Let Lauren Live!

It has been a source of ongoing sadness to read of the difficulties Lauren Richardson’s father has had over the course of the past several months. For those of you who are not familiar with her case, Lauren overdosed on heroin on August 28, 2006. She suffered oxygen deprivation and, as a result of the overdose, is now in a coma and unable to speak out for herself. At the time of the overdose, Lauren was expecting a baby. Her parents honored what they knew would have been her wish and did all they could to keep her healthy and comfortable until the child was born. Today, though Lauren may not be aware of it, she is the mother of Ember Grace, who was born in February 2007.

Since the birth of her daughter, Lauren remains unable to speak of her concerns, but she has a loving father who is doing all he can to protect her from suffering the same fate as Terri Schiavo. However, Lauren’s mother, who has been named her legal guardian, is sadly not of the same opinion and is working with attorneys to pressure the courts to permit Lauren’s starvation.

Lauren’s father has kept hope alive, even at times when there appeared to be no hope in human terms. Lauren’s father is a man of hope in Christ and is dedicated to spending every breath he has on defending Lauren, regardless of what it might cost him in physical exhaustion and worldly goods. The most recent update for those concerned about Lauren tells us the following:

Bobby Schindler, Terri Schiavo’s brother, has written about Lauren in an editorial earlier this year, "False Compassion," and is working closely with Lauren’s father in order to provide expertise that he is uniquely qualified to share during a trying time like this.

There are many links on the Life for Lauren web site that will assist you in tracking this case and learning who is supporting Lauren’s ongoing care and who is opposing it. More importantly, there is something you can do to express your concerns.

The governor of Delaware, Ruth Ann Minner, is being asked by pro-life Americans across this nation to intervene in this case in order to save Lauren from what many fear is an imminent court order dictating that Lauren be starved and dehydrated to death. I am asking you to be one of those who communicates your passionate belief that Lauren’s life is sacred and deserves to be protected from those who would order her death. The governor’s e-mail address is governor.minner@state.de.us.

Further, it would mean a great deal to Lauren’s father, Randy, if you sent him a copy of your e-mail to Governor Ruth Ann Minner. Randy’s e-mail address is Lifeforlauren@aol.com.

During a recent visit to Anchorage, Alaska where Bobby Schindler was invited to speak, he told a reporter from The Catholic Anchor, "Once we accept that killing is an acceptable answer to human suffering, we lose any type of parameters. Euthanasia is a form of abandonment. It is not compassion."

Truer words were never spoken. As I frequently tell people who argue that we pro-lifers are being heartless and cruel for fighting to defend the rights of a "hopeless case," "God is the author of every human being’s life, and He has never given permission to a single one of us to arbitrarily rob another human being of life for any reason including disability or illness."

As Flannery O’Connor once wrote on the subject of false compassion, "In the absence of faith, we govern by tenderness. And tenderness leads to the gas chamber."

Lauren Richardson is not terminal – she is severely disabled. Lauren Richardson should not be murdered.

Judie Brown is president of American Life League and a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life.

Eluana Englaro update...

She is still around despite the wishes of such ilk as the authors in Spain of this update.

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ROME (Reuters) - State prosecutors in Italy lodged an appeal on Thursday against a court ruling authorising a man to remove the feeding tube which has kept his comatose daughter alive for 16 years.

The ruling by a Milan court earlier this month, a first in Italy, was condemned by the Vatican and Catholic politicians,mainly on the centre right, as justifying euthanasia.

Eluana Englaro, 37, has been in a vegetative state and receiving food and water artificially at a hospital in the northern Italian town of Lecco since a 1992 car crash.

Her father Beppino Englaro has been seeking an end to the life support for nearly 10 years.

Since the ruling on July 9, he has been trying to find a hospice willing to permit the removal of the feeding tube.Euthanasia is illegal in Italy.

State prosecutors said they had asked Italy's top court to suspend the ruling until their case is heard.

Italy's lower house of parliament had earlier on Thursday approved a resolution saying the Milan judges had no right to authorise the removal of the feeding tube and that it was up to lawmakers to legislate on bioethical matters.

A vote on the same resolution will be held in the Senate onFriday. If, as expected, it is approved, the Constitutional Court will also be asked to rule on whether the Milan court has overstepped its boundaries.

Explaining their decision, the Milan judges said it had been proven Englaro's coma was irreversible and that before the accident she had stated her preference to die rather than being kept alive artificially.

