June 2005 Archives

Los Angeles, Calif. � "It is unacceptable that mayor-elect of Los
Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, continues to profess Catholicism as his
faith while acting in direct opposition to the Church's teachings on
the evil of abortion," said Joseph Starrs, director of American Life
League's Crusade for the Defense of Our Catholic Church. "As the young
adults who are participating in this year's Crusade for Life 800-mile
walk across California continue to proclaim, you can't be both
Catholic and pro-abortion."

Maggie Gallagher takes former Gov. Mario Cuomo to task for his public support of embryonic stem cell research in her editorial DUELING STEM CELLS.

. . . Another one bites the dust

Remember the 1980s hit "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen? That song is about getting even by killing people. Not a nice theme for a song! But no one thinks twice about it and current trends are more disturbing because we accept the enchanting lyrics of deadly "science."

Is it a stretch to compare the Queen hit with popular Congressional bills supporting embryonic stem-cell research? I think not.

Mary Worthington of The Revolution writes an interesting post on Terri Schiavo�s autopsy report that calls into question conclusions based upon the physical state of Terri�s brain at the time of her death.

A Newsday article reported the Bush administration's stance on funding for the U.N. Population Fund

President Bush's administration has barred all U.S. funding for the U.N. Population Fund for the last three years, charging that its support for China's population planning programs allows Beijing to implement policies of coercive abortion.

Kelly Ryan, deputy assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, told UNFPA's executive board Wednesday that China's population and family planning law adopted in 2001 and its one-child policies "demonstrate that the birth limitation program clearly has coercive elements in law and in practice."

"If UNFPA would stop giving the `seal of approval,' I think we could move the ball along quite a bit more," Ryan said in an interview.

The Bush administration wants China's provinces to abolish regulations that, among other things, punish unplanned births, require couples to use contraception and require pregnancies be terminated if prenatal exams show the fetus to be severely deformed, Ryan said.

HT: AfterAbortion

Silent Witness : The Untold Story of Terri Schiavo's Death by Mark Fuhrman was released yesterday. Fuhrman is a retired LAPD detective and author of various "New York Times" best sellers, including "Murder in Brentwood," a look into the O.J. Simpson case.

In "Silent Witness," Fuhrman examines the events leading up to Terri Schiavo's initial collapse, and eventual death. However, the book was written prior to the autopsy report and contains conjecture regarding what the medical examiner would find.

MSNBC has an excerpt and the book can be ordered here.

Before leaving for its Summer recess, the Supreme Court announced Tuesday that it would take up, for the third time, a 19-year marathon court case pro-life activists, including Joseph Scheidler, and the National Organization for Women.

The case was first considered by the Supreme Court in 1993 in which pro-life defendants argued that the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) could not be used against public protest groups. In 1994, the Court ruled unanimously that RICO could be used against such groups. The case then proceeded to trial in 1997 and resulted in a judgment against Scheidler and others.

However, in 2003 the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 to overturn the lower court and reverse the financial damages. Chief Justice William Rehnquist wrote,

Because all of the predicate acts supporting the jury's finding of a RICO violation must be reversed, the judgment that petitioners violated RICO must also be reversed.

Without an underlying RICO violation, the District court's injunction must necessarily be vacated.

While many thought the dispute had been resolved, the U.S. appeals court in Chicago refused to cancel their prior order against abortion protesters and enabled pro-abortion activists to continue their intimidation of sidewalk counselors and demonstrators using the RICO Act.

Personally, I'm frustrated that RICO has been used to limit free speech for 19-years when the intention of the law was clearly focused on organized crime. Amazingly, many fail to see that if RICO can be used to limit the free speech of pro-life demonstrators it can be used against protesters of all kinds. G. Robert Blakey, a Notre Dame law professor, warned that "if you look at this case and say it's about abortion, you're missing the point. Everybody who loves the First Amendment has got to sleep uneasily tonight."

Joseph Scheidler, national director of the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League, applied the principles of nonviolent protest he learned during 1960s civil rights movement. "By NOW�s definition, most political protests that have effected social change over the past two centuries would qualify as extortion," Scheidler said in a 2002 statement. "I followed the civil rights movement closely, and, like the fight for racial equality, the fight against abortion is rooted in non-violent direct action.

"Our country was founded on the right to protest injustice. There is no greater injustice than depriving unborn children of their right to life."

Dr. Thomas Zabiega, MD, a neurologist and vice president for legislative affairs of the Chicago Physicians� Guild, questions the conclusions that are being drawn from Terri Schiavo�s autopsy.

