Before I jump into an important issue in today's post, I'd like to take a moment to celebrate.

(Click here for some cheesy celebration music...) 

One year ago today I transcribed my first post on Xanga, along with a few other posts within the course of that day.

I feel like I've come along way in the course of the past year by providing better information and a more presentable blog. My hope for everyone that reads this blog is that they become informed on important issues while at the same time taking away a little piece of mind.

To everyone who has read this site in the past year: Thank you! As a sign of my appreciation, I'm making today's post extra long. I hope you don't mind.

Now for a more serious issue at hand.....

Terri's fight...

Schiavo case nears critical point... 

A Florida judge is expected to decide Wednesday whether Terri Schiavo's husband can remove the feeding tube that keeps the severely brain-damaged woman alive.

I just read a news report indicating that the judge has issued a stay in this case giving Terri's parent's "48 hours to seek legal remedies to overturn an appellate court order in the case that allowed Michael Schiavo to seek the removal of the tubes."

I haven't had much to say about this case, but as Terri's fate draws near I've decided to voice my opinion on this issue. Before I do that however, let me post some links that relate to this issue...

Wikipedia: Terri Schiavo...

Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation...

Lying about Terri Schiavo...

Was Terri Schiavo Beaten in 1990?

Terri Schiavo denied Last Rites...

St. Pete Times: Understanding Terri Schiavo...

...provides arguments from her husband and her family.

News wire...

More links...

I encourage everyone to click on the links above and form your own opinions. It's important to stay informed on this issue as it may rise again in the future.

With that being said, here's my opinion...

I first caught wind of this case when I was about 12-years-old. It was mainly a local story then and at the time, using my 12-year-old rationale, I asked "Why can't the husband have the right to let his wife pass on?"

That was before I learned more about this case. Discussing every issue would take a lot of time and a lot of keystrokes, so I'll just hit on a few points. First of all, Terri is alive, she's breathing and her heart is beating. She reacts to her family when they come to visit her and she can feel pain (According to reports, her medical charts tell nurses how to treat her for pain).

Terri has been this way for 15 years and while some may see that as a sign that she'll never come out of this state, I ask them to consider a recent article from the AP that tells the story of a woman who spoke after being in a coma for 20 years.

From the St. Pete Times, Aug. 11 2001: Terri Schiavo smiles as her mother gives her a kiss on the cheek.

This is a human being - not a dog, or chicken, or seal, or any other creature - but a human being. What would PETA do if this were some horse or some cow about to die? They'd be outraged; yet I don't see the outrage. Where is the outrage from the ACLU to protect the civil liberties of Terri Schiavo? There is none, you know why? Because the ACLU has sided with Terri's husband Michael Schiavo (someone I'll talk more about in a second). Where's the outrage from the National Organization of Women as this woman struggles to fight for her life?

What did Terri do to deserve this?

I don't see the outcry and it’s a shame that it's not coming from these groups who claim to be all about "rights". People on death row aren't even treated this badly - at least they can receive a last meal and last rights - unlike Terri.

As for Terri's husband, Michael, there is much speculation that he beat her in 1990, possibly putting her into the state she is in now. Apparently, he is a very controlling man and has fathered a child by a different woman. The general consensus seems to be that Michael is a very shady man with unknown selfish aspirations.

Michael Schiavo on "Larry King Live" in October of 2003.

Here are some interesting facts taken from a September 3, 2003 National Review Online article:

-After Terri collapsed from unknown causes in 1990, she became profoundly cognitively disabled.
 
-Michael filed a medical-malpractice lawsuit, during which he said he would care for her for the rest of her life, which, assuming proper care would be a normal lifespan. He also presented at trial a medical-rehabilitation expert who had developed a plan to provide support for Terri to maximize her ability to respond to her environment.
 
-A jury awarded $1.3 million in the malpractice case, of which $750,000 was put in trust to pay for the kind of care that Michael promised to provide Terri.
 Michael never kept his promise.
 
-Within months of the money being deposited in the bank, Michael ordered a do-not-resuscitate order placed on Terri's chart. He has also repeatedly denied her other forms of medical care, such as treatment for infections.
 
-Once the money was in the bank, according to affidavits filed by nurses under penalty of perjury, Michael ordered that Terri be denied stimulation.
 
-In the mid 1990s, according to another nurse's affidavit filed under penalty of perjury, Michael was overheard saying things such as, "When is she going to die," "Has she died yet?" and "When is that b*tch going to die?" (This affidavit was only recently filed. Michael has not yet filed a response.)
 
-Michael dated after the malpractice trial; he is now engaged to be married. He lives with his fiancé, with whom he has one child and another on the way. He reportedly plans to marry his fiancé as soon as his wife's death is induced.
 
-Money that was intended to pay for Terri's treatment and rehabilitation has instead gone to lawyers Michael retained to obtain a court order to bring about her death.
 
-If Terri dies, Michael will inherit what is left of the $750,000 (if any remains) and all other property they owned.

-Michael moved Terri from a nursing home to a hospice three years ago even though Terri is not terminally ill. A hospice specializes in dying patients and is not as equipped to provide patients like Terri with proper care.

I encourage everyone to pray the outcome of this situation, for Terri, and for her family.

Since we're on the issue of "life"...

A foundation that uses events such as the "Race for the Cure" to raise money to fight breast cancer is jeopardizing women's health by using some of those funds to support local chapters of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, according to a former advisor to the foundation.

Planned Parenthood clinics provide breast cancer screening and education, but the organization is also the nation's top abortion provider.

"You can't affirm life with one hand and support an organization that kills people with the other," said Eve Sanchez Silver, a medical research analyst and two-time breast cancer survivor who severed her ties with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation after learning that its chapters supplied $475,000 in grants to local Planned Parenthood affiliates in 2003. Silver and many others in the medical and scientific community believe that abortion makes a woman more vulnerable to developing breast cancer.

I totally agree with Eve. It's unfortunate to see such a noble cause align itself with a group such as that of Planned Parenthood.

This makes me wonder how many others are aligned with Planned Parenthood-style groups. It would be interesting to find out.

Finally today...

Pope Calls Gay Marriage Part of 'Ideology of Evil'...

ROME (Reuters) - Homosexual marriages are part of "a new ideology of evil" that is insidiously threatening society, Pope John Paul says in a new book published Tuesday.

In "Memory and Identity," the Pope also calls abortion a "legal extermination" comparable to attempts to wipe out Jews and other groups in the 20th century.

Wow, these are what I know some will consider, "radical" views by the pope. It'll be interesting to see if certain catholic universities and more liberal members of the clergy begin to agree with the pope, although I highly doubt it.

It takes a lot to say those things especially during an era where such topics are highly controversial and often rejected.

My last thought on this is that it looks like the pope is feeling a little bit better, wouldn't you say so?

Have a great day everyone,

-Justin