Posted on 07/31/2006 4:58:07 PM PDT by Quiet Man Jr.
(some cheerful info leaked out of the DSS seal...)
WESTFIELD - Child abuse victim Haleigh Poutre, once deemed to be "virtually brain dead" by medical experts, continues to improve and is even speaking a few words, her biological grandmother said this week.
Sandra Sudyka, of the Feeding Hills section of Agawam, angered over the state Department of Social Services apparent termination of her and her daughter's bimonthly visits to Haleigh at her Boston hospital, said she has decided to speak publicly of her granddaughter's condition.
Snip
"They don't want people to know how she is doing after they wanted to pull the plug," Sudyka said.
Haleigh spoke her first word to Sudyka and Avrett in June as one of their visits to Franciscan Hospital for Children drew to a close.
Relative says girl making progress
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Terri on the road to recovery before the second stage began.
(Original Ohioan from Florida's ping list, update to July 23.)
Weston, FL (AHN) - A year after the Terry Schiavo court battle and media blitz, Michael Schiavo is in the midst of the political arena to make a stand against "interfering politicians." However only time will tell how much influence he has with voters.
Michael Schiavo Speaks Out Against Politicians In The Midst Of Elections
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The first duty of government is the protection of life, not its destruction. The chief purpose of government is to protect life. Abandon that and you have abandoned all.-Thomas Jefferson
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Nor was there any mention of the Schiavo case, which put Terry back in the spotlight in 2005 as he unsuccessfully argued against disconnecting the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube.
Terry remains fervent on both issues. But he has found other, newer hot buttons to press as he tries to unseat Republican state Sen. Jim King of Jacksonville in Tuesday's primary.
"The one (issue) that we mention the most... is the vote on illegal immigrants getting college tuition with our tax money," Terry told local radio host Kris Phillips during a recent half-hour interview in which abortion and Schiavo were barely discussed.
Election 2006: Culture warrior takes fight to 'Big Tent' foe
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Dont look for an ad campaign this fall that reminds of Terri Schiavo. Secretary of State John Gale announced Friday that a proposed constitutional amendment dealing with end-of-life issues did not get enough petition signatures, so it will not be on the November ballot.
The so-called humane care measure would have made it illegal for hospitals and other institutions to withhold food or water from an individual unless the person made his or her intentions known, in advance, through legal documentation. The measure was inspired by the Terri Schiavo case from last year.
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(AgapePress) - A Christian attorney says, contrary to the claims of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a North Carolina school board's policy banning sex-based student clubs is clearly constitutional and within the boundaries of the law.
The Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education enacted the ban in response to the formation of a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) club at South Rowan High School. The new policy is based on the school district's existing abstinence-only sex education policy.
David Gibbs III, the lawyer who represented Terri Schiavo's parents in their very public fight for the disabled woman's life, has been advising the Rowan-Salisbury School Board and defending their decision to enact the ban on sex-based school clubs.
Attorney NC School District Did Well to Ban SexBased Student Clubs
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Marie Teresa Rios Versace (Tere Rios)
Marie Teresa Rios Versace (Tere Rios)
Remembering Rocky Versace -- the first American medal of honor winner in Vietnam
Further, the language of Qatar proposed early in the Committee plenary, which supported the right of the disabled to receive full and adequate care, including food and hydration [an obvious response to the Terri Schiavo events which transpired in the United States last year] was all but completely reworded during the negotiations due to EU disapproval, and as such lost most of its meaning.
"U.N. "Stands for "UnNecessary"
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One nun in our lives has marked us forever. Before she took her permanent vows, my wife and I would gaze at her in amazement, someone so beautiful in her purity it was like out of a master's painting. But if one would look at her as a mere human, her features were humble indeed. We think of her as a saint in waiting.
Editor's note: This Letter of the Week is in response to a letter to the editor that appeared Aug. 29. It is reprinted here for the reader's convenience:
Just thought you'd like to know that most, if not all, medical personnel here in Miami are endorsing and voting for Charlie Crist for governor. I'm a physician in Miami and my colleagues, both doctors and nurses, have been strong advocates against any public official who had the audacity to interfere in what should have been a family medical decision. Yes, that's right. Our hospital had a poll two weeks ago which showed that 96 percent of us are voting for Crist, and we hold politicians accountable.
Terri Schiavo had the cognition of a bag of lettuce. We've had many cases like hers since, but we're smarter now. We'll never let the religious fright know. The psychochristians, like you, have no place in the medical field. Neither do ignoramuses like the Schindlers. If you're interested, we're having a huge celebration after Charlie wins next week. Gallagher doesn't have a chance in hell of winning. Sorry!
Dr. Linda
Commentary from Jerri Ward follows.
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Senator Dan Webster Endorses Tom Gallagher
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Canberra, Australia (LifeNews.com) -- An Australia lawmaker made good on her promise to deliver a speech with explicit instruction on how disabled or elderly patients can kill themselves. The speech was designed to get around an Australian law that prohibits disseminating assisted suicide or euthanasia instructions over the Internet or phone.
Because South Australian Democrat Sandra Kanck is protected by legislative privileges, her speech can be posted online, including on the legislature's web site.
Australia Lawmaker Gives Speech With Explicit Assisted Suicide Instructions
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The book is in two parts -- the first follows Terri's case from when Gibbs's law firm took it for the last two years or so. It is most compelling for his eyewitness accounts of how alive and "in there" Terri really was, despite all the lies about her. Brain damaged, of course, but not PVS. (He does not address how she was injured, except to say he heard every imaginable theory.) Gibbs saw her beauty and conveys it to the reader.
The second half is about meanings, much of it at some removes from Terri's story: about others who have recovered from brain injuries, about Christian witness, about possible legal reforms. Good, but less pertinent to our discussions. Nice photo section.
SOUTH Australia's Parliament has voted to block the internet version of a speech from Australian Democrats MP Sandra Kanck which detailed ways to commit suicide.
The Government last night presented a motion to Parliament's upper house which called for Ms Kanck's comments not to be displayed on Parliament's website.
Net version of suicide speech blocked
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Meanwhile... children survive brain injuries markedly better than adults. Go, Haleigh! May God bring you back to us.
As you so often observe: projection. They blame what they themselves are doing on the other side.
The Schindlers' efforts to save their daughter's life could not have been further removed from either gain or politics. They offered Michael Schiavo everything -- no divorce, he gets the estate, everything -- if he would just let Terri live and let them take care of her. Michael was so lost in hatred and so bent on murder that he turned them down.
Uh huh, the petition fell about 4,000 signatures short. And how many signatures did the politicians invalidate to get that result?
Sudyka said that during that visit she told Haleigh, "Before I know it, I am going to walk in here and you are going to say 'hello.'"
Haleigh responded to Sudyka by saying 'ello,'" Sudyka said, adding that hello was Haleigh's first word when she was 10 months old.
Relative says girl making progress
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Just enough.
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