According to a CNA article, Zabiega contends that the cause of death listed in the report is inaccurate. "She died of starvation and dehydration, plain and simple, although many of the ischemic and anoxic changes may have resulted from the chemical abnormalities caused by the starvation and dehydration," the article quotes. "She did not die from the injuries that caused her to have brain damage, rather from the enforced starvation and dehydration�"

What would be the legal status of abortion if the Supreme Court were to overrule Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), and Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179 (1973), as modified by Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992)? There is a widespread popular belief that such a decision would make abortion illegal throughout the United States, or that an overruling decision would return the country to the state of law that existed when Roe and Doe were decided on January 22, 1973. According to the Life Legal Defense Fund, "There is no basis in fact for either belief."

The group points to U.S. Census Bureau 2003 statistics that reveal the states with effective abortion prohibitions constitute just 9.7% of the U.S. population. Based on current abortion rates, even if Roe fell today, more than a million abortions per year are projected to be performed legally.

Christian Medical & Dental Associations president Dr. David Stevens believes that Terri Schiavo's autopsy "drew conclusions from anatomic evidence of functional inabilities."

Agape press reports the doctor's opinion that the medical examiner, in several cases, made conclusions that were beyond the reasonable scope of the data derived from the autopsy.

For instance, one of the medical examiner's conclusions was that Terri Schiavo was blind. But Stevens asserts, "You can't diagnose blindness by looking at the brain -- you actually have to test it." And, although the examiner said Schiavo was unable to nourish herself by eating, the CMDA spokesman points out, "There was no blockage to her esophagus, the tube going from her mouth to her stomach. Whether she could eat or not is really a functional issue; you don't know unless you try -- and they didn't let her try."

Source: Agape Press

The nation's largest faith-based organization of physicians today publicly opposed the American Medical Association's recent stance that supports forcing pharmacists to violate their moral convictions by participating in the administration of prescription drugs that cause abortions.

Christian Medical Association Associate Executive Director Gene Rudd, MD, an obstetrician-gynecologist, noted, "The key issue here is not even the important question of the ethics of birth control, but the fundamental freedom to follow the dictates of one's conscience and of the teachings of one's religious faith."

Researchers at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh have found that adult, or postnatal, stem cells have the same ability as embryonic stem cells to multiply, a previously unknown characteristic indicating that post-natal stem cells may play an important therapeutic role. [source]

Dr. Johnny Huard, senior author of the study, stated,

Scientists have typically believed that adult or post-natal stem cells grow old and die much sooner than embryonic stem cells, but this study demonstrates that is not the case.

The entire world is closely following the advances in stem cell research, and everyone is interested in the potential of stem cells to treat everything from diabetes to Parkinson�s disease. But there are also many ethical concerns surrounding the use of embryonic stem cells, concerns that you don�t have with post-natal or adult stem cells. My belief is that this study should erase doubts scientists may have had about the potential effectiveness of post-natal stem cells.

The findings are published in the July 1, 2005, issue of Molecular Biology of the Cell, published by the American Society for Cell Biology. The paper is under consideration for Molecular Biology of Cell paper of the year.

While adult stem cell applications and advancements continue to thrive, embryonic stem cell research suffers from a fatal flaw: in current ESC practice the researchers must "destroy" (a synonym for "kill") a human being to extract the stem cells they need.

Others Blogging:

Adult Stem Cells Can Multiply - Hyscience

Researching Embryonic Stem Cells Unnecessary - The Bur in the Burgh

The conclusion is that in addition to being immoral (which is reason enough to stop), researching therapies using embryonic stem cells offers no unique benefits and may actually be the less effective strategy.

Stem cell research news - JivinJehoshaphat

One less bonus to embryonic stem cells - Stones Cry Out

Adult Stem Cells Same Potential as Embryonic - Choose Life

A 23 year veteran nurse was fired from her full time job at a Catholic Hospital after refusing to administer the "morning after" abortion pill.

Now, attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund have filed suit against St. Tammany Parish Hospital for terminating her employment of Toni Lemly, aruging that the hospital�s actions violate the Louisiana Employment Discrimination Law.

Lemly, had informed hospital supervisory staff that she objected to administering the "morning after" abortion pill because of her sincerely held religious beliefs. St. Tammany Parish Hospital responded by firing her from her full-time position and reducing her to part-time status, working only three days a week. The demotion to part-time status caused a substantial reduction in her pay as well as loss of employee benefits.

For the last two days, hundreds of UN-picked international lobby groups have gathered in New York for discussions with the UN General Assembly about the upcoming Millennium Summit +5. Numerous pro-life, pro-family groups applied to participate, but all were rejected by a handpicked panel of the United Nations. As a result, yesterday's sessions consisted of repeated and unopposed calls for more access to abortion and homosexual rights through the Millennium Development Goals.

As she lay dying, the media kept a grim countdown of the number of days she had been without food and water, and pundits opined on the cable news shows and in the newspapers about �death with dignity� and the sanctity of life. Her death, and the circumstances surrounding it, was commented upon more widely than most in modern history, and yet also probably one of the most misunderstood.

