Pansy and Peony

Dawn Eden links to this wonderful article from America Magazine about a woman's intellectual journey from being a pro-choice atheist to a pro-life Catholic. I recommend it, it is an enjoyable read.

Some of the comments made me chuckle. Take for example comment #73 by Tricia Harrigan:

73. OK, abortion is killing a baby; agreed. Not to be
done. But contraception? why is that wrong? Must
one have a baby a year? We were well on that
path, when our third child was born before our
eldest was three years old. We tried the rhythm
method and almost lost our marriage. The scars
remain. Our fourth child was born by choice, and
then I took the pill, which had just become
available. This was the time of Vatican II; we had
great hopes that the church would listen to the
faithful and come to a less 'all or nothing'
approach to marriage; a commission was appointed to
study marriage and eminent Catholic leaders like
the Crowleys from Chicago were on it. But when the
group presented its conclusions, they were the
wrong ones, i.e. they did not echo the church's
position, so they were dismissed. What after all
did married people know? So we don't listen to
celibates on the subject of marriage! A
grandmother of 10, married 50 years.
By Tricia Harrigan on July 6, 2008 at 6:11 PM

I don't know where to begin. This sounds so Diocese of Albany and so that 60's generation. This is the generation whose philosophy is closing Churches left and right and watering down the faith.

I suppose I could go on about the abuses of folk music Masses, and stupid "cool" homilies about Bravo TV shows etc. etc, but I will stick to the topic at hand. I don't understand this woman's philosphy. I don't understand my parents or my grandmother or my in-laws. I don't get being Catholic except in regard to the birth control issue.I totally get how having another child when you are not planning on it is a struggle. But it seems like every time you make a choice to do something right, the immediate consequences seem very difficult compared to the alternative. However, the long term good makes life better.

I don't get fighting the Church on this issue. It makes no sense to me to say "I am certainly Catholic and I agree in the Church's wisdom on everything...except this. This is just dumb." Do they think the Church is being cute and sentimental but doesn't really mean it on this issue? I used to think they thought they were championing some cause or helping people by saying "you must go on birth control" but all that has happened is the opposite: it has turned people who desire to follow Church teachings and have more than 2 children into a pariah.

People always fall back on the economical reasoning-people should not have too many children that they cannot afford. That sounds logical and makes sense, but I think the philosophy behind this thinking has more to do simply with selfishness. Somewhere in this generation, or the one before, selfishness became a virtue. I cannot tell you how many times I hear people of that generation say things like "I enjoy my things", "this belongs to me", "I need my time", "I deserve This". It's like a mantra, and they are used as excuses for reasons why they do not have to come visit their grandchildren on special occasions, or help with families or whatever, as well as simple random declarations of their life mission statements. It baffles me why people are not embarrassed to make such proclamations. If I was simply too tired to attend an important event, I would at least make an excuse. My mother-in-law just two days ago told us we are not worthy to make the 3 hour trip to visit. She has better things to do. For the life of me, I cannot understand how this is fulfilling. I don't think it is. One of my girlfriend's mother used to tell her constantly she should have been aborted. Growing up, everyone but her mother took care of my friend, her grandparents, neighbors, after-school programs.The woman dated, partied, finished school and obtained many graduate degrees, and acted in shows. Now that she is grown and her mother is in her fifties, her mother announced to her that her daughter "stole her youth away". I wish I could say this is so weird and was just her, but it is not. Maybe to this extent yes. Not sure, my husband was a "we should have aborted you" child yet his parents invested no time or effort into raising him. They claim all the time they did, the sacrificed so much. It is OK to say that because it "would have been the right thing for me".

I am so glad to have many Catholic friends in my generation, who in the very least, abandoned folk music Masses. If I had to sit around with my friends and talk about how great that generation was because of Woodstock and liberation theology, I would lock myself in my closet and never come out.

Posted by Pansy at 9:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

In the comboxes below, DRF comments:

What about the women and girls who are forced to continue pregnancies that they do not want? What about the women and girls who are subject to violence just for getting pregnant in the first place? Murder is already illegal. Doctors having sex with their patients is already punishable. Holding a gun to your daughter's head is already a crime. Recriminalizing a necessary medical procedure is not the way to solve these problems.

Welcome DRF, thanks for stopping by. You make some valid points.

The focus of the site is not about making abortion illegal.The focus of this site is to show how what was supposed to be a women's right has become more of another method to control and abuse women. While I am pretty sure it attracts and is most likely written by (although I really am just speculating, I don't want to make that assumption) many pro-lifers who believe abortion is murder, the message here is about the fact that many women are being coerced psychologically and even violently into aborting against their will. If you are pro-life or pro-choice, coercing women into abortion is unacceptable. Am I correct in believing that pro-choice means just that, it is a women's choice what to do, and that choice should not be limited to abortion OR if she decides on abortion, she should feel it is totally her decision?

Many of the examples given are of the violent aspect of coercion into abortion, and may seem extreme, but as Peony blogged about before, homicide is becoming the leading cause of death of pregnant women. She also linked toto this WaPo article about this scary trend. It is a slippery slope, once one type of abuse becomes common, people become desensitized, and what you see is a step worse the next time around. Murder aside, I can say that many of the women I know who had abortions had people around them pressing hard on them to have abortions. I know a few women who opted not to abort, such as myself, who had tons of pressure to abort, but for some reason they held fast to their decisions, perhaps realizing the people who were pressuring them were not going to be around to pick up the pieces.

The abortion issue is a complex one, and there are many areas we can agree on and contribute equally to. Helping pregnant women in need doesn't have to be "anti-choice"; acknowledging and helping women through Post Abortive Stress Syndrome should not to be limited to pro-lifers (nor does pretending it doesn't exist further the choice cause, and in the case discussed here, women should not be forced into abortion.

As a matter of fact, the site states:

Compassionate Americans on all sides will want to know ... about these injustices and risks to women. People on all sides are ready to open the door to healing after decades of:
* Unwanted abortions,
* Coercion or even force from all sides,
* Deceptive or negligent counseling and medical practices,
* Coercive, often systemic negligence,
* Risk to teens, including coercion, sexual molestation, and injury
* Risks to all women, ranging from pregnancy-related discrimination and coercion to health risks and post-abortion trauma and death
* Domestic violence toward pregnant women, which can lead to homicide, the leading killer of pregnant women
* Post-abortion issues, including:
* grief
* trauma
* physical injury, including infertility
* 6-7 x higher suicide rates
* 3.5x higher risk of death in abortion's aftermath (3)

Posted by Pansy at 8:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Interesting, but sad, website.

Coercion is significant. It comes "from all sides." It can escalate to violence, even homicide –– the #1 killer of pregnant women.
* A husband jumped on his wife’s stomach to force an abortion ...
* A mother forced her daughter at gunpoint to go to the abortion clinic
* Outside a parking ramp, a mother was forcibly injected by a physician –- the baby’s father – with an abortifacient drug ...
* Discrimination against pregnant employees or renters
* Violence against pregnant mothers
* Homicide is the leading killer or pregnant women.
* Learn more by downloading Forced Abortion in America,
which includes the single-page Forced Abortion fact sheet

HT: Ashli

Posted by Pansy at 3:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

...In 1939 Sanger created the above-mentioned “Negro Project,� which aimed to get blacks to adopt birth control. Through the Birth Control Federation, she hired black ministers (including the Reverend Adam Clayton Powell Sr.), doctors, and other leaders to help pare down the supposedly surplus black population. The project’s racist intent is beyond doubt. “The mass of significant Negroes,� read the project’s report, “still breed carelessly and disastrously, with the result that the increase among Negroes...is [in] that portion of the population least intelligent and fit.� Sanger’s intent is shocking today, but she recognized its extreme radicalism even then. “We do not want word to go out,� she wrote to a colleague, “that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.�...

So forget about intent: Look at results. Abortion ends more black lives than heart disease, cancer, accidents, AIDS, and violent crime combined. African Americans constitute little more than 12 percent of the population but have more than a third (37 percent) of abortions. That rate has held relatively constant, though in some regions the numbers are much starker; in Mississippi, black women receive some 72 percent of all abortions, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Nationwide, 512 out of every 1,000 black pregnancies end in an abortion. Revealingly enough, roughly 80 percent of Planned Parenthood’s abortion centers are in or near minority communities. Liberalism today condemns a Bill Bennett who speculates about the effects of killing unborn black children; but it also celebrates the actual killing of unborn black children, and condemns him for opposing it...

Read the full article.

HT:The Dawn Patrol

Posted by Pansy at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

but it's going to be that way, for a little while anyway. As long as I am involved in this "thing", campaign, mission, whatever you want to call it in regard to the Planned Parenthood opening up here in Amsterdam, I am going to whine and kvetshn. I am no fool, there is no true way to fight PP. They are a huge corporation. But what they are bringing with them is not simply a birth control clinic, they are bringing a philosophy and a culture. I am also not so naive to think that Margaret Sanger's culture. She herself invented the terms "birth control" and "family planning". She financed development of the first Pill all to fuel her anti-minority eugenics program. How many people pay and swallow hormonal contraceptives without understanding the philosophy behind their creation? (I will save the rant about racism and health issues for another entry...I guess tomorrow. And yes, I know I am preaching to the choir.)

My question for today is about the culture Margaret Sanger created: How was she so successful?

Continue reading "Question #1...One Note Charlie, I Know" »

Posted by Pansy at 7:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Planned Parenthood's President, Janet Colm, May 2008:

Research indicates that emotional problems resulting from abortion are rare and that for most women the response is relief...Anti-abortion groups have invented [“post-abortion syndrome (PAS)�] to further their cause. All of the studies that purport to prove PAS contain flaws – and all of them studied women who already self-identified as having problems after abortion.

Annie's reply?

Flat.out.bullshit

Gotta love it. She has much more intelligent stuff to offer. "Bullshit" was all I could muster up at the moment.Read the rest.

