I got this via email yesterday, and gee, I hope the media covers this one (.pdf link to application for media credentials). Because there are all kinds of implications: Does the Catholic Church get to decide that, government health insurance will pay for the indefinite maintenance of someone in a persistent vegetative state because they've suddenly decided to up the ante?

And do Catholic hospital officials intend to override advance directives or medical powers of attorney? Remember, many people live in a community that has only a Catholic hospital. (While my father was dying from excruciatingly painful pancreatic cancer, he was denied a morphine drip by his Catholic pro-life doctor. The Saint said it might make dad might die a few hours sooner than he was "supposed" to, so this is more than a theoretical issue to me.)

I'd just like to remind everyone that the Catholic Church continues to make disapproving noises about unjust war and the death penalty, but I never see any public denouncements of the politicians who support them them. Instead, they throw their weight behind issues like this.

What would Jesus do? I'm guessing not this.

WASHINGTON-The full body of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will take into account the most recent Catholic teaching on care for the chronically ill and dying when they vote on a proposed revision of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services at their November 16-19 general assembly in Baltimore. The proposed revision states more definitively the moral obligation to provide medically assisted nutrition and hydration to patients in a "persistent vegetative state."

[...] "It would be useful to update the Ethical and Religious Directives by inclusion of references to these authoritative documents as well as byincorporation of some of their language and distinctions," said Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Doctrine. "It is particularly appropriate to do so since the recent clarifications by the Holy See have rendered untenable certain positions that have been defended by some Catholic ethicists."

The current Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services says, "There should be a presumption in favor of providing nutrition and hydration to all patients, including patients who require medically assisted nutrition and hydration, as long as this is of sufficient benefit to outweigh the burdens involved to the patient."

Along with other changes, the proposed revision says, "As a general rule, there is an obligation to provide patients with food and water, including medically assisted nutrition and hydration for those who cannot take food orally. This obligation extends to patients in chronic conditions (e.g., the 'persistent vegetative state') who can reasonably be expected to live indefinitely if given such care."

To be adopted, the proposed revision must be approved by a majority of bishops present and voting at the November meeting.

Former GOP Sen. Hecht owes life to Democratic candidate Kerry

Former U.S. Sen. Chic Hecht of Nevada is a staunch Republican, but he thanks his lucky stars for Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.

On July 12, 1988, Hecht was attending a weekly Republican luncheon when a piece of apple lodged firmly in his throat.

Hecht stumbled out of the room, thinking he might vomit but not wanting to do it in front of his colleagues. Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., thumped his back, but Hecht quickly passed out in the hallway

Just then, Kerry stepped off an elevator, rushed to Hecht's side and gave him the Heimlich maneuver -- four times.

The lifesaving incident made international news, and Dr. Henry Heimlich, who invented the maneuver in 1974, called Hecht to say that had Kerry intervened just 30 seconds later Hecht might have been in a vegetative state for life.

"This man gave me my life," the 75-year-old Hecht said Thursday.

Hecht said he was amazed that Kerry acted so quickly -- some people were assuming that he was having a heart attack.

"He knew exactly what to do," he said. "But a lot of people know what to do. They just don't size up the situation immediately."

Hecht, who prides himself on having one of the most conservative records on the books during his six years in the Senate, said he and his wife, Gail, see politics as "a secondary issue" when it comes to Kerry.Every year the Hechts call Kerry's longtime personal secretary, who tracks down Kerry wherever he is.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-gov/2004/feb/06/516309920.html

Bill Frist joined Tim Russert on MTP this morning and looked like a deer caught in the headlights for most of the show. Tim did do some follow up question for a change and at times did a good job, but he forgot to ask him about Ann Coulter's "rat poisoning" joke oddly enough.<snark> I think the pressure we have been putting on Tim finally showed today. Frist clearly couldn't come up with a rational explanation about Bush's warrantless spying program and stammered his way through most of the interview.

Download | play -WMP low res Download | play -QT

(MTP Transcript) On Terri Schiavo:

MR. RUSSERT: Do you regret going to the floor of the Senate and saying, "I watched the videotape and that's not a persistent vegetative state."

SEN. FRIST: No, I don't. I'm a physician. I was watching a board-certified neurologist...

MR. RUSSERT: Were you wrong?

SEN. FRIST: In terms of what? In terms of di-no. To raise the question in order to pass a law that says, "Let's give it more review?" No.

MR. RUSSERT: Were you wrong in your diagnosis?

SEN. FRIST: I didn't make the diagnosis. I raised the question of whether or not she's in a persistent vegetative state. If I had been there, I would have said, "Let’s use technology today, like spectrometry, like PET scans to get the diagnosis right," because the only reason you can remove that tube-the other thing...