For the first few days, Terri appeared more or less �normal.� She continued to interact with her family and appeared alert. But after 3 or 4 days, the change in her condition became noticeable: Her skin started to appear dry and lifeless, and she became less responsive. By the seventh day, the Schindlers were telling me, in our daily telephone conversations, that Terri had become �lethargic,� and within a few more days, almost entirely unresponsive. Sometime around day 10 or 11 Terri suffered renal failure, which led swiftly to, and was the immediate cause of, her death.

These descriptions are made in Father Rob Johansen's article "The Death of Terri Schiavo", which appeared in the May issue of Catholic World Report.

In this article, he describes and analyzes the events and circumstances surrounding Terri's tragic death, and uncovers some information you may not have seen before, such as:

Judge Greer took it upon himself to decide which tests Terri could or could not have, prompting one attorney to say that the judge "practiced quite a bit of medicine" in Terri's case.

Terri's death did not take place in quite the manner which the mainstream media reported.

Terri's death, like much of the information concerning her condition while alive, was the object of spin and outright disinformation. In this Catholic World Report article, Father Rob unpacks the distortions and gives us the truth.

HT: Hyscience

June 24, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - While research lobbyists pressure governments for access to embryos, more work is being done obtaining stem cells from ethical sources proving that embryonic stem cells are a dead end. This has not been lost on private investors who are now pouring money into adult stem cell research.

In April, at a meeting of the Institute of Physics, Professor Josef K�s and Dr Jochen Guck from the University of Leipzig announced that they had discovered a procedure that can extract and isolate embryo-quality stem cells from adult blood for the first time. In the past, researchers were able to identify adult stem cells from blood by marking them with dye, but this reduced their value for medical uses. The Leipzig group has found a way to identify them from a physical trait � their elasticity, that is characteristic only of stem cells.

Unlike embryonic stem cell research, adult stem and umbilical cord cell research do not necessitate the destruction of a human (embryo) to harvest the necessary stem cells. Another advantage of adult stem cell based technology is that it is being used now in therapeutic applications.

In one of the most recent reports researchers from Duke University Medical Center used adult stem cells to treat peripheral arterial disease. The procedure, still in the research stage, involves isolating specialized stem cells and then injecting those cells into tissue that is starved of blood supply.

"We designed the project to take adult stem cells isolated from a patient's own bone marrow and inject them into the leg � We are hopeful that ultimately this approach will stimulate growth of new blood vessels to restore circulation to these starved muscles. This is the last option [for some patients], short of amputation,� Dr. Jeffrey Lawson, of Duke, said.

So far, two patients at Duke have had the procedure, and both have shown improvement. A recent study in Japan showed 39 out of 45 patients saw improvements in limb perfusion after undergoing the procedure. Duke researchers say those results, along with what they are finding in this new study are encouraging.

For more information click here.

While embryonic stem cell research efforts struggle both ethically and technically, successful adult stem cell research and applications are exploding. Consider the following recent reports:

Study: Adult stem cells promising - Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh researchers announced Thursday they have discovered a population of stem cells isolated from mouse muscle with the same ability to multiply as stem cells harvested from human embryos.

Scientists derive stem cells from human skin - A group of US scientists reported on Wednesday that they have isolated stem cells from human skin, cultivated them in the laboratory, and differentiated them into fat, muscle and bone cells.

Scientists Succeed in Generating Bone Cells Using Adult Stem Cells - Korean scientists are making major strides in the field of stem cell research. This time, researchers have succeeded in growing bone tissues from adult stem cells, raising hopes for people suffering from bone injuries.

Japanese Scientists Cure Renal Failure With Adult Stem Cells - Scientists in Japan have been able to cure renal failure in rats with adult stem cells taken from kidneys of healthy rats. They say the same process should be able to work in humans..

Scientists involved in embryonic stem cell research are now admitting that they have not achieved the advancements that were sold to the public. "Many of the technologies we hyped to the general public haven't worked yet," Celgene Corp. president Alan Lewis said Wednesday at a biotechnology trade show in Philadelphia.

James Thomson, the Wisconsin biologist who was the first to isolate embryonic stem cells also admits they have been oversold. [more from LifeNews]

The Wisconsin State Assembly voted late Thursday to place a complete ban on human cloning in the state. Assembly Bill 499 would ban both "reproductive cloning" � where a cloned person is brought to birth, and "therapeutic cloning" � where a cloned person is killed in the name of scientific progress.

"We commend the Wisconsin State Assembly for placing a total ban on the destructive and dehumanizing practice of human cloning," said Peggy Hamill, state director of Pro-Life Wisconsin. "We especially thank Representative Kestell for his courageous and steadfast leadership in passing this critical bill intact."

