Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Representatives of three Christian groups
plan to take the message of the life and death of Terri Schiavo to the White
House. They are hoping their stance at the gates will challenge President Barack
Obama, who once said his biggest political "mistake" was voting to help save the
disabled woman's life.
The Christian
Defense Coalition, Faith and Action and Generation Life will pray and leave a
single rose on the public sidewalk in front of the White House
tomorrow.
They're doing
so because it is the fifth anniversary of the euthanasia death of Terri Schiavo,
where her husband won a court order to deprive her of food and water, the taking
her life following a painful 13-day starvation and dehydration
process.
Rev. Patrick
Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition and one of the leaders who
worked to save Terri's life in Florida, talked about tomorrow's
event.
The
participants will hold a news conference to discuss the legacy of Terri's life
and death and the impact it has on the current health care debate concerning end
of life issues and the controversy over "death panels."
"Terri's life
had purpose, meaning and great value. It was tragic that she was brutally
starved and dehydrated to death in full view of the America public. We are
coming to the White House to honor her life and loudly say never again and pray
this Administration embraces compassion for the disabled community," he told
LifeNews.com.
"We also want
to be a prophetic witness for justice and human rights to President Obama who
considered it a 'mistake' to attempt and keep a young woman from being starved
to death," Mahoney said.
During a
February 2008 debate, Obama said
his biggest mistake was voting with a unanimous Senate to help save Terri
Schiavo.
In March 20
05,
just weeks before Terri died from a painful 14-day starvation and dehydration
death, Congress approved legislation allowing her family to take its case from
state courts to federal courts in an effort to stop the euthanasia from
proceeding.
Terri was not
on any artificial breathing apparatus and only required a feeding tube to eat
and drink. Her family had filed a lawsuit against her former husband to allow
them to care for her and give her proper medical and rehabilitative care.
The Senate
unanimously approved a compromise bill, which the House eventually supported on
a lopsided bipartisan vote and President Bush signed, to help the disabled
woman.
“It wasn't
something I was comfortable with, but it was not something that I stood on the
floor and stopped,” Obama said. “And I think that was a mistake, and I think the
American people understood that that was a mistake. And as a constitutional law
professor, I knew better."
That wasn't
the first time Obama said the biggest mistake he made as senator was voting to
help try to stop Terri from being euthanized.
During an
April 2007 debate, Obama
said, "I think professionally the biggest mistake that I made was when I
first arrived in the Senate. There was a debate about Terri Schiavo, and a lot
of us, including me, left the Senate with a bill that allowed Congress to
intrude where it shouldn't have.”
"And I think I
should have stayed in the Senate and fought more for making sure [Terri's
parents couldn't take their case to federal court to save her life]," he
explained.
Brandi
Swindell, the director of Generation Life, also commented on Wednesday's
event.
"As a nation,
we must offer the most needy of our society compassion, dignity and justice.
Regrettably, we forced Terri to die the most painful and barbaric of deaths,"
she said. "My hope is that we have learned valuable lessons from Terri's death
and how we treat the disabled. Those lessons must be founded on equality and
human rights for all."
"I pray that
President Obama reconsiders his unconscionable statement that helping Terri was
a 'mistake' and works toward building a nation that values all human life," she
continued.
Since Terri’s
death, the Schindler family has established a foundation to help disabled and
elderly patients obtain proper medical care and legal and other assistance when
they are denied it.
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