Catholic Bishops Enact Plan For “300,000 Terri Schiavos”

[babylonsister]

Catholic Bishops Enact Plan For “300,000 Terri Schiavos”
By: David Dayen Tuesday November 24, 2009 8:16 am


The US Conference of Catholic Bishops released an “Ethical and Religious Directive” this month that would ban any Catholic hospital, nursing home or hospice program from removing feeding tubes or ending palliative procedures of any kind, even when the individual has an advance directive to guide their end-of-life care. The Bishops’ directive even notes that patient suffering is redemptive and brings the individual closer to Christ.

The Catholic bishops have become more involved in political fights in recent years, particularly the issue of abortion coverage and immigration provisions in the current health care debate. This has caused a schism in the American Catholic community, which bubbled to a head yesterday with Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) being denied communion because of his position on choice.

More quietly, however, the Church has staked out a radical position on end-of-life care, without patients of the 565 Catholic hospitals and other Catholic care facilities even knowing about it. As Barbara Coombs Lee, president of Compassion and Choices, an advocacy group, put it, “When a patient goes to one of these facilities, they don’t know that they’re choosing Catholic dogma. The bishops see the hospitals as an extension of their ministry.”

The “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services” put out by the Catholic bishops would build upon a Papal allocution given in the wake of the controversial Terri Schiavo case, where the US Congress stepped in to keep Schiavo alive despite her persistent vegetative state and the wishes of her husband to end care. The papal elocution did state that the permanently unconscious should always have access to a feeding tube, but it did not have the force of doctrinal law behind it. “There was always some wiggle room” for Catholic care facilities, said Coombs Lee. Catholics were allowed to use something called a “benefit/burden balance” to determine the ethical, moral and compassionate result in any individual case.

Now, that wiggle room is gone. In the new directive, the bishops state that it is unethical and immoral to withhold or withdraw a feeding tube from patients, whether in cases of permanent unconsciousness, comas, or even cases of advanced dementia when the patient is unable to feed themselves.

more...

http://news.firedoglake.com/2009/11/24/catholic-bishops-enact-plan-for-300000-terri-schiavos/

[niyad]

1. what IDIOTS are un'rec'ing this?

[Cleita]

5. The usual suspects, I presume. n/t

[niyad]

6. and this isn't even about obama.

[Cleita]

It's gone viral across the board, health care thread, Sarah Palin threads and

anything that has a progressive agenda or points out truisms are getting hit.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

18. I've noticed a bunch of teabagger talk here the last --

week or so. :crazy:

I think we are being infested again, just a new breed of bug.

[Cleita]

22. Yep, they got all the code words and talking points down. n/t

[glitch]

50. Not just tea baggers, plenty of new climate change deniers.

Must be a new "surge" on the internets.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

76. Whew! I thought I was just being paranoid! :D

I have been reading this shit going, "WTF?? Here, on DU?!?!?" :D Some have been shown the door, I suspect others will follow soon. :hi:

[glitch]

77. It's not you, it's them. ;) nt

[TheCowsCameHome]

21. What's the point of the unrec feature anyway?

[ret5hd]

71. Oh please, spare us...

As of this posting this thread has 60+ rec's. The only people unrec'ing threads like this (in any numbers)are those that in an effort to get unrec eliminated go out an unrec everything and then whine LOUDLY that things like this are unrec'd.

I, for one, can see thru such manipulations.

[FiveGoodMen]

2. Jesus Christ on a trailer hitch!

[glitch]

51. On no you didn't.

I can't help myself:

[niyad]

3. I wish I believed in hell--because that is where these damned moralizing priests belong.

ignoring patients' wishes and directives? playing god, is what they are doing, and that, according to their own tenets, is blasphemy.

[merh]

60. Actually, if you go read Luke 11 you will see that Jesus told them

basically the same thing you posted. He warned them of their righteousness while ignoring the people and his message.

And, these Catholic bishops seem to have overlooked this provision in their Directives.

Second, the biblical mandate to care for the poor requires us to express this in concrete action at all levels of Catholic health care. This mandate prompts us to work to ensure that our country's health care delivery system provides adequate health care for the poor. In Catholic institutions particular attention should be given to the health care needs of the poor, the uninsured and the underinsured.8

I don't recall reading anywhere where they are behind the efforts to reform health care with a viable public option, do you?

And I'm not personally concerned about the directive mentioned in the OP, I can't afford health care at a Catholic hospital. They don't give it away you know.

[valerief]

4. Every time these brocade-gowned clowns pontificate on the santity of life, I think of

the priest raping my brother. Why does anyone listen to them? I'm so tired of stupid.