By Judie Brown
June 24, 2005

If there's anything the pro-abortion crowd is especially adept with, it's the subtle use of words -- shades of meaning, nuanced turns, linguistic sleight-of-hand. If, for instance, I described their rhetoric as "ribald," you might think one thing. But in actuality, I'm disguising the true meaning of my critique to prove a point. When I say they employ ribald rhetoric, I'm aligning the word with the synonyms suggested in my thesaurus: abhorrent, disgusting and atrocious. That's probably not what you imagined when you read the title of this commentary.

The pronouncements of these culture of death architects are indeed abhorrent, disgusting, atrocious -- and deceptive. But every now and then they slip up and raise the level of their rhetoric to such hyperbolic heights that it's clear there's more going on than meets the ear. Such was the case recently when Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, weighed in on proposed parental notice legislation:

CHICAGO, June 21, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) � The American Medical Association is backing a proposal that would force pharmacists to dispense abortifacients like the morning-after emergency abortion and birth control pill or refer to another pharmacist to have the prescriptions filled.

A resolution passed Monday by the AMA�s House of Delegates states that pharmacists who oppose abortifacients on moral grounds should provide an �immediate referral to an appropriate alternative dispensing pharmacy without interference,� according to a Chicago Tribune report.

A 26-year old stroke victim remains in a coma while her unborn child continues to develop and grow. Susan Torres collapsed and stopped breathing on May 7th, the day before mother�s day, and was rushed to hospital where doctors discovered stage four melanoma brain cancer.

Although doctors informed Susan�s husband Jason that she has no hope of recovery they are fighting to keep her unborn child alive until at least July 11, the point in time when the child will have a chance of survival outside the womb. "I think Susan would've walked through hell to give that child a chance,� Jason told the Washington Times. "There's no assurance we'll get to 25 weeks. There's no assurance after she's born that she'll survive. But the ultrasounds and sonograms show a normal pregnancy.�

Jason struggles with the reality of raising their two-year old son without Susan, the condition of his wife, the imminent danger to his unborn child and mounting medical bills.

However, on Monday Jason and Susan�s parents felt the baby kick for the first time! A good reminder, amidst everything, of what this is all about.

Jason is in great need of charitable assistance. The cost of keeping Susan in the hospital is thousands daily. Click here to help.

HT: Truth and Action

Also blogging: Winterr's words, Charmaine Yoest
Reasoned Audacity, My Domestic Church, Ex Nihilo

The cremated remains of Terri Schiavo were buried yesterday at Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park in Clearwater, Florida in the presence of her husband, Michael Schiavo, some of his brothers and a priest. Contrary to a court order, her immediate family were not notified in advance of the service.

Michael used a bronze grave marker to list Feb. 25, 1990, as the date his wife died. Feb. 25, 1990, is the date Terri Schindler Schiavo experienced a still unknown event that left her severely mentally disabled. Terri Schiavo actually died March 31, 2005, nearly two weeks after her feeding tube was removed by court order.

Terri's brother, Bobby Schindler, released the following statement in reponse to the inscription on Terri's burial site marker

"This clearly illustrates the spiteful lengths to which Michael Schiavo will go in order to purposely hurt those that loved Terri unconditionally � her family. It seems to me that the only intention of this inscription was to be hurtful, and had absolutely nothing to do with Terri, but only to cause my parents additional pain over the loss of their child. Maybe even more tragic, is that in doing so, Michael Schiavo shows nothing but a lack of respect for Terri."

Terri's grave marker is inscribed at the bottom with the words "I kept my promise," apparently aimed at memorializing her husband who successfully brought about her death by withholding food and water.

Kevin McCullough comments on the interpretation of Terri Schiavo's autopsy that is promoted by the mainstream press. He writes,

The sad part of all of this early spin-doctoring did very little to bring clarity to the picture of what really happened with Terri, and her potential outcome could be.

Terri's family released their own findings from observation of the official autopsy results. None of which were even acknowledged by the mainstream press, much less refuted successfully by George Felos and Michael Schiavo.

The cremated remains of Terri Schiavo were buried today at Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park in Clearwater, Florida in the presence of her husband, Michael Schiavo, some of his brothers and a priest.

Terri's bronze grave marker is inscribed at the bottom with the words "I kept my promise," apparently aimed at memorializing her husband who successfully brought about her death by withholding food and water.

Despite his prior testimony during a 1992 malpractice lawsuit, Michael chose to list Feb. 25, 1990, as the date she "Departed this Earth." (Michael testified during the trial, "I believe in the vows that I took with my wife. Through sickness, in health, for richer or poorer. I married my wife because I love her and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I'm going to do that.") Terri actually died on March 31, 2005 after nearly two weeks without food and water.

