Father of Italian comatose woman kidnaps her, plans to cause her death

[Michie]

Udine, Feb 4, 2009 / 04:11 pm (CNA).-

The father of an Italian woman who is comatose and living off a feeding tube has taken her out of her hospital without authorization to move her to another facility where he plans to withdraw her food and hydration.

Beppino Englaro kidnapped his daughter Eluana during the night from her hospital in Lecco, Italy, where she was receiving care from the Sisters of Mercy, and transported her to a hospital in Udine.

The Engarlo’s lawyer explained to La Repubblica Eluana’s father plans to do: “During the first few days Eluana Englaro will be given nourishment like she was in Lecco and after three days, if nothing new happens, the nourishment will be slowly and gradually withdrawn. She will live for two, or at maximum, three weeks, unless there are further delays,” he said.

Advocates of euthanasia—including her father—intend to use Eluana’s case to set a legal precedent in Italy, where the norm allowing for euthanasia in cases of patients in a coma is currently being debated.

Laura Portaluppi, a friend of Eluana, told La Repubblica, “It’s like going back in time 17 years, to that day when I lost my best and only friend. Today is a dark day for me, it’s as if a huge wound was reopened that will begin a long journey taking Eluana to death.”

Continued- http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=14983

 

[Michie]

Requesting prayers for this situation.

 

[JCFantasy23]

Praying God's will is done in this situation.

 

[Tigg]

Requesting prayers for this situation.

God bless Eluana and her dad, Beppino. I do not judge...

 

[Chococat]

 

[Michie]

Measure must be approved by Prime Minister Berlusconi

UDINE, Italy, February 5, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) -

Today, the Italian government announced it has made ready a draft emergency measure that would prohibit the removal of food and hydration from vulnerable patients. As of this writing, the measure, though drafted and ready, has not yet been formally adopted, the final decision being that of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

The move comes as pro-life Italians have urgently called upon the government to intervene in the case of Eluana Englaro who had been removed late Tuesday night to a nursing home willing to participate in her killing.

The measure, called a "decree law" entitled "Urgent Provisions on Nutrition and Hydration," says, "Pending the approval of a complete and comprehensive legislative framework in the field of end-of-life, nutrition and hydration, as forms of life support physiologically designed to alleviate suffering, cannot under any circumstances be rejected by the person concerned or suspended from caregiver subjects unable to provide for themselves".

Under Italian law, a decree law can be put into place by the head of state in urgent circumstances, for a period of 60 days while Parliament considers it for permanent approval. The draft law was announced as an emergency measure after Eluana Englaro, who is often referred to as "Italy's Terri Schiavo," was transferred late Tuesday night to La Quiete hospital in Udine, that has agreed to participate in her killing by removal of her food and hydration tube.

Pier Ferdinando Casini, a member of the Chamber of Deputies and a member of the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats, said, "We respect the grief of the family of Eluana and we are close to her father, but we believe that nobody has the right to life and death on a person."

Eluana, now 38, has been in a state of severely diminished consciousness for 17 years following a car accident in 1992. Eluana Englaro's father, Beppino, has claimed that his daughter had indicated that she would not wish to live in such circumstances. He has petitioned the courts for over a decade, despite euthanasia being illegal in Italy, to have her food and hydration removed so that she can "be allowed to die". A lawyer for the family told media that the hospital will begin the withholding of fluid and food starting Friday.

In November, Italy's highest court of appeals, the Court of Cassation in Rome, upheld the ruling of a Milan lower court allowing the petition. Shortly after this ruling, a prominent Italian lawyer, Luca Silvestri, told LifeSiteNews.com that the best hope of saving Eluana's life would be such a law defining clearly that food and hydration could not be considered "medical treatment" subject to withdrawal at the request of patients.

Under Article 32 of the Italian Constitution, a patient has the right to accept or refuse medical therapies, but this has always been interpreted as excluding food and water. Should the government's draft law be adopted and food and water be clearly identified as not subject to Article 32, this potential "back door" to legal euthanasia by dehydration could be permanently closed.

At the same time, the public prosecutor of the town of Udine, Antonio Biancardi, has announced that his office will undertake an investigation to verify the testimonies of friends and family who claimed that Eluana Englaro would have preferred to die by dehydration than be allowed to live in a "persistent vegetative state". The announcement comes following complaints to police and the prosecutors office, the Italian daily Il Giornale reports.

