Battle Over Possible Euthanasia of New York Teenager Gets Pro-Life Attention

Life News ^ | 1/1/08 | Steven Ertelt

[wagglebee]

Bronx, NY (LifeNews.com) -- The battle over the life and death of a teenage girl in New York has drawn the attention of pro-life advocates in recent days. The fight to save Javona Peters reminds some of the struggle of the Schindler family in Florida to save the life of Terri Schiavo, a beloved daughter and sibling whose former husband eventually took her life.

In this case, Peters' parents are disagreeing on whether or not to remove her feeding tube and take her life.

Peters fell into a coma in October while she had a routine medical procedure at Montefiore Medical Center. Doctors have pegged her as being in a persistent vegetative state, a medical diagnosis pro-life advocates dispute because so many patients have partially or fully recovered.

Peters' parents were never married and are estranged and have considered a medical malpractice suit against the hospital, according to a New York Daily News report.

But Janet Joseph and Leonard Peters are also feuding over Peters' care and have each filed separate requests to be given custody of their daughter. Peters has been opposed to removing the feeding tube but has wavered recently.

Edward Gersowitz, an attorney for Joseph, told the newspaper that "Because of her condition, she cannot make decisions for herself, and the court will have to appoint a guardian to make decisions for her."

As a teen, Peters doesn't have a living will or some other advanced directive providing guidelines for the type of medical treatment, or withdrawal, she favors.

The case has drawn the attention of the Schindler family, which sent out a notice about the case from its foundation, which helps disabled patients receive legal help and appropriate medical care.

Leading bioethics watchdog Wesley J. Smith has also commented on it and he says the PVS diagnosis seems "rushed" to him.

Smith says he sympathizes with the father and the pressure he is under to take Peters' life.

"We know that too often medical teams and social workers pressure and cajole for such outcomes," he said.

Smith draws comparisons to the case of Haleigh Poutre, a Massachusetts girl whom LifeNews.com reported was also declared PVS, but who has recovered from the abuse she suffered.

In that case, state government officials had ordered her feeding tube removed but she recovered from the PVS state shortly beforehand.

[8mmMauser]

Living will stuff...

The most notable case that naturally comes to everyone's mind is the Schiavo case. The care of Terri Schiavo case resulted in many years of legal battles between her husband, who believed her feeding tube should be removed because she was in a vegetative state for years, and her parents, who maintained hope that she had the potential to recover from this state.

It brings to light the importance of documenting your wishes regarding medical treatment and then sharing this information with your loved ones and designated patient advocate in order to ensure that they clearly understand your intent for medical treatment.

The case remained a hot issue in our courts for many years because Mrs. Schiavo did not have documentation in place regarding her wishes. The battle between her husband and her family carried on right up until the final days of her life...........

End-of-life discussions with family important... Living will allows you to state desires

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[8mmMauser]

I mentioned before, and it persists. A site purporting to be satire grooms a grim obsession with Terri and her plight, digging up stuff from the satire cemetery and propping it up once more. Whatever their infection, I guess it is not contagious. I don't read the stuff but offer the link for any interested.

Jeb Bush Launches Probe into Schiavo Collapse and President Lincoln's Assassination

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[8mmMauser]

Pro-life coming to a pro-death "Christian" denomination??

Thread by wagglebee.

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A pro-life organization for members of the Methodist Church says it hopes the Protestant Christian denomination will reform its long-standing pro-abortion views. The group hopes Methodists will be open to the message of Bishop William Willimon of Birmingham, who will be delivering a pro-life speech on Tuesday before the March for Life.

LifeWatch, the unofficial United Methodist pro-life caucus, says Bishop Willimon will address the group in the chapel of the United Methodist Building, headquarters of the pro-abortion United Methodist Board of Church and Society........

Pro-Life Group Wants United Methodist Church to Abandon Pro-Abortion View

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[8mmMauser]

Who knows better than those who have been there? Thread by wagglebee...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- As Americans mourn 35 years of legalized abortion, some of the men and women involved in abortion decisions say the pain and regret from the abortion has prompted them to become strongly pro-life. These post-abortive men and women are the face of not only the pro-life movement but of the problems abortion causes.

Matt Barber, the director of policy and cultural issues for Concerned Women of America told LifeNews.com about his personal account of how abortion affects men.

Women and Men Involved in Abortions Have Tremendous Impact on Debate

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[8mmMauser]

Hopefully some gaining of momentum. Thread by wagglebee.

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Pro-life advocates across the country are preparing for the second round of a 40-day campaign to renew local opposition to abortion businesses in their community. The 40 Days for Life campaign had tremendous success the first time around in rebuilding pro-life groups and talking women out of having abortions.