The Vatican has called the Milan ruling a "grave" verdict,saying no Italian court had ever authorised such a request before. Pro-euthanasia activists hailed the ruling as historic,but Italian political leaders were split over the case.

The Englaro case has been compared to that of American Terri Schiavo, who spent 15 years in a persistent vegetative state and was allowed to die after a long court battle.

(Additional reporting by Massimiliano Di Giorgio; writing by Silvia Aloisi; editing by Andrew Roche)

Right-to-die case faces legal challenge in Italy

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And this just in from the Vatican...

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State prosecutors in Italy lodged an appeal on Thursday against a court ruling authorizing a man to remove the feeding tube which has kept his comatose daughter alive for 16 years.

The ruling by a Milan court earlier this month, a first in Italy, was condemned by the Vatican and Catholic politicians, mainly on the centre right, as justifying euthanasia.

Eluana Englaro, 37, has been in a vegetative state and receiving food and water artificially at a hospital in the northern Italian town of Lecco since a 1992 car crash. Her father, Beppino Englaro, has been seeking an end to the life support for nearly 10 years.

Since the ruling on July 9, he has been trying to find a hospice willing to permit the removal of the feeding tube. Euthanasia is illegal in Italy.

State prosecutors said they asked Italy's top court to suspend the ruling until their case is heard.

Italy's lower house of parliament had earlier on Thursday approved a resolution saying the Milan judges had no right to authorize the removal of the feeding tube and it was up to lawmakers to legislate on bioethical matters.

A vote on the same resolution will be held in the Senate on Friday. If it is approved, as expected, the Constitutional Court will be asked to rule on whether the Milan court has overstepped its boundaries.

Explaining the decision, the Milan judges said it was proven Englaro's coma was irreversible and, before the accident, she said she would rather die than be kept alive artificially.

Vatican decries Italy court ruling

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Father Pavone continues the fight... Thread by wagglebee.

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July 31, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - "God chose us in Christ, before the world began, to be holy and blameless in his sight" (See Ephesians 1:5). On Saturday, July 12, I had the joy of baptizing three babies, chosen by God from all eternity to live. A cause of particular joy and celebration was that two of these babies were rescued from abortion. Their mothers had gone to an abortion mill in Allentown, PA, but sidewalk counselors intervened and helped them to find the strength to say "No" to abortion and "Yes" to life.

The Church was filled with pro-life advocates, including the sidewalk counselors who intervened, and all were immersed in the joy of the victory of life. Once this ceremony was scheduled, I announced it nationally, not only so that as many people as possible could come, but also so that the whole pro-life movement could be encouraged by this celebration of victory............................

Two Saved Babies Baptized - From Abortion Mill to Baptismal Font

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I can think of nothing more horrifying or threatening to a leftie than truth. Thread by wagglebee.

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Planned Parenthood of South Dakota is refusing to do abortions.

Why? Because a federal court has upheld a new law that would require them to disclose to women the risk factors of abortion. These are statistically proven risk factors that reliably identify which women are at highest risk of post-abortion psychological problems, including depression and suicidal behavior.

That's not the way the story is being told in the national media, however. Following Planned Parenthood's shutdown, the mainstream media has adopted PP's spin on the story, focusing on how this “radical” law requires doctors to give women a written statement of the following:............

Temporary Stoppage of South Dakota Abortions Points to Abortion's Risks

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More bad news for the PP peeps, good news for us. Thread by wagglebee.

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Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Americans received good news back in January when new figures from Planned Parenthood's research group showed the number of abortions nationwide have fallen to their lowest point in 30 years and have declined 25 percent since 1990. That has resulted in a drop in the nation's infant mortality rate.

The Alan Guttmacher Institute report found just over 1.2 million abortions in the United States in 2005, down nearly 25% from their high of 1.6 million in 1990......................

Abortion Decline in US Leads to Long-Term Reduction in Infant Mortality Rates

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Janet Rivera...

Killing her softly with your funds...(?)

Reason.com merely points out in a helpful way the situation with Janet Rivera and how she will be allowed to live, and who will wind up paying for it. Recall, lefties are very generous with the funds of others, but try to pull a nickel out of their own pockets.

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Should authorities pull the plug on Janet Rivera, a woman who has been comatose for a couple of years in a Fresno, Calif. special care facility? In mid-July, Rivera's court-appointed conservator, on the advice of five physicians, asked that her respirator be removed and food and water be withheld. Some family members objected and the conservator reversed his request.