Posted by Pansy at 7:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In an attempt to combat the newly opening PP in Amsterdam a few volunteers (read 4), myself included were granted a bit of closet space in the local Catholic Charities to distribute diapers and other baby supplies to mothers (or fathers) who come in and need them.

Our first day open was Monday evening. We didn't expect anyone to show up that night, or even the next day for that matter, until word got around that we had free baby supplies.I was not even slotted to volunteer that night, but I live right across the street, so I said I would go and help out the girl who was volunteering. She had not been to the CC and was not there while we set up, so she needed someone to show her where we were stationed. Lo and behold we had a small line. I guess it was a good thing I was there.

We are supplied by donations. I pray the Lord continues to supply for our needs. As it is, we have tons of newborn diapers, yet everyone who came requested size 5. If you can offer up a "Hail Mary" for us, we would be much obliged!

Posted by Pansy at 4:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Jill Stanek links to an old debate between George Bush and McCain on the abortion issue.

She sums up the gist of it in her WND column:

Pro-lifers voting for president in November will have to choose McCain. He knows that. We know that. But if he makes one wrong maverick move on the pro-life issue from here until then, such as trying to weaken the Republican pro-life platform, many of us will bail.

The same old dilemma-being Catholic and voting.

PS-I agree with Alan Keyes: if you are going to be pro-life, be pro-life. If you feel that is a child who is being murdered, the circumstances of their conception makes no difference. If you do not feel it is murder, then why be pro-life? Makes no sense.

Posted by Pansy at 1:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

but I have to comment. At first glance, while I am of course disgusted, I get the impression that the customer service rep accepting the funds doesn't really care from what nut the funds come from, so they just "uh huh" along and take the cash. But then I thought about it, and if I had some organization with some racist nitwit called wanting to make donations, I would probably get offended and tell him where to stick his funds. Maybe I am being naive, but a true charitable organization with the mission of doing good would have some sort of trend of integrity, no?

Needless to say, the whole thing makes me very uncomfortable. Like I can't sit still in my chair and watch until I turn it off. I am not sure if it is the bluntness of the caller or the tacky response...

Posted by Pansy at 1:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

"They" are attempting to put a Planned Parenthood in Amsterdam. Many people in my parish are motivated to organize a grass roots organization to stop them. If anyone has any experience in this area and can offer advice, I would be greatly appreciative.

Thanks!

Posted by Pansy at 7:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

George Will, on his son who has Down's syndrome:

What did Jon Will and the more than 350,000 American citizens like him do to tick off the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists? It seems to want to help eliminate from America almost all of a category of citizens, a category that includes Jon.

I thought our modern, tolerant society was all about celebrating diversity and welcoming the differently abled. So how does this increased screening for Down's syndrome fit in with that?

The life expectancy of people who have Down's syndrome has doubled. People with Down's syndrome grow up, live at home, hold jobs, pursue their interests.

But apparently that's still not good enough. So they must be culled. (After all, it would be mean to put them in an institution.) Exactly what standard of convenience must unborn children meet to be allowed to live?

And as genetics grows more precise, will the standard of convenience rise?

"She'll never be able to read or drive without intervention. She'll have to be fitted for corrective lenses while she's still in elementary school, and she'll have to be checked every year to make sure the lenses still work. Of course, there's always surgery, but... And then there's the obesity problem. She'll be teased... she'll always struggle. There's always surgery, but... And then the depression, that means constant vigilance, maybe even medication, and that doesn't always work... Are you sure you want to put her through all that?"

In twenty years, will someone like me make the cut?

Posted by Peony at 8:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

via commenter CV at Mark Shea's:

Celling Out: Bioethics and the Culture of Cool

Excerpt (emphasis added)

A buddy of mine from college, one of the few with whom I still maintain regular contact, is convinced that I misplaced my brain somewhere over the course of the last eleven years... I'm religious—a Christian, to be more precise—which automatically makes my perspectives questionable as far as my agnostic friend is concerned. Exacerbating matters is the extent to which my views place me squarely within a "conservative" political framework and thus, in my friend's estimation, a position of ignorance, bigotry, and superstition.... Fortunately for my ego, I eventually came to realize that such intransigence really has very little to do with me personally; rather, it's part of a much larger phenomenon with which those of us attempting to safeguard human life must learn to deal. To state the matter as simply as possible, what I have discovered about my friend is that when it comes to bioethical issues, he's much more concerned with the associations of particular beliefs than the beliefs themselves. For him, embryonic stem-cell research is justifiable—even perhaps praiseworthy—not because logic has led him to this conclusion but in order to align himself with one particular cultural community over and against another. In short, my friend—a devotee of The Daily Show and NPR, a subscriber to The New Yorker, Adbusters, and The Financial Times, and a pretty big fan of both Al Franken and Michael Moore—wants to be thought of as an urbane and intelligent person and so has chosen for himself the political opinions that he believes further this reputation.

YES. For too many people, logic has nothing to do with it. They live in Maureen Dowd's world, a world where grown-up people still live by the rules of the middle-school cafeteria: I think this way because the cool kids think this way.

Posted by Peony at 8:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Pansy at 2:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Pansy at 8:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I know I should not even read because it is never anything good.

Sep. 07 (CWNews.com) - The office of Catholic Charities in Albany, New York, is pursuing a lawsuit challenging regulations that require insurance coverage for contraception.

"We're being forced to pay for something that represents what we teach against and what we think is sinful," said Michael Costello, a lawyer for Catholic Charities.

To date, the suit has been unsuccessful. Two New York courts have ruled that Catholic Charities does not qualify for an exemption from the law because it is not a religious employer. The courts have noted that Catholic Charities hires and serves people of all faiths.

So if I got a job sweeping the floors at a Hallal Meat Market, and I wanted him to sell me pork chops, can I sue him? I love pork and I'm not Muslim.

Why do people who have such disdain for the Church and Church policies even seek out jobs at places called "Catholic Charities"? My analogy above isn't the best, but the point is, I would not seek employment from a place with a religious affiliation whose rules cannot be reconciled with my lifestyle.

By requiring CC to provide birth control, it is not enforcing a sense of separation of Church and state, it is simply choosing one religion (secular humanism) to override another. I thought the reason why Europeans came to the New World so long ago was to live in a place where that could be avoided.

HT: Curt Jester

Posted by Pansy at 11:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Soon after arriving in Israel, a family friend named Zoya discovered she was pregnant with a second child and went in for the abortion routine. She was dumbfounded to encounter the following whispered line of questioning from the admitting nurse: "Do you not have a roof over your head?" There was a roof. "Do you not have enough food on the table?" There was plenty of food. Then an altogether alien concept to Zoya: "So why kill it?"

"I was shocked," Zoya recalled. "No one had ever told me I was killing anything. I'd never thought of it as a person. As soon as someone told me I was killing something, I didn't even consider it. I left." Much like my grandmother, today Zoya is the mother of a master violinist.

Even in the case of teen mothers-to-be, for all the ruination and dead dreams we are told will be visited upon their lives if they keep the baby, if someone has ambition to begin with, nothing has to stand in her way. Consider the story of Beverly D'Onofrio, dramatized in the 2001 Penny Marshall movie, "Riding in Cars with Boys." Beverly, played by Drew Barrymore, gets knocked up at 15. She marries the father, an older boy, only to discover that he is a drug addict. Over the next few years, things at home fall apart and the two separate, with Beverly retaining custody.

While for a time her opportunities are more limited than they would otherwise be (a chance to get into an elite writing program at New York University is dashed when she has to bring the kid with her to the interview), ultimately her dreams stay intact and her personal story paves a way to literary and cinematic success--not an easy feat even for the privileged. Beverly D'Onofrio got to have her cake and eat it too, and while the men in her life since no doubt have come and gone, she will always have her son.

The whole thing should be read.

HT:GFL

Posted by Pansy at 6:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Coercive Abortion Prevention Act

I am amazed that their is an anknowledgement to women being coerced into abortions. It is about time!

Of course the Pro-Choice Michigan group opposes the bill. Forcing women to have abortions is somehow a woman's right.

Posted by Pansy at 4:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In the comments box below, in my post Time To Tell A Story (I'm Still Judgemental), a woman named "Jane" tells a story that many years ago, she too was an unmarried pregnant 16-year old:

If you were a woman of my generation and became pregnant as a teen (I, too, was 16), your baby was taken away without you ever seeing or holding him or her. You had no "choice" to "give" your baby up for adoption. Your baby was taken, you were told to shut up and never say a word about it and act like it never happened, and you were treated like a pariah by your family forever. This was standard operating procedure for Catholic homes for "unwed mothers".

And that's why I'm pro-choice.

Because I know what it is not to have a choice.

A debate between she and I followed because of my lack of understanding what being pro-choice has to do with the circumstances of the adoption. During that debate, Jane states:

The reason you say what you say about knowing your child is still alive and with a family and how it's one big Hallmark Channel three-hanky Movie of the Week is because you had a choice. I wonder how you'd feel if you'd never been allowed to lay eyes on your child or hold your child? You would see that family as the enemy. As thieves who stole your child and destroyed you in order to snatch undeserved happiness for themselves.

Her words made me unearth some thoughts about my experience, and made me think my story was somewhat incomplete.
This is all very strange to me, because like I mentioned in one of the comments I haven't really talked about this in 15 years, and I don't know what is compelling me to talk about it now. Like I said, I have not kept it a deep dark secret or anything. But I certainly don't advertise it and I try hard not to think about it. Part of me thinks that I have tried to be this good, Catholic mother, and good, Catholic mothers do not have stories about getting pregnant out-of-wedlock at 15. The other part is much of these events are too painful to dwell on, and dwelling does nothing to help me get by day to day.
Lately, another part of is starting to understand that this series of events really affected why I feel and do so many of things I do today.

Fact is, in my retelling of the story, I did not mean to gloss over adopting out a child as easy because it was right and we all were so happy in the end. I was not happy in the end, but I think I made the best choice for my son, and that keeps me refelcting on it in a positive light rather than a negative one.

