Terri Schiavo's Family Condemns Ruling Allowing Killing of Eluana Englaro

Life News ^ | 11/13/08 | Steven Ertelt

[wagglebee]

Rome, Italy (LifeNews.com) -- The brother of Terri Schiavo is condemning the decision handed down today by an Italian court allowing Eluana Englaro's father to starve her to death. Englaro went into a coma after an accident and her father wants to remove her feeding tube and starve and dehydrate her to death.

The painful death will be similar to the 13 days without food and water that Schiavo endured before her death.

Terri's brother, Bobby Schindler, told LifeNews.com that he thinks the court should not have allowed the Englaro's father to remove her basic care.

"Today’s ruling will clear the way for Eluana to experience a barbaric and inhumane death by starvation and dehydration," he said.

Schindler is worried that the kind of horrible bioethics that prompted courts in the United States to allow his sister's former husband to kill her is making its way across the globe.

“This court's ruling seems to indicate that American ‘medical ethics’ are spreading like a virus among the international community, threatening countless numbers of elderly, ailing and disabled persons in an increasing and alarming way,” Schindler noted.

Schindler says the case points to the need for people to do more to offer protection to disabled patients like Englaro.

“Our heart goes out to this family as we know very well the profound affect that these types of injuries can have on loved ones," he said.

"However, we must remember that we have a grave obligation to do all we can to protect those with disabilities, recognizing that a person with a brain injury is a human being with an inherent dignity and a right to life," Schindler told LifeNews.com.

"This young girl needs only food and water and her family’s love to survive. At the very least this should be provided to her," he added.

Since Schiavo's death, the Schindler family has started a foundation to help ensure patients receive appropriate medical care and treatment and to assist their families.

Related web sites:
Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation - http://www.terrisfight.org

[wagglebee]

"However, we must remember that we have a grave obligation to do all we can to protect those with disabilities, recognizing that a person with a brain injury is a human being with an inherent dignity and a right to life," Schindler told LifeNews.com.

"This young girl needs only food and water and her family’s love to survive. At the very least this should be provided to her," he added.

And barbarians are denying her this.

[wagglebee]

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[TAdams8591]

They are barbarians, though the term I would use would get me kicked off FR.

[wagglebee]

Pinged from Terri Dailies

[JustaDumbBlonde]

Did the woman in Italy have a wish not to be kept alive with no hope for recovery? Was that why the court ruled the way it did? Do the doctors say that she is in PVS? Is there other family that desires to keep her alive and provide for her every need? The story above left me with those questions.

[wagglebee]

Did the woman in Italy have a wish not to be kept alive with no hope for recovery?

You are missing the point, she NEVER indicated that she DID NOT want to and plenty of people in worse condition than her have recovered.

Do the doctors say that she is in PVS?

Yes, but the only doctors who subscribe this diagnosis are the ones who want to kill the patient.

Is there other family that desires to keep her alive and provide for her every need?

I'm not sure if there are other relatives, but there are plenty in the pro-life movement who are prepared to care for her.

[JustaDumbBlonde]

"You are missing the point, she NEVER indicated that she DID NOT want to and plenty of people in worse condition than her have recovered."

No, you're missing the question. Does her father claim that she indicated that she would not want to live in a vegetative state? I'm not looking for your opinion of her condition relative to any other person's condition.

"Yes, but the only doctors who subscribe this diagnosis are the ones who want to kill the patient."

Every doctor that makes that determination does not want a patient to die.

"I'm not sure if there are other relatives, but there are plenty in the pro-life movement who are prepared to care for her."

You are willing to take this woman into your home and care for her every need? Or, are you prepared to pay for her care for the rest of her life somewhere other than your home? Or, are you prepared to sit with and care for her in a nursing home setting? Is there a list of people willing to do these things for folks that they don't even know? If you don't want to pay, do you contend that the state should?

