Death by Dehydration/Starvation

More than ever, Terri needs our prayers. Miracles happen and it's a miracle that she's survived the evil judiciary for this long. If all "this fuss" about Terri wasn't taking place by the family and the thousands of Terri supporters, she would have been dead years ago. She lives. She's not a vegetable and her captors refuse to allow her to be seen in public. Why? What have they to hide?

Terri's food and water supply has been removed and her slow death has begun. Congress has attempted to intervene, but nothing further can happen until Monday, although, there are those in Congress working overtime to try to save her. An equally powerful, if not MORE powerful force is doing everything to make sure she dies in the name of the "right to die".

This isn't a "right to die" case, it's a right to live case. There is no living will. Nothing was ever written down by Terri saying that she would want to starve to death. The court has ruled that she must die on a "word of mouth" basis by her estranged husband who is living with his girlfriend with whom he has fathered two children. Conflict of interest?

Terri has begun the painful rigors of dehydration. In a story by Michael J. Gaynor, in the Michigan News, reports on what her death will be like unless someone intervenes:

"....the [likely] various effects from the lack of hydration and nutrition" as follows:

"Brophy's mouth would dry out and become caked or coated with thick material. His lips would become parched and cracked. His tongue would swell, and might crack. His eyes would recede back into their orbits and his cheeks would become hollow. The lining of his nose might crack and cause his nose to bleed. His skin would hang loose on his body and become dry and scaly. His urine would become highly concentrated, leading to burning of the bladder. The lining of his stomach would dry out and he would experience dry heaves and vomiting. His body temperature would become very high. His brain cells would dry out, and the thick secretions that would result could plug his lungs and cause death. At some point within five days to three weeks his major organs, including his lungs, heart, and brain, would give out and he would die." (Brophy v. New England Sinai Hospital, No. 85E0009-G1,10/21/85:28-2]

There was "compassion" for Brophy, of course

When he began having seizures, anticonvulsant medication was administered via the tube, as were antacids to prevent hemorrhaging and laxatives to make him more "comfortable" as he died.

That did not transform what surely is a cruel and unusual way to be killed into an uncruel and usual one.

Food and water are NOT medical treatment.

They are not therapeutic.

They do they treat diseases.

They are necessities of life.

Withholding them is murder.

Withholding them with judicial approval is legalized murder.

Hitlerian, in fact.

The idea of euthanasia as a method of dealing with severely disabled people is not new.

In 1939 the Third Reich initiated what was known as T-4 Euthanasie Programme, an aggressive campaign to put severely disabled individuals "out of their misery".

The program was disguised by its participants as a merciful end to "lives unworthy of life."

A German Federal Archive report acknowledged that "Nazi Germany used hundreds of hospitals and clinics to kill at least 200,000 handicapped, mentally ill and other institutional patients who were deemed physically inferior."

Hitler's "Final Solution" was a logical next step.

For one who did not respect the sanctity of all human life and believed that some humans really should be classified as "sub-human" or "germs."

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, described Hitler's euthanasia program as a kind of training ground for the Nazi regime to "fine tune" its "technology of death" before the Holocaust.

The so-called "right to die" movement has grown quietly and over many years.

It has distorted public perception of dying and led some state and federal lawmakers and judges to substitute a right-to-die for THE right to live.

It has done so with misleading words.

Beginning in 1980, the Hemlock Society promoted itself as an organization devoted to the concept of "death with dignity."

Sounds great.

Like "Final Solution."

But, it is a euphemism for death by starvation.

And horrendous.

Like "Final Solution."

Hemlock Society became "End-of-Life Choices."

People like choices.

And tend to overlook the fact that not all choices are reasonable and permissible.

Some are gravely sinful.

Murder is a grave sin and a crime.

Suicide is not a legitimate choice.

But, End of Life Choices seeks "civil and criminal immunity to physician, pharmacist, and people who are present to assist the patient (in committing suicide)."

The appealing language used in support of that anti-life agenda has created a climate in which Terri Schiavo is gravely imperiled.

George Felos, Michael Schiavo's attorney, often is portrayed as heroic instead of Hitlerian.

Felos calls Terri's supporters "right-wing fanatics."

HE is the fanatic.

Dr. William Hammesfahr, a Nobel nominee in medicine, generously offered to treat Terri and provide her rehabilitation without charge.

Michael Schiavo and Judge Greer think her starvation to death is best.

THEY are fanatics.

They should announce that their motto is: Better dead than disabled.

A jury awarded Terri approximately $700,000 for her on-going medical care in a malpractice suit filed by Michael against her doctor.

The jury also awarded Michael $300,000 for loss of companionship.

During the trial, Glenn Woodworth, Michael's attorney, argued that, even though Terri was in a "vegetative state," "you can tell she has some sense of her predicament." He also told the jury that "she knows her husband and looks into his eyes."

