Let Lauren Live!

ChristtheKingMaine ^ | May 7, 2008 | Judie Brown

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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.

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This thread comes from Coleus on the trial commencing on Fr. Weslin.

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Our founder, Father Norman U. Weslin, O.S.  will appear in Sarpy County Court House , 1210 Golden Gate Dr., Room 3  Papillion Nebraska at 1 p.m. Central Time for a bench trial.  His crime: Entering the security vestibule of notorious late term abortionist, LeRoy Carhart’s Nebraska killing center to pray with and counsel pregnant mothers in April.  Charges are trespass, refusal to leave when told, counseling pregnant women and telling employees that he will find them better jobs than participating in the killing of God’s defenseless children.

Father Weslin and his family created The Mary Weslin Homes for Pregnant and Unwed Mothers years ago where volunteers offer free medical care and board and room for pregnant women in crisis. Since then,  hundreds  of mothers have brought their children to term and are today leading healthy, happy lives.  Father Weslin was surprised to be arrested again because last April in federal court he was found NOT GUILTY by a jury of his peers for performing the same acts of priestly  concern  at Carhart’s killing center in  2006. At that time, the federal court did not place any restriction on his future behavior.

If  Father had been found guilty, he would have faced 18 months in federal prison, a $25,000 fine, and years of probation due to the infamous Clinton’s Administration’s 1994 F.A.C.E.  ACT’s penalties.   Father Weslin was encouraged by the jury’s verdict which indicated to him that the jury believed he was doing something good rather than committing a crime.  He believes that they agreed with him that protecting human life is good...............

Father Norman Weslin On Trial Today For Praying In Leroy Carhart's Killing Center

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Sam Golubchuk again....

As the doctor with the tantrum busies himself with kicking the dog and stomping on bugs, a forum comes together to discuss this whole matter on the craft of killing.

How to Handle Life's Tasks -- Balancing the Wheel of Life: The Canadian Mental Health Association will present speaker Dr. Pooneh Mahdavi, Wednesday, June 11, 7 p.m. at John Braithwaite Community Centre, 145 West First St., North Vancouver. Info: 604-987-6959. Admission by donation.

Ethical Issues Around Withdrawal of Care -- Arising from the Golubchuk decision: A lunch time discussion presented by the Coastal Clinical Ethics Committee. Dr. Richard Lupton, senior medical director, will be speaking June 12 at Lions Gate Hospital Auditorium, 231 East 15th St., North Vancouver. Info: 604-988-3131, ext. 4485 or gillian.stegemann@vch.ca............

Health Notes

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Update on Karen Weber or Webber...

News media are reporting the case under both spellings. Perhaps we can ascertain the correct spelling, and in the meantime I will continue searches for both.

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A pro-family attorney involved in a Florida right-to-life case is hoping that the dispute can remain civil even though the parties disagree about this very fundamental issue.

 

The name Terri Schiavo comes to mind instantly any time there is a dispute between family members over removing life support from a loved one. The media circus and bitter public battle between Schiavo's husband – who successfully fought to end her life – and the rest of her family – who wanted to care for her until her natural death – scarred the memory of the nation.
  
One pro-life attorney in Florida hopes the case in which he is now involved will not be a repeat of the Schiavo case in any of those respects. Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney Joseph Radowicz is representing the mother of Karen Webber. Late in 2007, Mrs. Webber suffered a stroke. She has since been receiving nursing care and hospital treatment.
 
"At the end of March of 2008, her husband, Mr. Webber, had decided that he wanted her declared incompetent. It's his position that she's not able to make her own decisions concerning her health care. And he's decided that he wanted to have the plug pulled. So he's issued an order, or had an order issued to that effect," Radowicz explains.
 
Karen Webber's mother, Martha Tatro, filed suit challenging that order, and that is when Radowicz got involved. But he says the initial dispute between the husband and mother is where the similarities between the Webber and Schiavo cases end.
 
"There was a hearing held and there was an injunction entered by consent of all parties to continue Karen's care in the meantime. That's been the case ever since," Radowicz contends.
 