[Christa]

9. Oh no

:hug:

[niyad]

10. I am so sorry to hear that. stupid question, but was anything ever done about the rapist?

or was he just sent to another parish?

and, how is your brother?

[valerief]

28. This was decades ago when it was hushed up. It was just one more thing

piled onto a troubled life.

[msongs]

7. gotta keep that $$ coming in no matter how hopeless the condition nt

[Christa]

8. Oh damn

Damn all the holier than thou religious fuckers!!

This makes me so angry! What to they KNOW about the anguish the families of patients in comas?

I worked in a Hospice for years and the pain, the tears the families go through watching their loved ones withering away eat at you.


:(

[TheCowsCameHome]

11. Where's the IRS when you need them?

[notadmblnd]

12. and of course the Catholic church is going to eat the expense of keeping

people alive against their wishes?

[malaise]

13. Well I guess the Catholic hospitals will foot

the bills to keep those vegetables alive.
Of course it's a nice way to rip off Medicare and Medicaid and 'them there catholics love money'.

[tsuki]

19. I wonder if they will get paid to ignore the patient's wishes? At the

Catholic Bandaid Station here, they do not have medics, orderlies, CNAs or any help. I had to go in to take care of Mom from 10AM to 6-7PM every day for 17 days. If they are going to keep everyone there, they will have to put on some staff, or get sued.

[malaise]

35. I hope they get sued

I just wish they'd STFU and stay out of politics.

[tsuki]

70. The Catholic Church has always been more political than religious.

Playing Politics appears to be one of their sacraments. I know six families walked out of Mass here when the parish priest threatened to withhold Communion to any families working for Kerry's election.

[Odin2005]

14. Wow, just wow.

TAX THESE FUCKERS!!!

[Lars39]

15. Baptist Hospital in Nashville might be affected by this....they're partners

with Saint Thomas Hospital now. They have very restrictive language in the contract my gyno group has with them....they're not even supposed to discuss birth control with the patients. The clause isn't enforced...yet.

[glinda]

53. The only Hospital in our town is Catholic. Holy fucking Christ. I have had it. We have to move now.

[tsuki]

16. This is going to be interesting, especially in Texas where the

plug can be pull by the hospital if you cannot pay.

[bridgit]

17. They've been using people as political pawns for centuries, they aren't going to stop now

[Daphne08]

29. You are so right. n/t

[Blue State Blues]

20. "The Bishops’ directive even notes that patient suffering is redemptive..."

they should post that on a big sign out front of all of their medical facilities.

"Thank you for choosing this Catholic hospital, where we believe your suffering brings you closer to Christ."

[Cleita]

25. Well why don't they just nail them to a cross for redemption.

It will be faster and less expensive too. :eyes:

[chollybocker]

26. Yep.

New RCC motto: "You Suffer, We Politicize."

[mitchum]

33. That's what that witch "Mother Theresa" also believed

[niyad]

46. please do not insult witches by comparing them with that woman.

[PM Martin]

61. True.

Witches never pushed such harm onto society.
If a Hell exists, Agnesë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu is burning now. :puke:

[Manifestor_of_Light]

48. Read the Christopher Hitchens book about her.

[PM Martin]

58. She was a witch. Most certainly.

Evil church. :puke:

[annabanana]

23. Vicious and cruel. .

I wish on them everything they've wished on others.

[cliffordu]

24. loads o' dough in keeping the clinically dead alive.....

You'd think these pedophile apologists would have better things to do.

Like foment hatred for anyone who has teh gay....

[PM Martin]

56. Consider the Churches ties to La Cosa Nostra too.

[cliffordu]

59. Oops, that's right.

as long as the $$ rolls in, no sin is too great to forgive.

if they were paid per abortion, they'd be pro choice like gangbusters...

[PM Martin]

62. The Catholic Church allows one to purchase "forgiveness".

As you can pay cash, $$$$$$ Dollars, Pounds, Francs, Yen, Krone, you name it.
If you've got the cash the Pope can "forgive" anyone.

[cliffordu]

63. My ma had a couple marriages annulled in one fell swoop before she

got married to her catholic husband, IIRC she paid some dough up front and went to their remedial education classes.

Fucking racket. The mob had great tutors.

[PM Martin]

64. The RCC as it's called around here is close

to "evil".

[cayanne]

27. Then the church has to pay for the care

For me, I will direct that if I'm in a facility where they will not follow my directives, then I'm to be moved to one that will. Hopefully, my move will be at the non abiding facility's expense.

[movonne]

30. This absolutely makes me sick ...I feel like something is going on

all over the world that some invisible government has taken over and making this country and the world go back to the early ages..and I believe that it has gone on for many years now...it seems like all the peacemakers are being killed...