After I delivered my son, I got to spend three days with him at the hospital. Up until that point of my short life, they were some of the happiest I ever felt. Every friend I had came to visit me and see the baby. I had never been uncomfortable around babies because at the time my brothers were 5, 3 and 1. Baby care was second nature to me. I had a hard time listening to mothers education sessions between nurses and new Moms in other rooms as they taught the ladies how to change and burp babies. I remember wondering if the lady in the next room who was having a hard time of grasping the concept of changing a diaper without sticking the tapes to the baby knew what a blessing it was to go to a hospital, have a baby and bring that baby home. For her, the hospital stay was the start of her new life with her child and for me it was the end. I would have given anything to be in her position.

After I handed my baby over to his foster mother and went home, I never knew the an emptiness like I felt then. I was in a painful place that nothing, or anyone could make better. This was a true first for me. Things that were big deals to me before, like going out to breakfast were nothing.

I could have taken 6 weeks off of school, but I think I opted to go back 2 or 3 weeks later to keep busy. Life was spacey and weird. Everyone at school were still teenage high school students, and so was I, but I wasn't. People were mulling around about proms, games, and "OH-MY-GOSH did you hear about such and such?" I could no longer relate. I think this started a trend of cynacism that has stuck with me.

I tried to get back into the groove, and I did to some extent, but from then on, I felt like I was in a separate reality or something. I couldn't relate to anyone around me, and they could not relate to me.
I wanted to talk to people desperately about what happened, but no one wanted to talk to me about it. I remember I was working at the supermarket and a woman on my line, her husband recently died and she was telling me about her loss and her personal feelings, and I was a complete stranger. I thought she felt the same I did when I gave my son up, the need for someone to listen to you for whatever reason people need that. Well, that was how I felt at first, but no one wanted to talk about it. Everyone said "well that is done, just get on with your life" or "people don't talk about that kind of thing", so I swallowed it all real hard (and here we at least 15 years later).

Continue reading "Time To Tell A Story Part II" »

Posted by Pansy at 9:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

HT: The World IMHO via The Curt Jester

As you can see from the article, the war on contraception is more a war for common sense:

The New York Times joined the fray with a May 7 article titled "The War on Contraception.� Feminists point to several elements of the so-called war:

# The Food and Drug Administration has refused to approve the open sale of the morning-after pill in pharmacies.

# The administration has promoted abstinence as the chief way of avoiding pregnancy.

# Health insurers are reportedly under mounting pressure not to cover the morning-after pill.

# Four states – Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Dakota – have approved laws allowing pharmacists to refuse to sell birth control pills.

Sometimes I wonder, what are they really fighting for?

Posted by Pansy at 2:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Dawn Eden posts a somewhat confusing story about a teenager who becomes pregnant in high school, and cannot play basketball, but wants to return to basketball, and at first the school won't let her, but then they do...the story is a bit long.
I commented. My comments, along with a few others were picked up by Jill of Feministe as heartless condemnation against teen mothers or people who have sex something like that.

I commented because I had a lot of experience with knowing pregnant teens as a teen and young adult. My high school had one policy to not stigmatize, my husband's high school had a different policy. Frankly I am not sure what is better, and a study on the issue would be interesting. However, I feel kind of strongly that getting pregnant is a choice, and not a great choice as a teen. I have known girls who have had abortions, many who had their children. Of the ones who had their children, I have known two groups ones whose parents let them struggle a bit with the consequences, and ones whose parents pretty much became a parent to their grandchildren to allow their children to continue on the same path. Many are still in the same relationship ruts many years later. (By the way, I realize I am out of the realm of the story of the girl and basketball and her scholarship. Each scenario is different. These are some thoughts on the issue in general.)

I started to blog about an example someone in our family, but decided against it. I was not sure how to do so without sounding incredibly frustrated and well, "judgemental".

More and more, the American opinion about sex is becoming that sex is simply fun like playing Monopoly. Those of us who equate sex with things like reproduction, love and bonding,respect for ourselves or others, or sexually transmitted diseases are out of it, judgemental, cold, or a number of other things that means out-of-touch with reality. I find this so baffling because regardless of your morals, nature is still nature. If you are holding a ball and let go, it will fall to the floor. If you have sex, you have a chance of getting pregnant, that is not old fashioned stigma. If you have a child, that child will change things in your life. That child will need care, food, clothing, love and nurturing. That is what is, not outdated opinion. That is just why people have parents. It seems like there is a notion that if you keep yelling enough times that these facts are not true, and you insult the people enough who believe in these facts, you can alter reality. I suppose it works a bit. It seemed to me there was a time when mothers would rather die than see harm come to her child, now 1,300,000 mothers a year pay to have their children killed. Still trying to change terms of nature is an injustice.

It is not a favor to teenage girls to keep saying "sex is ok as long as you have a condom" over and over again (although it might be to some teenage boys who want sex without commitment). It is not about hating girls, being unrealistic, or having some desire to point fingers and throw stones. It is about working for a fulfilling, happy life,loving relationships, and giving your offspring as stable environments as possible. Being used by a boy is not fun, and I repeatedly get frustrated for all the sex ed that is out there, no one talks about the emotional side, and the reason for the emotional side is to keep married couples together and bonded. Having children too young regardless if you decide to keep the child, abort, or put that child up for adoption is hard. And STDs can make people very sick, with perhaps permanent side effects and even kill.

Since we have dissassociated sex with reproduction, it is then that girls who turn up pregnant are kind of like "I didn't see that coming", not girls who are used to seeing traditional marriage=families, marriage=families over and over again. (Of course again, the myth is that traditional family roles means that we never teach our children anything about sex and tell them babies come from storks. Whatever.)Why has this become such a common place taboo? Morals aside, I am baffled by the logic (or lack thereof) of it. I am so tired of seeing girls in dreadful, depressing dramas with their "baby daddies". I am tired of seeing children without fathers. I am so sad that this has become the norm, and this is just what people do. I know I am preaching to the choir, but I am so tired and frustrated. I know so many people I would like to see better for.

Posted by Pansy at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I wanted to look up something on Black Genocide.org, but I didn't know the web address off the top of my head. I Googled "Maragret Sanger's Negro Project", and the first result was a page in the Planned Parenthood site called "The Truth About Margaret Sanger". I of course saw the irony because the "truth" will of course be followed by a number of lies.

To my surprise, the first quotes they had of Margaret Sanger to convince us that she was not a racist (who did not believe birth control should be used to lessen the black population remember) in my opinion revealed the opposite sentiment:

In a letter to philanthropist Albert Lasker, from whom she hoped to raise funds for the project, Sanger wrote that she wanted to help

a group notoriously underprivileged and handicapped to a
large measure by a 'caste' system that operates as an
added weight upon their efforts to get a fair share
of the better things in life. To give them the means of helping
themselves is perhaps the richest gift of all. We believe
birth control knowledge brought to this group, is the most
direct, constructive aid that can be given them to improve
their immediate situation (Sanger, 1939, July).

So, what are the "better things in life?" Men being able to sleep around without commitment? Being married and not having children with the person you love? If she was so worried about black people having "the better things in life", why didn't she hand out free gift certificates to Macy's, fine restaurants, scholarships, or Cadillacs? OK, maybe some of my choices are over the top, but I am not sure what she is talking about. Does she mean "better things" like necessities, or luxuries? If it's necessities, maybe providing those instead of birth control would be of better help.

My mother was born in 1950, and grew up in the Sugar Hill section of Harlem (her clinic was in Harlem), and moved to St. Albens, Queens (home to Run DMC, Al Roker, James Brown, and if anyone read the book The Color of Water) as a teenager. The Harlem of her childhood, before the ravages of birth control (now the black community has an 80% out of wedlock birth rate) and drugs was a working class neighborhood where even though her mother worked, the neighbors kept tabs on the kids, because if they did anything amiss, their parents would be notified. Hers was a neighborhood with intact families, where girls attended finishing school and grew up to be debutantes, where my mother attended the first black private school (The Modern School), and her sister went on to be the first black woman to go to Bronx Science.A neighborhood regardless of your faith, when the Church bells rang at noon for the Angelus, everyone at least stopped if you were not Catholic. Sugar Hill is no longer like that, and I wonder what factors transpired to change it...

Anyway, my mother's family was working class, but like many of us, we don't realize there are much better things than having the bills paid, hugs from our family, and a fresh baked apple pie, until someone points out we are falling short materially. I hear no stories from her about what she didn't have, but lots of stories of her following her big brother around, buying a pickled pigs ear from the corner store for a nickel on the way to school (yuck), or Saturday night TV shows and her father fixing special Saturday night treats.

In 1942, she wrote again to Lasker, saying

I think it is magnificent that we are in on the ground floor,
helping Negroes to control their birth rate, to reduce their
high infant and maternal death rate, to maintain better
standards of health and living for those already born, and
to create better opportunities for those who will be born (Sanger, 1942).

This would almost sound OK except if she weren't racially motivated, why is her ambition not to help "people" (as opposed to "Negros") with their maternal and infant death rates period. End of story. If that is her goal, then that should be her goal. But those words are thrown in for good measure, in my opinion. Her main goal, because we are talking about "Planned Parenthood's" main goal in helping Negros control their birth rate.

When I hear people talk like this, I grab my kids and run.

Update:I found this from Annie Banno on the subect from like a month ago.

Posted by Pansy at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Found this informative article through Cemetery of Choice.

Blacks comprise about 12 percent of the US population, yet Black woman are sold roughly 25 percent of abortions. (Strange, since Black women are more opposed to abortion than are their white sisters.) But most disturbing is this fact: Black women account for at least 50 percent of known abortion deaths. (Of abortion deaths identified by Life Dynamics, Black women accounted for 50 percent of deaths in which the race was known; a CDC study found the death rate among Black women to be even higher.)

This bears repeating: A young Black woman is twice as likely to be sold an abortion as a young white woman, and once she gets on the abortion table, she is at least twice as likely to suffer fatal complications as a white woman.

