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Lauren Richardson Becomes Next Terri Schiavo as Parents Debate Euthanasia (Delaware)
LifeNews ^ | 2/1/2008 | Steven Ertelt

Posted on 02/01/2008 2:51:57 PM PST by Pyro7480

A Delaware woman has become the next Terri Schiavo as her parents engage in a massive legal and philosophical debate about whether to subject her to euthanasia. Richardson is a 23-year-old woman who overdosed on heroin in August 2006 while she was three months pregnant with a baby girl.

Doctors kept Lauren on life support until she delivered her baby in February 2007. Shortly thereafter, her parents began a fight that is reminiscent of the battle over Terri's life and death.

As in the Terri Schiavo case, physicians have been quick to label Lauren as having a persistent vegetative state -- something Terri's family called dehumanizing and medically inaccurate as patients have recovered from it.

Edith Towers, Lauren's mother, wants to remove her feeding tube and starve and dehydrate her to death in the same manner that Michael Schiavo subjected Terri.

Towers claims Lauren would never have wanted to live as a permanently disabled person, but Lauren, as with Terri, did not have a living will or other advance directive spelling out her treatment wishes. She claims Lauren told her during Terri's battle that she would not want to live like her.

On the other side is Randy Richardson, Lauren's father is fighting to save her life and wants to be appointed as her guardian to ensure she receives appropriate medical care and treatment.

"She's committed no crime and doesn't deserve to have this death imposed on her," Richardson told the News Journal newspaper on Wednesday. "We just want to give her a chance."

Lauren no longer uses a ventilator or other breathing apparatus and is not on artificial life support -- something Randy contends is showing progress.

Towers is winning the legal battle in court as she was awarded guardianship of Lauren, but Randy Richardson has filed an appeal.

The News Journal indicates Delaware Court of Chancery Master Sam Glasscock III has put any action taking Lauren's life on hold while the court reviews the guardianship ruling -- a process that could take as much as three months to complete.

Regardless of the decision, an appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court is expected.

Randy Richardson also has other concerns about his daughter and says that Towers, his ex-wife, has not allowed Lauren's baby to see her.

Richardson and the Delaware Pro-Life Coalition released a video on Wednesday that shows Lauren at a nursing home reacting to family members and a dog.

The pro-life group also organized a prayer vigil near the Arbors Rehab Center in New Castle.


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: cultureofdeath; dehydration; delware; disabled; dorothypalinchik; endoflife; euthanasia; javonapeters; laurenrichardson; mariannepasha; moralabsolutes; pinellasctyjail; prisonabuse; prolife; raekupferschmidt; raleanekupferschmidt; randyrichardson; schiavo; sheriffcoates; starvation; terridailies; terridailiesterri
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To: All
More commentary on B.O. from The Conservative Voice...

.............................

Per Focus on the Family’s CitizenLink: “During the 20th Democratic presidential debate Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama said the one vote he would take back was his 2005 U.S. Senate vote to help save the life of Terri Schiavo, a brain-injured Florida woman.

"’We adjourned with a unanimous agreement that eventually allowed Congress to interject itself into that decision-making process of the families,’ Obama said. ‘It wasn't something I was comfortable with, but it was not something that I stood on the floor and stopped. And I think that was a mistake.’

“Schiavo was not dying nor terminally ill; she was not brain-dead nor in a coma. Yet for seven years, her husband, Michael, sought to have her feeding tube removed. Congress intervened toward the end, but it was not enough. Schiavo died March 31, 2005, after 13 days of court-ordered dehydration and starvation.

“Jill Stanek, a pro-life speaker and blogger, called Obama ‘utterly pro-death.’"..................

Obama Sad He Voted To Save Terri Schiavo

8mm

601 posted on 03/04/2008 4:00:22 AM PST by 8mmMauser (Jezu ufam tobie...Jesus I trust in Thee)
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To: 8mmMauser

The Haleigh’s story is relevant. Many would not have known about her if not for this thread. There have been numerous cases where doctors have given up and said there is not hope and yet the patient survived.


602 posted on 03/04/2008 4:04:20 AM PST by Dante3
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To: All; wagglebee
Canada down on Downs in a thread by wagglebee:

OTTAWA, March 3, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Yesterday's Ottawa Citizen featured a two page spread detailing the moving experiences of three separate families with Down Syndrome children.

In the articles three sets of parents candidly speak of their struggles to care for children with special needs, their deep appreciation for the beauty and the enrichment that their children have brought to their lives, and of Canada's pervasive anti-disability mindset and the pressure to abort those with disabilities............

"Airbrushing Diversity": Parents of Down Syndrome Children Tell of Abortion Pressures

8mm

603 posted on 03/04/2008 4:04:59 AM PST by 8mmMauser (Jezu ufam tobie...Jesus I trust in Thee)
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To: Dante3

Thanks for the encouragement. T’wit felt very strongly about it that we could never take the spotlight from Haleigh lest she be forgotten in the archives and caverns of DSS. The Massachusetts newspaper, The Republican, has faithfully followed Haleigh’s plight when others had gone to fresher topics. This is great motivation for us to persevere.