MR. RUSSERT: No regrets?

He looked like a fool over his video taped diagnosis of Terri's condition and he wouldn't admit to Russert that he did make a diagnosis for her which was completely politically motivated? (not to mention probably unethical being a doctor and all.) Tim could have had an Oprah moment with Frist and said " You lied because you did make a diagnosis on TV. It was played over and over again." Please discuss his response to his stock scandal as well...

Anyone who thought the end to the Schiavo case would actually be the end to the Schiavo case are sadly mistaken. What would stop a Circus Clown like Gibbs to move on? There is too much money to be made. Remember he said this gem in front of a court of law: via Hard Ball

"He said, if they put her—allow her to die because of natural causes, not getting food and drink, whatever, that‘s disobeying the Vatican. And that could create additional damnation of her soul or add to the time of her suffering in purgatory."

Gibbs told the AP that he believes

"McCabe rushed the report, noting that he never interviewed the Schindlers about what happened the day before or the day of the collapse."We had thought they would meet with the family," he said"

How is interviewing the family relevant to anything that happened to Terri if they weren't there? As my WV friend always says: Serentity Now

(Update)- reg/req-Ave Maria creates Terri Schiavo scholarship: Likening Terri Schiavo to St. Therese, the Little Flower, the Rev. Michael Beers hinted Schiavo, too, could be canonized. Friday, the Rev. Joseph Fessio, AMU provost, "When people say 'persistent, vegetative state' and you see this smiling young woman, is that what it is?" Fessio asked, rhetorically.

A quote form John Cole

It's up to God to determine PVS

On Hardball last night, Chris Matthews had his celebrated "Christian Persecution" Show. Just looking at the way Tony Perkins dresses you can see just how well being persecuted pays. The "con" being perpetrated is most evident in this exchange. This gentleman's response to Chris is frightening for many obvious reasons.

Download | play -WMP

Download | play -QT

Matthews: Were you—were you surprised, then, to hear that the diagnosis, that the autopsy showed that her brain had shriveled to half its size and that she was truly—I hate to use the term—in that vegetative state?

Man: That‘s up to God to determine whether we‘re in a vegetative state or not. I can‘t determine that.

from watching a video tape of Terry Shiavo.

via Inside Politics

SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: I wanted to know a little bit more about the case itself, so I've had the opportunity to review the initial tapes that were made, the examination, the physical examination on which the case was ultimately based, the facts that she was in a persistent vegetative state. ...

What a great doctor he must be! That sure is a new and effective way of rendering a diagnosis. I have my living trust already finished. Did it 5 years ago. Frist should go down and examine Terri personally. more later...

Approximately perfect

Bush could have signed the Schiavo legislation in Texas, but preferred to cut his vacation short and make the dramatic trip back to the White House just for this occasion.

To recap, Osama bin Laden, Israel, war, and devastation? Vacation on. The religious right wants action on a woman who has been in vegetative state for 15 years? Vacation off. The man has his priorities.

The Carpetbagger Report -- The man has his priorities

CHARGES OF JUNK SCIENCE:..

Yesterday, there was another public challenge to Ms. Schiavo's well-established diagnosis: Florida governor Jeb Bush announced that a "very renowned neurologist," Dr. William Cheshire, had concluded that Terri had been misdiagnosed and that she was really only in a state of "minimal consciousness" rather than a persistent vegetative state. He used this "new diagnosis" to argue that "this new information raises serious concerns and warrants immediate action." .

As it turns out, Dr. Cheshire is not "renowned" as a neurologist -- his limited publications focus on areas including headache pain and his opposition to stem cell research. Dr. Cheshire never conducted a physical examination of Ms. Schiavo, nor did he do neurological tests. . . . Let's call tripe when tripe is served.

Ouch.

There's a few updates that are worth reading.

via Obsidian Wings:

John Cole: When Terri Schiavo is finally allowed to slip past her cruel fate and move on to a better place, she will not be the only one to have died this month. At another gravesite, this marker should be erected:

Barry Goldwater's Conservatism in America 1964-2005

John Derbyshire (!): Watching Hannity & Colmes Tuesday night I found myself nursing a devout hope that if I ever enter a persistent vegetative state, Sean Hannity is nowhere in the neighborhood.... read on

The Randall effect is finally taking root. I say that because having Sean Hannity night after night letting this man rant is not helpful to the family. Having Sean Hannity night after night sit in his high and mighty chair with a mic in his hand only intensifies the suffering of everyone involved.