Contrary to a court order, Terri's parents and siblings were not notified of the memorial service in advance. Instead, they found out about it from reporters who called them with questions. "... That's sad for the family," said David Gibbs, attorney for the Schindlers.

The Empire Journal has more.

HT: BlogsforTerri

47.9 million unborn human beings have been aborted since the fateful "Roe v. Wade" U.S. Supreme Court decision of 1973.

A Certain Slant of Light brings a somber Father�s Day message about the millions of men whose children were killed prior to birth.

This is a day in which men ought to think long and hard on what the United States Supreme Court did to them in rendering its majority view on January 22, 1973 -- a dreadful decision that truly lives in infamy!

Dr. William Hammesfahr, nominated for a Nobel Prize for his work in Medicine, has been recognized by agents for Medicare, the federal government, and others for new approaches to helping the brain injured.

Dr. Hammesfahr has been identified in helping patients with chronic brain injuries from many causes actually leave long term disability, and return to work. Dr. Hammesfahr, was identified by Judge Susan Kirkland, for the State of Florida Department of Health, in her judicial ruling in which, for the State of Florida, Department of Health, found that he was "the first physician to restore deficits caused by stroke."

In a letter to the New York Times, Flordia Governor Jeb Bush calls the nation to remember that life is fragile and must be valued. Despite criticism, he pledge to "continue to strive to protect our most vulnerable citizens. All innocent human life is precious, and government has a duty to protect the weak, the disabled and the vulnerable."

Yesterday asked Pinellas-Pasco County State Attorney Bernie McCabe to investigate an alleged gap in time between when Michael Schiavo found Terri and called 911 in February 1990.

LifeNews - President Bush, today, inspired thousands of pro-life advocates with a videotaped message at the National Right to Life convention. He thanked the audience for their work in fighting to protect the lives of those threatened by abortion and discussed the kinds of measures he's signed into law.

"Because of your hard work and dedication, we're making progress," the president said. "We've reduced the number of abortions in American and introduced new laws that save lives."

more from LifeNews

Gov. Jeb Bush, who unsuccessfully tried to keep Terri Schiavo alive, now says that an investigation is needed into what happened the night in 1990 that she collapsed and her heart stopped beating [Miami Herald].

The Wisconsin State Assembly voted late Thursday to prohibit the University of Wisconsin System from advertising, prescribing or dispensing the morning-after pill on its statewide campuses.

"We applaud the leadership of the State Assembly for responding to the glaring need for oversight on this important University System issue," said Peggy Hamill, state director of Pro-Life Wisconsin. "The morning-after pill can act to chemically abort tiny preborn babies, and it is a powerful and potentially dangerous drug regimen for young women. It is certainly not the place of our public universities to be handing it out," said Hamill.

Legal Defense Foundation decries the mischaracterizations rampant in the secular media in the wake of the release of a June 13th, 2005, autopsy report by Pinellas County Medical Examiner John R. Thogmartin. Major media outlets are eager to represent Thogmartin's report as completely vindicating those who opted to kill Terri Schiavo. In fact, it does no such thing.

The following is a statement from Culture of Life Foundation President, Austin Ruse regarding the Schiavo Autopsy:

"The medical examiner of Pinellas County has determined from his autopsy of Terri Schiavo that her condition would never have improved. His conclusion certainly is in dispute, but is beside the central question. The central question then and now is what do we owe our sister?

Terri was severely brain-damaged. All she needed to continue living was food and water. Some, including those she trusted, concluded that these basic life-sustaining necessities should be taken from her.

We should remember that it took Terri two long weeks to die of THIRST. We would not do this to a dog. We owed our sister more than this. We owed Terri much than this. In Terri's case, we abdicated our moral responsibility."

Radio personality and aspiring writer Cindy Swanson has posted a transcript of her interview on Terri Schiavo's autopsy with Schindler family attorney David Gibbs III.

CINDY: For several weeks this past winter and early spring, the nation was captivated by the story of Terri Schindler Schiavo. No matter where one stood on this young woman's fate, most people had a strong opinion one way or ther other on the case. Terri Schiavo died on March 31st after her feeding tube was removed, and after prolonged efforts by her family to intervene on her behalf. My guest today is the attorney who represents Terri's family in this case--he is attorney David Gibbs the third. David, welcome to Weekend Rockford--I'm privileged to have you as my guest.

DAVID: Cindy, I'm honored to be with you, and it was my privilege to stand for the life of Terri Schiavo as her family so diligently and so boldly stood for for her right to live.

CINDY: David, you've once again been in the news in recent days, as Terri Schiavo's autopsy results have been released. And I understand that the Schindlers have released a statement to the media concerning those results...can you share that with us?

DAVID: Oh, absolutely. We need to remember that the IME, the independent medical examiner, is looking at a dead body, a corpse, and trying to evaluate by looking at what is there and essentially, we understood as the Schindler family and as the legal team that Terri was brain-injured. And he has confirmed in that report that indeed she was significantly brain-injured.

