A New Medically Assisted Suicide Organization Arises

nancyvalko assisted suicide, Canada, end-of-life, hospice, law, medical ethics, nursing, palliative care

In my June, 2016 blog “Tolerating Evil” at , I wrote:

“(A) few days after California’s new assisted suicide law took effect,  one doctor immediately opened up a dedicated assisted suicide clinic in San Francisco.

Dr. Lonnie Shavelson, 64 and a long-time supporter of physician-assisted suicide, was an emergency room doctor for 29 year and then spend 7 years at an Oakland clinic for immigrants and refugees before taking a 2 year break.

His new assisted suicide business could be quite lucrative. Although Medicare will not pay for assisted suicide costs, Shavelson says he will charge $200 for an initial patient evaluation. If the patient is deemed qualified under California law, Shavelson said he would charge another $1800 for more visits, evaluations and legal forms. (Emphasis added)

Shavelson defends his business by claiming that “..the demand (for assisted suicide) is so high, that the only compassionate thing to do would be to bring it above ground and regulate it.”

Now, a new medical group called American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in Dying  has been formed with a Board of Directors and Advisors and chaired by the same Dr. Lonnie Shavelson.

The board of this organization includes a Nursing Coordinator, Director of End-of-Life Doula Education, a Volunteer Systems Advisor, as well as Hospice and Palliative Care Advisors including chaplains, nurses and social workers. There is also an “Aid in Dying Ethics Consultation Service”, ethicist, lawyer and pharmacists. An Investigations and Data Collection group is also included as well as State Liaisons in various states.

Also included is Resident Training and Education, Patient Liaisons and Volunteers, Chaplains and End-of-Life  Spiritual Advisors, a legal advisor/ethicist, and a member of the San Francisco/Marin Medical Society with a Master’s in Public Health degree.

The American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid along with the older Death with Dignity organization just had their second conference February 17-18 in Portland Oregon and provided “13 continuing education units for doctors and nurses” and 10 for social workers.

The conference included presentations like “ Some Myths about Aid in Dying”, “State Differences — Present and Future Legal Considerations”, “Hospices and Aid in Dying — A land of many journeys”, “Prognostic Dilemmas in Aid in Dying”, “Medical Aid in Dying for ALS: Navigating Complexities from Prognosis to Ingestion” and “Clinician Attendance on the Aid-in-Dying day — Doctors, nurses, volunteers, end-of-life doulas, hospice staff” and “Socially-Challenging Settings and Circumstances — homeless and impoverished; family conflicts; skilled nursing and long-term care facilities” and “Medically Challenging Cases: Complex gut function; Self-administration by oral, rectal, PEG and ostomy routes” presented by Dr. Shavelson himself. (All emphasis added)

The first National Clinicians Conference on Medical Aid in Dying occurred in 2020 at UC Berkley in California. It was sponsored   by groups like UC Davis Health,  Mission Hospice and Home Care, the San Francisco Marin Medical Society and the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Colorado that promotes “Research at the Intersection of Bioethics and Policy for Persons with Disability” (emphasis added) among other groups.

Apparently, Compassion and Choice  now has some competition in the relentless campaign to legalize and normalize medically assisted suicide in every US state.

COMPASSION AND CHOICES

Now, Compassion and Choices has a new “Federal Advocacy and Policy-Bringing the voice of the terminally ill to Capitol Hill“ that:

“advances federal legislation and regulatory change focused on:

  • Strengthening and expanding the full spectrum of end-of-life care such as advance care planning, hospice care, and palliative care, while protecting end-of-life options and patient autonomy from federal efforts to weaken or overturn federal and state laws.
  • Addressing disparities in end-of-life care for historically disadvantaged populations and advancing healthcare equity at life’s end.
  • Expanding professional end-of-life care education, training and development for all healthcare professionals.
  • Preventing healthcare entities from disregarding patient values and preferences by refusing care due to their ethical directives and policy-based restrictions. (All emphasis added)”

Compassion and Choices strongly opposes the “Assisted Suicide Funding Restrictions Act (ASFRA) (seeking repeal)” that:

“Prohibits the use of federal funds to provide or pay for any healthcare item or service or health benefit coverage for the purpose of causing, or assisting to cause, the death of any individual.” as well as “Seeking to permanently vacate the proposed rule, “Protecting Statutory Conscience Rights In Health Care (83 FR 3880),” from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which attempted to allow medical providers expanded exemptions from critical healthcare services beyond what the law currently allows.”

Compassion also supports effort to “Establish Comprehensive Telehealth Reform” and also ominously, the Palliative Care and Hospice Education Act (PCHETA)

CONCLUSION

In 2018, I wrote the blog “Beware the New Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act” (PCHETA)” about Senate Bill 693. 

A similar bill had already passed in the House and this Senate bill was also expected.

As I wrote then:

“As an RN with decades of nursing experience in hospice, oncology (cancer) and critical care, I have been involved with many end-of-life situations. I am an enthusiastic supporter of ethical palliative and hospice care which is indeed wonderful for patients of any age and their families.

Unfortunately, there is a growing trend towards calling unethical practices ‘palliative’ or ‘hospice’ care.”

And we certainly should not be allocating federal dollars for this.

But, despite the enormous push for the PCHETA, it never passed.

There was great opposition by American Association of Physicians and Surgeons, the National Association of Pro-life Nurses  , Sara Buscher, a retired attorney and CPA on the board of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition – USA. who advocates for the elderly and disabled , the Healthcare Advocacy and Leadership Organization (HALO) and others.

Now, Compassion and Choices is working hard again to get PCHETA passed to “ increase the number of faculty at accredited healthcare programs” and “promote increased education and research in Palliative Care and Hospice care.” (All emphasis added)

If groups promoting medically assisted suicide throughout the US are successful in taking over the ethics education of our health care professionals, eliminating conscience rights for healthcare providers and institutions, continue to dismantle so-called legal safeguards called “obstacles” and allow the same poor oversight and documentation found in Oregon, the first state to legalize assisted suicide, we will see the inevitable and inexorable expansion of medically assisted suicide  that we are now seeing in Canada.