Posted by Pansy at 3:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Abortion ends.

Posted by Pansy at 7:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Imagine that! Happy to oblige!

Posted by Pansy at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

From the New York Times:

Two of five authors of an article published in a medical journal on Wednesday saying that fetuses probably cannot feel pain before the 29th week of pregnancy did not tell the journal that they had abortion-related activities that might be seen as a conflict of interest, the journal's editor said Wednesday.

One author, Susan J. Lee, a medical student, is also a lawyer who for eight months from 1999 to 2000 worked in the legal department at Naral, an abortion rights group. Another author, Dr. Eleanor A. Drey, performs abortions and is medical director of an abortion clinic.... (LRR NYT)

A lawyer -- from NARAL! Just the qualifications I'd be looking for in a healer.

Posted by Peony at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

We had a visit yesterday from a friend who is a volunteer for Centurion Ministries. Here is their description:

Centurion Ministries (CM) is a non-profit organization headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey with a full-time paid staff of five employees, including an investigator in Seattle. Centurion Ministries has a national network of attorneys and forensic experts who ably assist us in our work on behalf of the convicted innocent throughout the U.S. and Canada. Additionally, we have a dedicated and loyal group of volunteers from the Princeton community who help us identify and develop prospective cases for the future.

Sadly she had lots of sad stories (too many) about innocent people on death row, imprisoned for years.

I had seen this organization on The New Detectives years ago (I was all about the New Detectives back in the pre-CSI days) and thought they were so cool. I am glad to know someone who volunteers her time to help their ministry.

Posted by Pansy at 8:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Nick Cannon, actor (Drumline) and hip hop artist has a new song out called Can I Live about his mother. If the song in the video is truly autobiographical, it shows his mother at age 17 going to an abortion clinic, and then changing her mind choosing life.

We do not see enough of this perspective from the African American and/or hip hop community. It's long overdue.

Posted by Pansy at 8:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

With every major moral dilemma that comes up lately, the media always blasts the "conservative, religious right". Like many of us, I am tired of it. For a very long time, I have felt the need to distance myself from the image of some of the stranger Christian fanatics that I know. Kind of like "Hi, I'm Pansy. Yes, I'm a pro-life Catholic, but I am not weird. Yes I homeschool, but I am not weird. I am open to life and have 5 kids, but I am not weird." I think I felt so strongly because I know some really strange people through either homeschooling groups, the Latin Mass or the Internet who fit the bill of the fanatical, non-charitable, judgemental fundamentalist. I wanted so badly to distance myself from that image because there is such a stigma against being too far right. But you know, I spent much of life around many far left people, and from my experience the far left people I know mostly at some point in time personally contributed to the death of another whereas people I know who are too far right are just kind of anal and annoying.

Fact is I am starting not to care anymore. I think the Terri Schiavo case has drawn a line, and if this case has not, there will be more to come in the near future that will. Truth be told, I am not defining myself as anything, I am too busy to do so. But I believe that starving this poor woman to death is murder. I believe abortion is murder. I will continue to say Mel Gibson did a great thing by making The Passion both artistically and spiritually. I see a real moral drought promoted in many of the traditional school settings that is getting worse and as long as I see that I will homeschool. I think birth control is evil. These things make me I guess someone who doesn't think for themselves, or a fanatical, far right or whatever the buzz terms are so be it. I refuse to apologize anymore and am tired of feeling the need to explain why I feel the way I do.

This world just has done gone mad and like my boy Kanye says, "only Jesus can save us."

Posted by Pansy at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (32) | TrackBacks (2)

Posted by Pansy at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

but I cannot seem to get my thoughts together. I always enjoy reading about life issues, but with such frustration because I cannot figure out for the life of me why abortion is ever legal.

When I was a teenager, I was more active in the pro-life movement and I miss the ability to participate as much. I find it very interesting though, that when I attended various marches and protests back in the day (80's), I was one of the few teenagers. It was made up mostly of middle aged people. Now besides the amount of youth, the campaign seems to be supported by a great deal of Silent no More women. This is actually making it so much more frustrating because here are women saying that it is not all it is cracked up to be as far as women's rights, yet legislature is still not listening. What's it going to take?

I wondered over to Ann Coulter today and she said just what I was thinking, except much better than I could:

Actually, what we need least of all is to "change hearts." Maybe it's my law background, but I think it's time we changed a few judges.

The "changing hearts" portion of the abortion debate is over. ATTENTION, PASSENGERS: We're now entering the "minds" portion of the "hearts and minds" journey on abortion. We've been talking about abortion for 32 years. All the hearts that can be changed have been changed. By some estimates, 35 million human hearts (and counting) have been "changed" by abortion.

Each year on the anniversary, my stomch turns a little more than the year before, I am a little less patient on this issue, a little more desperate, a little more angry and more scared about what kind of future we have in a society where mothers kill their children.

Posted by Pansy at 2:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

From today's Washington Post (registration required): Many New or Expectant Mothers Die Violent Deaths:

Eight months pregnant, Thomas, 18, was walking home from a grocery store when her ex-boyfriend shot her in the head execution-style because, prosecutors said, he believed fatherhood would get in the way of his music career. "This was a big, major inconvenience for him," prosecutor Mark Curry said....

[In another case, the father of the child] at first denied it was his child, then pressed for an abortion, then plotted murder.

"It seems to me that these guys hope against hope for a miscarriage or an abortion, but when everything else fails, they take the life of the woman to avoid having the baby," said Jack Levin of Northeastern University.

...a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection. --Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae (17)

Posted by Peony at 1:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (1)

yada, yada, yada: The Eugenics Archive: American Eugenics Movement

Posted by Peony at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

A son tells the story of his "Mom's Cancer"

Thanks to Barbara for this link.

Posted by Peony at 9:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I'd say something like, "Well shet mah mouth!"

But I'm not, so I'll say something like "Holy Cow!"

I just got one of those freebie magazines for nurses in the mail, and what do they have on the front page but a story on Cyclebeads!

I know I've had hard words for Georgetown in the past, but my hat is off to them for landing an article about NFP on the front page of even a freebie local nursing magazine! (Of course, in the article they never allude to the immorality of contraception; they just present it as an addition "to the contraceptive methods routinely offered to patients.) But to me this still seems like a step up.

Interestingly, the article never uses the phrase "NFP" but refers only to "fertility awareness based methods." Perhaps they're trying to avoid tripping that anti-NFP brain alarm that cripples so many secular health journals. In the past, I've only seen mainstream nursing publications refer to NFP/ fertility awareness methods with a sniff, disparaging them (incorrectly) as ineffective and something of interest only to ignorant Catholic zealots. (Some of them are still referring to "rhythm!")

They never stop to consider that even ignorant Catholic zealots might deserve health care consistent with their values, much less that other people might be interested in options beyond hormones and latex. This article cites several articles in secular journals showing the effectiveness of fertility awareness methods, so perhaps it will do some good in helping break down that anti-NFP prejudice.

At this writing, the magazine doesn't have a link up to the article. I'll try to remember to check back and see if they post one.

Posted by Peony at 3:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

...or one of them, anyway: Lileks has something up on abortion today. He usually avoids this subject, so it's interesting to see him addressing it:

It has to do with something I heard Kerry say on the radio last Friday, a snippet from a speech made a few months ago. He said something that seemed to conflate two different issues:

'Abortion should be rare, but it should be safe and legal -- and the government should stay out of the bedrooms of America,' he said to cheers and applause.

Abortion takes place in the bedroom?

No; conception takes place in the bedroom. (Usually.)

In his original post, Bill wrote, "It's not possible that the mind of a Lileks has not pondered the genesis of his beloved Gnat, that he has not asked, 'When did she begin?' -- and less possible yet that he has not found an answer." Looks like he was right on the money with that one.

Posted by Peony at 8:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

This is very telling:

Assemblyman John J. McEneny is a Catholic who supports some abortion rights. The Albany Democrat said he backs Hubbard's decision not to go down "the slippery slope of becoming judge and jury."

"I don't see priests making a judgment on the conscience of a person," McEneny said. "Are they voting for a pro-choice bill because they want to kill unborn babies? Or is it because they want to prevent back-alley abortions?"

Posted by Pansy at 7:08 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

My brother was recently mortified to read about this, as we all are. Again, I do not have words. My rants will not reach the core of how disturbing this kind of thing is and how frustrating it is that people still proceed with this kind of thing.

Posted by Pansy at 5:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Thanks to blogger John Mallon for passing this on.

Stop the Morning-After Pill! Over-the-Counter approval to be decided
by the
FDA May 21.

No age limits, no medical supervision, no parental involvement!

Spread this far and wide! Time is of the essense! Call the White House,
contact your Senators and Congressmen!

For instructions on how to email the FDA directly with an email link go to this page of the PRI Website. More info below.

From the Population Research Institute
Weekly Briefing:

Dear Colleague:

There is still time for pro-lifers to call the White House
(202-456-1414) and urge the President to assure the American people
that
the mega dose "morning after pill" will not be sold "over the counter."

Also contact your U.S. Senator or Representative to urge leadership
from
Congress that will protect women and babies from this new chemical
assault
weapon.

Toll free: 1-800-648-3516 or 1-877-762-8762.

The abortion establishment is going all out to urge their followers to
lobby in favor of making this chemical killer available over the
counter.
Their mailings include the lie that so-called "emergency contraception"
does not cause abortion and does not work if a women is already
pregnant.
Over the counter approval of the "morning after pill" will be a public
health disaster.

Steven W. Mosher
President

PRI Weekly Briefing
12 May 2004
Vol. 6 / No. 17

Stop the Morning-After Pill!

Press reports suggest that the FDA is teetering on the brink of
approving
the so-called morning-after pill. As past PRI Weekly Briefings have
made
clear, there are terrible risks in making this powerful drug available
over-the-counter with no age restrictions or parental involvement.