WorldnetDaily Reports:

Challenging the assumptions of many analysts and news reports, an attorney who specializes in medical ethics cases points out the autopsy report of Terri Schiavo indicates the brain-injured woman might have been cognizant of her surroundings as her family insisted.

Jerri Lynn Ward of Austin, Texas, notes the report released Wednesday in the high-profile case states: "The frontal temporal and temporal poles and insular-cortex demonstrated relative preservation."

"What this tells us is that her cortex retained function and that her brain was more normal in the area that controls higher-level thinking," said Ward, who has weighed in on the case in her weblog and in an interview with "Joseph Farah's WorldNetDaily RadioActive" show.

Terri Schiavo's Autopsy--The Spin and The Meaning-Part VI

Terri Schiavo's Autopsy--The Spin and The Meaning-Part VI

Terri Schiavo's Autopsy--The Spin and The Meaning-Part IV

Terri Schiavo's Autopsy--The Spin and The Meaning-Part III

Terri Schiavo's Autopsy--The Spin and The Meaning-Part II

Terri Schiavo's Autopsy--The Spin and The Meaning-Part I

The U.S. House voted against restoring funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). This is good news considering that the UNFPA promotes population control around the world and has been involved in promoting abortion, explicit sex education and condoms for children, and coercive population control programs. In addition, the UNFPA continues to subsidize Communist China�s Draconian one-child policy. In China, married couples are officially allowed to have only one or two children, with heavy fines, loss of employment, and other sanctions facing those who have more. Such systematic abuse of human rights often leads to forced abortion and sterilization in the world�s most populous country.

Unfortunately, 192 members of Congress voted in favor of providing taxpayer's money to the UNFPA.

The details of the vote followed as published by the Population Research Institute.

Jeff Johnson of CNS News has written a well-balanced article on Pinellas county medical examiner Dr. Jon Thogmartin�s autopsy report of Terri Schiavo. Among several topics, Johnson summarizes two opposing and speculative explanations for Terri�s collapse which Thogmartin discredits.

First, it has been commonly reported that an eating disorder induced low potassium levels and heart failure causing Terri to collapse. However, based on the evidence provided to him, Thogmartin concludes that this view is not supported. Johnson reports:

Terri Schiavo collapsed under unknown circumstances in 1990. Michael Schiavo was awarded nearly $2 million in judgments and settlements in a medical malpractice lawsuit claiming that the collapse was caused by a heart attack triggered by a potassium imbalance, caused by an undiagnosed eating disorder, bulimia nervosa. Thogmartin challenged that determination.

Thogmartin dismissed the theory that the oxygen depravation to Terri's brain might have been the result of a myocardial infarction, the medical term for a "heart attack," or death of heart muscle from coronary artery disease.

Thus, the main piece of evidence supporting a diagnosis of Bulimia Nervosa is suspect or, at least, can be explained by her clinical condition at the time of the blood draw.

The common term "heart attack" is generally reserved to describe the medical condition of myocardial infarction. Mrs. Schiavo�s heart was anatomically normal without any area of recent or remote myocardial infarction.

This is a statement that has been released by the Schindler family regarding the medical examiner's autopsy report on Terri Schiavo.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., and SEMINOLE, Fl., June 16 /Christian Wire Service/ -- On June 15, 2005, the Pinellas County IME has released his report regarding Terri. We would like to thank the IME for his time and effort in making this report. We are not challenging the findings in his report, but we would like to make a few comments publicly. We do not intend to take questions afterwards.

First, the IME's report confirms Terri's physical condition and disability. We all knew Terri was seriously brain-injured before the IME report. This is nothing new. The IME's report also confirms that TERRI WAS NOT TERMINAL. THAT TERRI HAD NO LIVING WILL, THAT TERRI HAD A STRONG HEART, and THAT TERRI WAS BRUTALLY DEHYDRATED TO DEATH.

Second, our family would encourage the media to remember that this case was allegedly about "Terri's choice." There is absolutely no evidence that Terri wanted to die of dehydration, or that she believed that that the level of one's disability gives anyone the moral and legal right to end another's life.

Today's release of findings in the autopsy of Terri Schiavo leave the central issues in her life and death unanswered, says a national disability rights group.

For example, contrary to articles stating the autopsy report "supported" the diagnosis of "persistent vegetative state (PVS)," a neuropathology expert today was careful to say that PVS is a clinical diagnosis rather than a pathological one. He added that nothing in the autopsy was "inconsistent" with a PVS diagnosis.

Concerned Women for America (CWA) responded to the autopsy report on Terri Schiavo, released today by a medical examiner for Florida's Pinellas-Pasco County, which confirmed that the "removal of [Terri's] feeding tube resulted in her death."

