You would have to be blind to miss members of TFP Student Action at Gettysburg College today. They were collecting petitions urging Governor Jeb Bush to redouble his efforts to save Terri Schiavo from forced court-ordered starvation in Florida, a plight causing nationwide controversy between moral values Americans and euthanasia proponents.
Time is running out. If Terri’s parents cannot secure custody of their daughter, whom they wish to care for, Michael Schiavo will be allowed to remove his wife’s feeding tube on March 18. Without food, she will slowly starve to death, which can take anywhere from 7 to 30 days.
Many students at this Pennsylvania campus signed the TFP petition, eager to weigh in on such a crucial debate and hopeful that their contribution might help preserve Terri’s right to life. A student on a skateboard asked for a stack of petitions. “I’m going to get my whole class to sign these,” he said. In contrast to the positive feedback, some morbid, callous or indifferent reactions were encountered. “Just let her die!” was heard more than once.
Surprisingly, other students were unaware of the issue and therefore happy to discuss the topic and receive copies of TFP Student Action’s handout, “Judging Terri: Thou Shalt not Kill,” which was distributed by the hundreds.
A recent article published by LifeNews.com cites an internationally renowned expert in treating brain-damaged patients who claims that Terri can still be rehabilitated. A Nobel Prize nominee, Dr. William Hammesfahr stated: “There are many approaches that would help Terri Schiavo. I know, because I had the opportunity to personally examine her, her medical records, and her X rays.”
Thus, the abortion mentality is spilling into other fields of society. Abortion kills unborn children. Euthanasia kills the elderly and the defenseless. The manner in which Terri’s case is handled could determine the lives of many innocent Americans. That is why this petition is so important. Let us continue to pray that our civic leaders have the courage to protect innocent life and oppose the implementation of euthanasia in America.