We need to demand the highest ethical standards in healthcare to protect ourselves, our healthcare institutions and the most vulnerable among us who need hope and help-not medically assisted suicide.

 

 

“Safer Than Tylenol” is Deliberate Medical Abortion Disinformation

nancyvalko Uncategorized

February 26, 2023 nancyvalko abortion, culture, medical ethics, Planned Parenthood, pro-life

February 23, 2023, the Attorney General of Connecticut issued a press release “Attorney General Tong Sues FDA Over Unlawful, Unnecessary Restrictions on Medication Abortion Drug”, stating that:

“Attorney General William Tong today joined a multistate federal lawsuit against the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) accusing it of singling out one of the two drugs used for medication abortions for excessively burdensome regulation, despite ample evidence that the drug is safer than Tylenol.” (Emphasis added)

In April, 2021, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) lifted a requirement for women to have in-person visits with their doctors before receiving medication abortions. and a February 17, 2022 Bloomberg article titled “The Abortion Pill Is Safer Than Tylenol and Almost Impossible to Get” argued for medication abortion pills by mail.

As Dr. Christina Francis, a board-certified OB/GYN and chair of the board of the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), wrote in a 5/21/2021 article titled “The government’s abortion pill policy puts mothers’ lives at risk-As an OB-GYN, I know that allowing women to access abortion drugs through telemedicine is the wrong move“, stating:

“The medication regime for these abortions has real risks. When Mifepristone,
the first-stage medication in a chemical abortion, was first approved in 2000, it was
only approved with safety regulations in place (later known as REMS) that would
minimize the significant risk of hemorrhage, retained fetal tissue and infection.
These REMS were then relaxed in 2016 by the FDA absent any further safety testing
and despite mounting evidence of significant adverse events and maternal deaths….

For unknown reasons, however, the FDA also made the decision in 2016 to stop
collecting data on nonfatal adverse events related to Mifepristone, instead only
collecting data on maternal fatalities related to the drug. This change ignores the
women who may show up to their local emergency rooms with severe complications
potentially caused by the drug — women whose lives are typically saved not by their
abortionist, but by an on-call physician at the hospital. (Emphasis added)”

And:

One of the most significant reasons why an in-person visit has been required is for
proper medical oversight as well as a physical exam and ultrasound. These visits are
meant to accurately assess the gestational age of a woman’s pregnancy, as well as rule
out ectopic pregnancy, which is life threatening. The difference in size of an 8-weekold and 12-week-old preborn child is significant”

Mifepristone abortions are only approved for use up to 10 weeks gestation because the complication rates increase significantly beyond this stage.

IS THIS JUST PRO-LIFE PROPAGANDA?

The Cleveland Clinic, a respected healthcare institution and NOT pro-life, has a section:

“Who should NOT get a medical abortion?

Medical abortion is not a safe option for those who:

  • Are too far along in the pregnancy.
  • Have a pregnancy outside of the uterus (ectopic pregnancy).
  • Have a blood clotting disorder or significant anemia.
  • Have chronic adrenal failure.
  • Use long-term corticosteroids.
  • Have an intrauterine device (IUD).
  • Have an allergy to the medications used.
  • Do not have access to emergency care.
  • Can’t return for a follow-up visit.

It is important to discuss your medical history with your healthcare provider before a medical abortion procedure.” (Emphasis added)

So, how can abortion pills by mail be safe?

It is also disturbing that now CVS and Walgreens Plan to Offer Abortion Pills Where Abortion Is Legal”. The two chains said they would begin the certification process under a new FDA regulation that will allow retail pharmacies to dispense the prescription pills for the first time.

It is also disturbing that now the two chains said they would begin the certification process under a new FDA regulation that will allow retail pharmacies to dispense the prescription pills for the fist time.

Even worse, the American Pharmacists Association said in a statement that it had urged the FDA “to level the playing field by permitting any pharmacy that chooses to dispense this product to becomes certified.” (Emphasis added)

CONCLUSION

Not surprisingly, unmentioned in these articles is informing the woman about the abortion reversal option that I wrote about in my 3/20/2018 blog titled “What You Need to Know About Medical Abortion and Abortion Reversal”

However, the pro-abortion ACOG (the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) condemns abortion reversal, claiming that “Facts Are Important: Medication Abortion “Reversal” Is Not Supported by Science”, stating that “”So-called abortion “reversal” procedures are unproven and unethical“. They maintain this despite citing a “A 2012 case series reported on six women who took mifepristone and were then administered varying progesterone doses. Four continued their pregnancies. This is not scientific evidence that progesterone resulted in the continuation of those pregnancies.” And the article admits that “A 2020 study intending to evaluate medication abortion reversal in a controlled, IRB-approved setting was ended early due to safety concerns among the participants.” (Emphasis added).

As I wrote in my May, 2019 blog “New Study on Progesterone to Prevent Miscarriage Supports Use in Abortion Reversal“:

“(M)edical abortions can often be reversed by taking progesterone if the mother changes her mind after the first abortion pill to block progesterone is given but she hasn’t yet taken the second pill to expel the baby. There is now a website at www.abortionpillreversal.com for information on abortion reversal that includes a hotline phone number at 1-877-558-0333.

But according to Planned Parenthood :

 “…(only) a handful of states require doctors and nurses to tell their patients about (abortion reversal treatment) before they can provide abortion care. But these claims haven’t been proven in reliable medical studies — nor have they been tested for safety, effectiveness, or the likelihood of side effects — so experts like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists reject these untested supposed treatments.” (Emphasis added)

Why don’t we all deserve to know all the facts and all the options like crisis pregnancy centers and abortion reversal when it comes to abortion instead of relying on a mostly biased media, Planned Parenthood and wealthy, pro-abortion healthcare provider organizations?

As a society, we can’t afford not to know!

