ProLifeBlogs has a letter from Melanie Childers, Andrea Clarke's sister. I blogged about Andrea on Tuesday: She was being threatened with passive euthanasia by a Christian (in name only) hospital and an obscure Texas law about "futile" care.

Here's the most important part of the letter:

My family has made the decision to move our sister to the hospital in Chicago. Thank God there is someone willing to take her. And, really, it is best to get her out of Texas, because of the futile care law here.

St. Luke's played hardball with us on this issue. We were told that we could make the decision today and they would pay the entire amount of $14 thousand to move her, but if we made the decision tomorrow, they would only pay half of it, and if it were the day after tomorrow, they would pay nothing.

Now, how many more people need our help? Note the ominous warning at the beginning of Melanie's letter: "And, really, it is best to get her out of Texas, because of the futile care law here." How many more people like Andrea Clarke are being targetted for extermination by hopsital ethics committees?

Once again, I agree with Wesley J. Smith:

We'll see how this issue unfolds. Meanwhile, it is time for federal hearings on the nature and scope of the medical futility problem and some federal and state remedies to prevent the values of bioethics from being imposed on the lives of the sick and disabled.

The issue of medical futility is too important to be decided by the few behind closed doors. This entire subject needs to be aired in public democratic debate.

As you know, I'm a Democrat, but one that is against abortion. I agree with the Republicans on that issue, at least. After this experience, though, I have to tell you: I am in absolute awe of the power that the right to life people generate. I, of course, first posted on Democratic Underground, and I have to give them some credit: they let my post stand against the rules about posting something like this under the wrong topic. They also let it stand, even though it had people's (my sister's and mine) personal numbers in it. And, of course, some people there forwarded it to other blogs. And everyone there was very supportive in their comments, as well.

But the pro-life people stepped forward and just absolutely ground St. Luke's into submission on this issue. You have, without a doubt, saved my sister's life. I want you to know that. Without the pro-life/right to life people stepping in from the very first of this fight for Andrea, we would have lost. I have never in my life seen such a centered, focused and energized group of people.

You used that energy and focus to do some good in this world and you didn't care whether you were fighting for a Democrat's life or a Republican's. Now, that's conviction.

However, I want to take a look at this case in light of an earlier post about "religious extremism" in the United States. In spite of the supposedly-Christian identity of the hospital that would have killed her, the threat to Andrea Clarke's life did not come from any form of religion. No, that threat came from a utilitarian view of life. Andrea Clarke is brain-damaged, so her life wasn't worth saving. End of story.

Until the "extremists" (most of whom were religious, but not all) got involved. Then, using the very same publicity campaigns, coordinated calling, and peaceful protests that have supposedly made us a "threat to democracy", a woman's life was saved.

Before someone gets offended for the wrong reasons, this isn't really about Right & Left, Red & Blue, or Wingnuts & Moonbats. After all, Texas is a Red state, and Andrea's story first appeared on the Democratic Underground (AKA Moonbat Central). Heck, the Texas futile-care law was signed by then-Governor George W. Bush!

This is about life and death. Specifically, this is about a utilitarian view of life that allows us to kill people who are inconvenient, whose presence causes us pain, or who are simply too small to defend themselves. The Party of Death is real, and their attacks are unceasing. Those of us who oppose them have recognized that embracing death in any form threatens all of us.

Remember this famous quote?

First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.

First, they came for the unborn. I had already been born, so I did not speak out. Then, they came for the terminally-ill and the profoundly-disabled, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for anyone whose life was not worth living, but I thought my life was worthwhile, so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.

Don't wait until the Party of Death targets you or a loved one for extermination. Rejecting the intrinsic value of human life puts all of us at risk. Speak out now, while there are still enough of us left to make a difference....

(cross-posted to Naaman the Ex-Leper)

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• NEW COLORADO RIGHT TO LIFE BOARD MEMBER STATES OBVIOUS TRUTH!! - Oct 03, 2006
• The abortion industry's values and traditions - Oct 02, 2006