Category: Current Affairs

The Family Research Council has released audio (.mp3) of Terri Shiavo responding to her father immediately after the removal of her food tube.

In the recording she appears to be distressed and responds to questions by making moaning sounds and attempting at one point to say "Hi."

Her father asks her if someone has hurt her and she responds strongly. He then asks her if specific parts of her body hurts and she fails to respond, suggesting that the hurt is not an immediate physical hurt but something more general that someone has done to her.

LISTEN TO TERRI.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

First the good news: The Senate has passed a bill conforming to the "Palm Sunday Comromise" that would get Terri’s food tube reinserted.

More good news: President Bush has rushed back to Washington to sign the bill into law if it passes.

The bad news: House DemoEvilcrats (that is to say, members of the Democratic Party who are personally evil) have stalled passage of the bill by the House:

In a special session Sunday afternoon, Democrats refused to allow the bill to be passed without a roll call vote.

Under House rules, such a vote could not occur before 12:01 a.m. Monday
when at least 218 of the 435-member House must appear to establish a
quorum. Also, because it was an expedited vote, the measure needed
votes from two-thirds of those present for passage.

"Time is not on Terri Schiavo’s side," DeLay said. "The few remaining objecting House Democrats have so far cost Mrs. Schiavo two meals already today."

There is still hope, though

GET THE STORY.

Now the frustrating news: The "Palm Sunday Compromise" involves tailoring the bill such that it is directed specifically to Terri’s case and would have no implications for other cases. That’s bad

a) Because it won’t protect anyone else, and

b) Because on its face it violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection of the laws since it’s relief directed specifically to Terri’s parents, meaning that other parents of people in similar situations don’t get this relief, thus denying them equal protection, and so

c) It could be struck down by a  evil judgeSith  Lord on those grounds.

Now, I’m just a simple country lawyerapologist so relief of this narrowly-tailored nature may go on all the time and precedent may have already established that it’s "okay" to do this. I’d love for a real lawyer to tell me that for Terri’s sake, though it violates the way the law ought to work for Constitutional reasons.

I suggest, in view of these facts, that we all

KEEP THIS ISSUE IN PRAYER.

UPDATE: In an extraordinary session, the House passed the bill shortly after midnight East Coast time and President Bush signed. Her parents have subsequently filed a motion in federal court.

GET THE STORY.

PRAYER IS STILL NEEDED THAT THE COURT WILL RE-INSERT TERRI’S FOOD TUBE AND NOT STRIKE THE LAW DOWN OUT OF HAND.

Ed Peters asks:

Can we consider emergency fasting for Terri Schiavo?
   
     Options:

1. a "Bread and Water" fast until Terri is fed again; or
2. a "Good Friday" fast (one meal per day, two smaller ones if necessary, and no meat) until Terri is fed again; or
3. no snacking or eating out till Terri is fed again; or
4. some physical sacrifice for Terri, her husband and his lawyer, all those defending Terri, and all those attacking her.

Any of these still allow us far more food and water than Terri is getting, but if you have any questions about your own ability to fast, check with a qualified advisor, and follow his or her advice. Never eliminate fluids, especially water, even for what might seem short periods of time. May God bless Terri, and may God bless our country.
   

     "The New Law practices the acts of religion: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, directing them to the Father who sees in secret…" Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1969. Lent is an especially appropriate time to offer up fasts. CCC nos. 1434, 1438.

RELATED: A canonical implication of the Terri Shiavo case.

Okay. Lunchblogging on a desperate day for Terri Shiavo.

In case you haven’t been keeping up with developments:

1. The U.S. Congress reportedly issued a subpoena that was served on Terri, requiring her to come to Washington to testify to Congress and making it a federal crime to harm her until this could be done.
2. A judge (not Darth Greer) ordered that Terri’s food tube not be removed.
3. Darth Greer overturned this order and re-ordered Terri’s starvation.
4. Terri reportedly tried to say "I want to live" in front of multiple witnesses.
5. UPDATE: Terri’s food tube has been removed. The MURDER has begun.

MORE:

On Friday afternoon, less than a hour after probate court judge George W. Greer ignored federal subpoenas and ordered that Michael Schiavo remove the feeding tube from Terri which will cause her death by starvation, Terri Schiavo before multiple witnesses indicated that she wanted to live.

According to attorney Barbara Weller, one of the attorneys representing Terri’s parents, Mary and Bob Schindler Sr., when her parents and attorneys visited Terri at the Woodside Hospice where she resides to tell her they were going to remove her feeding tube, Terri began to cry and tried to say “I want to live”

Attorney Weller said she had a difficult time calming Terri down.

GET THE STORY.

Meanwhile, Peggy Noonan warns:

Here’s both a political and a public-relations reality: The Republican Party controls the Senate, the House and the White House. The Republicans are in charge. They have the power. If they can’t save this woman’s life, they will face a reckoning from a sizable portion of their own base. And they will of course deserve it.

This should concentrate their minds.

So should this: America is watching. As the deadline for removal of Mrs. Schiavo’s feeding tube approaches, the story has broken through as never before in the media.

READ THE REST.

GET THE LATEST.

But he is.

READ ONE OF HIS BLOODCURDLING TALES HERE.

But he is.

READ ONE OF HIS BLOODCURDLING TALES HERE.

This is Bo Gritz. (Gotta love that name.)

I’ve never heard of him before, but he’s a former green beret who has a hairbrained (and non-violent) scheme to save Terri Shiavo’s life.

You read it and you think: This can’t work.

Until you read that it’s worked for him before.

GET THE STORY.

(Cowboy hat tip to the reader who sent it!)

This is Bo Gritz. (Gotta love that name.)

I’ve never heard of him before, but he’s a former green beret who has a hairbrained (and non-violent) scheme to save Terri Shiavo’s life.

You read it and you think: This can’t work.

Until you read that it’s worked for him before.

GET THE STORY.

(Cowboy hat tip to the reader who sent it!)

I am not a fan of horror fiction because I figure that the front-page of my local newspaper is scary enough, thanks.  However, work sometimes compels me to flip through factual horror books.  Case in point: Culture of Death: The Assault on Medical Ethics in America by Wesley J. Smith, a lawyer and opponent of the euthanasia movement.  After scanning through several chapters, I marched over to see a friend and told her that if I ever was unable to speak for myself she was to tell anyone and everyone that I wanted to live.  The horror stories Smith recounts are scarier than anything Stephen King could envision.

Smith has a blog titled Secondhand Smoke.  Check it out! 

A reader writes:

I’m writing shamelessly to you to ask that you plug an internet campaign. This campaign isn’t seeking money, dontations, or even sponsors, but rather, ears. The disciples with microphones, a newly formed catholic apostolate, has been collecting audio commentary, stories, and essays about the plight of Terri Schiavo. The quality and depth of the audio stories has been impressive, and we’re hoping to help others to hear and thinkg about Terri and her struggle.

Please use your blog to help spread the word about Terri and this movement.

http://www.discipleswithmicrophones.org/podcasts/terri/

Live to serve! Hope a lot of folks will check out these shows!