“Safer Than Tylenol” is Deliberate Medical Abortion Disinformation

nancyvalko abortion, culture, medical ethics, Planned Parenthood, pro-life

February 23, 2023, the Attorney General of Connecticut issued a press release “Attorney General Tong Sues FDA Over Unlawful, Unnecessary Restrictions on Medication Abortion Drug”, stating that:

“Attorney General William Tong today joined a multistate federal lawsuit against the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) accusing it of singling out one of the two drugs used for medication abortions for excessively burdensome regulation, despite ample evidence that the drug is safer than Tylenol.” (Emphasis added)

In April, 2021, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) lifted a requirement for women to have in-person visits with their doctors before receiving medication abortions. and a February 17, 2022 Bloomberg article titled “The Abortion Pill Is Safer Than Tylenol and Almost Impossible to Get” argued for medication abortion pills by mail.

As Dr. Christina Francis, a board-certified OB/GYN and chair of the board of the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), wrote in a 5/21/2021 article titled “The government’s abortion pill policy puts mothers’ lives at risk-As an OB-GYN, I know that allowing women to access abortion drugs through telemedicine is the wrong move“, stating:

“The medication regime for these abortions has real risks. When Mifepristone,
the first-stage medication in a chemical abortion, was first approved in 2000, it was
only approved with safety regulations in place (later known as REMS) that would
minimize the significant risk of hemorrhage, retained fetal tissue and infection.
These REMS were then relaxed in 2016 by the FDA absent any further safety testing
and despite mounting evidence of significant adverse events and maternal deaths….

For unknown reasons, however, the FDA also made the decision in 2016 to stop
collecting data on nonfatal adverse events related to Mifepristone, instead only
collecting data on maternal fatalities related to the drug. This change ignores the
women who may show up to their local emergency rooms with severe complications
potentially caused by the drug — women whose lives are typically saved not by their
abortionist, but by an on-call physician at the hospital. (Emphasis added)”

And:

One of the most significant reasons why an in-person visit has been required is for
proper medical oversight as well as a physical exam and ultrasound. These visits are
meant to accurately assess the gestational age of a woman’s pregnancy, as well as rule
out ectopic pregnancy, which is life threatening. The difference in size of an 8-weekold and 12-week-old preborn child is significant”

Mifepristone abortions are only approved for use up to 10 weeks gestation because the complication rates increase significantly beyond this stage.

IS THIS JUST PRO-LIFE PROPAGANDA?

The Cleveland Clinic, a respected healthcare institution and NOT pro-life, has a section:

“Who should NOT get a medical abortion?

Medical abortion is not a safe option for those who:

  • Are too far along in the pregnancy.
  • Have a pregnancy outside of the uterus (ectopic pregnancy).
  • Have a blood clotting disorder or significant anemia.
  • Have chronic adrenal failure.
  • Use long-term corticosteroids.
  • Have an intrauterine device (IUD).
  • Have an allergy to the medications used.
  • Do not have access to emergency care.
  • Can’t return for a follow-up visit.

It is important to discuss your medical history with your healthcare provider before a medical abortion procedure.” (Emphasis added)

So, how can abortion pills by mail be safe?

It is also disturbing that now CVS and Walgreens Plan to Offer Abortion Pills Where Abortion Is Legal”. The two chains said they would begin the certification process under a new FDA regulation that will allow retail pharmacies to dispense the prescription pills for the first time.

It is also disturbing that now the two chains said they would begin the certification process under a new FDA regulation that will allow retail pharmacies to dispense the prescription pills for the fist time.

Even worse, the American Pharmacists Association said in a statement that it had urged the FDA “to level the playing field by permitting any pharmacy that chooses to dispense this product to becomes certified.” (Emphasis added)

So, how can abortion pills by mail be safe?
It is also disturbing that now “ The two chains said they would begin the certification process under a new F.D.A. regulation that will allow retail pharmacies to dispense the prescription pills for the first time.
Also disturbing is that “The American Pharmacists Association said in a that it had urged the F.D.A. “to level the playing field by permitting any pharmacy that chooses to dispense this product to become certified.” (Emphasis added)

Also disturbing is that “The American Pharmacists Association said in a  that it had urged the F.D.A. “to level the playing field by permitting any pharmacy that chooses to dispense this product to become certified.” (Emphasis added)

CONCLUSION

Not surprisingly, unmentioned in these articles is informing the woman about the abortion reversal option that I wrote about in my 3/20/2018 blog titled “What You Need to Know About Medical Abortion and Abortion Reversal”

However, the pro-abortion ACOG (the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) condemns abortion reversal, claiming that “Facts Are Important: Medication Abortion “Reversal” Is Not Supported by Science”, stating that “”So-called abortion “reversal” procedures are unproven and unethical“. They maintain this despite citing a “A 2012 case series reported on six women who took mifepristone and were then administered varying progesterone doses. Four continued their pregnancies. This is not scientific evidence that progesterone resulted in the continuation of those pregnancies.” And the article admits that “A 2020 study intending to evaluate medication abortion reversal in a controlled, IRB-approved setting was ended early due to safety concerns among the participants.” (Emphasis added).

As I wrote in my May, 2019 blog “New Study on Progesterone to Prevent Miscarriage Supports Use in Abortion Reversal“:

“(M)edical abortions can often be reversed by taking progesterone if the mother changes her mind after the first abortion pill to block progesterone is given but she hasn’t yet taken the second pill to expel the baby. There is now a website at www.abortionpillreversal.com for information on abortion reversal that includes a hotline phone number at 1-877-558-0333.

But according to Planned Parenthood :

 “…(only) a handful of states require doctors and nurses to tell their patients about (abortion reversal treatment) before they can provide abortion care. But these claims haven’t been proven in reliable medical studies — nor have they been tested for safety, effectiveness, or the likelihood of side effects — so experts like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists reject these untested supposed treatments.” (Emphasis added)

Why don’t we all deserve to know all the facts and all the options like crisis pregnancy centers and abortion reversal when it comes to abortion instead of relying on a mostly biased media, Planned Parenthood and wealthy, pro-abortion healthcare provider organizations?

