Terri - Last Words?

RARTL logo

Rochester Area Right To Life

Terri Schiavo � Miscellaneous Last Words

Many people have been moved to think of end of life issues by the media coverage of Terri Schiavo�s death.  If you have not yet filled out a Will to Live, consider looking at  what the National Right to Life Committee has made available on their website and see if it meets your needs.  There are a lot of explanations and suggestions.  Go to http://www.nrlc.org/euthanasia/willtolive/index.html

Or see the RARTL article written in response to a Dear Abby column.

Kathleen Parker commented that the �humane and common sense solution� would have been to allow Terri�s parents to care for her.  Like many people, she didn�t see a reason for Terri to die.  As she said, �If Terri Schiavo would not suffer from dying, then she also would not suffer from living.�  (April 2 column in Rochester D&C)

Fr. Frank Pavone disputes statements made by Michael Schiavo�s attorney, George Felos.  Fr. Pavone says, �... it is inaccurate to describe Terri Schiavo�s death as peaceful and gentle.  I was with her for several hours the night before she died and again the next morning up until ten minutes before she died.  She was in an agony unlike anything I have ever seen, and to describe it in any other way is irresponsible and dishonest.� (Press release, Priests for Life, April 5, 2005)

The official Schindler family statement, read after Terri�s death included this comment.  �Following the example of the Lord Jesus, our family abhors any violence or any threats of violence.  Threatening words dishonor our faith, our family, and our sister, Terri.  We would ask that all those who support our family be completely kind in their words and deeds toward others.�   The statement concludes with, �God�s plan for Terri is unfolding before our eyes.  Our prayer at this time is that our Nation will remember the plight of persons with disabilities and commit within our hearts to defend their lives and their dignity for many generations to come.�  (The complete, beautiful statement is on www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/apr/05040103.html)

In the Forbes magazine, Steve Forbes called Terri�s death �euthanasia by stealth.�  He said, in part, �The Terri Schiavo case is immensely disturbing, most of all because it's becoming a back door to establishing euthanasia in the U.S. Most medical authorities make an emphatic distinction between people who are comatose, brain-dead or in a persistent vegetative state. Terri Schiavo was not on a ventilator; she could breathe on her own.�   ( www.forbes.com/forbes/2005/0418/031.html )

Wesley Smith:  �The big question is why. Why did this story, of all stories, reach such a critical mass; why did Terri Schiavo, of all people, ignite such a deep, visceral emotional response in so many of her fellow citizens; why have so many people devoted so much energy and commitment to this case--some utterly intent upon keeping her alive, others adamantly believing she should be left to die as quickly as possible? This controversy hit the stratosphere, I believe, because of one simple but very powerful innovation: the Internet.� (Wesley Smith, "The Case Heard Round the Web," http://www.weeklystandard.com/.)

National Right to Life said on April 6 that their website �received 100,000 more visitors than usual� with �more than 9,000 Florida �Will to Live� documents downloaded in the past few weeks.  That is more �Will to Live� downloads than from almost all other states combined in the past year.�  Apparently over 9,000 Floridians think they have significant reasons to be uneasy! (News and Views, April 6,  (www.nrlc.org)

Cardinal Renato Martino of the Vatican called the death a "human tragedy, but also an ethical, juridical and cultural tragedy." He told reporters her loss of life in a hospice in Florida to a "death sentence executed through a cruel method."

"We are against the death penalty, and that was practically a death penalty that was inflicted on her.  That was not a natural death. It was an imposed death." (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,152087,00.html)

Bishop Thomas G. Wenski:  �Some would argue that to remove her feeding tube is to let nature take its course. Yet what is "natural" about starving to death? True, she is fed through a feeding tube. She depends on others, but so did Christopher Reeve and so does a newborn baby depend on others for nutrition and hydration. John Donne said, "No man is an island entire of itself." As members of the human race we all are interdependent on each other to one degree or another. The mark of a civilized society was that the helpless had the greatest claim on our protection. Now it would seem they have the least.

"And so, Holy Week, the annual remembrance of Jesus' passion and death, begins with the passion of Terri Shiavo. Barring some miracle, Terri's agony has already begun. ... From the cross Jesus cried out and his cry is echoed today by all those held captive to a world of pain and sin. As Terri shares in his passion, she will share in his resurrection. Like Jesus did, Terri Shiavo cries out, though with muted voice: �I thirst!� �

(Part of a column by Bishop Thomas G. Wenski, Bishop of Orlando in the Florida Catholic Newspaper, written just before Terri�s feeding tube was removed)( This item 4127 digitally provided courtesy of CatholicCulture.org)

 

Nat Hentoff opened his column by saying, �She is not brain-dead or comatose, and breathes naturally on her own. Although brain-damaged, she is not in a persistent vegetative state, according to an increasing number of radiologists and neurologists.�   He added later, �Do you know that nearly every major disability rights organization in the country has filed a legal brief in support of Terri's right to live?� (�Terri Schiavo: Judicial Murder� March 29th, 2005 )

 

These were "last words," some of which Terri might have said.  However, �the last word� has not been said, as Terri�s family begins their work to eliminate the threat to people in the US in the same tenuous position as Terri.

Updated on RARTL April 14, 2005


What's New

Action Alerts Pro-life in The News Newsletter - Rochester Area RTL

Right to Life Website - Main Headings

Home What's New Local Events Life Stage
Help
About Us Education
Rochester
Gen Info
Online
How You
Can Help

Tell
Us

TOC