Rivera's situation differs in many respects from the Terri Schiavo case. First, Rivera is described as being comatose. Comatose by itself implies a possibly transient inability to respond to stimuli and temporary deep unconsciousness. On the other hand, the five physicians consulted by the conservator believe Rivera's unconsciousness is irreversible. Second, unlike the Schiavo case, Rivera's family members apparently all agree that she should receive artificial hydration and nutrition. And third, again unlike Schiavo's case, no one claims to know what Rivera would want to be done.

Although Rivera's court-appointed conservator says that expense played no role in his decision to have hydration and nutrition tubes withdrawn, there is an issue concerning how Rivera's care is being paid for. On July 28, the Chicago Tribune reported:.................................

Another Terri Schiavo Muddle in the Making?

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Eluana Englaro update...

Actually, I am heartened that this case is making such a disturbance in Europe. I am sure the perps expected this would be a non-newsworthy event basically ignored by the public, but it is blowing up. Effect of Terri's Legacy??

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The issue of euthanasia is making the headlines in Italy over a woman who has been in a coma for 16-years.

It follows a move by state prosecutors to appeal against a Milan court ruling allowing her family to remove the feeding tube that has kept her alive.

Eluana Englaro, 37, has been in a vegetative state since being hurt in a 1992 car crash.

Now the Italian parliament has passed a resolution saying judges have no right to decide such matters. But some politicians are calling for clear legislation.

Antonello Soro of the Democratic Party said: “there needs to be a law to cover the final part of life, to avoid the judicial vaccuum that exists at the moment, that leaves judges lacking the legal framework with which to deal with these problems.”

The judges say Eluano’s coma has been proven irreversible and that before the accident she had stated her preference to die rather than being kept alive.

But the Vatican has criticised the ruling, calling it a mistake.

Euthanasia calls get louder in Italy

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And more on Eluana...

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A senior prosecutor has moved to overturn an appeal court decision that cleared doctors to stop feeding a patient in a coma for 16 years, Italian newspapers citing legal sources reported yesterday.
The move was just the latest development in a controversial legal battle by the patient's family to end her treatment, which has revived the debate over the sensitive issue of euthanasia in this largely Roman Catholic country.
Milan prosecutor Maria Antonietta Pezza late Thursday asked the Court of Cassation to strike down the July 9 appeal court ruling, the newspapers reported.
The appeal court had cleared the father of Eluana Englaro to stop the "hydration and forced feeding" that had kept his daughter alive since January 18, 1992, when a road accident left her in a coma.
The appeal ruling had said that Englaro's "permanent vegetative state was irrersible." If the young women had been capable of expressing her view, she would have preferred to die than be kept alive in an artificial manner, it added.
But Pezza said the appeal court judges "have not established, with sufficient objectivity, the irreversibility of the permanent vegatative state" of Englaro, and called for their ruling to be suspended immediately.
Pezza's intervention means that the staff caring for Englaro at a hospital in the northern city of Lecco cannot stop the treatment that has been keeping her alive.
The patient's family has been pressing the courts to allow them to stop treatment since 1999, but the Roman Catholic Church -- and a large part of the political class in Italy -- is vehemently opposed to euthanasia.
For the Vatican, Monsignor Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Academy for Live, had objected that July's appeal court decision effectively provided a de facto approval for the practice of euthanasia.
Late Thursday, the case was debated in Italy's lower parliamentary chamber. Members of the Chamber of Deputies finally decided raise the issue with the Constitutional Court, Italy's highest court.
Most deputies argued that the appeal court judges had exceeded their authority in ruling on how to end the patient's life: that was the prerogative of lawmakers the said. They called on the matter to be taken out of the hands of the judges.
Italy's senators were due to vote on the deputies' proposition yesterday in the upper parliamentary chamber.

Row over coma victim revives Italy's euthanasia debate

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Eluana from LifeNews...

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Rome, Italy (LifeNews.com) -- Italian prosecutors have filed an appeal in the case of a father's attempt to kill his disabled daughter via euthanasia by removing her feeding tube. State prosecutors filed papers on Thursday appealing the ruling a Milan court handed down earlier this month in the case of Eluana Englaro.

Englaro is the subject of the latest battle similar to the one Terri Schiavo's family waged to prevent her former husband from denying her food and water.

She has been in what doctors term a vegetative state for 16 years following an automobile accident in 1992 and has received food and water through a feeding tube.

