Pope John Paul II and the Sanctity of Life...

[MA-Caver]

<pre-aplogies for borrowing title of previous thread>

Betcha they won't pull HIS tube out! Read on! Snippet from an article on Yahoo concerning PJPII's recent medical malady.

VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II is getting nutrition from a tube in his nose, the Vatican said Wednesday, shortly after the frail pontiff appeared at his window in St. Peter's Square and managed only a rasp when he tried to speak.

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the step was taken to "improve the pope's calorie intake" and so he can recover his strength. It was unclear when the tube was inserted but it was not visible when John Paul made his appearance.

The tube is not the only source of nutrition for the pope, a Vatican official said on condition of anonymity.

Asked about reports of a possible hospitalization, the official said there were no plans at this time and any decision would be up to his doctors.

The medical report was the first issued on the pope since March 10 — three days before he was discharged from the hospital for the second time in a month.

The statement appeared indirectly to deny media reports that the 84-year-old pope might be hospitalized again to insert a feeding tube in his stomach because of problems swallowing food.

Don't get me wrong, I have great respect for this particular Pontiff because he has really made a difference with the state of world affairs and humanitarianism and so forth since his beginnings. Just that I see irony between his plight and that of the woman Terry Shiavo simply on the basis that he's the Pope and she is just an everyday average citizen. They're fighting to keep John Paul alive and on the other side of the coin they're fighting for her right to live or die.
It's just so thick you can cut it with a butter knife.

 

[Ray]

There is a difference between the pope's condition and that of Terry S. From what I understand, the pope is alert and aware of what's going on - permenant not in a vegetative state.

I don't disagree with the decision made by TS's husband nor do I disagree with {some} of the reviews made at the behest of the parents. Perhaps there were too many reviews.

 

[rutherford]

Pope John Paul II stated last year that a feeding tube should never be pulled because in his view it is "a natural means of preserving life, not a medical act."

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/j.../hf_jp-ii_spe_20040320_congress-fiamc_en.html

That's his living will. Do you have one?

Oh, and Ray, I totally agree. Furthermore, I think trying to draw a parallel between the two cases is disgusting. Parkinson's Disease <> 15 years in a Persistant Vegitative State.

 

[rmcrobertson]

At the risk of pointing out the utterly obvious, the fight is actually between people who want individuals, their doctors, their legal guardians, and their religious teachers to make these decisions--and on the other side, people who want to make these decisions for everybody else according to their, and only their, religious beliefs.

 

[Fortis]

These two events have nothing to do with each other, no matter your personal definition of "The Sanctity of Life."

 

[Brother John]

<pre-aplogies for borrowing title of previous thread>

Betcha they won't pull HIS tube out!

I see irony between his plight and that of the woman Terry Shiavo simply on the basis that he's the Pope and she is just an everyday average citizen. They're fighting to keep John Paul alive and on the other side of the coin they're fighting for her right to live or die.

No. If you take the names away and all that they entail (young woman in florida vs. The Pope)...if you look at them PURELY from their medical standpoint you have:
Elderly man: Degenerative dissease...but still AWARE, still cognizant...a functioning mind.
Young woman: Liquified brain, only brain-stem activity remains, NOT 'aware' by any sense of the word.

Their cases aren't Anything alike...except that they both have required a feeding tube to keep their bodies going.
thats all though.

Your Brother
John

 

[bignick]

I concur, to draw parrallel's between the two cases is a little shameful, at best...

I didn't ever really say anything on the other thread because the debate was a little too heated, too much coming from the politics and not the heart or head. Multitudes of doctors have declared Mrs. Schiavo will never recover and she has no sense of self-awareness. I agree with everybody that says that we shouldn't let someone die if that was not their wish, but she died 15 years ago. The pope is a frail old man that's been having some health problems so they gave him a feeding tube to make sure his caloric intake was at a healthy level. To say the cases are at all related except by the most superficial means is disingenuous.

A cousin of mine was working construction a few years ago when a very bad thunderstorm came up and basically tore the building he was in down... he was crushed under debris and was rescued and brought to the hospital. His body was still "alive", but the doctors said he would never ever wake up and his brain was basically pulverized from the accident. He didn't have a living will, and his immediate family decided it was best that they let him go. Where was Bush on that one? Why didn't Congress pass laws just to make sure he lived? It would be interesting to see how many people debating this topic have ever been close to a decision a like this...though I was not involved in this decision myself, it wasn't very hard to see how it affects the people around you. It is not an easy decision to make, but to keep someone you loved in such a state is selfish. I think that letting my cousin die was the last thing we could do for him. When people that have no hope of recovering a sense of self are kept alive, I feel it's done so you don't have to accept that their gone. Sure, I haven't talked to my child in 15 years, but I can see that body lying in a bed....that must mean they are still really there, even when they are not.