terri would have wanted to die under these circumstances – testimony that was not voiced until years after her ‘accident’, after he came into that significant money, and it was not ‘recalled’ until another life opened up to him.

The only ‘witness’ to Terri’s wish to die is a ‘witness’ with a checkered past, a tumultuous relationship with her, an exhibited desire to deny her any avenues of recovery, and a lot to gain by her demise. Such a ‘witness’ would be laughed out of any reputable court of law. But not here.

Why?

The American left seeks to cheapen life. They place no value on unborn babies. They place no value on partially born babies. They value the stem cells, and other body parts, of young lives more than they value the lives themselves. They believe that the Terri Schiavos of this world are expendable. And by incrementally making us more and more accustomed to the idea that ‘imperfect’, or ‘immature’, or ‘old’ lives may be extinguished in good conscience, they are furthering a grotesquely secular, irreligious political ideology.

Much of the American judiciary embraces that political ideology. And they will not allow themselves to be constrained by Constitutional parameters. Their ends justify their means. And they will continue to usurp power from the executive and legislative branches, thereby making policy that it was never their calling to make. And the more frequently they are allowed to tyrannize from the bench, the less all of our lives will be based on ‘justice’ and ‘truth’. We will be increasingly ruled by men who follow a societal blueprint that declares representative government foolish and ineffective, and that believes in an elite ruling class that will inevitably call all the shots.

Much of the American left also knows that the disintegration of the nuclear family must be accomplished in order to install a socialist utopia. Parental rights and familial rights must be either usurped by the state, or trumped by the rights of non-family members (be it in cases of abortions performed on minor children, the handing out of condoms and birth control devices to minor children, the general interference of the state in family matters, guardianship decisions in cases such as this one … ). Thus the insistence that Terri Schiavo’s biological family must step aside and respect the wishes of a man whose ‘powers’ rest in a marriage certificate that he himself has spat upon and declared meaningless.

Our congress and our President in effect ordered a federal judge to rule on the Schiavo case – to examine it from the ground up. And he, in effect, refused. So what did congress and the President do? They returned to ‘business as usual’. They had done their symbolic duty, and then they allowed one arrogant judge to close the door on their efforts. Their theatrics of last weekend were nothing more than that: political theatrics. There isn’t a man of genuine courage and conviction among them.

The theatrics have ended, the ‘judge’ has told our elected representatives to go pound salt … and Terri Schiavo continues to die of hunger and starvation …

Our judiciary is corrupt and in daily defiance of the Constitution. Our legislators are nothing more than impotent actors on a grand political stage. Most of our leadership is either ignorant of, or antagonistic toward, the document upon which this nation’s greatness was founded. And the mainstream media relishes that ignorance and antagonism … and feeds upon it.

I am tired of being betrayed by my leadership. I am tired of watching the majority of my countrymen consistently being hoodwinked by ‘leaders’ with a covert agenda. I am tired of once proud judges’ robes being worn by unelected, unaccountable tyrants who don’t have my best interests at heart.

And I am enraged that I am being forced to witness the premeditated murder of an innocent young woman, while my ‘leadership’ either issues the unjust orders that condemn her to death, or claims to be impotent to defy those unjust orders.

There have been other civilizations whose leadership was usurped by unjust, unaccountable men … and men of good conscience did nothing, because they believed that orders could not be disobeyed. And it was by that apathy and cowardice that the fates of those civilizations were sealed.

Our present system is unique in world history, because … it demands of us total surrender of our souls, continuous and active participation in the general, conscious lie. To this putrefaction of the soul, this spiritual enslavement, human beings who wish to be human cannot consent. When Caesar, having exacted what is Caesar's, demands still more insistently that we render unto him what is God's, that is a sacrifice we dare not make! … Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn

Man’s timetable is rarely God’s timetable. But God will eternally bless, and welcome into His loving arms, Terri Schiavo, now that the arrogance of man has declared her earthly life cheap, irrelevant and inconvenient.

~ joanie

[Critter]

Essay of the week! ;)

[redrock]

"There isn’t a man of genuine courage and conviction among them."

What I would like to see is the same type of courage and conviction that seemed to surround President Bush after 9/11. When he grabbed the bullhorn...and told the workers, the world, that those who killed Americans on 9/11...would soon taste death.

But...no one seems to be standing up.

Perhaps..the Liberals have been too good at getting what they seek.

A Nation of Cowards.

redrock

[ntnychik]

There are many profound thoughts on this thread. Thank you for sharing your experiences, wisdom and faith for the benefit of us all. Terri's life has taken on enormous value that mocks the cravenness of those who cynically cut short her time with us. May God bless her, and those she has touched in so many ways.

[cynwoody]

Blame that one on the war-on-drugs supporters.

No. Blame it on the junkies and druggies.

So? Let them rot and die. The life of a junkie is of no importance compared to alleviating the suffering of the ill.

A talkmaster with a bad back should not suffer because of "the junkies and druggies".

[Squantos]

Feel the same way Joanie.......very well said.

Stay safe ......

[Alamo-Girl]

What a beautiful essay, marron!

Like you both, I have withdrawn from watching the coverage - the disappointment after disappointment - the media constantly redirecting the debate from "right to live" to "right to die".

My prayer is for God's tender mercy for Terri and all those who love her.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank y'all so much for your great posts!

Indeed, xzins, if a leader had taken up the banner after Congress passed the emergency legislation there would have been more organized protests and such - but, in the end, with the judge who was appointed to the Federal review, I doubt it would have made any difference.

But I do not despair. I am convinced that God has heard our prayers, attended these events and is using them according to His purpose - to prove all of us individually and as a nation. It is a testimony to the strength of Terri and her mom and dad that they have been up to this mission.

There are some people for whom there are no miraculous deliverances, only suffering. In the hall of faith in Hebrews 10-11, these are not recorded with names - but the way God speaks of them in 11:38 as "of whom the world was not worthy" encourages me to believe their blessing is all the greater than if they had been delivered from their suffering.

IMHO, our responsibility in this must be to follow-though, repenting and praying for a revival in this country, working all the harder to refocus our public policy to the country's Christian moral heritage. Because of Terri's struggle the Light has exposed our spiritual flaws.

[Travis McGee]

When we finally face up to the black robed tyrants, it will be at a far greater cost.

We have missed an opportunity to kill King Court before his power grows even greater.

[fatima]

Thank You Joanie,You are such a good writer.You make us think.

[betty boop]

...they will not allow themselves to be constrained by Constitutional parameters. Their ends justify their means. And they will continue to usurp power from the executive and legislative branches, thereby making policy that it was never their calling to make. And the more frequently they are allowed to tyrannize from the bench, the less all of our lives will be based on ‘justice’ and ‘truth’. We will be increasingly ruled by men who follow a societal blueprint that declares representative government foolish and ineffective, and that believes in an elite ruling class that will inevitably call all the shots.

Simply outstanding, joanie-f!

And chilling: the handwriting's on the wall, people.

[betty boop]

"They will follow you....If you will just lead them!"

Just so, xzins. Along with joanie-f, I wonder what Ronald Reagan would have done in the present circumstances.