Terri Schiavo on the brink

Something deadly serious is taking place in Florida, and it has national implications -- perhaps even beyond the 2000 presidential voting mess. The State of Florida is about to give its legal sanction to a murder of a young woman. Michael Brown of Spirit Daily sums it up this way:

It's high noon in America when it comes to that disabled Florida woman whose feeding tubes could be removed as early as this week and it is beyond comprehension that a nation could sit back and watch the slow, painful death of a woman who can talk, who is aware, who expresses laughter, who has swallowed on her own, who expresses fear, whose parents love her.

This is not a woman who wants to die; this is a woman who, against all odds, has battled for 14 years now to live -- and who has been mysteriously prone to utter the words, "Help me."

It is a woman who prays when a priest is there, who watches out the window for her mother, who some believe could become a functioning human being, could even speak whole sentences, with proper therapy -- which, apparently, she has not received for years.

Never has it been truer that all it takes for evil to triumph is for the good to do nothing.

We're going to do nothing as the torment of her parents reaches an excruciating and unimaginable climax?

We're going to let them pull the plug on her?

Indeed.

We received an e-mail today from a friend who had been contacted by Catholic Answers.com and urged to join a campaign to encourage Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to intervene again. We reprint the e-mail here:

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Subject: A WOMAN IS ABOUT TO BE MURDERED!
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 18:49:55 -0800
From: "Catholic Answers"
To: XXXXXXXXXXX

A woman is about to be murdered, and you probably already know her name--Terri Schiavo.

Please help us rescue Terri from a horrible death by starvation! The moment her feeding tube is removed, Terri will begin a long, slow, painful death by starvation and dehydration.

We need your help NOW to rescue Terri from her cruel executioners. They've already tried to kill her once before, and she fought to stay alive. But this may be the last chance Terri gets.

Will you help save her life?

MEDIA LIES
If you've heard about Terri only through the news media, you've probably been led to believe things like this:
* Terri brain dead.
* She is in a coma.
* She's a vegetable.
* Extraordinary means are being used to keep her alive.
* She wants to die but her parents stubbornly won't let it happen.

None of these things are true! Terri is NOT brain dead. She is NOT in a coma. She is NOT in a "persistent vegetative state." And she is not on ANY life-support system.

THE FACTS THE MEDIA HIDES FROM YOU
When her parents visit her, Terri laughs, she cries, she moves, and she makes child-like attempts at speech with her mother and father. Sometimes she will say "Mom" or "Dad" or "yeah" when they ask her a question. And when they kiss her hello or goodbye, she looks at them and "puckers up" her lips. She's able to sit in a chair, she loves to listen to her favorite music, and she recognizes her brother and sister when they come to visit.

Board-certified neurologist Dr. Jacob Green of Jacksonville, Florida, who examined Terri, said unequivocally: "She is not in a vegetative state." When asked if it would be ethical to remove her feeding tube, he said, "I'd call it murder."

Terri receives food and liquid through a feeding tube because she can't swallow. In other words, Terri depends on food and water to stay alive-just like everybody else!

But her husband, Michael, wants to disconnect her only means of food so that she will slowly starve to death. Medical experts all agree that death by starvation and dehydration is perhaps the most painful, the most tortuous, and the most agonizing way to die.

Yes, Terri's injury left her disabled. But there are tens of thousands of disabled people who depend on gastro feeding tubes every day, and they live otherwise normal lives. Terri can breathe for herself. She is not on a ventilator. Her vital organs are working fine, which means she is not hooked up to a machine. Furthermore, she is NOT dying or being "kept alive" by artificial means. She does not have a terminal disease, and she will be able to feel pain if she is starved to death.

And that could start to happen in the next few days.

THE IMMEDIATE CRISIS
Time is running out for Terri. Her feeding tube could be removed THIS WEEK!!! There is one last court procedure that is being tried to save Terri's life, but if it fails her feeding tube could be removed Wednesday. If that happens then only thing that may save her might be action by Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Governor Bush has already fought to save Terri's life. The last time her feeding tube was removed he stepped in and snatched her back from the brink of death. The Florida legislature even passed a special law--"Terri's Law"--to give him the authority to keep her alive.But then the law was struck down by a judge, putting Terri's life on the line once again. If the courts continue their anti-life crusade against Terri and others like her, the only thing that may save her would be action by Governor Bush.

WHERE YOU COME IN
The attorneys who are fighting for Terri's life have a few more possible ways to prevent Terri's murder. But these are last-ditch efforts that may or may not work. The courts are decidedly on Michael's side--not Terri's.

So that means we have to come to Terri's aid-especially through the amazing power of prayer and sacrifice--but also by sharing this story with everybody you know, and encouraging Governor Jeb Bush to do everything he can to rescue Terri once again.

Here's what you can do . . .

1.) First, PRAY for Terri--harder than ever before! Not enough people are praying for Terri right now. And she needs our prayers now more than ever.

2.) Second, FAST along with Terri if and when her feeding tube gets removed--and then offer up your sacrifices for her.

3.) Third, please ENCOURAGE Governor Bush to do everything he can to rescue Terri. Since time is of the essence, we recommend that you send him an e-mail by clicking this link: mailto:jeb.bush@myflorida.com Or, if you prefer, you can call his office at the Florida State Capitol at (850) 488-4441.
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Terri doesn't have to die. If you'll carry out the steps above, we can win this battle and save Terri's life.

Please do your part--immediately--because tomorrow may be too late.
Sincerely, Catholic Answers
http://www.catholic.com

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There is nothing we can say any stronger or more urgently, other than to share our overall feeling that if we allow Terri Schiavo to be murdered by the State, we will have failed an important test. God is watching to see how we handle this high profile case, and if we fail, many of us fear that there are bad days ahead for our morally crumbling Republic.