Let Lauren Live!

ChristtheKingMaine ^ | May 7, 2008 | Judie Brown

[8mmMauser]

LAUREN RICHARDSON - YOU CAN HELP!
By Judie Brown

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:

We struggle at times as we seek to share with the public the details of what is happening with Lauren because of the disagreement we have with Lauren’s mother. We cannot understand her reasoning in refusing a path of hope, healing and restoration for Lauren and insisting on causing her death by withholding food and water from her. The issue in Lauren’s case is the eternal truth that all people, no matter what their medical condition, bear the image of God and deserve basic care and an opportunity to be restored to health.

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.

ACTION NEEDED NOW

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.

[8mmMauser]

Karen Weber update...

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Okeechobee, FL (LifeNews.com) -- A legal battle is brewing in southern Florida pitting a disabled woman’s husband against her family in a fight over whether or not to take her life. The battle is similar to the one the family of Terri Schiavo faced to prevent her husband from subjecting her to a painful starvation and dehydration death.

This new case involves 57-year-old Karen Weber, who doctors claim has been in a partial vegetative state since December, when she suffered a stroke.

The situation is similar to the Schiavo case in that Weber did not have a living will or other advanced directive spelling out the kind of medical care she would like should she become unable to make her own medical decisions.

Weber is currently on a feeding tube and her husband Raymond wants to end her life by removing that and starving her to death.

“She has pneumonia,” he told WPBF-TV. “She has colostomy bags. She has a breathing apparatus."

However, Karen’s mother, Martha Tatro, is hoping to get a court to approve her request to prevent Raymond Weber from taking his wife’s life.

“I've told her she could live out the rest of her life and she would never have to worry about anything and I will protect her," Tatro said.

“I’m her mother and her husband filed a thing to take her life," Tatro told the television station.

Her sister Joyce Tatro-Manes added: “A woman in the year 2007-08 should be heard, no matter if she's impaired or not. She has a right to her opinion and she has a right to her own life.”

Local courts held a guardianship hearing on Wednesday and Weber’s relatives told a local judge that she is able to communicate with them through blinking, nodding, and laughing.

During the hearing, Raymond Weber said he wants guardianship of his wife.

"I’ve been her husband for 34 years, so why shouldn't I have guardianship," he said.

The television station indicated a state-appointed attorney for Karen Weber suggested to the court that her husband should win the legal right to make her medical decisions and the court is expected to render a decision in about a month.

 

Florida Legal Battle Involves Life and Death Debate Similar to Terri Schiavo

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[8mmMauser]

PP is at it again in this thread by wagglebee.

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Santa Clara, CA (LifeNews.com) -- Details have emerged from documents in a California appeals court case that a Planned Parenthood abortion business referred for an abortion on a sexually-abused teenager without telling authorities about the abuse. The case prompts pro-life advocates to say parental notification is needed.

According to court documents, a Santa Clara County sexual predator impregnated his 13-year-old stepdaughter and forced her to have a late-term abortion.

The man then continued to molest her for another seven months until the child's mother discovered the abuse and contacted police.

Despite two visits to Planned Parenthood and a surgical abortion at San Francisco General Hospital, no healthcare provider bothered to inform law enforcement................

California Planned Parenthood Made Abortion Referral, Didn't Report Abuse (13 year old)

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[8mmMauser]

Death is their life and we can count on them to do what lovers of death do.

Thread by wagglebee.

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Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Three pro-abortion groups are renewing their pledge to spend $30 million collectively bashing John McCain. The organizations upped their commitment to the attack ads and get-out-the-vote efforts with the addition of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to McCain's ticket.

NARAL, Planned Parenthood and Emily's List are the long-time heavy hitters of the pro-abortion movement and they each previously announced multi-million dollar campaigns targeting the presidential election....

Pro-Abortion Groups Renew $30 Million Campaign Against McCain, Sarah Palin

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[8mmMauser]

This is one revealing thread. Jill Stanek, bless her heart, comes up with these quality gems...

Thread by Winged Hussar with thanks to wagglebee and narses for the pings.

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Following are 10 excuses Obama has given through the years for voting "present" and "no" on the Illinois Born Alive Infant Protection Act, or BAIPA......................

Obama's 10 reasons for supporting infanticide

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[8mmMauser]

Placeholder: Will post later when I get better access to internet.

[floriduh voter]

Karen Weber’s pneumonia can be treated. Seems to me if she’s not being moved or isn’t sitting up, etc, that’s what causes pneumonia. Further, Karen’s in Florida and in Florida, staff OBEY HINOS instead of adhering to medical standards. Remember when mikey schiavo withheld antibiotics for Terri? that was a rare instance where a Judge over-ruled www.michaelschiavo.org.

