View as Webpage ‌ ‌ ‌ Missouri Right to Life and National Right to Life Committee Praise the Trump Administration and FEMA for Efforts to Prevent Rationing of Care During Pandemic WASHINGTON, D.C.—National Right to Life has praised President Trump and his administration for the Civil Rights Bulletin issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) which provides guidance on ensuring equal protection to patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We thank President Trump and FEMA Administrator Phil Gaynor for efforts to protect the most vulnerable in our society,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “The guidelines from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will help ensure that regardless of ability or disability, age, origin or chronic health issues, patients are treated equally.” FEMA’s guidelines follow those released by the Office of Civil Rights in response to news reports of proposed rationing guidelines. The Federal Emergency Management Agency issued the guidelines to “state, local, tribal, and territorial partners” stating that entities should: Make medical treatment decisions, including denials of care under Crisis Standards of Care and allocation of ventilators, after an individualized consideration of each person, free from stereotypes and biases, including generalizations and judgments about the individual’s quality of life or relative value to society, based on the individual’s disability, age, race, income level, or any protected basis. This individualized consideration should be based on current objective medical evidence and the expressed views of the patients themselves as opposed to unfounded assumptions. “Our health care system is designed to save lives,” Tobias continued. “No one facing the serious health issues from a coronavirus diagnosis should worry about whether they will receive the care they need because of their age or disability.” Advance Directives for a Natural End of Life Continuing a series on pro-life advance directives by Jim Cole, MRL General Counsel. III. Respect for life in exercising the right to choose medical treatments American law and medical ethics by and large recognize a right of patients to choose their own treatments. But no right, no ethical principle, is unlimited. We do not make up ethical principles for ourselves; we search for principles that are consistent with the inherent dignity that we share as human persons. How could we claim the equal protection of the laws if we did not each possess an inherent human dignity, a dignity that clothes us with certain unalienable rights that must be honored by the government and other people? One of those rights is the fundamental right to life. To claim equal protection, we must begin by respecting every human life, including our own. Unfortunately, an attitude is growing in our society to judge certain classes of people to be unworthy of life. Some medical professionals attempt to persuade people to forgo treatment if their “quality of life” is perceived as defective. These professionals appear to envision quality of life in terms of ability to enjoy life, which in turn is cast in terms of pleasing sensations, like a beautiful sunset or a day at the beach. If a patient is perceived as being unconscious or in serious discomfort when there is not much chance of a cure, then under this theory, a sufficient quality of life may be lacking. Some other medical professionals increasingly call treatment in such circumstances “futile,” and they deem “futile” treatments to be wrong. Proponents of “futility” are slipping away from respecting patients’ choices; rather, they would increasingly impose their views of a good life on patients, denying care even when patients desire it. It is the rise of these attitudes that suggests people may want to use advance directives as a tool in defending their own lives and human dignity. Life Links 33-week-pregnant Mom survives onset of COVID-19 and delivers “our new little breath of life” Link - The 27-year-old respirator therapist from Vancouver, Washington, who was 33 weeks pregnant, had among other symptoms a fever, and was tested for COVID-19. Planned Parenthood Fires Staffers Who Complained They Couldn’t Get Sick Leave if They Had Coronavirus Link - A group of Texas Planned Parenthood workers said they lost their jobs Thursday after complaining about safety conditions and a lack of paid sick leave if they get the coronavirus. Funded by Bill Gates, this organization is marketing the abortion pill worldwide Link - DKT International is financed by the billionaire and distributes all sorts of 'family planning' products. Nancy Pelosi: Little Sisters of the Poor Should be Forced to Pay for Abortions Link - Democrat leader Nancy Pelosi slammed a religious freedom rule as “despicable” last week for allowing a charitable group of Catholic nuns to be exempted from paying for contraception that may cause abortions in their employee health insurance plans. UNFPA Inserts Abortion in to the Fine Print of the Sustainable Development Goals Link - The agency is careful about using the word because many of its members object to abortion, but the intent is clear. Abortion Activists Push for Coronavirus Research Using Aborted Baby Parts Link - Abortion activists have been trying to take advantage of the crisis by pushing for abortion funding in government spending bills, the de-regulation of abortion drugs, and research using aborted baby body parts. We Need to Worry about Suicide Contagion, Too Link - The National Center for Health Statistics has published an alarming report about the increasing suicide rate — which has been increasing at 2 percent per year since 2006. Pro-Life Around the State St. Louis - News from Defenders of the Unborn: All prayer vigils at Planned Parenthood mill and away from the abortion mill have been cancelled until further notice. Our next event was scheduled for April 18th our annual banquet. It has also been cancelled. We will review the status again on May 30, 2020, to see if we will be having our Jericho walk. June 26-27 - Virginia - Join us in Herndon, VA for the 50th annual National Right to Life Convention. Register today at nrlconvention.com July 11 - Jefferson City - Pregnancy Help Center 5K Walk/Run, 8:30 am in Memorial Park. September 12 - Jefferson City - Missouri Right to Life Statewide Leadership Meeting. Details coming soon. MRL Eastern Region has copies of Abby Johnson’s presentation at the 43rd Annual Respect Life Convention, October 13, in St. Louis. They also have copies of the movies Gosnell and Unplanned. If anyone would like to arrange a showing in their chapter or church group, please contact [email protected]. ‌ ‌ ‌ Missouri Right to Life | Post Office Box 651, Jefferson City, MO 65102 Unsubscribe [email protected] Update Profile | About Constant Contact Sent by [email protected] in collaboration with Try email marketing for free today!