And, in addition to mutually agreeing that Mrs. Webber's treatment will continue while the legal issues are resolved, Radowicz says the relationship between Karen's husband and mother has remained civil.
 
"At this point right here, it's just the issue over Karen and Karen's care and whether or not the plug should be pulled or not. In terms of how this litigation has proceeded and how people have been handling each other, it's been quite respectful," he says. "And I hope that that continues, and I believe the other side believes the same. I've had conversations with their counsel, and you know the focus here is to try to keep things as respectful as possible, [to] try not to make everything personal, and let the process play out the way that it does," Radowicz adds.
 
The most recent development in the case is that a three member examining committee has been appointed to consider whether or not Karen Webber is competent to make her own medical decisions. Witnesses agree that she can communicate by blinking her eyes, shaking her head, and giving hand signals in response to questions. The issue is over whether she is mentally capable of understanding her condition and making decisions about her care.
 
"What these people do is they submit a recommendation to the court, and the court's going to look to them for guidance in terms of whether or not to declare Karen competent or incompetent. So, just because they say something doesn't necessarily mean that that's going to be the end result. It's still for the court to decide, and those things are going to be factors that the court's going to consider and the court has to consider. But the court can go beyond that and look at various other items, as well," Radowicz says.
 
And Radowicz notes that, even if the court finds Karen Webber to be mentally incompetent, that does not necessarily mean that her feeding tube will be disconnected.
 
"In the event that that would happen, the next portion of the law is that you would have to make the decision; there would have to be somebody appointed to make the decisions for her...And, based upon the information in the evidence that we have...Karen would not have wanted to have the feeding tube removed and that she doesn't want to go to hospice," he points out.  "And, because of that...the court should not allow the feeding tube to be removed [because] she would not have wanted that. And, whoever the guardian would happen to be would have to honor that."

 
Despite his obvious desire to win his case, both for his client and to protect her daughter's life, Radowicz says he has one big concern about the case.
 
"And the one thing that we're, on both sides, I think, are concerned about with the public aspect of this is that we certainly don't want others from the outside that are, more or less, going to be fanatical and start saying things or leaving threats or messages on either side because I just don't think that's helpful. I think it may actually make things worse," Radowicz says.
 
Under Florida law, the three members of the examining committee have 15 days to report their findings back to the court.

Is Florida case a Terri Schiavo repeat?

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Still pushing the living wills thingy on the gravitas of Terri's Legacy, these happy folk are volunteers for Suncoast. Hmmm, wonder if they heard of Terri...probably not.

SEMINOLE -- When death nears, Liz and Jim Kirkman will be ready. In their wallets and on their refrigerator door, the Kirkmans' last wishes are meticulously documented. Now on their third or fourth revision, living wills share space with family photos and their driver's licenses. More than three years after the struggle over Terri Schiavo's life played out at a nearby hospice, in courtrooms and in Congress, planning for death and medical care in case of a catastrophic injury still seems to be an afterthought.

As volunteers for The Hospice of the Florida Suncoast, the Kirkmans say they see many people who haven't planned ahead. For the past 15 years, the couple has tried to bring peace to those last moments......

Death is certain, but careful planning for it is not

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Lauren, we still watch for good news, and keep up our prayers that you will surmount this cruel threat to your very life.

[Lesforlife]

I don’t remember hearing of Harriet’s common sense analysis
at the time.

Sure wish it had gotten more widely covered.

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Carrie Hutchins in the Dakota Voice today illustrates how polls were used to the advantage of Terri's killers.

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The polls were often sited as the Schiavo case progressed. Pundits, George Felos, Michael Schiavo and pals used poll numbers to claim the American people believed it was acceptable to execute Terri Schiavo in a death by dehydration and starvation. Other polls indicated it was acceptable to remove "life support", without making it clear the so-called "life support" was in fact a mere feeding tube.

Fast forwarding to the Election of 2008, it became quite apparent that polls are faulty. Polls weren't representative of the results in many cases. Pundits seemed bewildered. Some said they were going to have to revisit the reliance upon polls when looking for an accurate prediction of outcome.