€ The progestin-only hormonal contraceptive in Norplant is the same
active
ingredient as Plan B. Norplant is no longer available for use in the
United States because it is so dangerous. Known risks include
significant
weight gain, ovarian cyst enlargement, gallbladder disease, high blood
pressure and respiratory disorders.

€ Among teenagers, some of these common side effects could result in
increased rates of bulimia, anorexia, or clinical depression. Also, an
increased risk of ectopic pregnancy has been associated with use of
Plan
B-type emergency contraception.

€ Since the drug precludes parental involvement, it is likely that
teenage
girls who buy Plan B at the drugstore then experience abdominal pain
may not
confide in parents so that a physician could diagnose if a
life-threatening ectopic pregnancy had occurred. Over-the-counter
approval
would mean that young people would be free to purchase and use (abuse)
this
powerful hormone without supervision or follow up.

€ The drug was approved for over-the-counter use on January 1 in
Australia. Already there are reports in the Australian press of
13-year-old girls buying the pill several times a week to the alarm of
local pharmacists who are not able to give proper counseling to these
girls on the many risks involved. The Australian Medical Association is
already questioning the wisdom of making this risky drug so easily
available without restriction. (The West Australian, 4/4/04)

€ If over-the-counter availability of this drug is approved, we may
also
expect that rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among teens
will
skyrocket. Adolescents age 15-19 currently represent 46% of all cases
of
Chlamydia in the U.S. 1 in 4 sexually active teenagers contract an STD
at
some point. In Washington State and in Sweden, where emergency
contraception
has been made widely available, rates of STD infection are
skyrocketing.

€ We can also expect an increase in the rates of sexual violence
committed
against adolescent girls. The easy availability of this drug
over-the-counter will make it more difficult for teenage girls to
resist
pressure to have sex, and will trivialize the act of rape.

€ Over-the-counter availability of the morning after pill will lead to
an
increase in the pregnancy rate among teenagers. Studies have shown that
increased rates of pregnancy occur among teens with increased use of
"emergency contraception." Another showed that teenagers whose
pregnancies
ended in induced abortion were more likely to have used the drug before
conception, and that teens who use the drug were more willing to engage
in
"risk-taking" behavior.

Please take time to call the White House or, better yet, jot a note to
your Senator or Congressman regarding the morning after pill. If it
goes
over-the-counter as scheduled on May 21, then anything goes. Lives
will be
compromised and families further undermined. A sample letter follows:

Continue reading "Abortion over-the-counter" »

Posted by Peony at 2:21 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Consuming Our Children

Thanks to Alicia for this link.

Posted by Peony at 7:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

VATICAN CITY (via Yahoo.com) - Pope John Paul II said Saturday the removal of feeding tubes from people in vegetative states was immoral, and that no judgment on their quality of life could justify such "euthanasia by omission."

John Paul made the comments to participants of a Vatican conference on the ethical dilemmas of dealing with incapacitated patients, entering into a debate that has sparked court battles in the United States and elsewhere.

The pope said even the medical terminology used to describe people in so-called "persistent vegetative states" was degrading to them. He said no matter how sick a person was, "he is and will always be a man, never becoming a 'vegetable' or 'animal.'"

In a vegetative state, patients are awake but not aware of themselves or their environment. The condition is different from a coma, in which the patient is neither awake nor aware. Both, however, are states in which the patient is devoid of consciousness.

If the vegetative state continues for a month, the patient is said to be in a persistent vegetative state; after a year without improvement, the patient is said to be in a permanent vegetative state.

Providing food and water to such patients should be considered natural, ordinary and proportional care — not artificial medical intervention, the pope told members of the conference, which was organized by the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations and the Pontifical Academy for Life, a Vatican advisory body.

"As such, it is morally obligatory," to continue such care, he said.

Since no one knows when a patient in a vegetative state might awaken, "the evaluation of the probability, founded on scarce hope of recovery after the vegetative state has lasted for more than a year, cannot ethically justify the abandonment or the interruption of minimal care for the patient, including food and water," he said.

Similarly, he said that someone else's evaluation of the patient's quality of life in such a state couldn't justify letting them die of hunger or thirst.

"If this is knowingly and deliberately carried out, this would result in a true euthanasia by omission," he said.

John Paul has consistently voiced opposition to euthanasia, which the Vatican defines as "an action or omission that by its nature and intention" causes death to end pain. It says euthanasia always is a violation of God's law.

The issue over removing feeding tubes has prompted several court cases and legislation in the United States, Australia and elsewhere.

In a highly publicized case in Tampa, Fla., the husband of a severely brain-damaged woman, Terri Schiavo, has battled her parents for years to have his wife's feeding tube removed so she can die. He says she wouldn't have wanted to be kept alive with it.

The issue has involved the state legislature as well as the governor, who was given the authority to have the feeding tube reinserted after the woman's husband had it removed.

In his comments, John Paul said families of such ill people needed more emotional and economic support, so that they can better care for their loved ones. In addition, he said, society should commit more money to find cures for them.

I'll post to the link when I find it. Thanks to Mark for this story.

Posted by Peony at 6:01 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Yes, postpartem I want to be a superskinny superhottie. Yes, this is something I am slightly insecure and 'noid about. I think everyone was one totally shallow reason in their arsenal about why, if they were not Catholic and didn't have a clue, they would use artificial means to space babies. Mine is that everytime I get down to a shape I like, I get pregnant again. And it is getting harder and harder to return back. I remember leaving the hospital in my old jeans with my first two. Now, groan. With Gorbulas I was in baggy stuff for what seemed forever. My midwife said to give the belly 9 weeks to go down. Yuck, 9 weeks of walking around looking pregnant? I think I was going back to normal clothes by week 3 or 4 because I know I let myself leave the house around then and fit into normal clothes. I also joined Weight Watchers four weeks postpartem. I was so determined.

Not that I mind looking pregnant when I am pregnant. As a matter of fact it is one of the times I feel lovliest. Quite frankly it is really neat to be able to walk around with a bulging belly and feel absolutely perfect. But you cannot totally blame me for being so shallow. You can blame me some, but I'm and odd person, I am a perfectionist in many areas, my favourite show is Spongebob, I teach the kids how to do the hustle for a homeschooling class and quiz them on KC and the Sunshine bad-I guess maybe I am not reasonably well-adjusted.

See, but part of it you can't totally blame me for my shallowidity. Go shopping ladies, go ahead. Walk into an Old Navy. Why are all the jeans cut just under that postpartem belly? Yes, of course I wear a longer shirt over it-yikes I don't want nobody looking at my stretch marks-but the cuts are just perfect for taking that little pocket of belly and making it stick out under your clothes. Um, ick. Hey, I'm starting to have a revelation! I think that these styles were not intended for the average woman who has had a baby! They are intended to attract someone of the opposite sex. Usually, attracting someone of the opposite sex results in a postpartem belly. Then your clothing becomes almost asexual. These days though I cannot complain like I did ten years ago when I had Rosey Posey.That all nursing and maternity clothes are totally unattractive, they have gotten much better. But what I cannot fathom is why many clothes geared towards women of childbearing age very often try to lean towards "sexy" except at the times in your life when "hello", it is obvious you had sex. And no, I am not looking to be a sexy Mama, just an average looking young adult Mama.

Now here is part two why you cannot blame me. Madonna. Sarah Jessica Parker. Now we have celebrities having babies, which is probably who I have to thank that maternity clothes are not limited to shapless dresses with Peter Pan collars. But now we are more unforgiving to women who do not bounce right back. I have seen it. I have been to baby showers of my cousin's daughter and heard family gossip about how heavy my cousin looks at 6 weeks postpartem. Now here we are what is supposed to be a joyful family event, but you have to train to keep gossip of loved ones away. Good grief. Aha, see another reason you cannot blame me for being so incredibly shallow: crazy family who had maybe one kid and watches way too much TV and has very unrealistic expectations of what a real postpartem woman looks like. It's not like the average person is having 4+ kids anymore and my mother and I concur that it's that third or fourth kid that really devastates your body.

I had a small stint when Fastolph was a baby that I was heavier than I should be-a size 10. My grandmother would call me up to say "Oh Pansy, I am making a novena for you so you lose all that weight. I am so worried about you because you are starting to look matronly and you are too young to look matronly." When I sent her a copy of this picture from Posco's First Holy Communion all she said was "You gained weight again? You look so heavy there." Hmmm. "nice picture", "good job on the suit", "Posco looks cute" would have sufficed.

Why are we so unforgiving to women who chose motherhood? I mean in a real world, you would think the slightly more curvaceous figure would be an added sign of femininity, not ugliness. Why has androgyny become more of a symbol of sexuality? I don't know, I am confused now. Everytime I think about the hypocracies of modern society, my head hurts and I need to eat something.

Posted by Pansy at 8:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

Worst Episode EVER!

Are my husband and I the only people in the lower 48 watching this show? It seems like it sometimes. If that's the case, the writers should not antagonize us, as they did so egregiously last night.

The word spoilers never seemed so appropriate: the show stank morally, dramatically, and every other way you could think of. Good points first: they showed the Captain's dog. Hambet is always pleased when they show the dog. I think he thinks the dog is the star of the show.

The premise of the episode is that Tucker, the chief engineer, suffers "neural damage" in an accident and needs some kind of transplanted "neural tissue" to recover from his coma. I guess in the future they don't have ordinary closed-head and spinal cord injuries. Time, of course, is of the essence since they are in some kind of anomaly field and the ship's getting covered with big blobs of metallic crud -- the typical Treknobabble setup. They need Tucker to recover so that he can come up with the way to get them out of the field so they can go hunt down the evil Xindi and Save Earth. (Apparently they set out with only one officer in Engineering who went to engineering school, and there's nobody else in the department who can be promoted. So without Tucker the whole mission is in jeopardy and the Earth is doomed.)

In the future they also seem to have forgotten all about the promising adult stem-cell experiments run in the twenty-first century. Instead, Dr Phlox (creepy alien ship's doctor) uses some kind of alien critter's skin as a substrate and they make a "symbiont" -- actually, a clone -- of Tucker (a procedure illegal on the critter's home planet.)