David Bereit, the director of the campaign, told LifeNews.com that "pro-life advocates in 59 cities across 31 states are preparing to launch the next wave.".................

Pro-Life Advocates Prepare Second 40-Day Campaign Against Abortion

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[8mmMauser]

It would appear a new day is dawning in Hollywood as pro-life themes pay off.

Thread by Wolf13. Thanks, narses, for the ping.

With little media fanfare, Hollywood is creating a new genre of films marketed to the prolific ticket buyers who make up its target demographic, teens and young adults. Though not known as a conservative bastion, the movie industry has always been quick to pick up trends that turn a profit. And among America's young people, pro-life is in.

Consider the recent sleeper hit "Juno," the story of a precocious 16-year-old who becomes pregnant following a tryst with her best friend. Juno initially contemplates abortion but hesitates after talking with a pro-life counselor. Juno ultimately decides for life, giving her child to a young couple unable to conceive..............

Generation Next moves beyond abortions

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[Sun]

I’ve been listening to the pro-life march on EWTN Shortwave radio, and they are now marching up Constitution Ave.

They had wonderful speakers today, as usual, congresspersons, senators, priests, bishops, ministers, et al, including Bobby Schindler. He said, among other things, that it was easier to kill his sister, than kill her memory, and he is correct. We will NEVER forget.

[wagglebee]

He said, among other things, that it was easier to kill his sister, than kill her memory, and he is correct.

That's what angers the culture of death the most, they HATE the fact that we still cherish Terri's memory and legacy.

[Sun]

“That’s what angers the culture of death the most, they HATE the fact that we still cherish Terri’s memory and legacy.”

It must be their guilt.

[wagglebee]

A concscience is required to feel guilt, it is their lust for power.

[8mmMauser]

It is almost three years now and the news coverage related to Terri continues unabated. We do not forget and we do not let them forget. So they carry the burden. Conscience or guilt or whatever, it matters not, the burden of the albatross weighs on. We are the tell-tale heart of Edgar Allen Poe.

Shakespeare's Lady MacBeth muttered, "Out, damned spot! out, I say!"

And our own heroine, Sophie Scholl,

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

[8mmMauser]

A National Ledger article...

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

Patrick Wood of the August Review, an excellent newsletter covering political and economic developments, says January 22 could be “Black Tuesday” because of a meltdown in the financial markets. But it’s Black Tuesday for another reason―the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision allowing abortion on demand. We should anticipate that the major media will make economic but not moral collapse into a national story. After all, cultural rot is a rather old story, isn’t it? In terms of Roe v. Wade, it goes back 35 years. 

Tony Melendez: The Man Who Plays Guitar with His Feet

If you’re younger than that, give thanks to God and your parents. Despite what our founders intended, the government doesn’t guarantee your right to life anymore. In fact, it helps accelerate your demise.  

If his mother had been given the “right” of access to “abortion services,” Tony Melendez might not be around today. He was born without arms. He had eleven toes and a club foot. But on Monday night, at a high school in Calvert County, Maryland, he played the guitar and threw a Frisbee into the audience. It was a packed house, mostly full of young people. They’re attending the March for Life in Washington, D.C. In this auditorium there was hope for America.  

Melendez, labeled a “monster” by his neighbors in Nicaragua after he was born, plays the guitar without arms. He plays with his feet. He holds the guitar pick in his toes. His company is aptly named “Toe Jam Music.” His book, A Gift of Hope, is inspiring. One thing he had going for him was a mother who loved him and cared. “Don’t worry,” she told him. “God has something wonderful in mind for you. Trust God, and don’t get impatient.”  

If you have never had the opportunity to see Tony Melendez, go to his website or the videos of his appearances. One of his songs is titled “Hands in Heaven.” He is the voice of the disabled―another group of people increasingly at risk in our “progressive” society.   

Tony’s brother José talked about how he was embarrassed by his brother growing up. José went to his mother, saying that he was tired of the ribbing and that he wanted a “normal” brother. He wanted a brother he could play Frisbee with. So Tony, who doesn’t shrink from challenges, learned how to play. He catches a Frisbee, between his cheek and top of his shoulder, and throws it by holding and releasing it from his toes. To prove all of this is possible to those in the auditorium, he caught the Frisbee on stage and threw it into the audience. José learned rather quickly: “I was the disabled one.”  

