Let me begin our Friday smorgasbord with the most important item. By clicking on http://nrlcconvention.blogspot.com, you've be quickly updated on the latest news regarding the pro-life educational event of the year which is just around the corner. It's just around the corner, come to think of it, in two ways.

Chronologically, NRL '2008 is less than three weeks away. July 3 is the opening of this three-day educational bonanza.

Geographically, the convention takes place in Crystal City, Virginia. The hotel is only a few Metro stops from our nation's Capital. And on the 4th of July, you can join a half-million of your fellow Americans on the National Mall to celebrate our nation's birthday.

*The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life is very influential. Its work is given a lot of publicity and (perhaps) more credence than it deserves.

On its web page, it's announcing that on Monday it will release "Part II of the Pew Forum's Religious Landscape Survey includes a wealth of information on the religious beliefs and practices of the American public, including the importance of religion in people's lives, belief in God, frequency of prayer and frequency of attendance at worship services. " Specific to our concern, "It also explores the social and political attitudes of religious groups, such as attitudes on abortion…"

I'll fill you in on what it says…and doesn't say…and says wrong on Monday or Tuesday.

*We have been covering the case of 84-year-old Samuel Golubchuk from whom doctors at Grace Hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba want to remove his ventilator and feeding tube. (See Part Two.) A Canadian judge has blocked, for now, the hospital's efforts, responding to the aggressive objections of Golubchuk's family. Nonetheless Hospital officials continue to maintain that Golubchuk's care is "futile" and told the court he is "barely above a vegetative state," the Free Press reported.

A couple of days ago the Winnipeg Free Press ran a fascinating piece about Lori Ross "who was declared brain-dead 10 years ago" and "is speaking out against how she thinks doctors underestimate the quality of life of people with disabilities." She really knows of what she speaks.

Ross, who had polio, was rushed to the hospital after she stopped breathing. Incredibly, after only four hours, her parents were told Lori was "brain dead." Fortunately, her parents found a lawyer from the Independent Living Resource Centre (where Lori now works).

The hospital kept Ross on life support and, lo and behold, "she soon became conscious and slowly began to recover," the Free Press reported. "Ross decided to speak out about her experience in light of the Samuel Golubchuk case currently before the courts. Golubchuk suffered a brain injury in a 2003 fall and was placed on life-support on Nov. 3."

Referring to the attitude of many doctors towards people with disabilities, Ross said, ""They think they've already suffered so much but if they do not know the person, what we've gone through, they have no way of judging it based on their book learning."

The best the medical establishment (in the form of Dr. Jeff Blackmer, Canadian Medical Association office of ethics executive director) could say was, "Today, you would look at that and say that wasn't enough time." So how long is long enough? Blackmer told the Free Press. "It usually takes a day or two to get proper expert opinions and in an urgent situation it could be quicker." (Emphasis added.)

Blackmer added both that the two cases are different and that in the past ten years the criteria for determining that a patient is brain dead "have changed drastically."

"What the Canadian public needs to understand is that cases of clinical mistakes are very, very rare and when it does happen it gets a lot of attention," Blackmer said. "The key message is there is no risk that people will have their ventilator, for example, shut off prematurely."

Tell that to the Golubchuk family.

On their web page [www.samuelgolubchuk.com], a daughter put her dad's plight into context.

"This is not just about Sam's life. We're also fighting for ourselves, our children and everyone we care about. We're fighting for the kind of society we want to live in and leave to future generations. If bureaucrats can refuse to care for our father because he's too old and disabled, then they can refuse to care for anyone they deem unworthy."

Please send your comments to daveandrusko@hotmail.com

Part Two