First objection: Trek writers. Don't try to pull a fast one on us. They didn't make a symbiont. They made a clone.

Bigger objection: nobody seemed to have any problem with this at all. Captain Archer gives only a token three seconds of reflection before he concludes I don't care what we've gotta do, we've got to save Tucker so we can Go Save Earth! And nobody is shown even suggesting to him that this is wrong.

Clones made from this critter, like the animal clones being made now, mature and age rapidly. So the clone, which they cruelly name "Sym," goes from infancy to adulthood in about a week, with a life expectancy of fifteen days. And in a touch of extremely bogus science that brings the ol' voluntary suspension of disbelief crashing to the floor, Sym has Tucker's memories. He actually thinks he is Tucker until they tell him the truth.

The Trek writers wimp out and do not show the moment when they tell Sym the truth. They just show him afterwards looking extremely happy and well-adjusted, as if learning that all your memories are false and that you were actually concocted in the lab with the express purpose of providing tissue for a transplant isn't anything that would shake you up. Sym conveniently possesses Tucker's memories of engineering school, so he sets about making himself useful down in the engine room.

It comes time to perform the transplant, and it becomes apparent that, contrary to initial expectations, Sym will not survive the tissue donation. Archer is angry but wants to proceed with the surgery. For a moment the clone behaves somewhat realistically when he angrily resists -- he wants to live out his life. Archer warns him that he doesn't "want to be forced" to force Sym to submit to the surgery.

Now, instead doing something really dramatic and showing Archer marching Sym to the O.R. under an armed guard, the writers wimp out again. Sym sulks for a couple of minutes and then cheerfully trots off to give up his neural tissue: "I guess this what I'm here for!" He is even shown thanking the crew for a happy life. Problem solved. The transplant is successful and Tucker recovers so quickly, he's able to attend his clone's funeral.

And are they going to show Tucker's reaction next week, when he learns about the short life of his identical twin? (Tucker recently lost his only sister when the evil aliens attacked Earth.) If they do, I doubt they'll show him doing anything more than shrugging it off.

If TV shows are going to be entertainment, let them be entertainment. But if they're going to try to Look At The Issues, then they shouldn't wimp out.

I complain again that they are also showing way too much of the Vulcan woman. This "Vulcan acupressure" she's teaching Tucker seems to entail postures that are less about acupressure than about seriously titillating adolescent male viewers. Even the sexuality on this show is cynical and jaded. The original Enterprise certainly had its implied sins against chastity, but even with their torn shirts and go-go boots, Captain Kirk and his crew seemed a bit more professional and concerned with decorum than this bunch (and more sincere and likeable in their amorousness.)

I know, Pansy and Victor, we should be watching Angel instead, but it comes on at nine and we are early-to-bed types. Plus, we haven't been watching it, so we'd have no clue as to what was going on.

Posted by Peony at 8:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Mark Shea highlights some of the current articles who state is was "unconstitutional" for the Governor, or anyone to intervene in allowing Terri to starve to death. OK, no matter what you think about the immoral "Right to Die" stance, in my opinion, it is stupid that anyone should starve to death in American today. It is despicable to force someone to starve to death. Even if it were Terri's last wish (yeah right) like her husband claimed to "die with dignity", the law has a right to jump in and say "well, tough cookies, people are not put to death from starvation on this country."

What kind of society are we coming to where this can be justified?

OK, I have to find something lighthearted and meaningless to blog about. I am disgusted about the attitude I am reading and am even reading Catholics who support this. My gag reflex needs to calm down.

Posted by Pansy at 1:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Maybe he could resign as guardian, Terri's parents take up the guardianship, they get Terri into rehab, and then sue him for the rehab money that got spent on lawyers. How delicious!

With a spoon!

Posted by Pansy at 10:48 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

I got this in the from of an email from a list I am on, and I cannot speak for the veracity of a forwarded email, I am sure extra prayers never hurt.

Lord have mercy...
Please protect Terri.
St. Michael the Archangel protect us in battle...

While many have heard that Terri Schiavo's feeding tube has been re-inserted, her life is in eminent danger. Michael Schiavo is still her legal guardian. The would-be murderer is responsible for guarding his own victim! In addition when Terri was moved from hospice, he immediately blocked visitation rights at the hospital for her parents, siblings and family priest - the only source of Terri's comfort, love and joy. An emergency motion ordered visitation restored for the family but it was not received in the attorney's offices until 5:15PM today. By the time the family was able to get down to the hospital, her husband had removed her from the hospital and taken to an "undisclosed location" - we are told perhaps back to hospice.

In any case, the family has not been informed - they do not know her medical condition or whether the feeding tube has been reinstated or not. An IV was inserted at approximately 9:30 last night. This is a woman starved for 7 days with no food or water yet Michael has the audacity to remove her from the hospital care!

It is an outrage that Michael Schiavo and his attorney feel they can spit in the face of the governor, the Fl House and Senate - and trample Terri's rights with absolutely no regard for her health, happines or wishes.

Complaints have been filed through the Department of Health and Human Services yet nothing is being done to protect Terri from physical harm or to assure her rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Please take a moment and file your complaint with the Office of Civil Rights. Click here for the form: Discrimination Complaint Form or go to: http://hhs.gov/ocr/discrimhowtofile.html
You can also file your complaint by email at OCRcomplaint@hhs.gov or call the District Office in Atlanta: Roosevelt Freeman, 404 562-7886. Tell them to immediately act and remove her care/custody from Michael.

In addition, please contact your US Congressman and ask him to investigate why the Department of Justice is not protecting Terri's civil rights as a disabled American and further request that the Department of Health and Human Services Civil Rights Office act at once to protect her.

Go to our website to read the formal letters of complaint filed by Children of God for Life, the family and medical personnel through Delegate Robert Marshall with Attorney General Ashcroft, the House Judiciary Committee and President Bush, asking for immediate federal intervention. You should read the facts to help explain the problem to your Congressmen. www.cogforlife.org/schiavo.htm

We will keep the site updated daily with new developments until Terri is safe and her rights guaranteed by the US Constitution and the State of Florida are upheld!
God bless,
Debi Vinnedge, Executive Director
Children of God for LIfe

Pete Vere has better details.... This seriously just keeps getting weirder and weirder.

Posted by Pansy at 7:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Thanks to the Mighty Barrister for this great news!

Now let's pray that Michael Schiavo's bid for an injunction fails....

Posted by Peony at 4:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

This morning I tried to call the office of Senator Jim King, the President of the Florida Senate. It took me a few tries to even connect, and then at around 9:45 I got a recorded message that began with a little speech to the effect of, If you are calling concerning Terri Schiavo, the bill was passed by the committee this morning and will go to the Senate Floor at 6:45. The message box was still full, so I couldn't leave a message thanking Senator King.

This afternoon I received an email from Earl Appleby, a forwarded message from "Central Command":

URGENT!!! SENATE AND TERRI'S LAW

The bill is being pushed back because of language. We need to keep the pressure on. Here are the contact details for Florida's Senate.

But even if the bill passes, there's more trouble ahead: George Felos, Michael Schiavo's lawyer, has already filed for an injunction just in case the bill does pass and Governor Bush does sign it. Judge "Do you dare to question my decisions?" Greer is scheduled to hear that case this afternoon.

Meanwhile, here's a nice reflection from Wesley J. Smith:

Will Terri live or die? That can't be known. But this much is clear: The Schiavo case has changed everything. Our government leaders have been put on notice that tremendous numbers of people in this country are determined to halt the erosion of the sanctity/equality of life ethic in the practice of medicine. The routine practice of dehydrating the cognitively disabled who need a feeding tube--which occurs to the conscious and unconscious alike in all 50 states--is going to receive a badly needed review. The bioethics movement, which has been leading us down this treacherous slope, can no longer expect to pontificate from on high in medical matters of life and death and expect the people to just meekly go along.

In a sense, the Schiavo case is a miracle. Because so many people around the country and the world have come to love her, root for her, and yes, pray for her, our country has been given a rare opportunity to look at where we are heading as a culture and reinvigorate a simple moral maxim: When in doubt, choose life.

Posted by Peony at 3:24 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The Florida House passed Terri's Bill 68-23 last night.

The President of the Senate's on board now, too. I was discouraged yesterday because my email to Senator King kept bouncing back, but it looks like it's because his email was swamped with pro-Terri emails!

Meanwhile, George "I talk to dying people telepathically" Felos, Michael Schiavo's lawyer, complains that this is unconstitutional. Perhaps he missed the part of the Florida Constitution establishing the legislative branch? slept through the "separation of powers" part in high school civics?

Mahalo plenty to early birds William Luse and Mark Shea for these links.

Posted by Peony at 8:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Dear Governor Bush:

History is being made in your State at this very moment. When the history books get written, how do you want to be remembered?

Do you want to be remembered as the patriotic governor who defended Terri's rights as an American and as a human being? This morning, I read the news and learned that Terri is being denied the right to practice her religion -- Michael Schiavo AND THE POLICE prevented her from receiving Holy Communion from her priest. How much longer before someone else tries to take away your First Amendment rights to freedom of religous expression?

Do you want to be remembered as the brave governor who stood up for the rights of the disabled and saved a helpless, innocent woman from a horrible death by starvation? If Terri Schiavo were a criminal on death row, she would not be executed by starvation. If she were a stray dog in the pound, she would not be starved to death. If Florida won't starve murderers, and won't starve pets, why will it starve its disabled citizens?

There was a point in history where the evil plans of the Nazis could have been foiled -- a point when, if enough lawmakers, doctors, and other citizens had said NO, the mass killing of the disabled would have been prevented. There would have been no Dachau, no Auschwitz.

For that was how it began in Nazi Germany. Before the first train car rolled away to the death camps, the Nazis were euthanizing the weak and disabled -- the "useless eaters."

