Lesson in life: Food is not medicine

Terri Shiavo has been on our family prayer list for several years now. The first time we heard about her feeding tube removal several years ago my children's reaction to the story about Terri led them to tears and many prayers. We were travelling to Florida - so close to her and she was continually on our minds. Would that today we all became as little children with eyes to see Terri the way my children see her. Her life is valuable because God made her in his image. She was given the breath of life and it has not been taken away from her - indeed she is a fighter and continues to hang on to life. Every life is sacred.

A person would go to jail for starving a dog to death. Food and water is not medical intervention, it is a right of human beings. Terri is still a human being with family who desire to care for her. It is right for every human being of good faith to demand Terri's life be spared to the best of their ability. This is not about politics, it is about the life of an innocent person.

Isn't it odd how animals are cared for so much better than human beings? One can go to jail for disturbing a turtle's egg, but abort an unborn child and .....

The link between Terri, the unborn, the elderly, the suffering and others of disabilities is people don't see them as human beings because they can't speak or take up for themselves.

This is from an article in Catholic Exchange, Harsh Reality by Mary Kochan who writes about how she can not believe this is happening:
"This is further highlighted by the comments of Nancy Valko (a registered nurse and president of Missouri Nurses for Life) who sent out an email on why Terri needs some kind of protective custody immediately:

It is well-known and has even been admitted in news articles that drugs like sedatives, narcotic pain meds, etc. are routinely employed in starvation and dehydration deaths. This is said to be necessary to "prevent" any possible discomfort but, more importantly, it also ensures that the victim will be less responsive and thus perpetuate the myths that such deaths are painless and/or that the person is a "vegetable." These drugs can also make it virtually impossible for Terri to even try to eat by mouth without choking in the unlikely event that Greer will allow oral feeding to be tried.

And how do we know if Terri isn't already receiving such medication since her feedings are now stopped? In the 2000 Steven Becker case here in St. Louis, the lawyer appointed by the court said he didn't see the responsiveness in Steven that the family saw but, after Steven was killed, his family told me that they finally got to read hospital records and found that Steve had been receiving drugs like Thorazine, making any assessment of Steven's mental status suspect.

I'm not really surprised that Greer went ahead with the terminating the feedings. Michael Schiavo, Felos and the rest of the "right to die" crowd cannot really afford to let the public see Terri in a hearing and I suspect Greer is hoping that Congress will not act during the Easter break. Greer has long banned pictures of Terri and people like Fr. Pavone and one of Terri's new lawyers have written about how alert and well Terri looks. Unfortunately, there are several ways to accelerate the dehydration process (extra blankets, turning the heat up, etc.) and by the time someone in authority gets to see her, she may already be dead or in extremis.

Remember, the carefully constructed "right to die" myths can easily collapse if the public gets a chance to see Terri now and unsedated or, even better, if she lives and improves with therapy. The whole "right to die" movement is at risk."

For the facts about this case please visit www.terrisfight.org.

I try to look at things in the simplest terms possible because in today's information age many complicate issues, change meanings to words, add agendas, etc... The simple fact is this is an attempt to starve Terri to death. Without any prodding on my part my children could see straight through to the simple heart of a suffering woman who at least deserves some nutrition. My prayers and the prayers of my family continue to be for Terri's most precious life.