Pro-life blog buzz 11-4-14
by Susie Allen, host of the blog, Pro-Life in TN, and Kelli
- Before Brittany Maynard followed through on her plan to commit suicide, Wesley J. Smith discussed the pro-assisted suicide group, Compassion & Choices, which used Brittany to solicit donations before and after her death. More than that, did the group actually encourage her suicide? Smith quotes Rita Marker from American Thinker:
This explosion of coverage was due to a public campaign facilitated by Compassion & Choices (the former Hemlock Society) to legalize Oregon-style doctor-prescribed suicide in every state.The organization has established the Brittany Maynard Fund to raise money for political campaigns to legalize doctor-prescribed suicide in targeted states across the country.
And, to strengthen the resolve of the young woman for whom the campaign is named, Compassion & Choices has posted “Brittany’s Card” on its website. “Let’s get 1 million people to sign Brittany’s card,” states the message, adding, “Sign the card and let Brittany know you support her bravery in this very tough time.”
Smith doubts that C&C would have supported Brittany if she had instead sought hospice. “Rita is right,” he writes. “The card-signing campaign pushes Maynard to carry through with suicide. What else could be meant by ‘support her bravery’?”
- Saynsumthn’s Blog highlights the link between Planned Parenthood and the assisted suicide group Compassion & Choices. Three of the group’s advisory board members were also board members for Planned Parenthood. And, of course, both organizations make money from death.
- At The Vine, Breeanne Howe reports that actress Lena Dunham (pictured left) – who bared her breasts in a promotion for Planned Parenthood and who is currently under fire for writing about her own allegedly predatory sexual behavior toward her younger sister – now hopes to release a children’s movie which contains “incest and beatings.” Will Planned Parenthood support her in this venture?
- Reflections of a Paralytic wishes more people understood that IVF is “just as much a human tragedy as abortion.” He outlines one woman’s journey through IVF which led her to eventually recognize the dehumanizing nature of the procedure:
Earlier this year, I went on a retreat for post-abortive parents, since I felt that what I’d done to my babies through IVF was similar. I felt mixed vibes from others there, possibly because most people don’t understand the complexity of IVF. But if life starts at conception, then you can have sorrow and regret for denying your children life through IVF, the same as you do with abortion.
- Secular Pro-Life writes about finding cures for genetic conditions without turning prenatal testing into a search-and-destroy mission:
Jim Kelly… was a star quarterback for the University of Miami in the early 1980s and for the Buffalo Bills until 1996…. Jim’s son, Hunter, had a rare genetic disorder called Krabbe’s disease…. [H]e passed away at the age of 8. During his short life, he was profoundly disabled.The Kellys founded Hunter’s Hope to fund research into the possible treatments and cures that were unknown when Hunter was diagnosed. Too often, work on lethal genetic disorders is focused not on curing the disease, but on developing prenatal tests so that those afflicted with the disease can be aborted (ostensibly to spare them suffering). But the Kellys — who I should, in all fairness, acknowledge are devout Christians — did not take that approach.
And in fact, a cure has emerged for Krabbe’s disease: umbilical cord blood from a healthy baby is transplanted into the affected child. But an umbilical cord blood transplant only works if done early, before the person with Krabbe’s disease is symptomatic. Therefore, Hunter’s Hope does advocate for testing: but in newborns, not in the preborn.
- Right to Life of Michigan outlines how union dues – especially those from the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers – are funneled into Planned Parenthood’s PAC:
Michigan Planned Parenthood Votes is their new super PAC which was just formed in August of 2014. According to their October quarterly report, they basically have only 1 major donor. That donor is America Votes Action Fund which is located in Washington, D.C., and [which] gave them $425,000 this cycle after the August primary of the $430,100 direct contributions they’ve received. The majority of Planned Parenthood’s Super PAC money has been used to pay the canvassers $12 an hour to go door to door for pro-abortion candidates. Other funds have been used for what appear to be mailing pieces and robocalls….
So union money goes to America Votes Action Fund and then gets dispersed to various state level groups, some of which have nothing to do with unions (such as Planned Parenthood) except for their Democratic Party leanings.
Every member of the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers should be made aware their unions are contributing money to another organization which then funnels that money to pro-abortion groups with the sole goal of electing pro-abortion legislators.
