Don't let Schiavo die through lack of food, water, says cardinal

Published: 2005-03-24

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Severely brain-damaged Terri Schindler Schiavo should not be allowed to die through denial of food and water, said Baltimore Cardinal William H. Keeler, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities. "God will call Terri Schiavo to himself when it is her time to die. It is not for us to determine when that time is," he said in a March 24 statement. It was issued shortly before the U.S. Supreme Court declined a request by Schiavo's parents, Mary and Bob Schindler, to intervene in the case so that a feeding tube could be reinserted into the dying woman. The tube had been removed March 18 after a decision by a Florida state judge. Since the Florida woman's feeding tube was removed "her parents reportedly are not even allowed to wet her parched lips," said Cardinal Keeler in the statement released at the Washington headquarters of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

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