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I found another great article on Terri Schiavo today in the St. Louis Post Dispatch (surprisingly, I know...), and it is written by Fr. Edward Richard—from Kenrick-Glennon Seminary!

"In Terri's case, a number of Americans have seen what law and medicine could not. Terri's humanity and its dignity mean that she should be guaranteed basic care including food and water. It is now time to begin asking how medicine and law can legitimately serve to bolster respect for and improve the lives of persons with disabilities like Terri's, not sanction their deaths. Unfortunately for Terri, needed improvements in the law will probably be too late..."

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I'm reading a little on Terri Schiavo this morning, and I came across (in addition to this article I posted earlier) some very well-written, well-thought-out philosophical and medical posts on CodeBlueBlog...

"Much has been made over the issue of Terri Schiavo’s swallowing. It is because Schiavo cannot swallow that a feeding tube was inserted directly into her stomach.. It is this feeding tube that has been the object of gargantuan legal, moral and ethical struggles.

But what is swallowing and why should it carry such import?

There are three stages of swallowing: the oral, chewing phase; the pharyngeal reflex phase wherein the food is propelled over the vocal cords and into the esophagus; and, the esophageal stage, during which food travels to the stomach.

The fight over Terri Schiavo involves only one of these three stages and that is the pharyngeal stage..."

I just wanted to remind anyone who has forgotten or enlighten anyone who doesn't yet know about the PROLIFE Wristbands. I have a picture of what one looks like on the sidebar of this blog, and I wanted to post some new information on my blog so more people would know about it.

As of right now, there are four nationwide vendors (three even accept worldwide orders!), three of which sell both adult- and youth-sized wristbands. Two of them accept credit card (in addition to personal checks and money orders). The original vendor, the St. Louis Pro-Life Office, still only sells the adult-sized wristbands, but I recommend you go through them if possible, because I'm sure they do many great things with whatever money they earn from the wristbands, and they are close to where I live!

Pope John Paul II, on 'PVS' ('persistent vegetative state') cases such as Terri Schiavo (yes, I know she is not a 'vegetable', but, even if she is 'PVS', then...)

On Sunday, Catholics celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday:

From The Kansas City Star:

"PINELLAS PARK, Fla. - (KRT) - As Christians around the world celebrated Jesus Christ's resurrection Easter Sunday, Terri Schiavo received Holy Communion for the last time - a single drop of consecrated wine on her parched tongue...

A police officer looked on as Father Joseph Braun, a hospice chaplain, anointed Terri Schiavo's body with holy oil, Malanowski said.

Malanowski said he opened a thumb-sized vial of red consecrated wine. He inserted an eyedropper and extracted a single drop. Braun rested his hand on Malanowski's right arm, and together they positioned the dropper over her parched tongue.

"The blood of Christ," Malanowski said, squeezing out the drop. "Amen." She did not react, the priest said..."

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