As a society, we can’t afford not to know!

“Repairing Our View of Dementia”

nancyvalko Alzheimer's, Compassion & Choices, culture, dementia, medical ethics

I have written often on the subject of dementia, most recently in my blog “Alzheimer’s Association Ends Agreement with Compassion and Choices” about the lethal discrimination against people with dementias like Alzheimer’s.

Having cared for a mother with Alzheimer’s as well as many patients and relatives of friends with dementia, I have found great satisfaction working with people with dementia. Helping them enjoy activities like music, tv, talking about past and present memories and laughing has been a real joy for me. Dementia does not automatically rule out a sense of humor or insight.

So I was delighted to find an article “Repairing Our View of Dementia“ in the Journal of the American Medical Association Neurology.

The author, Sujal Manohar, BS, BA, wrote:

“It is a rewarding experience each time I lead a virtual art gallery tour for adults with dementia. Though we are over 1000 miles apart physically and multiple decades apart in age, we connect over artwork through the Reflections Program at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. However, I did not expect that one comment from a participant—sparked by an art piece—would lead me to reconsider societal expectations and our care of adults with dementia.” (Emphasis added)

“As I shared images of the Radical Repair Workshop, 1 participant was intrigued by the idea of broken objects. He asked the group what we do with things when they are broken. Reflecting on his own experience, he questioned what we could do with him now that he was broken. He paused for a moment, then wondered aloud whether he had any use. He was well aware of his cognitive changes, insidious yet undeniable; the participant knew he was not functioning the way he once did.” (Emphasis added)

Mr. Manohar responded:

“I explained that these artworks showed us that all objects are valuable, even if they do not serve their original purposes. They can come together to make something beautiful. I emphasized that objects can be used in various ways and everyone has challenges and differences—that does not mean they aren’t valuable.” (Emphasis added)

Mr. Manohar also encourages using not only the perspectives of caregivers and healthcare professionals but also the person experiencing dementia, his or her social history and finding ways to give the person purpose that accentuate their strengths rather than focusing on their challenges..

He also makes a good point that helping people with dementia find meaning in in their lives many also help their caregivers who often experience can experience depression and difficulty managing their own feelings while providing support.

Mr. Manohar’s insights and positive attitude can hopefully help our society reevaluate the worth and value of people with dementia and improving their lives as well as those who care for them..

Our society itself desperately needs this.

Alzheimer’s Association Ends Agreement with Compassion and Choices

nancyvalko advance directives, Alzheimer's, assisted suicide, dementia, end-of-life, law, Living wills, medical ethics, nursing, palliative care, terminal/palliative sedation, VSED

I was surprised to recently learn that the Alzheimer’s Association had entered into an agreement with Compassion and Choices to “provide information and resources about Alzheimer’s disease”.

Thankfully, the Alzheimer’s Association has now terminated that relationship as of January 29, 2023, stating that:

“In an effort to provide information and resources about Alzheimer’s disease, the Alzheimer’s Association entered into an agreement to provide education and awareness information to Compassion & Choices, but failed to do appropriate due diligence. Their values are inconsistent with those of the Association.

We deeply regret our mistake, have begun the termination of the relationship, and apologize to all of the families we support who were hurt or disappointed. Additionally, we are reviewing our process for all agreements including those that are focused on the sharing of educational information.

As a patient advocacy group and evidence-based organization, the Alzheimer’s Association stands behind people living with Alzheimer’s, their care partners and their health care providers as they navigate treatment and care choices throughout the continuum of the disease. Research supports a palliative care approach as the highest quality of end-of-life care for individuals with advanced dementia.” (All emphasis added)

ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE AND COMPASSION AND CHOICES’ RESPONSE

While countries like Belgium and the Netherlands have legalized assisted suicide for Alzheimer’s, no US state allows this-yet.

In the meantime, Compassion and Choices is the well-funded organization promoting medically assisted suicide laws and VSED (voluntary stopping of eating and drinking) for people in states without assisted suicide laws.

Now, Compassion and Choices has a whole section  on their website titled  “Dementia End-of-Life Care- Identifying your preferences before dementia takes hold” stating that:

“One in two older adults die with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia” and that ”60% of Americans with dementia receive non beneficial burdensome medical interventions.”

Thus, Compassion and Choices insists that:

“Every mentally capable adult has the right to document their desire to decline medical treatments. In the early stages of dementia, patients may also choose to voluntarily stop eating and drinking. To learn more, go to the Compassion & Choices‘ Dementia Values & Priorities Tool and other resources.” (Emphasis added)

IS VSED REALLY AN EASY WAY TO DIE?

As I wrote in my 2018 blog “Good News/Bad News about Alzheimer’s”:

“Although media articles portray VSED as a gentle, peaceful death, a 2018 Palliative Practice Pointers article in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society  titled “Voluntary Stopping Eating and Drinking” states:

“VSED is an intense process fraught with new sources of somatic and emotional suffering for individuals and their caregivers…The most common symptoms encountered after starting VSED are extreme thirst, hunger, dysuria (painful urination due to concentrated urine NV), progressive disability, delirium, and somnolence.” (Emphasis added)

Most chillingly, the authors state:

 “Because an individual with delirium may forget his or her intention and ask for drinks of water, caregivers will struggle with the need to remind the incapacitated individual of his or her own wishes. This possibility should be anticipated and discussed with the individual in advance. While reminding the individual of his or her prior intentions may feel like coercion, acquiescing to requests for water will prolong the dying process for someone who has clearly articulated the desire to hasten death.” (Emphasis added)

The authors also state that if the patient’s suffering becomes severe, “proportionate palliative sedation and admission to inpatient hospice should be considered”. This is not the so-called peaceful death at home within two weeks that people envision with VSED.

