No Mr. Felos, You’re the Thug

As I write this, the feeding tube has been removed from Terri Schiavo after Circuit Judge George Greer ordered the hospice staff to disregard a congressional subpoena. Members of congress have since reached an agreement to try to save Schiavo with a deal that would allow her case to be reviewed by federal courts. A compromise bill, between the Senate and the House, if agreed upon by both chambers, could very soon be heading to President Bush for his signature by Monday.

The drama has seen many twists as Terri’s parents try to save her, while her husband, who has children by his girlfriend, tries to end her life because it is what Terri “wishes”. Of course, knowing what Terri wishes is a little difficult, as she never left any written word, and we only have the husband’s word that she would wish to be starved and dehydrated to death – which is exactly what will happen if the feeding tube is not reinserted.

Michael Schiavo’s attorney, George J. Felos, urged everyone involved to do nothing so that Terri might “go in peace”. But there is nothing peaceful nor tranquil about starvation and dehydration. CNS News reports that Dr. David Stevens, a medical doctor with a masters in bioethics, described the process this way, “She's likely to become dizzy and begin to have cramping in her arms and legs. That's because her electrolytes, her sodium, potassium and other electrolytes in her blood start getting out of whack because of lack of fluids…As it progressively gets worse, what happens [are] the physical signs. Her blood pressure will drop, her heart rate will pick up. She'll actually, ultimately go into shock.”

Mr. Felos apparently isn’t too concerned about the slow traumatic death that will be Terri’s without her feeding tube – with him it’s all about the “right to die”. You see, Mr. Felos is a “leader” in the field, having written books about the subject. I suppose according to Mr. Felos, we should all have the “right to die”, even when there is no record of our choosing to do so, and even when we’re still capable of breathing on our own. For Terri does breathe without aid of a respirator. She simply needs a feeding tube to provide for her sustenance.

We’re living in a time when things have been turned upside down – we have liberal groups opposing the death penalty for convicted murderers who have cruelly taken the lives of their victims in horrific fashion, but who at the same time support the killing of the innocent through abortion on demand, even in the third trimester through the gruesome procedure known as “partial birth abortion”. Now, the whacko left can’t satisfy itself by killing just those within the womb – with the Shiavo case it has extended itself to those outside as well. One can only wonder what’s next.

As for Mr. Felos, he made a statement Friday where he called the efforts by Congress to save Terri Schiavo’s life, “thuggery”. Excuse me…thuggery? Evidently Mr. Felos has fallen through Alice’s looking glass once too often. The lawmakers who are trying to keep Terri from being starved to death are no thugs, they’re the good guys - Felos is the one doing everything he can to kill an innocent woman. If there’s a thug in this scenario Mr. Felos, it is you.

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