The state attorneys asked Italy's top court to issue a temporary injunction preventing Beppino Englaro, Eluana's father, from killing his daughter before the case can be heard.

Since the ruling issued on July 9, Beppino has been trying to find a hospice to remove the feeding tube but has been unable to find one that will take Eluana's life.

Meanwhile, according to a Reuters report, Italy's lower house of parliament approved a measure on Thursday censuring the judges at the Milan court. The Italian Senate is expected to approve a similar motion today.

The motion says it is the right of lawmakers to make laws related to pertinent bioethics issues and not for courts to determine the fate of disabled patients like Englaro......................

Italian Prosecutors Appeal Court Decision for Euthanasia of Eluana Englaro

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Dopey's choice in Oregon, with this set of options becoming available to the useless eaters. Cal Thomas describes it in this thread by wagglebee.

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Most inhumanities start small, like the beginning of a tsunami, but then build, as they head toward inevitable and unstoppable destruction.

It is difficult to pinpoint the precise beginning of the cultural tsunami that has devalued human life. Did it begin with the subjugation of women? Did it begin with slavery? The Nazis made their contribution with the Holocaust and Josef Mengele’s hideous human experiments. Surely unrestricted abortion added to the growing list of inhumanities.

Now we have the next wave. Randy Stroup is a 53-year-old Oregon man who has prostrate cancer, but no insurance to cover his medical treatment. The state pays for treatment in some cases, but it has denied help to Stroup. State officials have determined that chemotherapy would be too expensive and so they have offered him an alternative: death.......................

Cal Thomas: Is Euthanasia Next After Oregon Promotes Assisted Suicide Over Treatment?

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

Pro-Choice, some choice! Anyone want to choose between Hillary and Michelle as Queen Bee? Notice, these hotties can eat dinner without gagging while celebrating the joys of cutting up little living human beings like so much entree. Wonder what was served...

Thread by wagglebee.

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Denver, CO (LifeNews.com) -- During the Democratic convention in Denver where pro-abortion presidential candidate Barack Obama will be coronated as the party's nominee, a leading pro-abortion group will put on a big shindig. Emily's List will unite failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Obama's wife Michelle.

That Barack Obama's wife would attend a gala for a pro-abortion group that supports partial-birth abortions and taxpayer-funded abortions is no surprise.

Michelle Obama came under fire in May for a letter she wrote defending partial-birth abortions. The 2004 letter, written to help Obama in his campaign for his U.S. Senate seat, opposes the ban on the abortion procedure.....................

Barack Obama's Wife Michelle to Join Hillary Clinton at Pro-Abortion Dinner

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Stem cell accomplishment advances apace, but not "embryonic" stem cell research, which has a quite different raison-d'etre, namely an excuse to snuff human life.

Thread by wagglebee.

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Boston, MA (LifeNews.com) -- Researchers at Harvard and Columbia have made advances dealing with ALS and stem cells without having to destroy human life. The scientists were able to use a new technique to transform the skin cells of patients with Lou Gehrig's disease into motor neurons.

The process may one day be able to create tailor-made cells to replace the damaged ones and either reverse or slow down the deadly disease.

An article on the research is scheduled for the July 31 edition of the medical journal Science describes the direct reprogramming process used to make the stem cells revert back to an embryonic-like state............

Stem Cell Researchers Make ALS Advances Without Destroying Human Life

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Recall, lefties are very generous with the funds of others, but try to pull a nickel out of their own pockets.

I know it's all the rage to lump all left-wing people together and demonize them, but I must take exception to this statement. There are a lot of left-wingers in my family, and to a person they are extremely generous with both their money and their time. This includes a very well-to-do sister-in-law who has more than once paid for hospital stays for other people. In fact, the only person in my extended family who can be said to be stingy is my very conservative brother-in-law, himself quite well off. So go figure. *shrug*

Eluana Englaro...The battle continues with media portraying the lefties bias by calling it a right-to-die instead of the state sponsored killing it would be.

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In 1992, then 20-year-old Eluana Englaro was involved in a car accident and fell into a vegetative state. Doctors later said her condition was irreversible.

After 16 years, a Milan court has granted her father's request to remove her feeding tube. He claims this was his daughter's wish. However, euthanasia is not allowed in Italy.

Parliament is now asking for Italy's Constitutional Court to review the ruling. Opponents see the ruling as impinging Parliament's legislative powers. Also, prosecutors have appealed the ruling in Italy's top criminal court.

Italian Right-To-Die Case In Courts

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