Lastly, on the legal requirement of a cause on the death certificate, the authors state:

“the clinician may consider including dehydration secondary to the principle illness that caused the individual’s intractable suffering. Although VSED is a self–willed death (as stopping life support might also be), use of the word “suicide” on death certificates in this context is discouraged because in incorrectly suggests that the decision for VSED stemmed from mental illness rather than intolerable suffering.” (Emphasis added)

So, like physician assisted suicide, the real cause of death is basically falsified with the rationale that the deliberate stopping of eating and drinking to hasten death is just another legal withdrawal of treatment decision like a feeding tube.

And as I wrote in my 2020 blog “Caring for an Elderly Relative who Wants to Die”, a doctor trying to help his grandfather who did not have a terminal illness but rather was “dying of old age, frailty, and more than anything else, isolation and meaninglessness” found that just voluntarily stopping food and water (VSED) was too difficult and he had to use “morphine and lorazepam” during the “12 long days for his grandfather to finally die.”.

The lessons this doctor said he learned were that:

“despite many problems with physician-assisted dying (physician-assisted suicide), it may provide the most holistic relief possible for people who are not immediately dying, but rather are done living.”

And

“stopping eating and drinking is largely impossible without knowledgeable family members and dedicated hospice care.” (All emphasis added)

CONCLUSION

Years ago, my mother told me that she never wanted to be a burden on her family.

I never told my children that-especially when they were teenagers and already thought I was a burden to their lifestyles!

Instead, I told them that the “circle of life” includes caring for each other at all ages and stages. Such caring also eliminates future guilt and leaves a sense of pride that we did the best we could for each other during our lives.

When my mother developed Alzheimer’s in the late 1980s (and later terminal thyroid cancer), a friend asked if I was going to feed her. At the time, my mother was fully mobile and able to get ice cream out of the freezer and eat it. I was shocked and offended.

“Do you want me to tackle her?!” I asked my friend.

“Oh, no!”, he answered, “I was talking about a feeding tube later on.”

I told him that my mother would die of her disease, not from deliberate starvation and dehydration.

Near the end of her life, we did spoon feed my mother and she enjoyed it very much before dying peacefully in her sleep.

For decades now, I have enjoyed caring for many people with Alzheimer’s or other dementias both personally and professionally but I remain alarmed by the all too common attitude that people with Alzheimer’s “need to die” either by VSED or physician-assisted suicide.

I am pleased with the Alzheimer’s Association’s decision to end its agreement with Compassion and Choices.

Canada and the Euthanasia Endgame

nancyvalko assisted suicide, disability, education, end-of-life, euthanasia, law, Living wills, medical ethics, pro-life

Several nations like Belgium and the Netherlands have had legalized assisted suicide and/or euthanasia, even for minors and for people just “tired of life” But now the worst is Canada which legally approved MAiD (medical aid in dying) it in 2016, according to Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Alex Schadenberg quotes Kevin Yuill, a professor who spoke at the Euthanasia Symposium in Brussel in November who said:

“Canada has the dubious honour of being the global capital of euthanasia. Through its medical assistance in dying (MAID) programme, Canada killed more people with lethal injections last year than any other country on Earth – many of them poor, homeless or hopeless. And soon, from March 2023, lethal injections will be offered to anyone who judges their mental-health difficulties to be intolerable.”

Even worse, some people with disabilities are saying that they are being pressured to take a lethal overdose.

In a November 2022 UK article titled “Canadian man alleges hospital is pressuring him to end his life by assisted suicide”, a man with a disease affecting his brain and muscles is suing his Canadian hospital after secretly recording the hospital staff, stating:

“They asked if I want an assisted death. I don’t. I was told that I would be charged $1,800 per day [for hospital care]. I have $2 million worth of bills. Nurses here told me that I should end my life. That shocked me”.

Mr. Foley has applied for “direct funding” from the Canadian government to “employ agency workers of his own choosing and manage his schedule”.

  

The article also cited “a pro-assisted suicide and euthanasia group of doctors in Canada have recently said that doctors have a “professional obligation” to initiate discussion of assisted suicide and euthanasia with patients who might fit the legal criteria. They claim there is nothing in Canadian law which forbids this.”

CANADIAN STATISTICS

The UK article also notes that:

“In 2021, 10,064 people ended their lives by assisted suicide and euthanasia, an increase of over 32% from the previous year, accounting for 3.3% of all deaths in Canada.

According to the latest report on Medical Assistance in Dying from Health Canada, 17.3% of people also cited “isolation or loneliness” as a reason for wanting to die. In 35.7% of cases, patients believed that they were a “burden on family, friends or caregivers”. (Emphasis added)

Canada was set to approve MAiD for people with mental illness but recently, the Canadian government announced its plan to temporarily delay MAiD eligibility  for people whose sole medical condition is mental illness.

CONCLUSION

In 1993, just 3 years after Nancy Cruzan, a woman in a so-called “vegetative state” died a long 12 days after her feeding tube was removed in my home state of Missouri, a letter in the Journal of the American Medical Association by Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a prominent ethicist and one of the future architects of Obamacare, acknowledged that the actual proof purported to show that the Cruzan case met Missouri law requiring “clear and convincing evidence” that Ms. Cruzan would not want to live in a so-called “vegetative” state rested only on “fairly vague and insubstantial comments to other people”.

Ominously, he also noted that:

“..increasingly it will be our collective determination as to what lives are worth living that will decide how incompetent patients are treated. We need to begin to articulate and justify these collective determinations.” (Emphasis added.)

“(O)ur collective determination as to what lives are worth living” is the very real and frightening potential endgame of legalized euthanasia and it should be stopped now!

How Accurate Is Prenatal Testing?

nancyvalko abortion, disability, hospice, law, medical, medical ethics, palliative care, terminal/palliative sedation

I have written about the alleged accuracy of prenatal blood testing before as both a nurse and a mother in my blog “A Dark Side of Prenatal Testing” and “Two Wonderful Stories: A Prenatal Misdiagnosis; Man Saves Grandchild from Abortion”.

Now, ProPublica, a self-described nonprofit investigative newsroom, just published an article titled “They Trusted Their Prenatal Test. They Didn’t Know the Industry Is an Unregulated “Wild West.”