We are at a similar point now. A few judges in your State have made outrageous decisions that effectively tell Terri to shut up and die already. Not dying fast enough? No food, no water, no wasting time with rehab. Shut up and die!

This is not the time for "playing it safe." This is the time for patriotism. Act now, Governor. Defend the defenseless. Defend our Constitution. Help stop our nation from repeating the crimes of the Nazis.

Do you want to be remembered as the governor who stood by principles and did what was right? Or as the governor who stood by while evil attacked our country?

You do have options, Governor! The media has reported that several lawyers have submitted outlines of actions you could take. You could arrest Michael Schiavo for contempt of court, for failing to spend Terri's trust money on rehabilitation as ordered. You could close down the hospice for fraud and criminal neglect. You could impeach Judge Greer. You could send in the National Guard.

Be brave, Governor. Take action, and be remembered as the Governor who did the right thing.

Sincerely yours,

Peony Moss, RN

Posted by Peony at 9:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Pansy at 7:23 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Five different lawyers and legal entities have submitted suggestions to Governor Jeb Bush on actions he can take to save Terri Schiavo.

Read more here.

May I add a few more? such as impeaching Judge Greer? calling out the National Guard? How about charging Michael Schiavo with contempt of court for spending the rehab money on lawyers? Investigating the hospice for fraud?

Thanks to the Mighty Barrister and JS Kern, commenting at Apologia, for the links.

Posted by Peony at 5:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I was up feeling ill last night thinking about how horrible it must be for poor Terri right now. It takes 7-10 days to starve to death. I was up anyway giving Gorbulas nebulizer treatments because he has a cold and is quite wheezy. But this was on the forefront my mind. I still do not understand any of this. Where is the feminist movement to back up a woman being mistreated by her husband and our current institutions?

When I went to sleep, I dreamt that I met up with Peony, and we did this covert operation thing and rescued Terri. (Peony was wearing a long black trench coat in my dream.) I hope our prayer efforts are more effective.

Posted by Pansy at 9:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

When I look at the recent pictures of Terri Schiavo, I always remember a patient I helped care for about ten years ago, when I was in nursing school.

I was halfway through my first year, and had taken a job as a nursing assistant at a hospital. I worked the night shift, on the float pool, so at the beginning of my shift I'd find out where I was going that night. At first I hated the float pool, but after a while I began to enjoy it as I got to know the staff of the different floors and learned their ways.

On this particular night, I was assigned to a medical unit. I'd been there before and had gotten to know the other nursing students who worked there all the time. One of the crueller customs at some hospitals is bathing "total care" patients -- brain-damaged patients unable to help themselves -- at night, when things are quieter, freeing up more time for the day shift to get their baths done.

Tonight there was only one bath, and it wasn't for any of my patients. I was suprised when Patty, the other nursing student, implored me to help her. Patty was a tough young woman from Baltimore, heartlessly practical and usually completely unflappable, but she confessed that she just couldn't face going into her patient's room alone.

I looked down the hall. Her patient was all the way at the end of the hall, in an isolation room -- the kind with a little antechamber between the room and the corridor. That antechamber and the two heavy doors barely muted the eerie wailing coming from the room.

Bath time rolled around, and as Patty got the towels and blankets together, I flipped quickly through the chart. It was a terribly sad story. The patient was a young woman, barely into her thirties. She had been abused as a child and had struggle for years with mental illness. Just as she had begun to emerge from that turmoil and pull her life together, she had developed a serious infectious disease and went into cardiac arrest. They had managed to revive her, but she had suffered a severe anoxic insult -- brain damage -- while her heart had stopped.

We entered the room. The patient was painfully thin, with short, shaggy dark hair. Her arms, hands, and legs were beginning to draw up into contractures, but occasionally she would helplessly paw at the air. She started to cry out again. Patty shuddered, as she unpacked the washcloths, anticipating yet another nerve-wracking night.

I went around to the other side of the bed. I was feeling relaxed -- it was a slow night, there were two of us there to give the bath, and I was going home in four hours. Out of habit, I greeted the patient and introduced myself.

The wailing immediately stopped. Patty looked up and stared.

I started explaining what we were going to do and apologized for having to disturb this poor woman at three in the morning. She didn't attempt to speak, but watched us intently and didn't cry out again.

We started washing up. I was struck by how pretty the patient was, and told her so. Patty got into the spirit of things, and before long we were practically playing spa -- brushing hair, brushing teeth, massaging the patient's hands and feet. We exercised her hands, arms, and legs, changed the linens, and finally tucked her into bed and dimmed the lights. Patty was beaming as she propped the patient's hand on a pillow. "Thank you! Oh, thank you!" she gushed -- to the patient.

I don't know what happened to the patient. (She probably got shoved in a nursing home, where her family might or might not have visited her.) I don't know what happened to Patty, either, but I hope that as she started her career she remembered that night as vividly as I do.

Posted by Peony at 5:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBacks (2)

From Terrisfight.org:

As many others around St Blog's have posted, if something dramatic doesn't happen, Terri Schiavo is scheduled to have her feeding tube removed tomorrow at 2:00 PM.

Joni Eareckson Tada arrived in Florida today to join the vigil.

The linked article also has a quick rundown on the legal maneuverings behind the effort to get rid of Terri. Every time I read about how she's been treated in the courts, I just come away more disgusted and frighened.

The article mentions that her trust fund, which was intended for her rehabilitation but instead has been used to litigate her extermination, has run dry, and that the hospice where she's been kept is now being paid by federal funds through Medicaid. Some of Terri's former nurses have alleged falsification of medical records. I would love to see a flock of lawyers and inspectors general descend upon this place, looking for fraud.

Posted by Peony at 6:10 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

From the Terri's Fight mailing list:

Terri Schindler-Schiavo, age 39, will have her feeding tube removed at 2PM on Wednesday, October 15, unless Governor Jeb Bush is persuaded to intervene.

On Monday, October 13, at 12 noon, Terri’s family and friends will begin a 24-hour-a-day vigil outside the Woodside Hospice where Terri lives. Hospice Woodside is located at 6774 102nd Avenue N. (near 66th Street N and 102nd Avenue N) in Pinellas Park, Florida. The vigil will continue until Terri is rescued by Governor Bush, or killed.

Terri’s family asks that you please come to the vigil as we call on Governor Jeb Bush to save her life. Your presence is welcome for any length of time, day or night.

-------------------------------------------

October 13, 2003 Statement from the parents of Terri Schindler-Schiavo--Bob & Mary Schindler:

We love our daughter very much and we want her home. Over the last 13 years, Terri has laughed with us, cried with us, talked with us, and even tried to get out of her chair. The accusations that Terri is in a coma or is a "vegetable" are a lie.

We beg Michael Schiavo, and those working with him to end our daughter’s life, to let her come home to her family. We will sign any agreement you want, giving you all monies related to Terri’s collapse and any insurance money that may be forthcoming. You take the money. We just want our daughter.

-------------------------------------------

The family especially invites you to be at the vigil in front of the Woodside Hospice for press conferences scheduled for:

Monday, October 13, at noon
Tuesday, October 14, at noon, and
Wednesday, October 15, at 2PM

**For those who live in the Tallahassee area; if you could attend a vigil in front of the Governor’s Mansion please contact us immediately.

Posted by Peony at 1:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

"...'cause it's ain't my jurisdiction.

And no more wasting time seeing if she can eat by mouth, anyway."

What if the Schindlers (Terri's parents) had argued that depriving Terri of rehabilitation was depriving therapists of work, and therefore depriving Florida of tax revenue based on their income oh, crumb, not even that would have worked since Florida has no state income tax.

Times Against Humanity promises more coverage later today.

But what else can be done, short of civil disobedience? If only there were enough doctors and nurses who refused to play along with this.

Posted by Peony at 8:38 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Governor Jeb Bush has filed an Amicus Memorandum on behalf of Terri! (link requires Adobe)

Thanks to Earl at Times Against Humanity for the heads-up.

Posted by Peony at 9:41 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Check out the latest developments on the Terri Schiavo case!

There are two letters, from Bishops Paul Loverde of Arlington and Raymond J. Burke of LaCrosse, reiterating Catholic teaching on this issue:

"The inherent worth of the life of Theresa Schiavo obligates all concerned to provide her with care and support and to reject any omission of nutrition and hydration intended to cause her death." --Bishop Paul S. Loverde

The site has also posted the latest documents from the Federal court hearing the case. Judge Lazarra has ordered transcripts of Michael Schiavo's testimony from the 1992 Medical Malpractice suit, Mr. Schiavo's rehabilitation experts at the same trial, and testimony from the September 15th hearing. (Adobe Acrobat needed to view.) He has also set October 10th as the date to consider the Schindlers' case that Terri's constitutional rights are being violated, and to consider guardianship issues.

I hope Cacciaguida and the Mighty Barrister will consider blogging a little more on this legal stuff. Does this mean that Governor Bush's administration has the opportunity to intervene on Terri's behalf? (or to intervene by not defending the Florida law?) Meanwhile, we can start another novena on October 1 -- the feast of St Therese -- or OCtober 2 -- the feast of the Guardian Angels....

Posted by Peony at 10:06 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (1)

Times Against Humanity brings us glad tidings indeed:

A recent study published in the Danish medical review, Dagens Medicin, reports that women who choose a glass of wine over beer or spirits are more likely to conceive babies.

And the good news gets even better!

According to the research, directed by Mette Juhl of the Danish state serology institute, Statens Serum Institut, the women least likely to conceive children were those who drank no alcohol whatsoever....

Posted by Peony at 6:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

On Wednesday, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court Judge George Greer set Oct. 15 at 2 p.m. as the date to remove the artificial feeding tube that has been keeping the 39-year-old Pinellas woman alive for the past 13 years.

In another ruling, Greer denied Terri's parents' request for immediate therapy for their daughter. They had hoped she could be taught to swallow food even if the feeding tube is removed.....

So that gives Governor Bush a month to intervene, Terri's parents a month to keep working through the legal system (the federal suit is still pending) and us a month to keep praying....