[Lesforlife]

Praise God for breathing devices!!

My 23 month old twin grand daughter was completely
unconscious and on a respirator for over a month.

She was also on a feeding tube.

As resilient as young ones can be, she is off the respirator
and pulled out the feeding tube (NG) recently.

God used that time for her little body to begin to respond.

LET KAREN LIVE!!!

[8mmMauser]

Wonderful news!

Deo gratias

[floriduh voter]

http://www.terrisfight.org/

[wagglebee]

Wonderful News!

[8mmMauser]

Thanks, FV, for finding this. It was posted at the site of Terri's foundation just upthread.

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The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) has welcomed the resounding defeat of the Victorian euthanasia bill and challenged the Victorian Government to now step up palliative care support and resources for people with terminal illnesses.

ACL Victorian Director Rob Ward said that today’s defeat of the Physician Assisted Dying Bill 2008 by 25 votes to 13 was a victory for those who value life and for the vulnerable sick and elderly people who would have been put at risk by the bill.

“Let the defeat of this dreadful bill send a clear message to euthanasia advocates throughout Australia that the debate is over and euthanasia legislation should be left to rest in peace,” Mr Ward said.

“The Victorian Upper House politicians who voted against this bill should be proud of the role they have played in safeguarding our State from the travesty of turning doctors from carers into killers.”

Mr Ward urged the Victorian Government to turn its attention to providing better assistance for the frail elderly and those dealing with terminal illnesses.

“This bill pushed by vocal euthanasia advocates has diverted attention from the real need to provide better end of life care services for Victorians,” he said.

“The vast majority of sick and elderly people have no interest in ending their lives but could greatly benefit from more palliative care resources.”

Mr Ward said that organisations like Palliative Care Victoria had identified a pronounced need to enhance the quality of and access to palliative care provision in the Victorian community. This includes providing increased funding, more palliative care education for aged, disability and community care workers, and better palliative care resources in aged care facilities.

“While concerns about dying are under the spotlight let’s use this as an opportunity to provide constructive help to those facing illness and death.”

Mr Ward added that he hoped that the Victorian Parliament’s decision to value life and defeat the euthanasia bill would also be reflected in its attitude to the abortion reform bill.

“The Victorian Parliament has made a great decision in protecting the lives of the vulnerable elderly and I urge politicians to make the same compassionate decision when it comes to the lives of the vulnerable young.”

Victorian Government urged to step up palliative care support following welcome defeat of euthanasia bill

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[8mmMauser]

Figures! Thread by wagglebee.

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Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The head honchos at NARAL believe John McCain and Sarah Palin are so extreme on abortion, because they oppose it, that they can't come up with the right words to bash the candidates. As a result, NARAL has sponsored a new contest for its pro-abortion members to design a new slogan..........

Pro-Abortion Leaders Consider McCain and Palin So Extreme, Words Fail Them

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[wagglebee]

You need to make sure you get this one:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2078580/posts

[8mmMauser]

The death lovers are a-buzzing, frantic. Too much bad news for them, and unable to take a joke on themselves. As a friend would say "Good day for Groucho, bad day for Karl (Marx).

Thread by wagglebee.

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Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- With all the hoopla of the Democratic and Republican conventions and the selection of pro-life running mate Sarah Palin, a McCain statement on abortion appears to have gone unnoticed. Glamour magazine indicates John McCain repeated his position that Roe v. Wade should be reversed....

John McCain Repeats Stance: Roe Abortion Case a "Bad Decision," Overturn It

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[Ciexyz]

Good news on the Aussie bill.

[Ciexyz]

As 9-11 rolls around again, we remember the victims of another tragedy, the Culture of Death.

[BykrBayb]

The way I remember it is that mikey ordered the nursing home staff to withhold antibiotics, and they refused, and it ended up in the courtroom. That’s when he moved her to another facility, which had expressed an interest in helping him kill her. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s the way I remember it.

It is amazing how many health care workers at all levels are willing, sometimes even eager, to deliberately harm and even kill their patients.

[8mmMauser]

It was inevitable, what we know of the leftist concept of controlling life and death. They just had to make the link. I may only excerpt from this source where Linda Chavez lays it all out clearly...

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So what is it that lipstick has come to represent to these partisan zealots? It is as if lipstick has become the new symbol of the culture wars that have dominated American politics since 1972.