The controversy has continued as pro-life advocates have brought lawsuits questioning the legality of the decision and the governor of the Lombardy region, where Eluana had lived and been cared for, attempted to stop the dehydration order. Shortly after the Court of Cassation ruling in November, the Misericordine Sisters in Lecco, issued a letter saying that they would refuse to participate in her killing.

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Eluana Transferred Late Tuesday Night to Clinic for Death by Dehydration
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/feb/09020304.html ;

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/feb/09020501.html

 

[Chococat]

 

[ChinaWhite]

I'm wonder why the government thinks it can get itself involved in personal decisions like this.

Its kind of fascist isn't it ?

 

[Michie]

...to Save Eluana Englaro
Thousands of pro-life groups and individuals across Italy have been begging the government to intervene


ROME, February 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) –

Italy's President and head of state, has refused to sign an emergency measure, passed by the government, that would save the life of Eluana Englaro, the young woman whose food and hydration is being removed starting today. The ratification by the President is required under Italy’s parliamentary system for the law to take effect.

The government announced at 3 p.m. (Italian time) today that it had approved the temporary measure, called a “decree law,” that was drafted to prohibit the removal of food and hydration from vulnerable patients. A decree law is a measure that can be put into place by the Council of Ministers as an emergency measure and will be in effect for 60 days while Parliament debates whether to adopt it permanently.

Napolitano’s refusal has “frozen” the measure and although there is a procedure in place in Parliament to override his decision, it will take 20 days to implement, by which time Eluana will have been successfully dehydrated to death.

The government announcement of its approval of the law came as the nursing clinic in Udine, La Quieta, to which Eluana was taken on Tuesday night by her father, told media this morning that the process of “gradual” removal of food and hydration from Eluana Englaro had begun. Medical experts predicted that from the start of this process, 48 hours would have remained to stop the procedure before irreversible damage was done to Eluana.

Giorgio Napolitano, President of the Italian Republic, is under heavy pressure to sign the law which is supported by Silvio Berlusconi, the Prime Minister and head of the government. Napolitano, the Head of State and former leader of the Italian Communist party, had sent a letter to the executive explaining his doubts about a measure of its kind.

After the 1991 dissolution of the officially recognised Italian Communist Party, Napolitano joined the Democrats of the Left (DS) party. He was the first former member of the Communist party to be Minister of the Interior.

The text of the law, entitled “Urgent Provisions on Nutrition and Hydration,” reads, “Pending the approval of a complete and comprehensive legislative framework in the field of end-of-life, nutrition and hydration, as forms of life support physiologically designed to alleviate suffering, cannot under any circumstances be rejected by the person concerned or suspended from caregiver subjects unable to provide for themselves.”

Today the Council of Ministers voted unanimously to support the measure despite the doubts of some. “Even those who had doubts were convinced to vote because the government has the opportunity to express its decision but also offers a way to Parliament to decide,” one member said. In November, legal expert Luca Silvestri told LifeSiteNews.com that a decree law was the best hope of stopping the court-mandated dehydration death of Eluana as well as protecting others by closing the legal “back door” to euthanasia by dehydration.

Thousands of pro-life groups and individuals across Italy have been begging the government to intervene. Archbishop Pietro Brollo of Udine said on Wednesday, “The only duty society has towards this young woman is to help her to live.”

“Udine is ready to embrace Eluana Englaro, a daughter of this land. Upon learning of her arrival, I ask first of all that this woman be guaranteed care, hydration, nutrition and every means that someone who is sick, particularly someone who is very incapacitated, is due by those who have the professional duty in conscience to provide a cure,” the archbishop wrote in a statement

As of this writing, demonstrations are still planned for the weekend in support of Eluana, who is often described as the “Terri Schiavo” of Italy. The Catholic apostolate, Communion and Liberation that has thousands of followers across Italy, announced it will be mobilising to save Eluana and demonstrating outside the La Quiete clinic in Udine. The group “Two Minutes for Life” a national lobby group, is providing the email addresses of members of parliament and asking the public to demand that the government save Eluana.

Daniele Sebastianelli national coordinator of the Catholic action group Militia Christi told LifeSiteNews.com that they will be demonstrating on Sunday afternoon with a candle light vigil. On Thursday night, the group held a similar vigil outside the Quirinale Palace, the official residence of the President of the Italian Republic.

