Against Her Living Will
By Bonnie Chernin Rogoff (03/24/05)
In quiet, detached tones, with distorted language reminiscent of Nazi propaganda minister Josef Goebbels, enemies of Terri Schindler Schiavo lied through their teeth, but lovingly. Terri isn’t starving; she’s simply not going to receive nourishment. Terri is no longer human, she’s a vegetable. She’s not being murdered, the kind lawyers are just helping her to die gently, peacefully, and with dignity, too.
If this were 9-11 terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden sitting in a federal pen, the same brain dead liberals screaming for Terri’s blood would be storming the jail cell doors demanding that the Islamic fascist receive due process. If this were a serial killer the Hollywood left would be lined up to stop the execution. If this were my cat, I’d be arrested.
We’ve seen this language before. Unborn baby = gob of tissue. Partial birth abortion = D & X procedure. Abortion = choice. Fetus = non-person. Starvation and euthanasia = death with dignity. The “pro-choice” lies are being exposed with each day Terri hangs on. Unborn children that survive partial birth abortions are given “comfort care” (another euphemism), a slow ordeal in which they suffocate, not unlike the slow painful starvation death happening to Terri.
A lack of consciousness knows no party lines. Brain dead Democrats and Republicans want Terri killed. Terri does not want to die. Life requires more than a feeding tube. That her vital signs have remained strong for so long shows that Terri always had a living will, and a will to live.
Terri Schindler Schiavo has become a symbol to ensure the continuance of left-wing social programs. She’s an overgrown fetus that outlived her welcome. Today, I heard a talk radio call in listener say, “I want her to die because I believe she wants to die.” How incredibly presumptuous, for someone who doesn’t know Terri to think he knows what she wants! No wonder America’s courts allow the unfaithful (but loving!) husband to make this decision.
The mainstream pro-abortion media intentionally portrayed Terri badly. The ABC poll showed that most Americans favor letting Terri die. However, the questions were skewed to achieve the desired results: “Schiavo suffered brain damage and has been on life support for 15 years. Doctors say she has no consciousness and her condition is irreversible.” Not true. Terri is NOT on life support. SOME doctors say her condition is irreversible, others say she can recover. This incredibly biased poll indicates that fully 44% of respondents weren’t even following the case closely! That means they likely don’t know about Michael Schiavo’s disgusting behavior which worsened Terri’s condition. They don’t know about medical opinions that support rehabilitation for Terri.
Not all doctors have been heard. Nobel Prize nominee and neurologist Dr. William Hammesfahr provided testimony that Terri would improve even learn to speak again, if she were only given a chance at therapy. Carla Sauer Iyer, R.N., who administered care to Terri from 1995 to 1996, signed a sworn affidavit in which she stated that Michael was left alone with Terri in her room with the door locked. When Ms. Iyer returned, Terri’s condition deteriorated into near hypoglycemic shock. She suspected Michael may have injected Terri with insulin to accelerate her death, although Ms. Iyer had no proof.
Republicans In Name Only grumble about separation of powers and the intervention by the legislature over the judiciary. Why aren’t they equally alarmed by Judge Greer’s unethical decisions and the overreach of the Courts? Why do they say it’s a “personal decision” when this decision can have implications for all Americans? Why do they invoke the “sanctity of marriage” when the Schiavo marriage ended years ago?
The mainstream media has turned this into a religious rights issue and political issue for Republicans who want to pander for votes from the religious right. It’s a lie. For Terri’s immediate family, there’s religion involved but for everyone else it’s a civil rights matter. To wit, if Terri were an atheist and her immediate family were not religious but did not want their daughter’s feeding tube pulled, we’d still be fighting for her right to life. It’s a right that’s based in the Constitution as well as the Bible. That right is now eroded, and everyone – from the pious to pagan – will be subject to the whims of dangerous judges entrenched in a system that supports homicide for those not born, and not well.
Alice Lemos, a frequent contributor to my website expressed her outrage: “There is something truly obscene about the torment of Terri Schiavo taking place during Christian Holy Week and so close to the Jewish Passover. It is as if the "judges" and Schiavo and his lawyer wanted to torture the Schindler family and rub their faith in their faces.” Exactly right. There is an undercurrent of anti-Christian and especially anti-Catholic bigotry that is getting more vicious every day. The Schindler family is being used to score secular points against people of faith, Catholic Church doctrine, right-wing conservatives and pro-lifers. These are the ultimate targets.
This case sets an alarming precedent. An unfaithful husband who claims his wife made a statement one time that only he heard now has authority over the rights of blood relatives. If you don’t have a living will, make one. If you’re a religious Christian, better consider going into hiding. Welcome to America circa 2005, and its 50 persistent vegetative states.
Note: Governor Jeb Bush held a press conference this afternoon indicating new medical evidence has been uncovered. Renowned Mayo Clinic neurologist Dr. William Cheshire believes Terri Schiavo may have been misdiagnosed as PVS, but may have “minimally conscious state.” The Florida Department of Children and Family Services may be able to intervene and take custody of Terri.
Updated 4:15 p.m., March 23, 2005.
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