Jonathan Last, writing online at First Things magazine, suggests that Palin's decision not to abort son Trig when she learned he had Down syndrome was a challenge to liberals' idea of what constitutes worthwhile life. He notes, "the left sees Baby Trig as a provocation . . . as a little Terri Schiavo - an assertion of the value of all life and an affront to their belief that there are differences in what constitutes meaningful life."........

Chavez: Democrats wallow in hatred of Palin

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[8mmMauser]

A lucid description of that human condition...

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Eight years ago, Kevin Monk of Casper, Wyo., was in a terrible car accident. He suffered severe physical and brain injuries. For 18 days after the accident Monk had no brain function. He remained in a coma for another three months. During that time, his doctors tried to persuade his family to let him die.

Contrary to the doctors' predictions that Monk would never recover, he did waken from his coma. In a recent interview with the Casper Star-Tribune, Monk, now 33, said, "Some of the doctors told Mom and Dad to just pull the plug." His mother added, "From every place we went, they told us he'd never be anything but a vegetable."

Some vegetable! Today, Kevin Monk is well on his road to recovery and even walks unaided.

A human is a human

Why does modern society believe that catastrophic injury turns a human being into a vegetable? If an apple falls from the tree, it is a bruised apple, but it remains an apple. If a racehorse breaks its leg, it is an injured racehorse, but it remains a horse.

Why is it that a severely injured person somehow becomes a vegetable? The fact is, he does not - and most rational, reasonable people know that in their heart of hearts.

Referring to a comatose human being as a vegetable is intended to distance them from their humanity. It's easier to starve and dehydrate a person to death if they are not viewed as human. It releases doctors from any responsibility for care usually afforded to people.

Change the species

Words are powerful, but not so powerful enough to change a man's species, regardless of how wounded he may be.

This phenomenon is of great interest to me: I may be called a vegetable at some point in the not so distant future. After all, I am incurably ill with aggressive multiple sclerosis that is slowly stripping me of function.

The last time I looked in the mirror my hair had not yet turned into leafy tops.

When will utilitarian bioethics decide my transition from man to vegetable is complete? I'm triplegic now. Does that make me half vegetable? The last time I looked in the mirror my hair had not yet turned into leafy tops.

Will my transition from man to vegetable be complete when I'm quadriplegic or bedridden or no longer able to communicate? When will it be? What will be the criteria for medical bioethics to strip me completely of any claim to humanity?

I know it's not brain wave activity because Kevin Monk was considered a vegetable even after his brain function returned. I heard Terri Schiavo referred to as a vegetable and she had brain function.

Princeton University professor and animal rights champion, Peter Singer, has suggested using comatose patients for medical experimentation instead of animals. In other bioethical circles it has been suggested to use comatose and terminally ill patients as sources to harvest organs for transplantation.

There you have it. Strip a person of their humanity with terms like "vegetable" and "persistent vegetative state" dismantle any notion of the sanctity of human life and any barbarity is possible......................................

Slapping labels on injured bodies too quickly can backfire Labelling someone brain dead, vegetable can deny treatment, rehabilitation

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[8mmMauser]

They just can't help it. In their desperate need to ooze hate on Sarah Palin, they spit out venom unbridled...

From across the pond...

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To be precise; at one o'clock in the morning of March 21, 2005, President Bush put pen to paper and (inadvertently) consigned the politics of the Eighties to the trash.

He had been woken by his staff to sign emergency legislation designed to save the life of Terri Schiavo. Mrs Schiavo was the Florida woman who had suffered a catastrophic heart attack and brain damage and was being kept alive with feeding tubes. Her husband wanted them removed, her parents did not.

It went to Florida's courts and the judges were persuaded that Terri would have wanted to die: they found for the husband. Fatefully, the social conservatives - in their pomp so they thought - decided to go for broke. They challenged the courts, and challenged the nation: let us rebuild America in the image of social conservatism.

So Congress passed a Bill bringing the case to the federal courts (in the Senate not a single vote was cast against it) and the pyjama-wearing President signed it. Surely the moment had come for the faithful to taste victory; for America to be transformed into a nation fit for the morally righteous.

It never happened. The federal courts backed the local courts (impeach them, the politicians cried, but nobody tried) and the Supreme Court yawned and raised an eyebrow and refused even to hear the case. Terri Schiavo was allowed to die. And in opinion poll after opinion poll most Americans felt, with sadness but with conviction as well, that the courts had been right.......................

The day America was born again... Nothing Sarah Palin and her followers can do will prevent America's steady movement away from social conservatism

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