Wesley Smith of the Discovery Institute writes about another disabled person, known as “Baby Miracle,” born four months ago in Samoa with serious disabilities. “Doctors did not believe the baby could survive, so they urged the parents not to feed their daughter,” he says. “But the parents loved their daughter and snuck food to Miracle. Beyond all medical expectations, Miracle survived.”  

Smith comments, “Ponder, if you will, what I just wrote: Miracle’s parents had to sneak food into the hospital! This wasn't even a feeding tube case. Had the parents acquiesced and permitted Miracle to starve, her death would have been akin to being exposed on a hill—the method ancient Romans used to rid themselves of ‘defective’ babies.”

Here in America, in 2005, a disabled woman named Terri Schiavo was receiving food and water but it was taken away and she was slowly starved to death. As her brother Bobby told me, “She had no terminal illness. She wasn’t on any machines. All she needed was a wheelchair and she could have been taken anywhere. She didn’t even need to be confined to a bed.” She was brain damaged but not brain dead.  

Benjamin Wiker, co-author of the blockbuster book, Architects of the Culture of Death, described what happened to Terri Schiavo as “court-sanctioned torture.”  

This is a loaded word. The term “torture” is thrown around by the political left these days. They want to spare terrorists from interrogation techniques they consider torture such as waterboarding. In the same vein, the left contends that certain lethal injection procedures constitute “cruel and unusual punishment” when used to carry out capital punishment on convicted killers. Some opponents of the death penalty also insist that life imprisonment for murderers can be cruel and unusual punishment.  

Starving someone to death sounds like torture to me. But the media never referred to it in those terms. Instead, it became the “right to die.” This is the media war of words that numbs us to the reality of what is taking place.   

Terri Schiavo, an innocent person not convicted of any crime against anyone, was starved to death by order of the government. President Bush and the Republican Congress, to their credit, tried to have the case reviewed, so that her rights would be protected. The effort ultimately failed. The political left, except for a few notables such as Ralph Nader, didn’t raise any objections. Nader pointed out that Terri’s parents and siblings wanted to take care of her. So why deny her the benefit of life? Nader asked, “Why does Terri need to die? What interest, given the family’s desire to care for her, does the government have in ordering a fatal procedure?”

Meanwhile, because of pressure from the left, the United Nations, and the “international community,” suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay are entitled to special “dietary and cultural amenities.” One high-value detainee reportedly complained that he and others were given “cheap branded, unscented soap.” The liberals cry tears over this. The detainees get expensive lawyers.  

What explains this perverted approach? There are philosophical explanations for what has happened to America and the world. The Supreme Court is a key battleground, of course. But I prefer to look at it from another perspective. Simply put, we have become a nation of cowards, afraid to do what is right and necessary for our national survival.

The terrorists and criminals that we should want to expel or keep out of our society can fight back. We as a society are scared of them. We are afraid to exercise our rightful moral authority over them. They are bullies who intimidate us. We are afraid to stand up for ourselves as human beings, even when the lives of our loved ones are at stake.  

So we pretend we’re macho by exercising the power of life and death over the most innocent and defenseless among us. As the headline over Wesley Smith’s article puts it: “Waging War on the Weak.” Increasingly, this is being rationalized by saying that there are just too many people using too many resources.  

As Smith also suggests, it can happen here. In fact, it is happening here. But the big story today will be what is happening to our financial portfolios.

Cliff Kincaid is the Editor of Accuracy in Media.

Tony Melendez: The Man Who Plays Guitar with His Feet

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[8mmMauser]

I find this letter noteworthy, in part because of what they say about Fr. Paul Marx, a priest who had stunning positive effect on us so many years ago by the way he and his people accepted our handicapped son. It is also noteworthy in that they apparently had only the media for a guide in considering Terri to be of vegetative state, still saw the greater truths.

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Roe’s Rotten Fruit

Relevant to “The Culture of Death Will End” (Jan. 20):

In 1973, Roe v. Wade determined that the unborn are not persons, have no constitutional rights, and can be killed for convenience.

The pro-life movement, developing in opposition to this affront to morality, humanity and justice, warned of the Pandora’s Box threatening human life, which was thus opened.

In 1974, Father Paul Marx, founder of Human Life International, warned in a brochure, “The Mercy Killers,” that “zealousness in death promotion” was already under way.

He exposed the connection linking abortion, euthanasia and population control.

He noted clever slogans employed to desensitize people, and make abortion and euthanasia acceptable. “Right to choose,” “reproductive rights,” “right to die,” “right to control one’s destiny”: All sound so positive yet obviously inspired by the father of all lies — the devil himself.

