“Dr. God” R. Rangel writes (with tortured logic):
"Even though there is no technical way to measure or evaluate conscious thought there is the additional evidence of the CAT scan of Terri’s brain that proves that the critical areas of the brain necessary for conscious thought (the cortex) is either gone or severely damaged. This scan is consistent with Terri’s clinical presentation. She has intact reflexes (purposeless movements, breathing, digestion, temperature regulation) that only require the most basic structures of the brain, the brain stem, and the spinal cord to be intact in order to function. Given the evidence of the clinical exam and the head scans and the fact that she has been in this state for over 10 years without any change, the likelihood that Terri has any self awareness or conscious thought to any extent is slim to none.
We don’t know for sure because there is no direct way of measuring this and conservatives and “right-to-life” proponents will cling to this uncertainty as their argument for keeping these patients alive. But this is a closed argument because it cannot be currently proven 100% that there is no “Terri” inside her body despite the large amount of evidence that makes this highly unlikely." --Dr. R. Rangel
No proof. But we have anecdotal evidence. I viewed such evidence: Schiavo lighting up when her mother approached; Schiavo vocalizing. Mr. Schiavo’s lawyer, interviewed by attorney Greta Van Sustern, acted like a cornered weasel when confronted about Mr. Schiavo’s refusal to let Terri Schindler Schiavo get fresh air and sunshine, or receive speech therapy, and could only defend the force of law, not life. “The life you save may be your own.” Don’t let the weasels rule.
Brain function is highly anomalous. A fighter pilot decapitated in an air battle landed his plane on nothing more than brain stem activity. The storied awakenings with L-Dopa would never have occured under the NAZI-esque “useless eaters” policy of Mr. Schiavo.
Consider the successful student with a massive cranium who was coaxed into having his noodle studied. Turns out he was hydrocephalic, no brain, just water. He was getting his degree on brain stem power alone.
A tiny Sicilian nurse with a big heart told me of the many cases of brain death she attended. She always talked and sang to them, always touched them lovingly. Many of her patients awoke, contrary to medical expectations, possibly because of such cogent and loving stimulation she provided, something Terri Schindler Schiavo is denied.
Upon awakening, these legal and medical “vegetables” tearfully thanked her. These cases, some worse than Schiavo’s in needing extensive life support, related to her that they could hear everything! They just couldn’t respond. And they further told of their abject terror in hearing medical personnel sneeringly call them vegetables, suggesting they should be “unplugged.”
Had the loving Irish and Italian parents chronicled in the true story of “Lorenzo’s Oil” let their son’s life be extinguished by neglect, as medically counseled, the curative breakthrough they wrought would never have taken place. That includes reversing, by degrees, their own son’s symptoms. God grant us such heroic love!
The Terri Schindler Schiavo case isn’t about brain activity, it’s about heart activity. Got one? Check yourself for signs. Use your God-given brain to assist your heart. Read “Dr. God’s” own words. Sound it out. Hearing is the last sensory function preserved. "No way to measure conscious thought…"
Those who have ears to hear, listen carefully. There is simply no way to tell. Err on the side of life. That’s your religion, that’s your Constitution, that’s your own enlightened self-interest. Review Dr. Michael Crichton’s feature film “COMA” to get the drift. With the profits of tissue sales from abortion fueling support for killing babies as they are being born, who could withstand the tidal love of money which might build from adult organ sales from legally ordained human vegetables?
Remember, there have never been any disabled groups lobbying for euthanasia or “death with dignity,” the euthanasia euphemism. All the lobbying was started by and continues with lawyers eager to churn estates in lucrative probate processing. If at last you can’t trust your heart or your brain, your Church or your Constitution, trust those who remember the simple history lesson of Auschwitz. God’s blessing on us all.
God deliver us from Guardians who would seek to murder us.Death with dignaty according to who?When sick or disabled people are made to feel less than human because their sick or disabled, shame on us.