Operation Rescue Denounces Carson's Comments That Terri Schiavo's Starvation Death Was 'Much Ado About Nothing'

A recent comment regarding the 2005 death of Terri Schiavo by Dr. Ben Carson, a Republican 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 more 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.”

Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation and has become a strong voice for the pro-life movement in America. Click here to support Operation Rescue.

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