Finally, the inaccuracy of polls was utterly apparent to not only the pundits, news staff, candidates and the candidates' staff -- it was apparent to any who were watching as the election events unfolded. Finally, the obvious was made so obvious that no one could ignore it. But sadly, it was three years too late for Terri Schiavo and her family.

Prior to Terri Schiavo's agonizing death by court order, many tried to point out the problem with relying upon polls, but it didn't hit home with those it needed to hit home with. People were becoming comfortable with the judicial order for murder, because the polls were alleging the majority believed it was acceptable to remove Terri from "life support." The irony being, that even after Terri's death, many believed she had been "brain dead" and only kept alive by a respirator. Some said they believed the latter is what she was removed from, because that is what poll questions appeared to be referring to.

Absolute fact is: Terri Schiavo was neither "brain dead" nor on a "respirator."

It is good that the Election of 2008 threw the truth about the unreliability of polls into the face of the world. It's just too bad it didn't become so apparent in the Election of 2004. Had it, Terri Schiavo might still be alive today and still proving assumptions to be wrong!

Terri Schiavo Execution Sanctioned by Faulty Polls?

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HARRIET McBRYDE JOHNSON

Farewell to a friend of Terri...

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Attorney spoke out for disabled

CHARLESTON — Harriet McBryde Johnson, a civil and disability rights attorney who drew national attention by protesting the annual Jerry Lewis muscular dystrophy telethon, has died. She was 50.

Johnson, who suffered from congenital neuromuscular disease, died in her sleep early Wednesday. The cause of death has not been determined, said her father, David D. Johnson.

Harriet McBryde Johnson, who handled cases for the poor and working class, protested the telethon for almost 20 years, objecting to what she called the show’s “charity mentality” and “pity-based tactics.”

She wrote in her 2005 memoir, “Too Late to Die Young,” that the telethon first sent her the message that her neuromuscular disease eventually would kill her.

At the same time, Johnson was a passionate and articulate voice for the humanity of people with disabilities — arguing, for example, that government officials were correct to get involved in the case of Terri Schiavo, a Florida woman who became the focus of debate over whether she should be kept alive despite severe brain damage.

South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal told The Post and Courier of Charleston that Johnson was a fierce advocate for the disabled. Toal said she was heartbroken when she heard of Johnson’s death.

“The world is a poorer place,” Toal said.

HARRIET McBRYDE JOHNSON

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Suicide in the UK in a thread by markomalley. Thanks, wagglebee, for the ping.

Ms Purdy has multiple sclerosis. She believes her life may well soon become unbearable, and she wants to know that if she decides her best course is to end it in a country (such as Switzerland) where assisted suicide is legal, her husband won't face charges in Britain when he returns after helping her. She has already asked the DPP to clarify his position on the topic. He declined. She now hopes she can use judicial review to make him do so...........

Why we must not make the 'right to die' legal (in the UK)

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A step beyond tequilla with a different hangover in a thread by wagglebee...

Elderly foreign tourists are tapping Mexican pet shops for a drug used by veterinarians to put cats and dogs to sleep that has become the sedative of choice for euthanasia campaigners.

Tourists from as far as Australia have travelled to Mexico to buy liquid pentobarbital, which causes a painless death in humans in less than an hour, right-to-die advocates say........

Euthanasia tourists snap up pet shop drug in Mexico

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Please note the message by Mountainflower. May Lauren's mom receive such message...

PROLIFE Prayer and Worship, June 8, 2008

[wagglebee]

Other polls indicated it was acceptable to remove "life support", without making it clear the so-called "life support" was in fact a mere feeding tube.

The deathbots don't seem to care that food and water is "life support" for ALL of us.

[Lesforlife]

We will never forget!!!

LET LAUREN LIVE!!

[Dante3]

Needs repeating - Terri was not “brain dead” or on a “respirataor.” (Recently I had one person tell me that._

[floriduh voter]

LOTS OF PRESIDENTS have met w/Billy Graham. If Juan McCain refsed to meet with Billy Graham, he's just making things worse for himself.

McCain camp says the reports are bogus and they've been talking to BG for a month.