The authors tell the story of a mother who had an in vitro diagnostic test (IDT) that came back negative, meaning her baby did not have the serious conditions that were tested for.

However, when the mom delivered her daughter, the baby had serious problems and only lived 28 hours.

The autopsy showed that the baby had an extra 13th chromosome, a condition that was part of the testing. The chances that the baby would have not have this or two other serious conditions was “greater than 99%.”

The test was a simple blood draw designed to check for an array of genetic anomalies but the mother, a science researcher, read academic articles showing a higher risk of inaccurate results than she realized.

The mom found other women reporting problems with the tests also so she tried contacting the company that made the test, hoping she would help other families.

She was unsuccessful.

She found out that if she had taken other common commercial tests like some for Covid-19 or pregnancy, the company would have had to inform the US Food and Drug Administration about “reports of so-called adverse events.”

The mom found out that the test she took fell into a regulatory void:

“No federal agency checks to make sure these prenatal screenings work the way they claim before they’re sold to health care providers. The FDA doesn’t ensure that marketing claims are backed up by evidence before screenings reach patients. And companies aren’t required to publicly report instances of when the tests get it wrong — sometimes catastrophically.

The broader lab testing industry and its lobbyists have successfully fought for years to keep it this way, cowing regulators into staying on the sidelines.”

The stakes are high for families with the article stating:

 “Upwards of half of all pregnant people (sic) now receive one of these prenatal screenings.”

And that the companies stress that “ultimately, it’s the responsibility of health care providers, who order the tests, to inform patients about the limits of screenings.”

CONCLUSION

When I had my last child in 1985, I was offered but refused amniocentesis. In my case, it was offered because I had previously had Karen, my daughter with Down Syndrome.

Some people asked if I was brave or stupid. I told them that I was just well-informed after researching both amniocentesis and CVS.

I knew that both procedures carry a risk of miscarriage and that I would never abort a child because of a disability. I also knew that such procedures can only test for some of the thousands of known “birth defects” and I personally met families who were erroneously told that their child had a defect but were born healthy.

After that, I was remarkably worry-free during my last pregnancy and delivered a healthy girl.

But maternity care has changed a lot since 1985, especially since the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) now states that Abortion is Healthcare Abortion is Healthcare | ACOG

But despite the possible inaccuracies of prenatal test, there is help if a baby is diagnosed with an unexpected condition like Down Syndrome or Trisomy 13.

Thankfully, there are even programs like Perinatal Hospice & Palliative Care: Continuing Your Pregnancy that can help in the event of a prenatal diagnosis that indicates a baby may die before or after birth.

Where there is love, there is always hope!

Are Near-Death Experiences Real?

nancyvalko brain death, CPR, end-of-life, family, medical ethics, organ donation

In a November 4, 2022 Medscape article titled “‘Lucid Dying’: EEG Backs Near-Death Experience During CPR”, researchers found brain wave recordings taken during in hospital cardiac arrest resuscitation (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) lends support to near-death experiences reported by some people who survived cardiac arrest.

In the Medscape article and according to lead investigator Sam Parnia, MD, PhD:

“These recalled experiences and brain wave changes may be the first signs of the so-called ‘near-death’ experience, and we have captured them for the first time in a large study,” lead investigator Sam Parnia, MD, PhD, with NYU Langone Health, says in a news release.

Identifying measurable electrical signs of lucid and heightened brain activity during CPR, coupled with stories of recalled near-death experiences, suggests that the human sense of self and consciousness, much like other biological body functions, may not stop completely around the time of death, Parnia adds.” (Emphasis added)”

According to the article, the researchers used “audiovisual testing of awareness with continuous real-time EEG and cerebral oxygenation monitoring” during the resuscitation.

While only 53 of the 567 patients survived (9.3%), 28 survivors completed interviews with 11 reporting “unique, lucid experiences during resuscitation.”

According to Dr. Parnia:

“Our understanding of death has gone through a seismic shift in the last few years,” and

“The biological discoveries around death and the postmortem period are completely different to the social conventions that we have about death. That is, we perceive of death as being the end, but actually what we’re finding is that brain cells don’t die immediately. They die very slowly over many hours of time,” Parnia noted. (Emphasis added)

Dr. Parnia presented the findings November 6 at a resuscitation science symposium at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2022 in Chicago.

The Medscape article also noted that not everyone agrees:

“Ajmal Zemmar, MD, PhD, with University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, noted that several studies, including this one, “challenge the traditional way that we think of death — that when the heart stops beating that’s when we die.”

The observation that during cardiac arrest and CPR, the brain waves are still normal for up to an hour is “fairly remarkable,” Zemmar told theheart.org | Medscape Cardiology.

“However, whether there is conscious perception or not is very hard to answer,” Zemmar cautioned. 

“This type of research tries to bridge the objective EEG recordings with the subjective description you get from the patient, but it’s hard to know when conscious perception stops,” he said.”

WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?

Over the decades, there have been many studies of near-death experiences and an October 31,2022 Medscape article by a nurse practitioner who describes how both negative and positive near-death experiences can impact an individual.

There is even a 2020 Frontiers in Neurology article “The Neurology of Death and the Dying Brain: A Pictorial Essay” that explores some of the potential effects of issues like near-death experiences on the clinical determinations of death and organ donation.

But whether or not you believe in near-death experiences, there is one crucial lesson here: We must always treat any ill person-awake or presumed unconscious-with the respect due any person when we talk to and care for them.

I have often told the story of “Mike”, a young man catastrophically injured in a car crash whose doctor said the if he survived, he would be a “vegetable”. We nurses talked to Mike and eventually he started to respond to us but not the doctor.

Mike was shipped off to a nursing home but almost two year later, he returned to thank us and told us he was getting married. When we laughed and told him how he started to respond to us but not the doctor, Mike became very serious and said he would not respond to the doctor because he heard the doctor call him a “vegetable”!

CONCLUSION

But my favorite story is about working on a medical floor caring for an elderly gentleman who was dying and showed no awareness of his 4 adult sons sitting at his bedside.

