Attorney Who Aided Terri Schiavo’s Husband Now Advising Barack Obama

Life News ^ | 12/7/08 | Steven Ertelt

[wagglebee]

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- An attorney who won an award for representing Terri Schiavo’s husband Michael in his efforts to kill his disabled wife is now an advisor to the transition team of incoming president Barack Obama.

Thomas Perrelli, who raised over $500,000 for the pro-abortion presidential candidate and is the managing partner of a Washington law firm, Jenner & Block LLP, is helping advise Obama on putting together a Justice Department team.

However, Perrelli provided Michael Schiavo with legal advice during his response to the Congressional bill that President Bush signed allowing the Schindler fail to take their lawsuit seeking to prevent Terri’s euthanasia death from state to federal courts.

Perrelli led the Jenner & Block team that developed the legal briefs opposing appeals for Michael and he ultimately received the Albert E. Jenner, Jr. Pro Bono Award in October 2006 for representing Terri’s former husband at no cost.

On Michael’s legal team, Perrelli worked with infamous pro-euthanasia attorney George Felos as well as lawyers from the Florida chapter of the ACLU.

Obama’s selection of Perrelli to participate on his Justice Department transition team is no surprise given his comments on Terri’s painful 13-day starvation and dehydration death during the presidential campaign.

During his debate with Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary, Obama said his biggest mistake was voting with a unanimous Senate to help save Terri.

In March 2005, just weeks before Terri died, Congress approved legislation allowing her family to take its case from state courts to federal courts in an effort to stop the euthanasia from proceeding.

Terri was not on any artificial breathing apparatus and only required a feeding tube to eat and drink. Her family had filed a lawsuit against her former husband to allow them to care for her and give her proper medical and rehabilitative care.

The Senate unanimously approved a compromise bill, which the House eventually supported on a lopsided bipartisan vote and President Bush signed, to help the disabled woman.

Obama said he should have stood up against the life-saving legislation.

“It wasn't something I was comfortable with, but it was not something that I stood on the floor and stopped,” Obama said.

“And I think that was a mistake, and I think the American people understood that that was a mistake. And as a constitutional law professor, I knew better,” he added.

That wasn't the first time Obama said he regretted supporting the bill to protect the disabled woman.

During an April 2007 debate, Obama said, "I think professionally the biggest mistake that I made was when I first arrived in the Senate. There was a debate about Terri Schiavo, and a lot of us, including me, left the Senate with a bill that allowed Congress to intrude where it shouldn't have.”

"And I think I should have stayed in the Senate and fought more for making sure [Terri's parents couldn't take their case to federal court to save her life]," he explained.

Since Terri’s death, the Schindler family has established a foundation to help disabled and elderly patients obtain proper medical care and legal and other assistance when they are denied it.

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

[wagglebee]

Just as the Nazis sacrificed arming their troops to fund the Death Camps during the Holocaust, Planned Barrenhood will not let a recession stand in the way of killing babies.

Thread by me.

Planned Parenthood Thinks Helping Homeless Means Abortion and Birth Control

Santa Barbara, CA (LifeNews.com) -- Thousands of Americans face the challenge of homelessness every day and, while most of them struggle with finding food, shelter or work, Planned Parenthood believes they need something else. The local affiliate of the nation’s largest abortion business in Santa Barbara, California is offering the homeless birth control and abortion...

[KellyM37]

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[wagglebee]

It is sad that it is even necessary for the Church to define the dignity of a person.

Thread by Salvation.

The Dignity of a Person: Vital Instruction from the Church [Dignitas Personae]

On Friday, December 12, 2008, the Feast of our Lady of Guadalupe, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) released its long-awaited document on bioethics that responds to “new problems regarding procreation” and “new procedures involving the manipulation of embryos and the human genetic patrimony.” (http://www.usccb.org/comm/Dignitaspersonae/Dignitas_Personae.pdf.  Called Dignitas Personae (The Dignity of a Person), the Instruction is seen as the sequel to Donum vitae (The Gift of Life), another document on bioethics published by the CDF over twenty years ago on February 22, 1987. 

Dignitas Personae is divided into three parts flanked by a brief introduction and a conclusion.

In the first part, the CDF summarizes the basic moral principles that have to guide an individual “in light both of reason and of faith” as he faces the moral questions raised by technological advances that impact either the human embryo or human reproduction.  There are two basic moral criteria.  First, we need to respect the intrinsic dignity and inviolability of the human person from the very first moment of his existence (no. 4).  Second, we need to recognize that human procreation, because of the dignity of the human person, should only occur within the context of marriage and only as a result of an act — the conjugal act — that expresses the reciprocal love between a man and a woman (no. 6). 

