Operation Rescue Denounces Carson's Comments that Terri Schiavo's Starvation Death was "Much Ado About Nothing"
November 17, 2015
Washington,
DC - A recent comment regarding the 2005 death of Terri Schiavo by Dr.
Ben Carson, a GOP candidate for President, is being strongly denounced
by Operation Rescue, which participated in efforts to save her life.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Carson responded to questions about the Schiavo case on Friday, November 13, 2015:
"We face those kinds of issues all the time, and while I
don't believe in euthanasia, you have to recognize that people that
are in that condition do have a series of medical problems that occur
that will take them out," he said. "Your job (as a doctor) is to keep
them comfortable throughout that process and not to treat everything
that comes up."
When the reporter asked whether
Carson thought it was necessary for Congress to intervene, he said: "I
don't think it needed to get to that level. I think it was much ado
about nothing."
"I am upset that Dr. Carson would portray the starvation and
dehydration death of Terri Schiavo as 'much ado about nothing.' Dr.
Carson is woefully misinformed. Terri's condition was not terminal. She
was not kept comfortable. Her death was brutally painful," said Troy
Newman, President of Operation Rescue, who attended protests of
Schiavo's starvation. "Terri was not a 'vegetable.' She was a precious
human being that did not deserve to be murdered by a court order. If a
judge can order her put to death by denying food and hydration, this
same tragedy could befall any one of us."
In addition, Newman believes that then-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, also
now a GOP candidate for President, could have done to save Terri
Schiavo's life.
Operation Rescue urges pro-life supporters to withhold support for
Carson's and Bush's candidacies for the President of the United States.
"We have seen what it is like to have a president who does not
value every life equally, and we certainly do not need another," said
Newman. "In my opinion, Ben Carson's statement dismissing Terri's life
as 'nothing' and Jeb Bush's failure to take action to save Terri has
disqualified them both from the office of President."
Terri Schindler Schiavo was 27-years old when she collapsed in her
St. Petersburg home in 1990. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, petitioned
the court to have her feeding tube removed. Her parents objected to the
starvation/dehydration death of their daughter, and thus began a long
legal fight to save Terri's life that played out dramatically in the
public square.
Operation Rescue joined with numerous pro-life groups in the spring
of 2005 for a vigil outside the Pinnellas Park nursing home where
Terri was held. While Christians prayed, protested and drew the public
eye to Terri's plight, her family engaged in every desperate legal
option available to prevent Michael from killing their loved one. Their
brave efforts involved the Florida legislature, both houses of
Congress and President George W. Bush, who personally signed an order
moving Terri's case to the jurisdiction of the Federal Court. Once the
U.S. Supreme Court denied hearing the case, legal options were
exhausted.
In March, 2005, Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed, and she
passed away on March 31, 2005, having suffered a painful starvation
death as ordered by Judge George Greer.
Nevertheless, the fight to save Terri Schiavo's life changed the
conversation in America about the care and treatment of those who do not
meet an arbitrary standard of perfection imposed by doctors and
judges.
"Either we value and protect all life, or we submit to a brand of
tyranny that places us all at risk," said Newman. "We must never submit
to tyranny that threatens the lives of the innocent."
| 