What has evolved in this 35-year culture of death? More than 40 million unborn babies murdered (many by methods so barbaric they wouldn’t be used on animals), babies’ body parts and embryonic stem cells from the tiny victims sold at significant profit, for questionable, illusory experiments.

And along the human continuum of life, the chronically ill, severely disabled and frail elderly, are now being euthanized for convenience.

Hospices, once providing places for peaceful death with dignity, often withhold basic necessities of food and water to hasten death (sometimes ensuring better condition of transplant organs).

Now another movement has joined euthanasia: “palliative care,” originally formed to protect the right to life (now infiltrated by the culture of death).

Its adherents would deny personhood, thus human rights, to embryos, fetuses, newborns and those in vegetative states (i.e. Terri Schiavo), the cognitively impaired (Alzheimer’s patients), etc. All would be denied any right to life.

Euthanasia, assisted suicide, deliberate starvation and dehydration have joined abortion as fruits of the poisoned tree of Roe v. Wade.

Edwina and Gene Cosgriff

Staten Island, New York

RoeÂ’s Rotten Fruit

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[8mmMauser]

A reminder...

When the 13th annual assembly of the Florida Chautauqua Center convenes for its four-day run Jan. 31, its theme will coincide with the upcoming presidential elections.

~Snip~

Delivering the keynote address for the assembly’s opening is Bobby Schindler, brother of Terri Schiavo, speaking on euthanasia. He will also sign copies of his book, “A Life that Matters.”

Chautauqua Assembly returns for 13th year

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[8mmMauser]

The News Puppies are at it again. "We retort, you divide."

After almost a whole hour of the murdered Marine, Drew Peterson, a suspect in the Madeleine case, and a missing white teenage girl, I was beginning to despair that there would be nothing to write about in last night’s (January 21st) Big Story. But sure as FOX isn’t “fair and balanced,” along came a segment to show just that.

One of FOX’s recurring messages is that Hollywood is full of liberals who push their evil, liberal agenda onto the God-fearing conservatives of the nation. This meme was reinforced last night by co-hosts Allison Camerota and Greg Jarrett. (Comment: while not as outrageously and blatantly right wing as Gibson, they do work in the perfunctory FOX messages.)

~Snip~

Camerota then told the audience that the person being cast for the role of Bush is actor Josh Brolin, who is none other than the step-son of Barbra Streisand, “one of the most outspoken liberals who has even called for the impeachment of the president.” (Comment: along with 39 to 45% of Americans and a number of members of Congress). She introduced the guest pundit, Brian Darling of the conservative Heritage Foundation. Not noted was that Mr. Darling was forced to resign as legal counsel to former Republican Senator Mel Martinez after having admitted that he was the author of the Schiavo Memo – a talking points memo detailing how the Republicans could use the Schiavo matter for political gain. Also, as a member of Bush’s recount team during the 2000 election, Darling’s objectivity could be questioned.

Those Darned Hollywood Liberals Are At It Again!

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[8mmMauser]

In St. Pete an appeal to the Lynch mob...

Terry is the wife of Randall Terry, who made national news protesting the removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube before she died. Tuesday he said his anti-abortion group, the Society for Truth and Justice, had been passing out the fliers at Catholic churches in a half-dozen states, but not until Sunday had any church summoned police.

"We're obeying the Church's teachings and then they arrest our staff for doing what the church teaches," Randall Terry said Tuesday. "It's absurd and it's obscene."

Andrea Terry wants Bishop Robert Lynch to have the charges dropped. She said she is a mother of four children who is "doing everything I can to uphold the church's teachings."

Anti-Abortion Activists Protest Arrests At St. Pete Church

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[8mmMauser]

Liberals have a strange way of compartmentalizing unhappy bedfellows, with their discovery of cognitive dissonance. They battle against the death penalty even for the most heinous crimes, but are happy to snuff the innocent kids of the inmates. It comes loud if not clear in this thread by wagglebee.

Jefferson City, MO (LifeNews.com) -- A federal appeals court ruled on Thursday that Missouri correctional facilities must take pregnant prisoners for elective abortions at taxpayer expense. The ruling comes despite state law prohibiting the state from paying for abortions with public funds..............

Missouri Must Take Pregnant Prisoners for Abortions at Taxpayer Expense

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[Dante3]

BUMP for Tony.

[wagglebee]

This is an amazing and heartwarming story!

[floriduh voter]

Right to Die topic. 1. Mitt Romney helped Haleigh Poutre and 2. Mitt Romney only candidate who met with Bobby Schindler after all were invited by letter.

He met w/Bobby after he said "the courts" stuff in fact, fairly recently.