In the second part, the CDF responds to several moral questions raised by advances in technology that impact human reproduction.  With regard to medical interventions that treat infertility, the CDF embraces techniques that “act as an aid to the conjugal act and its fertility,” especially interventions that seek to remove obstacles to natural fertilization (no. 12).  However, the Congregation also condemns many techniques associated with in-vitro fertilization (IVF) because they substitute for the conjugal act between husband and wife. As Dignitas Personae reiterates, the Catholic Church teaches that it is ethically unacceptable to dissociate procreation from the integrally personal context of the conjugal act.  IVF is especially objectionable because it “very frequently involves the deliberate destruction of embryos” (no. 14).  Dignitas Personae is also critical of cryopreservation, the technology used to freeze human embryos, because it is “incompatible with the respect owed to human embryos; it presupposes their production in vitro; it exposes them to the serious risk of death or physical harm, since a high percentage does not survive the process of freezing and thawing; it deprives them at least temporarily of maternal reception and gestation; it places them in a situation in which they are susceptible to further offense and manipulation” (no. 18).  The final part of this second section, highlights the moral problems raised by drugs and other technical means that seek to prevent a pregnancy by destroying a human embryo either before he implants himself into his mother’s womb (interceptive methods) or after he is implanted (contragestive methods).   Interceptive methods include the intrauterine device (IUD) and certain forms of the “morning after pill,” while contragestive methods include RU-486 and methotrexate (no. 23).

In the third part of Dignitas Personae, the CDF deals with technology that manipulates the human embryo and/or human inheritance.  First, the document distinguishes two forms of gene therapy.  Procedures that genetically alter somatic cells — the cells in the human body other than sperm and eggs — are in principle morally licit as long as they aim to cure genetic disease and they are only performed after the patient has given his informed consent (no. 26).  In contrast, procedures that genetically alter the reproductive cells of a patient are morally problematic because at the present time they would inevitably harm the individual’s children because of technological limitations.  The CDF moves on to deal with human cloning and stem cells.  The Church unequivocally condemns all attempts to create and destroy human embryos even if these efforts are to cures the sick because this would be completely incompatible with human dignity (no. 30).  It “makes the existence of a human being at the embryonic stage nothing more than a means to be used and destroyed.  It is gravely immoral to sacrifice a human life for therapeutic ends” (no. 30).  Techniques that try to create human/animal embryos are morally illicit for the same reason.  Finally, Dignitas Personae teaches that Christians and other individuals of good conscience need to distance themselves from a scientific and a medical culture that use biological material derived from morally illicit origins, including tissues and cells obtained from abortions and the destruction of human embryos (no. 35).  This would avoid any cooperation with evil or scandal.  However, parents may still use vaccines obtained with cells derived from aborted fetuses as long as they make known their moral disagreement and ask that their healthcare system make other vaccines available (no. 35). 

In the conclusion of Dignitas Personae, the CDF reminds Christians and all persons of good conscience that the Church is not anti-science.  Rather the Church seeks to protect the dignity of the human person: “The fulfillment of this duty implies courageous opposition to all those practices which result in grave and unjust discrimination against unborn human beings, who have the dignity of a person, created like others in the image of God.  Behind every ‘no’ in the difficult task of discerning between good and evil, there shines a great ‘yes’ to the recognition of the dignity and inalienable value of every single and unique human being called into existence” (no. 37).

[wagglebee]

The bailout for Big Murder now has a price tag.

Thread by me.

Planned Parenthood Abortion Funding Requests in Obama Memo Top $4.6 Billion

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Planned Parenthood and dozens of other abortion advocacy groups presented their wish list to incoming President Barack Obama in a secret memo last week that wound up published on the transition team web site. In the memo the nation’s largest abortion business requested $4.6 billion in taxpayer funding for abortion and other efforts...

[wagglebee]

Unfortunately, these rules will probably be invalid on January 21st.

Thread by me.

Bush Administration Finalizes Rule Protecting Medical Professionals on Abortion

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Bush administration has finalized the new rules that protect both medical professionals and medical staff who don’t want to be involved in abortions or abortion referrals. The Department of Health and Human Services released the final rule that will go into effect on January 20.

The new regulations are intended to clarify and enforce existing federal laws that protect the choices of health care providers who have moral objections to abortion...

[wagglebee]

Haleigh Poutre Update

This sentence is a travesty!

Stepfather gets 12-15 years

SPRINGFIELD - Jason D. Strickland will spend 12 to 15 years in state prison on charges in the child abuse case that left his stepdaughter Haleigh Poutre with a severe brain injury.

Judge Judd J. Carhart Thursday imposed consecutive prison terms of eight to 10 years and four to five years, saying Strickland's "action, or inaction" had caused substantial harm to the child and that he had violated one of life's most precious gifts - the care of a child.

A jury on Nov. 26 convicted Strickland in Hampden Superior Court of charges he allowed serious injury to be caused to the then 11-year-old Westfield girl in 2005. The defense had argued that Strickland had believed his late wife, Holli A. Strickland, Haleigh's adoptive mother, when she told him the child was self-abusive...