You know, wagglebee, it gets really old to get your attitude every time I ask a question on one of these threads. I didn't state any particular position on the matter, I simply asked a few specific questions. I was not disrespectful to the subject or toward the woman in the article. There may be others like me that are trying to make determinations and have questions. Responding in the tone that you do really does nothing to further your cause. It simply drives people away. Perhaps that is what you want.

If you want nothing but comments in agreement with your opinions on the subject, it would be really nice if you would just let that be known up front.

[baa39]

For more details, see article posted last night on this same topic and well-informed comments. She is alive, breathes independently, is semi-conscious, only needs food and water. We’re not talking someone essentially “dead” whose body is kept going by machines.

Also, there is no such thing as a PVS.

[JustaDumbBlonde]

"For more details, see article posted last night on this same topic and well-informed comments."

Thank you, I will find that article and read the thread.

"... only needs food and water."

So, she doesn't need anything else besides a feeding tube? No turning her body or massaging her muscles? No diaper changing? No bathing and other hygiene? No personal contact?

"Also, there is no such thing as a PVS."

Call it what you want. There are bodies being kept alive that have no brain activity other than rudimentary functions like breathing. I am in no way putting this woman in that category with that statement.

[baa39]

“So, she doesn’t need anything else besides a feeding tube? No turning her body or massaging her muscles? No diaper changing? No bathing and other hygiene? No personal contact?...Miminal brain activity...”

If a human being needs those things, it is the moral obligation of other human beings to provide them. A two-year old needs those things, so if her father doesn’t want to be bothered, does he go and ask the court for an order to kill the two-year old? This woman is 36 years old; so what. If her father abandons her, if there is no money, those are not valid issues to kill someone.

If you think they are, I hope you aren’t ever in the situation of lying in a hospital bed while those around you discuss your death, believing you cannot hear, and all the while your brain is working much better than anyone knew, as has happened over and over and over again with “comatose” patients.

The argument that inconvenience or expense justifies a disabled person’s extermination is depraved. We have obligations as humans to care for the weak, sick, poor. If her father has abandoned his responsibility, there are, thank God, many Christian people who willingly care for those in need who are not related to them.

[JustaDumbBlonde]

“So, she doesn’t need anything else besides a feeding tube? No turning her body or massaging her muscles? No diaper changing? No bathing and other hygiene? No personal contact?...Miminal brain activity...”

Why is it that you felt the need to put words that I never said into this quotation? That is just dishonest in any discussion, and I don't appreciate what is clearly your intention to take my questions and characterize them as a position of which you don't approve.

You made the statement that all this woman needed was food and water. I think that everyone can grasp the notion that she and people like her need much more than food and water. They need a home and at least a couple of people to care for them, in addition to medical care.

"If you think they are, I hope you aren’t ever in the situation ..."

I asked questions in response to your statements. I never indicated how I feel on the matter, one way or another. Actually, I take each case with its own unique set of circumstances and try to form an opinion. I have yet to receive enough information to attempt an opinion because nobody wants to answer simple questions. I still want to know if the court ruled the way it did in this case because the daughter had expressed to her father that she would not want to be kept alive with no real hope for a recovery. Do you know and, if you do, will you answer the question without a dissertation about my desire for that answer goes against your belief system? I'm not trying to have a debate on her medical condition because I am not qualified to do so and I suspect that you aren't either.

If the judge in this case ruled tomorrow that this woman's father has no right to make decisions for her, would you be willing to take her into your home and care for her, at your own expense, for the rest of her life? If not your home, are you willing to write a check for her care for the next 30 or 40 years? Those are simple questions and a direct answer would be appreciated.

"The argument that inconvenience or expense justifies a disabled person’s extermination is depraved."

I certainly never made that argument. With a broad statement like that, I'd have to agree with you. "Disabled" covers a wide range of conditions and I am not in favor of people being killed because they have a disability.

"If her father has abandoned his responsibility, there are, thank God, many Christian people who willingly care for those in need who are not related to them."

Who are these people and who foots the bill? It is easier to make these statements than to come across with the money and care. This woman is in Italy. Should my tax dollars go to her care? If not, how am I to assume my responsibility? If you've got a system in mind, please share.