[alstephenson]

31. Yeah, don't pull the plug, but deport immigrants in comas.

:mad: :mad: :mad: Freaking hypocrites. St. Joseph's Hospital is the WORST offender - they can cheerfully deport immigrants in comas to places that don't have the facilities to care for them, but DON'T PULL THE F'ING PLUG.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/us/09deport.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=4903138&page=1

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/immigration/85843/

:mad: :mad: :mad:

[babylonsister]

32. How can they justify that, or any of this? I don't get it. nt

[mitchum]

41. Like they have done all along...they just make the shit up as they go along

[me b zola]

34. Yeah, way to get people to flock to your church

~and keep those who have been thinking of leaving. </sarc>

They are really going for broke, here. They are pushing their members to accept this encroachment in their lives, or be if fear of displeasing God and being shunned by their church.

[Feron]

36. My family's Catholic hospital story:

In a nutshell, my grandfather had surgery for ulcerative colitis and the doctor fucked it up. My grandfather was discharged and then readmitted to the emergency room later because the doctor's fuckup made him critically ill. I'll spare you the gross details.

What the hospital didn't tell my family was that my grandfather went without oxygen for over twenty minutes in the process of trying to revive him. When my grandfather was stabilized, the staff kept trying to give my family false hope that he would recover. However my family thought that they were full of shit and both my aunt and grandmother requested a neurologist.

Basically the neuro said that my grandfather was braindead and that there was no hope for recovery. Fortunately my grandfather had a living will and my family was able to carry out his wishes.

Unfortunately a nun followed my family out of the hospital. At first the nun tried to feel out my family to see if they would sue the hospital, then she basically called my family murderers for letting my grandfather pass.

All I can say is that it is a good thing I wasn't there.

My grandmother did eventually sue the doctor, but dropped the case later on. She wanted to move on and I don't blame her.

Shit like this makes me proud that I left the Church. It's an evil institution. And I hope that the good people that still call themselves Catholic leave as well.

[Ilsa]

37. Can the patients sign themselves out when they are tired of suffering? I doubt it.

Their health care facilities will eventually fail from exhausting money supply and people not wanting their care when they accept they are terminal and don't want to suffer at another Mother Teresa's hands.

I feel bad for all the wonderful, smart, sensible Catholics of deep faith that are being hung out to dry by the bizarre directives of their leaders.

BTW, a friend is pissed at her catholic church and parish leadership. She and others remodlled their aged priest's home to make it wheelchair accessible for him because he has a debilitating, chronic illness. The leadership decided to kick him out, send him to the retired priests home where he may or may not get the same conveniences his parish sought to give him through the remodelling. They said they'll never do anything like that again because they feel used and abused.

[MattBaggins]

38. So if I have a family member there with a directive to have life support

removed they will refuse my request?

What do they plan on doing about the lawsuits? What happens when I say I am moving them home or to another hospital? If they refuse again are they going to pay all the costs from then on?

And what the hell is up with that "suffering is good fer ya" bullshit?

[pipi_k]

39. I wondered all that stuff too...

lawsuits...people moving their loved ones to other hospitals/facilities...


As far as suffering being good for redemption...sure...

but only for other people, you know

like the weak and powerless and vulnerable



They make me sick.

[Raster]

45. Suffering is good = corporal mortification.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortification_of_the_flesh

[MattBaggins]

49. That is a nice link

but even with a fancy name it's still silly.

[Warren DeMontague]

40. Great.

More fun meddling in people's personal lives from the headquarters of "moral authority". :eyes:

[csziggy]

42. The way the Catholic Church is going, I will not want to have any contact with

Any Catholic institution, hospital, business and so on, until it filters down to individuals.

I wonder how long this policy will last once insurance companies refuse to pay for maintenance on patients whose advanced directives/living wills are ignored? Or will Catholic hospitals be willing to force the patients' families into bankruptcy to pay for "treatment" that was specifically refused by the patient?

This is insane.

[glinda]

54. I am cutting off all contacts. Period. That is it.

[csziggy]

66. I was thinking - I have few Christian friends of any sect anymore

I used to have Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic and Unitarian friends. I still have a couple of Unitarian friends but over the years the others have drifted away. We just have little in common anymore mostly politics, but also because we no longer share the same world view or philosophy of life. I still have a few Jewish and Pagan friends, but even those I don't see as much.

Maybe it is just part of getting older, but even when I've run into those former friends, we have nothing to talk about.

So cutting off contact is not going to be a problem. Avoiding church owned businesses will just take some homework. And I am not limiting it to Catholic - ALL church owned businesses will no longer get my money.