[Salvation]

**We will not back down or be silenced in our fight against this e**

Amen and Amen!

[wagglebee]

We can NEVER give up hope.

Thread by GonzoII.

Pro-Life Hope, 2008

If year 2007 was the year of “pro-life” movies, flawed Hollywood projects that nonetheless showed a main character choosing life, the year 2008 is the year of pro-life new media and youth movements...

[wagglebee]

An amazingly well-balanced editorial from the UK Guardian.

Thread by me.

Parliament needs to address the moral case for assisted suicide (UK)

It is a criminal offence to 'aid, abet, counsel or procure' someone else's suicide. But last week the Director of Public Prosecutions said there would be no charges against the parents of Daniel James, who accompanied their son earlier this year to a clinic in Switzerland where, with assistance, he ended his life...

[wagglebee]

A modern-day Mengele speaks out.

Thread by me.

(Swiss) Assisted suicide activist speaks out on debate

Two high-profile cases of assisted suicide involving people in Britain have once again revived debate over the right to a dignified death.

Swiss surgeon Jérôme Sobel, president of the Swiss assisted suicide organisation Exit, talks to swissinfo about the realities of assisted death in Switzerland and Europe.

Craig Ewert, a 59-year-old motor neurone disease sufferer from Harrogate, Britain, died in Switzerland in 2006, having been helped by the controversial charity Dignitas. Last week television channel Sky News caused controversy when it showed a documentary of the last moments of the computer science professor's life.

The film was shown during the same week that a British coroner ruled that Daniel James, 23, a young rugby player who became paralysed from the neck down, intended to end his own life when he visited an assisted-dying clinic in Switzerland earlier this year.

The British Crown Prosecution Service announced it would take no action against James's parents for helping him. Mark and Julie James faced a maximum sentence of 14 years if they were tried under the Suicide Act.

Direct active euthanasia is taking specific steps to cause the patient's death, such as injecting the patient with drugs. Indirect active euthanasia is giving the patient a palliative that could lead to death.

Assisted suicide is when a doctor provides a patient with the means to end his own life; however, a doctor does not administer it...

"We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will give you no rest."

[wagglebee]

Godspeed to a true conservative giant!

Thread by tcg.

Rest in Peace Fr. Deacon Paul Weyrich

He was Father Deacon Paul Weyrich to me; a Proto- Deacon of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church who served the Holy Altar, for as long as he could stand, with deep piety. A man who bore the dignity of his clerical office, Father Deacon Paul loved the Lord and he loved Christ’s Church. He is now serving the eternal Liturgy in heaven.

...Paul Weyrich was so much more than politics. He was a faithful member of the Order of Deacons, a Catholic Clergyman who knew that some truths revealed by the Natural law (and confirmed in Christian Revelation) like the dignity of every human life from conception to natural death, were not just for “religious people”. Rather they have to be the foundation of every society or that society will never be free. He left a legacy of thought and action which others must now build on...

[little jeremiah]

Thank you for posting all these.

[wagglebee]

It will probably be a slow news week and I will be out of town for most of it, but I want to thank each and every one of you for your dedication to life.

Merry Christmas and God Bless.

[wagglebee]

Our devoted friend Judie Brown has scored another victory in the fight against the culture of death!

Thread by me.

Planned Parenthood Out of Texas Panhandle: STOPP Plan Ousts Abortion Chain from Amarillo

WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 /Christian Newswire/ -- American Life League and the Diocese of Amarillo scored a major victory this week as Planned Parenthood prepares to completely withdraw from the Texas Panhandle.

Using American Life League's STOPP project to defeat Planned Parenthood the nation's largest abortion chain has been completely eradicated from the diocese of Amarillo, Texas.

"Once again we see that the STOP Planned Parenthood plan works – even on a grand scale," said Jim Sedlak, vice president of American Life League and director of the STOPP project. "We have been honored to work closely with Bishop John Yanta, Respect Life Coordinator Rita Diller, and all those in the Amarillo Diocese who, since 1997, have worked towards the day when Planned Parenthood would no longer exist in the Texas Panhandle. Through the grace of God, that day will come next week."

...

[Twink]

Merry Christmas :)

Thanks for all you do.

[BykrBayb]

Merry Christmas! Enjoy your travels.

[Lesforlife]

I know I speak for many when I say how very much I/we
appreciate your efforts to keep our Terri group cohesive
in our battle against the forces of death!!

May our Lord bless you and yours this Christmas!

[Sun]

“Planned Parenthood Out of Texas Panhandle: STOPP Plan Ousts Abortion Chain from Amarillo”

What great news! Goes to show what can happen if we just keep fighting.

[Sun]

Merry Christmas to All!