Posted by Peony at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Wesley J. Smith on the latest legal maneuver. Perhaps those who want Terri dead have been outflanked. Pat Anderson, the lawyer for Terri's parents, is arguing that Michael Schiavo is only petitioning to end Terri's tube feedings -- Terri still has the right to eat by mouth, and she still has the right to rehabilitation -- rehab she still hasn't received.

Posted by Peony at 8:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

"We dodged the bullet again - for another week," said [Terri's] father....

Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge George W. Greer now says he will rule sometime next week on claims by Terri Schiavo's parents that she has a legal right to therapy that could help her take food by mouth after the feeding tube is withdrawn....

Posted by Peony at 4:57 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The Nightmares of Choice: The Psychological Effects
of Performing Abortions

WARNING: unsettling imagery.

...it is the practitioners’ dreams that may tell us most. Bad dreams are so common that a mention of them, even a slight one, can be expected in almost all presentations on the subject of an abortion facility staff’s emotional reactions to performing abortions. Many of those who stopped doing abortions because they became convinced that abortion was wrong report dreaming about abortion....

Posted by Peony at 9:55 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

....As director of Citizens United Resisting Euthanasia (CURE), I would like to thank you for calling your readers' attention to the plight of Terri Schiavo. I know that the Schindler family and all of us who love Terri appreciate your efforts on her behalf.

As a fellow member of St. Blog's Parish, I call your attention to the latest report on Times Against Humanity. Additional coverage is available on CURE's blog, Epivalothanasia, and, of course, on the excellent site maintained by our friends at the Terri Schiavo-Schindler Foundation.

Let us continue to pray with and stand with Terri and her defenders. Please call on me whenever CURE or I may assist you in any way.

God bless Two Sleepy Mommies and all those whom they love!

Yours for Life,

Earl

Editor, Times Against Humanity
Director, CURE

PS—If you find a moment to write a note to Mary Jane Owen of the National Catholic Partnership on Disability, I am sure it would encourage her in vital work for life and for our Holy Mother Church. (Please see A True Friend of Terri … and of the Church for the background of my request.)

Earl E. Appleby, Jr. 304-258-LIFE/5433

Director, CURE, Ltd. 304-258-5420 (fax)

303 Truman St. cureltd @ ix.netcom.com

Berkeley Springs, WV 25411 cureltd.home.netcom.com

Mary Jane Owen's email address is: mjowen AT ncpd DOT org

Posted by Peony at 5:14 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Federal Judge Kills Bid To Bar Schiavo Ruling

At an emergency hearing, Lazzara openly doubted whether he has jurisdiction to intervene in a right-to-die case that has been winding through state courts for five years. He termed the Schindlers' new federal lawsuit a ``quintessential shotgun pleading,'' but added: ``given the importance of what's at stake here, I'm going to proceed.''

Thanks for this link to the Mighty Barrister, who explains why the headline is misleading. Basically, the federal judge wants Terri's parents to polish up their complaint. They have ten days to do this before they can be heard again in federal court. They'll be bumping right up against September 11 -- the date that the Florida judge set for removal of the feeding tube.

Posted by Peony at 8:46 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Terri's case goes to Federal level

The judge will be hearing Terri's case at 2PM Eastern time. Anyone care to join me in prayer at that time?

Pansy and I have been following this case closely, and it seems like every day there's some new appalling detail. How I hope that this is the beginning of the end of Terri's mistreatment! Do take a look at Terri's parent's Complaint -- some of the details, especially about the husband's kooky lawyer, will curl your hair:

30. Mr. Felos' book, Litigation as Spiritual Practice, contains numerous bizarre anecdotes about his ardent desire to end the administration of food and water to severely disabled or gravely sick patients.

31. On page 63, referring to his landmark Florida state court case, Estate of Browning, Felos writes: "Such a deep, dark, silent blue. I stared as far into her eyes as I could, hoping to sense some glimmer of understanding, some hint of awareness. The deeper I dove, the darker became the blue, until the blue became the black of some bottomless lake. 'Mrs. Browning, do you want to die?...Do you want to die?' - I near shouted as I continued to peer into her pools of strikingly beautiful but incognizant blue. It felt so eerie."

32. On page 73, Attorney Felos writes: "As I continued to stay beside Mrs. Browning at her nursing home bed, I felt my mind relax and my weight sink into the ground. I began to feel light-headed as I became more reposed. Although feeling like I could drift into sleep, I also experienced a sense of heightened awareness. As Mrs. Browning lay motionless before my gaze, I suddenly heard a loud, deep moan and scream and wondered if the nursing home personnel heard it....In the next moment, as this cry of pain and torment continued, I realized it was Mrs. Browning. I felt the mid-section of my
body open and noticed a strange quality to the light in the room. I sensed her soul in agony. As she screamed I heard her say, in confusion, 'Why am I still here... why am I here?' My soul touched hers and in some way I communicated that she was still locked to her body. I promised I would do everything in my power to gain the release her soul cried for. With that the screaming immediately stopped. I felt like I was back in my head again."

33. On page 75, Felos says: "Before our son was conceived, my then wife and I went through a long and arduous process trying to decide if we should have a child. Given that our marriage was never very stable, the familiar arguments against creating progeny seemed at times hard to overcome....One morning, while still generally engaged in that process, I walked into my office, and about half way to my desk was hammer-struck. While almost seeing stars like a comic book character, I heard the soul of my yet-to-be-conceived child emphatically shout: I'm ready to be born... will you stop this fooling around!'...The voice I heard was distinctly male, and I beamed with the idea I had a son - or was going to have a son - or sorta had a son out there - or something like that."

34. On page 216, again discussing Estate of Browning, Mr. Felos writes about the late Estelle M. Browning: "As I always did, I looked into her eyes and shouted to her, hoping for some response or sign. After a minute or two I sat in the chair by the foot of her bed, closed my eyes, and started to meditate. Having 'soulspoken' with Mrs. Browning when we first met, I decided, with a measure of earnest self-inflation, to purposefully initiate such contact. I settled into my breath and noticed all the passing sounds move through my consciousness. As I deepened my relaxation, I reached out with my awareness to see if I could touch her soul-presence. From deep inside I repeated, 'Mrs. Browning, it's okay to leave your body. There is no reason to stay in this body. It is all right to die now.' A few minutes into my meditative encouragement, I was jarred by a high-pitched sarcastic cackle and the words, 'You're telling me to drop my body - and you can't even get out of your head.' Apparently, Mrs. Browning had a spirited sense of humor!"

35. On pages 181-182 of his book, Felos claims that merely by visualizing a plane crash during a flight he was taking back to Florida, he caused the plane to begin to crash and that God spoke to him at that moment to warn him: "Be careful what you think. You are more powerful than you realize'.....I was startled, humbled, and blessed by God's admonishment."

36. Co-conspirator Felos clearly is not simply an advocate for Michael Schiavo in the Florida state courts; he is an investor in Mrs. Schiavo's case who stands to profit financially via her judicially-sanctioned death and the book he told the St. Petersburg Times he wants to write about the case and his "spiritual journey" with Theresa Schiavo.
As his first work, Litigation as Spiritual Practice, indicates, Mr. Felos is an egomaniacal visionary who views Terri's hoped-for death as a fulfillment of his personal messianic mission as the savior of severely disabled and seriously ill people who need to die. He is a protagonist in a drama in which he sees himself as a lead character....

45. Non-party co-conspirator Felos has been paid approximately $550,000.00, virtually the entirely of Terri's estate, for his professional services to defendant Schiavo in the Florida courts, and no funds from the estate have been used for her rehabilitation."

And then there's the affadavits filed by three nurses who had cared for Terri, such as this one by Carla Iyer, RN (emphasis added):

To the best of my recollection, rehabilitation had been ordered for Terri, but I never saw any being done or had any reason at all to believe that there was ever any rehab of Terri done at Palm Gardens while I was there. I became concerned because Michael wanted nothing done for Terri at all, no antibiotics, no tests, no range of motion therapy, no stimulation, no nothing. Michael said again and again that Terri should NOT get any rehab, that there should be no range of motion whatsoever, or anything else. I and a CNA named Roxy would give Terri range of motion anyway. One time I put a wash cloth in Terri's hand to keep her fingers from curling together, and Michael saw it and made me take it out, saying that was therapy....I made numerous entries into the nursing notes in her chart, stating verbatim what she said and her various behaviors, but by my next on-duty shift, the notes would be deleted from her chart. Every time I made a positive entry about any responsiveness of Terri's, someone would remove it after my shift ended. Michael always demanded to see her chart as soon as he arrived, and would take it in her room with him. I documented Terri's rehab potential well, writing whole pages about Terri's responsiveness, but they would always be deleted by the next time I saw her chart. The reason I wrote so much was that everybody else seemed to be afraid to make positive entries for fear of their jobs, but I felt very strongly that a nurses job was to accurately record everything we see and hear that bears on a patients condition and their family. I upheld the Nurses Practice Act, and if it cost me my job, I was willing to accept that."

So this nurse alleges that on top of everything else, there's been tampering with legal documents, sanctioned by the hospital where Terri was staying. This hospital probably receives Medicare funding. I hope the Inspector General gets involved.

Posted by Peony at 12:02 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Okay, this is real sick. Someone forwarded this link to me, apologised for sending it, but felt the need to share in the horror. Now I am going to do the same thing here. I'm Not Sorry.

I stopped being very active in the pro-life movement about 10 years ago. Not that I stopped being pro-life, but I stopped going to marches, life chains etc., mostly due to the birth of my first child. I also felt the need to hold back from debating.

It was around this time in my life that I had my first pro-life debate with someone that said "I know it's a baby, but infanticide for the good of the whole has always been practiced."

Ack! I about stopped debating after that. Heck, I almost stopped coming out of my house after that! How can you argue with logic when people refuse to see logic, or how can you argue that life is a precious gift, when people do not believe that either? Only their own lives.

Posted by Pansy at 2:06 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)