[Dunham photo via aceshowbiz.com; NEA AFT via mediamatters.org]
I really wish those who defend Lena Dunham would stop and realize that she did not describe an isolated incident that took place when Lena was 7. She describes a pattern of behavior that continued for years…her younger sister was invited into Lena’s bed until Lena was 17.
THAT is predatory. Lena herself even referred to it as similar to a pedophile’s grooming behavior.
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I had no idea Lena Dunham was capable of writing.
This is really the only appropriate response. Warning: contains strong language.
https://twitter.com/Courtikaze/status/528615492383432704
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Somehow, Lena Dunham’s blabbermouth is going to eclipse both the pro-death crowing over Brittany Maynard’s suicide and the pro-borts’ shrill protest over pro-life victories in the polls.
I feel like we should thank her.
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Putting Brittany Maynard’s assisted suicide as pushed by euthanasia groups together with abortion and politics this quote from chajin on another site is right on point:
“Jesus is not Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal. He is God.
Jesus is theotatos somatikos, 100% God and 100% man. He will not give His glory to anyone else. Caesar gets what belongs to Caesar; Caesar does not get the glory that belongs to God. When the government takes over what is the purview of the church, saying that it (the government) feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, heals the sick, teaches the children, and defines marriage, then the government is engaged in blasphemy. Liberals would do all of the above–and then would take upon themselves the ultimate divine power, to decide who lives and who dies, through abortion and euthanasia.”
The Devil would love it if euthanasia hit 55 million like abortion has.
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Well, Measure 1 is a no vote so far, 62%-38%. Can’t believe my fellow North Dakotans are falling for all the deflection about end-of-life care and IVF.
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It’s looking pretty good for the other Measure 1 though :)
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67 is a loss here in Colorado. I hope no one murders me and/or my unborn baby in the next five months. On the upside, the measure got over 40% of the vote, a vast improvement over previous Personhood attempts!
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My heart goes out to Brittany and her family, but please, don’t treat this like it hasn’t been going on since the dawn of medicine.
Terminal patients would be given sleeping pill and pain medication prescriptions, as requested, and could be legally prescribed. A wink and a nod. Then the patient “passed away”. Translation: Patients took an excessive dose when they were in pain or just ready to go. No one questioned anything. Patients also hoarded meds. Again, no questions asked when the terminal patient finally passed away. If he overdosed on his meds, he did so “accidentally” while in severe pain.
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This Dunham person is SICK and if she wasn’t wealthy and very well-connected, no one would hear about it. I have a younger sister and brother and I NEVER touched them sexually in any way. I’m sorry, that’s just not normal behavior.
I am still trying to figure out what was so brave about Brittany. Sheesh, she committed suicide. Did you hear about the Oregon mother who threw her severely autistic son off a bridge? He was only six years old. The thing that bothers me about assisted suicide is that it might be used to justify the murder of people who are judged by others as not fit to live, such as that poor little boy in Oregon.
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Forgot to mention — I grew up in Western New York watching and loving the Buffalo Bills. Jim Kelly will always be remembered as the guy who lost four Super Bowls, but he actually was a decent quarterback and a great guy.
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“But the Kellys — who I should, in all fairness, acknowledge are devout Christians — did not take that approach.”
I don’t know why, but this line cracked me up. Almost like it was written begrudgingly. :D
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“It’s looking pretty good for the other Measure 1 though”
Indeed it is.
http://www.theleafchronicle.com/story/news/politics/elections/2014/11/04/tennessee-passes-amendment/18507901/
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The potential to abuse the notion of assisted suicide worries me as well. Although honestly, that’s the only objection I have.
As to why anyone would begrudge Brittany’s choice not to endure the inevitable later parts of her illness, that’s still mysterious to me.
I’ve got directives in place, in the event of incapacitation in a long-term care facility, to discontinue medications that probably keep me alive. I also don’t want anyone at all visiting me in such a facility, and that includes my husband and other immediate family members.
Everyone should put directives in place to avoid family members having to make important decisions in a time of great emotional stress.
But condemning someone’s choices about her own life seems to be way out of the realm of anyone’s right.
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The public healthcare costs, if nothing else, should help to justify this in people who are not being unfairly influenced.
Choosing not to go through something painful and humiliating, while using up public funds that could be spent elsewhere — perhaps to actually save people who are saveable — doesn’t exactly seem evil to me. As long as that genuinely is the person’s choice.
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“The public healthcare costs, if nothing else, should help to justify this in people who are not being unfairly influenced.”
