“this is a killing”

“This is not only a death with all the sadness that brings, this is a killing. And for that we not only grieve that Terri has passed, but we grieve that our nation has allowed such an atrocity as this, and we pray that it will never happen again.”
(rev. frank pavone, at terri’s death)

terri schiavo has died.

i have blog on terri’s case before under the heading ‘alive, even though…’.

even though what? even though she was brain damage and in a persistent vegetative state. she was alive. that was why she need to be fed just like you and me, who need to be fed to keep alive. so all along i had oppose strongly the removal of her feeding tube, as i stated in that blog of mine, also in comments.

when terri’s parents lost their appeal to have terri’s feeding tube re-inserted, i was sad, and together with all the others sympathizers who value lives, i pray for terri, pray for terri’s parents. yesterday when i heard that her parents were going to appeal to the federal court, i was hopeful and pray harder, but suddenly, this evening, when i receive CNN news alert via email, i was shocked to find out terri had died.

to continue reading, please click on ‘jog over for more’.

a life had been snuffed out… all because she was denied food and water.

the thing is that just as we all need to be fed to keep alive, so must terri. she’s not on a life support machine, so why deny her food? she’s not dead yet, so why deny her food?

i made this comment at rajan’s blog several days ago:
just imagine a disabled person on a wheelchair, who can’t move his hands and legs and has some disablitiy to his neck, preventing him to even lower his head and eat on his own like a dog, lapping up food. no, he can’t even do that, so naturally he has to be fed. why? to keep him alive. therefore this removal of the feeding tube of terri is so wrong. very wrong. terribly, horribly wrong.

i repeat again as what i had said before, you and i need to be fed to keep alive, so naturally terri ought to be fed too. surprisingly, this was exactly what our holy father, pope john paul stated sometime back when he told doctors and ethics experts attending a rome conference about patients in a vegetative state. his exact words:
“The administration of water and food, even when provided by artificial means, always represents a natural means of preserving life, not a medical act.”

exactly my sentiment when i blab so much on how you and i need to be fed to keep alive, so must terri. it’s a natural means of keeping alive, that’s all.

well, you see, just yesterday (i think… or day before yesterday) because of the pope’s nasal problem, he need to have a nasal tube inserted… for what purpose? to be fed! don’t tell me, like to those who oppose terri’s parents, that it was ok to have terri’s tube pulled off, will now say, the pope should not be fed via a tube??

i’m so mad and angry at terri’s husband, at the US court, at the politicians, at all the political hoo-haa surrounding terri’s case. why don’t they understand the simple basic fact as the pope pointed out – to be fed is a natural process of preserving life. why take away a precious life by denying her food? so sad… so sad…

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here are the 3 regular blogs i read that blog on the terri’s case.
rajan:
then again america might be ok.
my last schiavo entry.
pope would not want to live this way.

peter tan:
life and death: who can decide?”
a mother’s plea.”
starving terri.”
mercy or murder?”

aizuddin’s volume of interactions
a case of living death.
changing minds.

other links (before terri’s death):
mel gibson: terri’s killing is ‘murder’.
top neurologist’s report on terri’s released.
not dead at all.
what’s in it for michael schiavo.
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eternal rest grant unto terri, o lord, and may her soul rest in peace.