With the malpractice case successful concluded, however, Michael opted to take Terri off "life support" and refuse her antibiotics for infection.

Terri was not on a respirator or any other high-tech life support system.

Her "life support" has been a gastric tube through which she receives food and water.
Michael needed a judge to "bless" his plan to end Terri's life.

Terri's parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, have kept Terri alive by opposing Michael's decision.

Thanks be to God for them.

Terri's parents say that Michael never mentioned that Terri didn't want life support until after the malpractice settlement and that, with further treatment, her condition could improve.

Judge Greer initially did the right thing.

He appointed an attorney, Richard Pearse, Jr., to study the case and recommend a solution.

Pearse issued a report that questioned Michael's credibility.

He pointed out that Michael had stopped pursuing treatment for Terri only after the malpractice award.

And that if Terri died, Michael would inherit the $700,000 and be legally free to marry a woman he'd been engaged to for four years.

And that if Michael divorced Terri, he would lose any claim to the $700,000.

Michael's position: Pearse was personally biased against the removal of feeding tubes and that the reason Michael had not filed for divorce was that he didn't want the Schindlers to have the authority to keep Terri on life support.

What a guy!

But, on February 11, 2000, Judge Greer ruled, even though there was no written evidence or advance directive indicating that Terri wished to forego life support, that Michael could order all food and fluids withheld from Terri starting on March 12, 2000

The starvation process started twice, but reprieves for Terri were won.

Now the starvation process is set to resume, on March 18, 2005, at 1 PM.

Prior to 1993, Terri was in rehabilitation and had improved to the point of being able to say "yes," "no," and "stop that."

But, Michael stopped her therapy and began moving her to different facilities, finally placing her in a hospice for dying patients.

Did he have an interest in making sure she could not answer "yes" or "no" to certain questions?

Under Michael's supervision, Terri's teeth were not cleaned for ten years, according to Terri's father.

Amazing.

Even the Hemlock Society insists on "excellent oral hygiene."

Or is that only AFTER the starvation starts?

On November 22, 2002, Judge Greer once again ordered that all Terri's food and fluids be withdrawn.

"Viewing all the evidence as a whole," Judge Greer wrote, "and acknowledging that medicine is not a precise science, the court finds that the credible evidence overwhelmingly supports the view that Terry [sic] Schiavo remains in a persistent vegetative state." [Order, Schiavo v. Schindler, No. 90-2908-GD-003 (FL. Cir. Ct. Nov. 22, 2002)]

Catastrophe can follow when a judge misuses his broad discretion in fact-finding.

Because appellate judges do not see witnesses testify and don't offer an independent review of the facts, deferring to the trial judge,

During the further hearing ordered by the appellate court, a physician testified that Terri had a "suspiciously rigid neck," and that the only other time he had seen this in a cardiac arrest patient was in a case of an attempted strangulation.

That prompted Patricia Anderson, an attorney for Terri's parents, to recheck Terri's medical records.

And find a report on a total-body scan performed on Terri in 1991, 13 months after her collapse.

The scan showed that Terri had fractures of the first lumbar vertebra as well as several thoracic vertebrae, fractures of both sacroiliac joints and both knees and ankles, multiple rib fractures, and a compression fracture of her thigh.

But, Judge Greer denied a motion to allow discovery of this body-scan evidence during the hearing.

That denial was deplorable.

During the January 2000 hearing, Terri's friend and co-worker not only testified that she frequently saw bruises on Terri and that Terri had said they were from her husband "pinching her," but that Terri and Michael had had a violent argument on the day Terri had collapsed and she had been concerned for Terri.

None is so blind as one who will not see.

After that, Michael petitioned Judge Greer for permission to use some of Terri's malpractice settlement money, which is supposed to use for Terri's care, to pre-pay her cremation and burial expenses.

Oblivious to the alarm bells that sounded, figuratively, Judge Greer granted the petition!

And Judge Greer has stayed on the starvation course instead of admitted that he had been way off course.

Terri's funds have been dissipated on the cause of starving her to death instead of rehabilitating and caring for her.

What a waste.

The appropriate authorities should be considering whether Judge Greer is fit for his judicial office and whether Terri was the victim of criminal behavior.

Maybe PETA could come to Terri's aid. They wouldn't allow a field mouse to suffer this ignominy!

Please see my post, "When Is That Bitch Gonna Die?"

Pray for Terri and her family. Pray that the battle between life and death is won by those who stand for life:

Eph 6:10 Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world's rulers, of the darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Eph 6:13 Therefore take to yourselves the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Contact your U.S. Representative and your Senators and respectfully ask that they do whatever they can to save Terri's life and for a proper investigation into the irregularities which may have caused this trauma.