604 posted on 03/04/2008 4:10:50 AM PST by 8mmMauser (Jezu ufam tobie...Jesus I trust in Thee)
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To: All; Lesforlife
Not much is posted in the press on Lauren these days.


605 posted on 03/04/2008 4:12:43 AM PST by 8mmMauser (Jezu ufam tobie...Jesus I trust in Thee)
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To: All; wagglebee
Obama's loud silence in a thread by wagglebee...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- With national attention focused on a new investigative report from a magazine produced by UCLA students about Planned Parenthood and racism, a leading African-American pro-life advocates wonders why top black leaders haven't responded. The report found several Planned Parenthood affiliates accepting "racist" donations.

The Advocate magazine called Planned Parenthood centers in several states and found officials supportive of abortions on black Americans................

606 posted on 03/04/2008 4:27:21 AM PST by 8mmMauser (Jezu ufam tobie...Jesus I trust in Thee)
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To: Dante3; 8mmMauser; floriduh voter; BykrBayb
Haleigh’s story is relevant. Many would not have known about her if not for this thread. There have been numerous cases where doctors have given up and said there is not hope and yet the patient survived.

Exactly!

Not a week goes by that some troll doesn't make some statement that essentially says, "Terri has been dead almost three years, it's over, when are you going to let it go and move on?"

What they either don't know or, more likely, choose to ignore is that we fight for Terri's legacy so that it won't happen again, but tragically, her murder is being played out again on new victims every day.

607 posted on 03/04/2008 5:05:20 AM PST by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: wagglebee
Well stated.

The link to "latest posts" no longer works. I hope it is temporary since it limits lurkers and other posters from coming across this thread.

608 posted on 03/04/2008 6:04:14 AM PST by Dante3
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To: Dante3

I’m not quite sure why JR decided to reformat everything, I’m starting to get the hang of it, but it’s still awkward.


609 posted on 03/04/2008 6:10:07 AM PST by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: Ohioan from Florida; Goodgirlinred; Miss Behave; cyn; AlwaysFree; amdgmary; angelwings49; ...
Haleigh Poutre update, a judge change...

Judge assigned to child abuse case
SPRINGFIELD - Hampden Superior Court Judge Judd J. Carhart has been assigned to preside over the child abuse case against Jason D. Strickland of Westfield for assaults on his stepdaughter Haleigh Poutre.

The assignment came Monday from Barbara J. Rouse, chief justice of the Superior Court for the state.

Both prosecution and defense had asked for a judge to be specially assigned to the case.

Carhart is the third judge specially assigned to the case. Previous judges were Hampden Superior Court Judge C. Jeffrey Kinder who was replaced on the case by the assignment of Juvenile Court Judge James J. Collins, who recused himself for an unidentified reason in late December.

Strickland was charged with assault and battery on a child after Haleigh Poutre was hospitalized with a brain injury in 2005.

Wednesday's News Briefs... Posted by The Republican Newsroom March 05, 2008 00:00AM

8mm


610 posted on 03/05/2008 3:30:15 AM PST by 8mmMauser (Jezu ufam tobie...Jesus I trust in Thee)
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To: Dante3; wagglebee
I noticed under the new RSS bar a clickable and that gets us to latest posts. Otherwise, I don't yet see how a lurker or visitor would know our thread exists. Here it is:

Forum: News/Activism (see also: active:news-forum)

611 posted on 03/05/2008 3:38:36 AM PST by 8mmMauser (Jezu ufam tobie...Jesus I trust in Thee)
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To: All
From the Dakota Voice on terms used...

..........................

Brain death and coma are not the same. Often confused, even by health professionals and judges, a “persistent vegetative state,” such as that of Terry Sciavo implies neither cessation of brain function or irreversibility, both basic criteria of brain death. These criteria are codified in the Uniform Definition of Death Act, now recognized in all of the fifty states.

Coma is a neurologic condition in which much of the brain function is impaired and results in degrees of unconsciousness and loss of many basic reflexes and homeostatic activities, such as breathing. This condition may be caused by trauma, hemorrhage, biochemical abnormalities such as hypoglycemia or low blood sugar. Another common cause is intoxication with alcohol, barbiturates, opioids and numerous other substances. In most cases there remains some baseline brain activity detectable with an electroencephalogram (EEG)--most, but not all. So a flat-line EEG is not enough to establish brain death. Further, in all the above cases the condition is reversible, at least potentially.