I encouraged his sons to talk to him, but they said they didn’t know what to say and didn’t think he could hear anyway.

I took the man’s hand and noticed that it was strong and callused like a man who worked with his hands.

I asked the sons was their dad did and they all started relating stories about his love of farming and then told funny stories about how their dad reacted to their antics growing up.

Pretty soon, all the sons were laughing and telling their dad how much they appreciated him as I quietly left at the end of my shift.

When I returned the next day for my next shift, I was not surprised to learn that the dad had peacefully died during the night with his sons at his side. But I was surprised to find that one of the sons stayed until I came back and wanted to talk to me.

“Lady, you were right! He did hear us!” he told me.

It turned out that the sons had continued talking to their dad after I left and when they said they were ready to leave, their dad opened his eyes, looked at them, smiled and then closed his eyes and peacefully died.

What a wonderful memory for his sons-and me!

New Study Shows Stem Cells and Prenatal Surgery Can Help Babies with Spina Bifida

nancyvalko abortion, disability, family, medical ethics, prenatal testing

Spina Bifida is a birth defect that occurs when the spine and spinal cord do not develop completely in an unborn baby. The resulting opening in the spine leaves  the spinal cord and nerves exposed.

That exposure can cause damage leading to paralysis or mobility problems, a buildup of excess fluid on the brain, and infection.

Spina Bifida can sometimes be diagnosed during pregnancy by a blood test, ultrasound or amniocentesis. Sometimes the diagnosis is not made until after birth.

Before the 1990s, treatment for severe spina bifida involved surgery on the baby after birth to close the defect but the procedure could not repair already damaged nerves.

In 1997, the first prenatal surgery was done and in 2011 and 2020, major studies showed that prenatal repair resulted in better outcomes.

But now, in an October 10, 2022 Medscape article “Stem Cell Treatment Helps Babies with Spina Bifida”,  a clinical trial at UC Davis Health is showing that a new stem cell treatment-given while the unborn baby is still in the womb-appears to be effective at reversing paralysis and other problems caused by spina bifida in newborns.” (Emphasis added)

But, as the article rightly states,:

“The researchers have expressed caution about drawing full conclusions so far, but the treatment appears promising. They plan to release information about how the babies are doing at developmental milestones throughout the study process.” (Emphasis added)

The clinical trial started in 2021 and involves myelomeningocele, “a severe form of spina bifida where the spinal canal doesn’t fully close before birth, leading to spinal cord damage.”

According to the article, “So far, three babies have received the unique treatment, which is delivered while a fetus is still in the womb.”

DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT

Today, prenatal testing is routinely offered to pregnant women, but abortion is too often offered or recommended when prenatal testing shows a possible adverse diagnosis like spina bifida.

According to the Spina Bifida Association, the condition can often be diagnosed before birth:

“There are 3 tests, but, it is important to remember that no medical test is perfect and the results are not always 100 percent accurate. Spina Bifida can be detected in utero by one of the following tests: 

  1. A blood test during the 16th to 18th weeks of pregnancy. This is called the alpha-fetoprotein (AFP screening test). This test is higher in about 75–80 % of women who have a fetus with Spina Bifida.
  2. An ultrasound of the fetus. This is also called a sonogram and can show signs of Spina Bifida such as the open spine.
  3. A test where a small amount of the fluid from the womb is taken through a thin needle. This is called maternal amniocentesis and can be used to look at protein levels.”

Ironically, one of the big health institutions in my city that provides “Pregnancy termination for women choosing to terminate a pregnancy due to fetal abnormalities or maternal health conditions” also has a Fetal Care Center that uses prenatal surgery not only for spina bifida but also for other conditions such as amniotic band syndrome, twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, airway/trachea obstruction and blocked urinary tract, etc.!

CONCLUSION

When I had my last child in 1985, I was offered but refused amniocentesis. In my case, it was offered because I had previously had Karen, my daughter with Down Syndrome and a severe heart defect.

I knew that both procedures carry a risk of miscarriage and that I would never abort a child because of a disability. I also knew that such procedures can only test for some of the thousands of known “birth defects” and I personally met families who were erroneously told that their child had a defect but were born healthy. I also knew how to find help if any of my children-born or unborn-had a possible health a problem.

Some people asked if I was brave or stupid. I told them that I was just well-informed after researching both amniocentesis and CVS (Chorionic villus sampling)

(Today, we have routine non-invasive prenatal screening blood tests called NIPTs but the Federal Food and Drug Administration issued an alert on April 19, 2022 “Genetic Non-Invasive Prenatal Screening Tests May Have False Results: FDA Safety Communication:

“While health care providers widely use NIPS tests, none have yet been authorized, cleared, or approved by the FDA. The accuracy and performance of NIPS tests have not been evaluated by the FDA and these tests can give false results, such as reporting a genetic abnormality when the fetus does not actually have one.” (Emphasis added))

But most importantly, I told them that my daughter Karen was a blessing who helped change many lives for the better during her tragically short life-especially mine.

After Karen died, I became a volunteer babysitter for many children with a range of disabilities and their parents also told me how they became better people because of their child with a disability.

Life must be our highest priority!

PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU AGREE TO BE AN ORGAN DONOR

nancyvalko assisted suicide, brain death, brain injury, end-of-life, euthanasia, medical ethics, organ donation

Whether we are renewing our driver’s licenses, watching the TV news or just picking up a newspaper, it’s impossible to miss the campaign to persuade us to sign an organ donation card such as this one. We see story after story about how grieving relatives have been comforted by donating a loved one’s organs after a tragic death, and how grateful the people are whose lives have been changed by the “gift of life”.

But are ethical lines being crossed in the zeal to obtain organs to transplant?

While most people presume that organs can be removed and transplanted only after “all efforts to save your life have been exhausted” and brain death has been determined, that presumption is no longer necessarily true.