[floriduh voter]

Needs repeating: Terri laughed at Polish jokes told by Monsignor Malanowski and she didn’t like her dad to kiss her because of his mustache. She would turn away.

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The lefties can’t touch us on the truth so they resort to their old tried and proven technique by the Hitler team, to shout lies long and loud and no matter how perposterous, it will anchor in the minds of the weak and lightly informed. These will confuse pro-life with pro-lie, if they see nothing else. I guess the repeats of the truth are an antidote.

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Sam Golubchuk update...

Significant opinions are now floating on whether doctors have the omnipotent right to pull the plug...

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body>

Doctors have no legal right to withdraw life support against a patient's wishes, a national health policy expert said at an end-of-life conference in Winnipeg Monday.

Dr. Jocelyn Downie, Canada Research chairwoman of health law and policy and professor of law and medicine at Dalhousie University, said there is no legal precedent that gives doctors the authority to remove a patient's feeding tube or ventilator against their wishes or to decide whether they meet a "minimum goal" to continue living.

She said judges in previous court cases involving do-not-resuscitate orders haven't ruled whether this power lies with doctors. The question of who decides, Downie said, is still wide open before the courts.

Downie's comments run counter to new guidelines issued by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba in February that say the final decision on whether to pull the plug on a patient rests with the doctor.

The guidelines were issued less than two months after a Winnipeg family sought a court injunction when Grace Hospital doctors decided to withdraw 84-year-old Samuel Golubchuk's life support.....................

MDs' legal right to pull plug disputed

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Karen Weber update...

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Staff reports

Committee will determine whether Florida woman on feeding tube lives or dies.

Three years after Terri Schiavo was starved to death, a Florida woman is once again at the center of a legal dispute over whether a feeding tube stays or goes.

Karen Weber, 57, has been periodically in a nursing home and a hospital in Okeechobee, Fla., since her December stroke. Her husband, Raymond, claims she is in a vegetative state. He sought earlier this year to have her feeding tube removed, The Associated Press reported.

But Weber's mother and siblings are fighting to keep her alive, arguing she is alert and responsive.

A judge has prohibited the tube's removal, and has appointed a committee to determine her competency.

Weber communicates by blinking her eyes and using hand signals. Alliance Defense Fund attorney Joseph Rodowicz said Weber even waves goodbye as he leaves her room.

“The Constitution of this country gives people the right to life, and it gives people the right to make those decisions," Rodowicz said.

Tom Lothamer, executive director of Baptists for Life, said the sanctity of life is the real issue.

“Somehow, we’ve come to determine that we can determine who will live and who will die," he said. “In reality, it’s God who is the sovereign Lord of all of this.  We keep pushing God away and saying we want to do it our way.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION
What lessons can be learned from Terri Schiavo?

Family Fights to Keep Woman Alive after Stroke

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Choices in the extreme for Grouchy...

Imagine the fantasies of the dark side if the latter grabs the position.

Choose a true conservative or give it a shot with a light loafer weight...

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Sarah Palin or Bobby Jindal: A New Generation Ticket?

Both candidates are young governors (Palin is 44, Jindal 36), demographic "firsts" (Palin would be the first female VP, Jindal the first non-white VP), and socially conservative. But both are also relatively new to the political scene, with public images as malleable, in most respects, as McCain's.

~Snip~

Charlie Crist: The Ultimate Centrist Ticket?

Florida governor Crist is perhaps best known for not intervening in the Terri Schiavo case while serving as state attorney general, earning him the enmity of the Religious Right. His support of same-sex civil unions and embryonic stem cell research probably contribute to that impression as well. Despite this (or perhaps partly because of it), he won the 2006 gubernatorial race to succeed Jeb Bush. Crist is, in some respects, the most promising McCain running mate from a civil liberties perspective--as selecting Crist would indicate that the donors and volunteers coalescing around McCain, who will largely determine the success or failure of his first-term agenda if he is elected, will be either centrists or very centrist-friendly on social issues.....

Being John McCain: How the Veepstakes Could Define His Candidacy

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