Tag Archives: Right To Life

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100126/D9DFDKLO0.html

Fla. woman fights ruling that kept her in hospital
Jan 26, 7:04 AM (ET)
By BILL KACZOR

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Samantha Burton wanted to leave the hospital. Her doctor strongly disagreed, enough to go to court to keep her there.

She smoked cigarettes during the first six months of her pregnancy and was admitted on a false alarm of premature labor. Her doctor argued she was risking a miscarriage if she didn’t quit smoking immediately and stay on bed rest in the hospital, and a judge agreed.

Three days after the judge ordered her not to leave the hospital, Burton delivered a stillborn fetus by cesarian-section.

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The judge ruled the best interests of the fetus overrode Burton’s privacy rights, but Abrams disputes that. He notes the Florida Constitution, unlike its federal counterpart, has an explicit and strong privacy right, which the state Supreme Court has said guarantees a competent person the right to “choose or refuse medical treatment.”

“If you apply the best interest of the child standard, the woman becomes nothing more than a fetal incubator owned by the state of Florida,” Abrams said.

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[JR: There we have it: the woman, the embryo - fetus - potential life - child, and the great moral quandary. When does it begin; when does it end. When and how does "society" protect it? And, what is the role of society's stupid clumsy "servant", government, in it? My fellow alums, smarter than I, will have to figure this out. It's not going away soon. Happy Saint Valentine's Day. Wonder what he'd think?]

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http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/01/17/her_last_gift_a_little_house_in_newton_just_for_the_cats

The Boston Globe

Her last gift: A little house in Newton, just for the cats

By Jenifer B. McKim

Globe Staff / January 17, 2010

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NEWTON – Muriel Bayne’s love for her cats was well known on Staniford Street in Auburndale. Neighborhood children called her the “Cat Lady’’ and Bayne’s pets were often seen contentedly peering from a picture window at the small ranch house where she lived for decades.

But Bayne, 77, had a weak heart. And after her husband’s death in 2001, she started worrying about what would happen to her cats when she died. So she penned a will, leaving them the home and a $300,000 trust. Weeks later, Bayne’s heart gave out.

That’s how Shadow, Dolly, Lady, and Spot became trust fund cats.

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Khidhir, who eventually bought the house for $480,000 and moved in late last year, enjoyed hearing about its offbeat history from his real estate agent.

He still keeps a wooden plank hanging in the kitchen that lists the cats’ names – in Bayne’s handwriting – below the title, “Cat ventory.’’ She used it to track their whereabouts inside and out.

“Part of me felt sad that this old couple who lived in Newton had no children to pass on their assets,’’ Khidhir said. “At the same time, I think their cats were their children.’’

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[JR: Sad, pathetic, tragic, epic. If we were a "smarter" people, and not letting government run our lives, we would have had a way to match these people with the numerous children needing care. Even in later life. OK, maybe God, she screwed up. But "we" should have been organized to "fix" it with a composite family. At least, her estate went to charity. So sad! Can us Jaspers do better?]

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http://peadarroe.wordpress.com/2009/11/07/the-lord-hears-the-cry-of-the-poor/

The Lord Hears The Cry Of The Poor
November 7, 2009

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Just in case you were wondering, the title of this little piece is a line from a hymn I often sing at funerals. It came to me as I was thinking about a little sentence embedded in a story I just read.

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Aside from the fact that they are readily identifiable as recordings of crying babies, they are quite different. Scientists, at least the ones studying this, point to these differences as typical for the sound patterns of German and French speech. They conclude from this that infants are mimicking and practicing their native language, communicating as they can, from the very earliest.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8346058.stm

[JR: A Jasper blogger has given us a lot of food for thought. And, evidence that there's a person in there somewhere.]

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