"Terri Schiavo's autopsy results confirm what was feared � she was disabled, and her death was due to the deliberate denial of hydration," said Wendy Wright, CWA's senior policy director. "The autopsy report described Terri's medical history and condition in detail, but the cold reality of the truth is that her cause of death was 'dehydration.' Terri Schiavo died because the court ordered the removal of the instrument that provided her water.

LARGO, FL., June 15, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) � At a news conference held at 11:00 a.m. today the Florida medical examiner released the results of the autopsy performed on Terri Schiavo, performed after her high-profile court-ordered execution resulted in her death on March 31 of this year.

President Bush�s promise to veto legislation passed by the congress that would fund embryonic stem cell research has been rightfully applauded by many pro-life organizations and blogs. The President has remained firm in his policy amid relentless attacks by political opportunists, the media and special interest groups who have faith in the unproven promises of embryonic stem cell (ESC) research enthusiasts. However, his position on the value and legal status of the human embryo is inadequate.

Joe Carter, publisher of the Evangelical Outpost, provides an insightful evaluation of the President�s statements on ESC research and in-vitro fertilization (IVF) that were made to clarify his position during a recent press conference (emphasis mine):

Question: Again on stem cells, Mr. President. If I understood you correctly, the embryos put together for in vitro fertilization do contain life. And if that's the case, do you believe that those people who create those embryos for in vitro fertilization have an obligation to ensure that they are brought to term if they are, in fact, not needed by the original --

PRESIDENT BUSH: No, the issue that involves the federal government is whether or not we use taxpayers' money that would end up destroying that life. That's the issue at hand. And as you know, I'm the first President to say we could use federal dollars on embryonic stem cells, but those stem cells had already -- had been created, so that -- it's from the moment I made the declaration forward that we would not use federal taxpayers' money to destroy life. That's the issue. And the Congress has made its position clear, and I've made my position clear. And I will be vetoing the bill they send to me if it were to pass the United States Senate.

Now, there is research going on in the private sector, there's a lot of research on adult stem cells that appears to be very promising. And my government strongly supports stem cells. There must be a balance -- strongly supports adult stem cell research. But there must be a balance between science and ethics. And I've made my decision as to how best achieve that balance.

Washington, DC� "The results of Terri Schiavo's autopsy provide some answers concerning her physical condition," said American Life League president Judie Brown, "but in no way do these findings justify the cruel death by dehydration that was imposed on a living human being."

Fr. Frank Pavone, who was with Terri Schiavo in the final hours and moments of her life and has called her death a murder, issued the following statement upon today�s release of her autopsy report:

"No details of this autopsy change the moral evaluation of what happened to Terri. Her physical injuries and disabilities never made her less of a person. No amount of brain injury ever justifies denying a person proper humane care. That includes food and water.

"A person with a 'profoundly atrophied' brain needs profound care and love. Terri did not die from an atrophied brain. She died from an atrophy of compassion on the part of her estranged husband and those who helped him to have her deliberately killed."

Souce: PriestsforLife

Terris Schiavo's autopsy report is available here.

Pinellas County Medical Examiner Jon R. Thogmartin will hold a press conference on Terri Schiavo�s autopsy report at 11:00 AM Wednesday.

What the report will conclude is not yet known, but the Schindler family and many supporters of Terri's right to live hope the autopsy will provide clues regarding the cause of the cardiac arrest which led to her anoxic brain injury in 1990. They also hope that the autopsy will provide evidence of the abuse of which they have accused Michael Schiavo.

Fr. Rob Johansen, writing for BlogsforTerri, predicts the conclusions will be outlandish:

While I don't know what the autopsy report will say, I'm going to go out on a limb here: I predict that the autopsy report will, in at least a tentative way, offer a conclusion that Terri was in a PVS.

I say this for three reasons:

Firstly (and perhaps this is just my cynicism coming out), it would fit the generally unfortunate and dishonest way that the rest of the Terri Schiavo saga has played out.

Secondly, doctors with whom I have discussed the Schiavo case share my pessimistic outlook. Dr. Peter Morin, a Boston neurologist interviewed for my March 16 NRO article, said that he anticipated "gross overstatements regarding the implications of the neuropathology."

Thirdly, this Philadelphia Inquirer article provides a hint of what is to come:

William A. Pellan, director of forensic investigations for the District Six Medical Examiner's Office in Largo, said the report would address whether Schiavo was in a persistent vegetative state.

There would be no point in mentioning the intent to "address" the issue of PVS if the report was not going to draw a conclusion on the matter. Furthermore, the autopsy cannot prove that Terri was not PVS. Thus it seems likely to me that the report will in some way be presented as "confirming" the diagnosis.