In Terry Sciavo’s case, EEGs were found to be active in every instance. But, we didn’t need an advanced medical device to make the case that there was brain activity. We all saw the videos of her smiling at her family’s faces, reaching toward balloons, and following people about the room with her eyes. She most certainly suffered significant loss of cerebral function, but she did not lack brain activity and she was not shown to be in an irreversible state, i.e., she was not brain dead (and, she was not comatose). She was pronounced to be in a “persistent vegetative state,” a condition newly coined and nebulously defined. Wikipedia summarizes the conditions thus: “A persistent vegetative state (PVS) is a condition of patients with severe brain damage in whom coma has progressed to a state of wakefulness without detectable awareness.” You don’t have to be a medical ethicist or Harvard neurologist to see how subjective such a definition is......................

Coma, PVS or Brain Death?

8mm

612 posted on 03/05/2008 3:44:21 AM PST by 8mmMauser (Jezu ufam tobie...Jesus I trust in Thee)
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To: All
Caution: This guy writes in the OpEdNews (Opposite of Edification...) and is a former State Department uhhh official. So he just may be a classic limp noodle lib even though he hopes to project a modicum of virility (But, like some mega-testosteroned dude lusting after a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, my resolution collapsed in a wonky heap....)I am trying to imagine the guy wearing his ascot and sipping a fine wine while sitting in my old Ford pickup and looking super macho. Ah well, he carries the albatross of guilt for Terri, too. We can see here.

For the past seven-plus years, we’ve had a president who has trashed science about stem cell research, about Terry Schiavo and end-of-life issues, about humankind’s role in creating greenhouse gasses, and about the efficacy of “abstinence only” programs..............

NO TRIVIA LEFT BEHIND

8mm

613 posted on 03/05/2008 3:56:56 AM PST by 8mmMauser (Jezu ufam tobie...Jesus I trust in Thee)
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To: All
Speaking of some mega-testosteroned dude in the above post, here is someone with a whole lot more. Note, it is for some reason recycled into today's news, but is nearly three years old. Interesting site, Feministe. If you visit their site, don't laugh. These little ladies will bite your head off.

...but for many of these “culture war” issues, it’s not really about winning the legal battle in the short run, it’s about stirring up the faithful and keeping them excited. it was the same thing with terri schiavo. once the FL supreme court ruled there was no chance of winning anymore. and yet congress passed a blatently unconstitutional law just to lead on their base for a little while longer..........

Rape? Incest? Deathly ill? Who cares!

8mm

614 posted on 03/05/2008 4:08:39 AM PST by 8mmMauser (Jezu ufam tobie...Jesus I trust in Thee)
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To: All; wagglebee
I am impressed at how leftists can stretch their rubbery minds to encompass and cuddle such diametrically opposed concepts. In this thread by wagglebee, we see the rightly unequivocal condemnation of a nurse as "evil" in a court of law. Elsewhere we read of the heroics of the euthanasia droolers.

Newcastle, England (LifeNews.com) -- A British nurse has been sentenced to life in prison with no parole for 30 years for killing four elderly patients and attempting to kill a fifth. Colin Norris gave five women overdoses of the diabetes drug insulin as they recovered from hip replacement surgeries because he was too lazy to provide them care.

According to the judge in the case, Norris was "evil" for killing the patients because he thought they were too old and their conditions too poor for him to provide appropriate medical care.

"You are, I have absolutely no doubt, a thoroughly evil and dangerous man," the judge said. "You are an arrogant and manipulative man with a real dislike of elderly patients."..........

British Nurse Gets Life in Prison for Killing Four Elderly Patients Via Euthanasia

8mm

615 posted on 03/05/2008 4:32:42 AM PST by 8mmMauser (Jezu ufam tobie...Jesus I trust in Thee)
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To: 8mmMauser

If you click the “comments” button, it shows the latest comments just like it used to.


616 posted on 03/05/2008 4:38:18 AM PST by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: wagglebee
Oh

;-)

617 posted on 03/05/2008 4:39:33 AM PST by 8mmMauser (Jezu ufam tobie...Jesus I trust in Thee)
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To: wagglebee; All
Wagglebee, if you note my post #614 just above, what a contrast of the Feministes with these figures in history!

Thread by wagglebee.

According to the organization known as Feminists for Life, she opposed both abortion and infanticide, a position noted in The Revolution, the newspaper published by Stanton and the legendary Susan B. Anthony. When her seventh child was born, Stanton celebrated her motherhood by hoisting a flag in front of her home, indicating that she was as overjoyed with her seventh as she had been with her first...........

Women's History Month Should Follow the Footsteps of Early Pro-Life Feminists

8mm

618 posted on 03/05/2008 4:44:25 AM PST by 8mmMauser (Jezu ufam tobie...Jesus I trust in Thee)
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To: 8mmMauser; BykrBayb; floriduh voter

I’m just glad that the women who frequent the Terri Dailies threads aren’t feminazis because I wouldn’t want to be on THEIR bad side! :-)


619 posted on 03/05/2008 4:47:24 AM PST by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: 8mmMauser

I really don’t know why Jim changed the format, it was fine the way it was.


620 posted on 03/05/2008 4:53:31 AM PST by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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