Thanks to Dr J P Hubert, MD FACS, Catholic Ethicist

Michael Schiavo

Invited Guest Speaker at Euthanasia Conference

J.P. Hubert Jr. MD FACS

Catholic Ethicist

© CCWVA

In what must surely be described as hubris of the most despicable sort, Lifenews.com has reported that Michael Schiavo husband of now deceased Terry Schiavo has been invited to address an upcoming Euthanasia Conference at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[1] The conference will purportedly outline the escapades of neurologist Dr. Ronald Cranford (the new Doctor Death) who testified on behalf of Michael Schiavo that Terry was in a Persistent Vegetative State (PVS). The experiences of Dr. Cranford are being described as “33 years of Clinical Ethics in Minnesota: Ron Cranford’s Stories of Heroes and Courage” no doubt representing the most oxymoronic use of terms ever imagined in the realm of ethics. Steven Ertelt of reported that:

“Cranford is infamous for his position in favor of assisted suicide and made headlines when he testified in court that Terri was in a persistent vegetative state, despite the view of doctors and neurologists who said otherwise.

Cranford is a member of the board of directors of the Euthanasia Society of America and has ties to the organization formerly known as the Hemlock Society, another pro-euthanasia group.

In a profile of Cranford, WorldNetDaily cited a piece he wrote for the Minneapolis Star Tribune in 1997, in which he advocated assisted suicide as a way to lower the rising number of patients afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia…

The case of Terri Schiavo is presented as one of the landmark euthanasia cases in the last 30 years, emphasis mine).”[2]

The fact that the Terri Schiavo case is being presented as a “landmark” example of euthanasia will no doubt come as a shock to Fr. Richard Mc Brien who recently wrote that what was done in Terry’s situation was completely compatible with Catholic teaching and was not euthanasia.

“The autopsy report removed all doubt that the withdrawal of the feeding tube, far from being an act of euthanasia or even outright murder, was entirely consistent with traditional Catholic moral principles.”[3]

Fr. Mc Brien has yet to respond to the author’s lengthy criticism of his Tidings.com article which can be found at: http://www.tcrnews2.com/bioethics2006.html.

That a Euthanasia Conference could be staged at what was once a fine teaching hospital dedicated to the health care of indigent patients only adds to the irony and tragedy involved. These developments should remove all doubt about whether the Terry Schiavo case was a carefully choreographed integral part of the growing death cult by two of its chief protagonists; Dr. Ronald Cranford and pro-euthanasia attorney George Felos. Shame on them and Hennepin County Medical Center. As for Michael Schiavo who is apparently pursuing a medical malpractice claim against the doctors who treated Terry for esophageal bleeding while he attempted “in late 2003, despite his efforts to have a local judge stop the treatment so Terri would die”[4] what can one say?

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[1]Steven Ertelt “Michael Schiavo Will Discuss Terri at Euthanasia Conference”

LifeNews.com August 16, 2005, at: http://www.lifenews.com/bio1113.html. “Michael has been invited to address a euthanasia conference at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minnesota. The conference is titled, ‘33 Years of Clinical Ethics in Minnesota: Ron Cranford’s Stories of Heroes and Courage.’”

[2] Ibid.

[3] Rev. Richard P. McBrien, “The Schiavo case re-visited” Tidings, August 5, 2005 at: http://www.the-tidings.com/2005/0805/essays.htm as of 8/09/05.

[4] Ibid, and Steven Ertelt, “Michael Schiavo Lawsuit Would Focus on Terri's 2003 Hospitalization”

LifeNews.com August 11, 2005 at: http://www.lifenews.com/bio1108.html.