[glinda]

68. I am with you.

[hedgehog]

43. It's possible that whoever wrote the story didn't understand what the bishops said.

"Sister Carol Keehan, a Daughter of Charity who is CHA president and CEO, said in a Nov. 18 statement that the revised directive on medically assisted nutrition and hydration "does not offer new teaching but rather reflects existing church teaching which Catholic health care facilities have already incorporated into their practice."

"While upholding the general obligation to provide nutrition and hydration to patients, the revised directive also makes critical distinctions regarding their use," she added. "It does not state that all patients must always be provided with medically administered nutrition and hydration."

http://ncronline.org/news/bishops-approve-revised-directives-withdrawal-food-water

Unless something new has come out since the above article, it would seem that the bishops' directive won't make any real changes.

I've already seen some push-back by the Catholics who actually work with the sick and dying on this issue. They understand that everyone must die eventually.

BTW - if the OP does have the correct story, the bishops would have forced John Paul II to accept a feeding tube and respirator!

[dana_b]

44. "The Bishops’ directive even notes that patient suffering is

redemptive and brings the individual closer to Christ."

F*** you, Bishop!! Then have the balls to ask the patient if they want to suffer in order to be "closer to Christ" before YOU make that decision for her/him! Or maybe they like bringing people back to medieval times?!

I will never be a part of the cruel and callous Catholic church again.

[MH1]

47. My advance directive will include "please keep me out of Catholic hospitals"

if I am in such a condition that they might not honor the other principles of my AD

what effin bs.

[merh]

52. So, when will they carry out this part of their Directives?

Second, the biblical mandate to care for the poor requires us to express this in concrete action at all levels of Catholic health care. This mandate prompts us to work to ensure that our country's health care delivery system provides adequate health care for the poor. In Catholic institutions particular attention should be given to the health care needs of the poor, the uninsured and the underinsured.8

Given this directive I am sure the Catholic Church is supporting the health care reform efforts and the bishops are insisting on a valid public option.

:eyes:

:grr:

[PM Martin]

55. My advance directive will include...

Keep me away from child rapists, I mean Catholics.....I mean Catholic Hospitals.
Though I plan on staying as far from the Catholic Church as I can.

[Vidar]

57. K&R

[HuckleB]

65. K & R.

[dflprincess]

67. You gotta appreciate the irony...an organization that preaches about

eternal life and accepting God's will (especially as said will pertains to women not using birth control or having abortions) now refuses to accept that God intended for all of us to die when our bodies can no longer sustain life. As the prayer of St. Francis' says "it is in dying we are born to eternal life". I suppose they'll soon decide God is part of the "culture of death" they like to rant against (except when it comes to war or the death penalty).

I must make it clear to my next of kin that under no circumstances should I ever be taken to a Catholic hospital or nursing home.

[Djinn]

69. well it worked for "Mother" Theresa

"The Bishops’ directive even notes that patient suffering is redemptive and brings the individual closer to Christ."

Despite having multi-millions in the bank account she refused to provide even basic pain relief in her "hospices" for the same reasons, of course she went to the finest western hospitals with plenty of pain relief when SHE was suffering, just like everyone of the sanctimonious bishop hypocrites will.

[ret5hd]

72. hear hear!

[elehhhhna]

73. I smell a grab for more medicare/medicaid money, based on "MORAL " grounds..

just sayin'


The Cath Church is making vast inroads on Congress' decisions on womens health...why not push for more while they're hot?

[marmar]

74. Part of the Roman Catholic Church's "Let's Make Our Institution As Irrelevant As Possible" Campaign.

Which has been a smashing success, I might add.

[bulloney]

75. Abortion is against God's will, but artificially keeping someone in a vegetative state is not ?

Am I getting this right?

Collectively, there isn't a group of people more out of touch with day-to-day life and activities than the clergy of the Catholic church, but they want to impose their will on everyone based on their directives from a closed society of cardinals and popes.

[catrose]

78. In Texas

One of Bush's laws says that hospitals can pull the plug on terminally ill patients who can't pay. So far, in the cases I know about, this has been done against family's and patients wishes. So now the game plan should be to try to get in to a Catholic hospital for end of life care. At least they won't try to rush you off the planet for the sake of their bottom line.

Of course, keeping folks alive against THEIR wishes is a whole nother kettle of fish. Catholic hospitals currently have "separate" health care entities that take care of reproductive stuff that the Church doesn't like. Maybe those entities could expand to include end of life care--or just transfer them to another hospital.

[FatDave]

79. They must not remember Terri Schiavo's autopsy results.

You know, the ones that determined her brain was mush and there was no chance whatsoever that she could ever recover or live without 24-hour medical care? They want to fight long, drawn out, public, PR-nightmare battles that will only end with them looking like the supreme meddlesome idiots they are? Smart move, Catholics!