- Press Release From Father Frank Pavone
- National Director Of Priests For Life
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- STATEN ISLAND, NY
-- Terri Schiavo is not dying. She has no terminal illness. She is not
in a coma. She is not on life-support equipment. She is not alone, but
rather has loving parents and siblings ready to care for her for the rest
of her life. She has not requested death.
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- A battle rages over whether she should be starved to
death. Schiavo sustained brain injuries and cannot speak or eat normally.
Nevertheless, the only tube attached to her is a small, simple, painless
feeding tube that provides her nourishment directly to her digestive system.
Her legal guardian is her husband, who already has another woman -- by
whom he also has children. He wants Terri Schiavo's feeding tube removed.
Of course, he could simply allow her to be cared for by her parents and
siblings and get on with his life, but he refuses.
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- I have had two opportunities to visit Terri Schiavo,
most recently on the first Sunday of February. I have been able to talk
to her, to listen to her struggle to speak, to watch her focus her eyes
and smile and attempt to kiss her parents. I have prayed with her, blessed
her, and assured her that she has many friends around the country and around
the world, who love her and want her to enjoy the same protections we all
enjoy, even when we're wounded.
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- News articles have recently characterized Terri's situation
by saying that some want to keep her alive against her husband's wishes.
But Terri Schiavo is not dying. What does keeping her alive mean, if not
the same thing as keeping you and me alive -- that is, by giving us adequate
food, shelter, and care?
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- Some say that Terri's family should let her go. But this
is not a matter of letting her go, because she isn't going anywhere. If,
however, she is deprived of nourishment, then she would slowly die in the
same way that any of us would slowly die if we were deprived of nourishment.
It is called starvation. If the courts permit that to happen, then why
should that permission apply only in Terri Schiavo's case? There would
be no way to limit it to her case alone. Countless others would follow,
and their deaths would be described as letting them die instead of killing
them.
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- Where, indeed, does the state get the authority to starve
people? Court decisions permitting this lack all authority, as Pope John
Paul II teaches in Section 72 of The Gospel of Life. These decisions cannot
be obeyed, because they are not binding on the conscience and are in fact
acts of violence.
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- At the present time, there are two simple things you
can do. Educate your neighbors about this situation. A section of the PriestsforLife.org
Web site is devoted to educating people about her case.
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- Second, contact anyone you know in Florida and ask them
to encourage Gov. Jeb Bush and members of the Florida Legislature to continue
doing everything possible to save Terri Schiavo's life.
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