And right there you have it. The real story when you get past the bs.
What about the people who are going to be made to feel guilty for not “thinking of their families” or “considering the costs”? What about that influence? When a mentally ill person wants to commit suicide, we do everything to try to stop them and convince them that their life really is valuable and worth living. If a mentally ill person asked their doctor or family for help dying, everyone would spring into action to help and dissuade him. What does it say to a physically ill person about the value of their life when they know that if they ask to die, everyone will commend them for their brave, selfless decision.
Assisted suicide is not bad because of a slippery slope. It’s bad period.
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There are certain conditions in which I would not to be kept alive and in which my life would hold very little value to me anymore. My ultimate reasons don’t have much to do with the public healthcare system; they’re personal. I’ve read enough on how doctors feel about many life-saving procedures (and how they would avoid them) to help make this decision for myself.
Happy to say that I don’t think I have a single friend or family member who would be callous and insensitive enough to commend me or anyone else on deciding to die, or — even worse — try to GUILT someone into dying. I hope you don’t know a lot of people like that either, CT.
In a perfect world, everyone could consider these decisions without any outside influence, but I know that’s not realistic. As I said above, I do see that as a problem. But it’s the only problem I have with it.
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“Happy to say that I don’t think I have a single friend or family member who would be callous and insensitive enough to commend me or anyone else on deciding to die, or — even worse — try to GUILT someone into dying. I hope you don’t know a lot of people like that either, CT.”
I see an awful lot of people commending Brittany Maynard for her selflessness and thoughfulness to her family; for her decision to die “with dignity”. What message do you think that sends to people who would choose to live to the messy (allegedly undignified) and costly end. If someone asks for a pill to die, and we as a society say here you go, the message is clear – “You’re right, your life is worthless enough that we’ll allow you to off yourself without trying to dissuade you. God speed, and congratulations on your courage and selflessness for not making the rest of us watch you suffer.”
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Haven’t read more than just a few of Brittany’s interviews, but that’s awful to know people are commenting on what, to me, is absolutely a personal choice. It’s also a little hard to relate to from the sick person’s perspective, because I can’t imagine anything that ridiculous swaying my own choice. But then, I don’t generally put a lot of stock in other people’s opinions when it comes to “moral” issues.
When I say I don’t want to tax the medical system, it’s certainly not the first thought that comes to mind. My reasons are entirely personal, and that one ranks as more of an added bonus.
And again, people currently do have some control over their end-of-life care. The truly unselfish thing for your family would be if people made their decisions legally enforceable rather than relying on relatives to take care of it.
As hard as it’s been to see a few of my relatives slide into horrible condition, I can’t fathom deciding what anyone else’s life is worth (my own is another story). And if anyone has the kind of relatives who do so, make sure you cut them out of the decision-making process entirely!
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You can’t imagine being swayed by the notion that watching you suffer is making your family suffer in addition to “pointlessly” wasting money (your own or public) on a life that is doomed to end? You can’t imagine being depressed when faced with your own death and that depression leading you to an especially pessimistic view of the value of your own life? Even if your relatives are begging you to live, I think it’s pretty easily imaginable that a person would feel guilt that their suffering was causing suffering for others. I think it’s pretty easily imaginable that they would feel guilty for spending money on their own care. If you add in a societal chorus of cheers for the “selflessness” of people who choose to end their lives before things get too messy or too much money is spent, I think it gets even easier to imagine.
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How optimistic can you be when your life is about to end soon in a fairly harsh way? If you’re really pumped, that’s fine; if you feel any other way, that’s fine also. I’ve seen no argument that makes it hard to condemn someone who chose to avoid the non-treatable glioma end-situation.
If the dying person (truly) voluntarily chooses to avoid exposure of pain and suffering on their loved ones, how could that possibly be anyone else’s business?
I really do understand how this is something that needs very careful consideration by lawmakers (and anyone who holds them in check), but you haven’t given me anything other than some fairly weak peer-pressure stuff.
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In trying to figure out why the thread is going this way, I did look back and realized how this might have read:
“The public healthcare costs, if nothing else, should help to justify this in people who are not being unfairly influenced.”
I was being facetious, for which I apologize. I do feel incredibly strongly that everyone should have the right to make decisions on their own lives as they prefer.
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For those in Wisconsin who want themselves and their loved ones protected:
http://www.prolifewisconsin.org/files/PAHC.pdf
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