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TOPEKA, KA, June 14, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) � The Kansas State Board of Healing Arts unanimously voted this past Saturday to revoke the medical license of abortionist Krishna Rajanna. The vote comes two months after Krishna�s �Affordable Medicine Clinic� was shut down due to unsafe conditions.

Terri Schiavo died on March 31, 2005, after being starved for 13 days under a controversial and hotly contested court order obtained by her husband, Michael Schiavo.

Her autopsy results are scheduled to be released on June 15th coinciding with an 11:00 a.m. press conference, according to Pinellas County medical examiner Jon R. Thogmartin.

George Felos, Micheal�s attorney and an assisted suicide advocate, originally announced that Michael requested the autopsy to silence critics who have accused him of planning to have Terri Schiavo's remains cremated to cover up wrongdoing [more]. However, Bill Pellan, director of investigations for the Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner's Office, later revealed that the autopsy was ordered by the medical examiner�s office. "[Michael] doesn't have any choice in the matter," Pellan said.

Terri�s family remains hopeful that the autopsy results may shed some light on Terri�s collapse. Her brother, Bobby Schindler, told the Associated Press Tuesday his family is eager to see if the report indicates what went wrong when her heart stopped beating for several minutes in 1990.

The U.S. House could hold a floor vote as early as tonight on an amendment to restore funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The Population Research Institute has repeatedly documented the UNFPA's involvement with China's one-child policy. Contact your congressman and let him know what you think about restoring UNFPA funding.

UNFPA promotes population control around the world and has been involved in promoting abortion, explicit sex education and condoms for children, and coercive population control programs. UNFPA continues to subsidize Communist China�s Draconian one-child policy. In China, married couples are officially allowed to have only one or two children, with heavy fines, loss of employment, and other sanctions facing those who have more. Such systematic abuse of human rights often leads to forced abortion and sterilization in the world�s most populous country.

Tonight, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D.-N.Y.) will likely offer an amendment to the State, Justice, and Commerce appropriations bill to restore UNFPA funding. The last time around, UNFPA funding lost by the slender margin of 219 to 216.

To contact your congressman and politely express your opinion on this issue, go to www.house.gov to find office phone numbers or call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 225-3121. It�s best to call a congressman�s local district office, rather than his Washington office, if you can.

Source: Population Research Institute

Americans United for Life filed suit on behalf of pharmacy owner Luke Vander Bleek of Morrison, Illinois against Gov. Rod Blagojevich over his emergency rule issued April 1, 2005 requiring pharmacies to dispense contraceptives and abortifacient drugs such as the morning-after pill "without delay."

Recently a reader shared with me the pain he felt following his participation in the abortion of his child. The torment that he and other men experience is not unique although it is often veiled and suppressed by a society that denies the humanity of the unborn and the role of the father in the life of each child before birth. Post-abortion counseling services are seeing an increasing number of men come forward, grieving their aborted children.

By Joseph A. D'Agostino

With receding interest in living individual lives of metaphysical and moral goodness has come increased interest in living physically healthy lives. An endless stream of scientific reports provide bases for an even larger stream of media reports about what is healthy and what is not. Many observers have commented on the obsession with health risks that seems pervasive in contemporary media and society. Yet, almost like unpersons in some Communist dystopia, some documented health risks do not receive media coverage or much attention from doctors, and have not penetrated the average American's psyche.

Among these unrisks are those from abortion. It should surprise no one that such a shock to a woman's system as the artificial termination of a pregnancy--a process that so much of her body is designed to nurture--can have serious risks of negative side effects, especially when so many abortions are performed via deeply invasive surgical procedures. There are several common negative consequences of abortion (aside from psychological ones), and Dr. Joel Brind, Ph.D., has recently written another article explaining the connection between abortion and one of the most grievous and increasingly frequent: breast cancer.

Columnist and pro-life activist Jill Stanek has joined the blogging community through the site jillstanek.com, The Pro-Life Pulse. Since 1999, Stanek has been a leading advocate for the unborn after she witnessed a live birth abortion. She writes,

The baby boy I held had been aborted alive at the gestational age of 21 weeks because he had Down syndrome. His parents did not want to hold him, and his attending nurse did not have time to hold him, so she was taking him to the Soiled Utility Room to die alone.

Madison, WI - The Assembly Family Law Committee gave their approval this morning to Assembly Bill (AB) 343, legislation that would prohibit the University of Wisconsin System from advertising, prescribing or dispensing the morning-after pill on its statewide campuses.

Medical companies, funded by financial opportunists, are using stem cells from aborted fetuses to treat heart disease according to a presentation at the Annual Meeting of the International Society of Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery. In a session titled "Late Breaking News", two investigators revealed that during the past 90 days they have injected fetal liver cells from 8-12 week old aborted children into the hearts of patients at a clinic in Ecuador.