Movement for Life of Casale, in a press release proposed three “weapons” to save Eluana: “prayer, fasting and the use of computers”. They ask that the Catholics of Italy pray the Rosary every day for her life, seeking the intercession of the Blessed Virgin of Lourdes, whose feast is February 11. The group also strongly suggested three days of fasting and requested that all the people of Italy “who are committed to the defence of life should continue to write to the Italian government asking them to use all possible legal instruments to save Eluana’s life”.

Stefano Gizzi, an attorney and Municipal Councillor of the town of Ceccano, wrote to Senator Maruo Cutrufo, requesting that the decree law to save Eluana be passed, calling it “absolutely urgent” and said that the value of human life is “not negotiable”.

The head of the Rome office of Human Life International, Msgr. Ignacio Barreiro, sent a letter today to Berlusconi, pleading for the life of Eluana. Msgr. Barreiro said, “Think of the blessings of the Lord that would come upon Italy if you would have the courage to save the life of Eluana Englaro.”

“Think how much those blessings are necessary in this time of crisis when unemployment is increasing when it is harder and harder for families to pay the most basic living expenses.

“If you do not abandon the ways of the Lord, He will not abandon you, and He will reward your fidelity. If instead you let Eluana die, think on the justice of the Lord; think that in a not distant future, you will find yourself in front of the justice of the Lord, and you will need all His mercy.

“But if you save Eluana, our organisation, which is extended worldwide, will praise you publicly, and your courage in justice will be known worldwide. I assure you that in difficult times, I will pray constantly for you.”

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/feb/09020601.html

 

[Michie]

...Stopping Eluana Englaro Death by Dehydration

ST. PETERSBURG, FL, February 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) -

In spite of an emergency decree passed by the Italian government, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano refused to sign the decree that would save the life of Eluana Englaro, the young woman whose food and hydration has been removed this morning. The ratification by the President is required under Italy’s parliamentary system for the law to take effect.

Eluana Englaro, who has been called “Italy’s Terri Schiavo,” has been receiving food and water via a feeding tube since a 1992 car crash that left her with a brain injury. Her father, Beppino Englaro, has been seeking to end her life for nearly 10 years. Today’s events will clear the way for Eluana to experience what Terri’s Foundation called a “barbaric and inhumane death” by starvation and dehydration unless President Napolitano signs this decree into law.

“We are very disappointed to hear that President Napolitano is reluctant to sign the decree that would spare Eluana from a horrific death,” noted Terri Schiavo’s brother, Bobby Schindler.

Schindler added, “It is incumbent upon any official to protect and safeguard the value and dignity of all life, regardless of a person’s physical limitations. Eluana is not dying and only needs food and water – the most basic care – to live. This at the very least should be provided for her and we are asking for everyone to contact the Embassy of Italy in the US at (202) 612-4400, and communicate to the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano that he should IMMEDIATELY sign the decree which would prevent Eluana’s inhuman dehydration death.”

Terri’s Foundation, located in St. Petersburg, FL., is an organization dedicated to promoting the Culture of Life, embracing the true meaning of compassion by opposing the practice of euthanasia.

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/feb/09020608.html

 

[Michie]

Eluano Englaro Dies

Eluana Englaro has died, three days after she began to be deprived of nourishment.
Last week, the comatose 37-year-old Italian woman was taken by her father Beppino from a hospital in Lecco, Italy, where Eluana was receiving care from Sisters of Mercy. She had been in a coma since 1992 as a result of injuries she sustained in a car accident.

Her father acted without legal authorization, in order to place Eluana in a medical clinic in Udine that was willing to kill her by depriving her of the food and hydration she required through a feeding tube in order to stay alive.

After her father moved her, Italy’s right-of-center government led by Italian Prime Minister Sylvio Berlusconi introduced a bill to prohibit the withdrawal of food and water from comatose patients. But Eluana died today before the legislation could be voted on in the Italian Senate,Associated Press reported.

The news of Eluana’s death provoked outrage from Senators who supported the bill that would have restored her feeding tube, Time magazine reported:

“When news of the death reached the Senate floor, there was a moment of silence before several Berlusconi allies began shouting: ‘Assassins!’ Another center-right Senator, Gaetano Quagliariello, declared: ‘Eluana didn’t die, she was killed.’”

http://www.ncregister.com/daily/eluano_englaro_dies/

 

[Auntie]

Hi Michie, yeah, I heard on the news she had died. It was God's mercy she passed so quickly. Praise God for His Mercy.

 

[Michie]

Yeah. I was at least relieved it was not long & horrific like Terri.