Now, organ donation can occur with a person who is in a coma and considered close to death but who does not meet the criteria for brain death. In those cases, a organ donor card or relatives who have agreed to withdraw a ventilator (a machine that supports or maintains breathing) and have the person’s organs removed for transplant if or when when the heartbeat stops. This was called DCD or donation after cardiac death until some doctors found that the stopped heart could be successfully restarted it in the patient receiving the transplant!

Now, that ethically questionable procedure is called donation after circulatory death (also DCD) since circulation stops when the heart stops.

If circulation does not stop within 60 minutes, the organs are deemed to be too damaged for transplant and the patient dies without donating organs.

IT GETS WORSE

Last month a September 29, 2022 article in Medpage titled “No Brain Death? No Problem. New Organ Transplant Protocol Stirs Debate-Is it ethical to pull the plug in patients who aren’t brain dead, then restart their hearts?” reported on a new procedure to get more organs:

“With little attention or debate, transplant surgeons across the country are experimenting with a kind of partial resurrection: They’re allowing terminal patients to die, then restarting their hearts while clamping off blood flow to their brains. The procedure allows the surgeons to inspect and remove organs from warm bodies with heartbeats.” (Emphasis added)

The article also said that this new procedure is being criticized by doctors like Dr. Wes Ely and the American College of Physicians that warned the procedure raises “profound ethical questions regarding determination of death, respect for patients, and the ethical obligation to do what is best.”

MY JOURNEY TO DISCOVER THE FACTS ABOUT BRAIN DEATH

Back in the early 1970s when I was a young intensive care unit nurse, no one questioned the innovation of brain death organ transplantation. We trusted the experts and the prevailing medical ethic of the utmost respect for every human life.

However, as the doctors diagnosed brain death in our unit and I cared for these patients until their organs were harvested, I started to ask questions. For example, doctors assured us that these patients would die anyway within two weeks even if the ventilator to support breathing was continued, but no studies were cited. I also asked if we were making a brain-injured patient worse by removing the ventilator for up to 10 minutes for the apnea test to see if he or she would breathe since we knew that brain cells start to die when breathing stops for more than a few minutes.

I was told that greater minds than mine had it all figured out so I shouldn’t worry.

It was awhile before I realized that these doctors did not have the answers themselves and that my questions were valid.

I also discovered that some mothers declared “brain dead” were able to gestate their babies for weeks or months to a successful delivery before their ventilators were removed and that there were cases of “brain dead” people like Jahi McMath living and maturing for years after a diagnosis of brain death or even recovering like Zack Dunlap. 

If the legal definition of brain death is truly “irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem”, these cases would seem to be impossible.

PRESUMED CONSENT AND LAW

Another problem is “presumed consent” which is the assumption that everyone is willing to donate his/her organs unless there is evidence that they would not want to donate. Illinois narrowly avoided a “presumed consent” statute a few years ago where people who didn’t want to donate had to file an opt out document with the Secretary of State.

Some countries already have “presumed consent” laws, most recently in England that states:

“it will be considered that you agree to become an organ donor when you die, if:

  • you are over 18;
  • you have not opted out;
  • you are not in an excluded group”

Even more horrifying, there have also been proposals to even link organ donation and assisted suicide as “a potential solution to the organ scarcity problem”. Countries like Belgium and the Netherlands already allow this.

CONCLUSION

Organ donation can truly be “the gift of life”, and innovations such as adult stem cells and the donation of a kidney or part of a liver by a living person generally pose no ethical problems and hold much promise to increasingly meet the needs of people with failing organs. I have a grandson whose life was saved by a stem cell transplant and another relative who has had 2 kidney transplants.

Personally, I have offered to be a living donor for friends and my family knows that I am willing to donate tissues like bone, corneas, skin, etc. that can be donated after natural death.

Everyone can make his or her own decision about organ donation but it is crucial that we all have the necessary information to make an informed decision..

What Will It Take? Part Two -Does Abortion Really Help Women?

nancyvalko abortion, bereavement, culture, hospice, law, media, medical ethics, mental health, Planned Parenthood, prenatal testing, pro-life

In August 2019, I wrote a blog titled “Pro-abortion Desperation in Missouri” about the last Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Missouri losing its license because of numerous health and safety violations but continued to operate only because of several temporary injunctions by a judge.

The clinic finally closed only after the Supreme Court’s June 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision returned abortion law to the states.

Unfortunately, the pro-abortion choice response to that decision has resulted in terrible turmoil and animosity.

Now the attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers and churches with few arrests and prosecution of peaceful pro-life demonstrators are continuing unabated.

To try to portray abortion as a positive empowerment for women, Planned Parenthood has tried the “Share Your Story” and “Shout Your Abortion— Normalizing abortion and elevating safe paths to access, regardless of legality” campaigns to increase abortion support and activism. (The National Association of Pro-life Nurses countered with “Shout out Your Adoption!“, pointing out that “Adoption is a wonderful act of love and one of the best alternatives to abortion.”)

Now Planned Parenthood has another strategy for increasing abortion support and activism originally published in MS Magazine on 4/12/2022 and titled “A Firsthand View of the Crisis Ahead for Abortion Rights—and What We Should Do About It”

The article states:

“Since it seems we can no longer rely on the courts to protect these rights, our only solution is to pass a new federal law that will protect abortion rights in all 50 states. The Senate’s recent failure to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act makes it clear that we will need a greater pro-choice majority than we have today to pass this new legislation.

This will not happen in one election cycle, and it will take a commitment of time, energy and resources beyond that which we have been expending to date. We have to get all the voters who support reproductive rights registered and encourage them to vote. We have to elect representatives at all levels of government who will protect our reproductive rights that are currently under attack. (Emphasis in original)

THE TRAUMA OF ABORTION

And as a nurse, I have seen the mental and/or physical trauma after abortion in both friends and patients.

For example, one friend felt she had to have an abortion because the doctor said her unborn baby had little or no brain, which may not have even been true according to the doctor I knew who read the ultrasound. That doctor was devastated to learn that an abortion was done.

Knowing that I was pro-life, my friend said she didn’t want to talk about the traumatic 28 hour induced abortion but, after 5 years, she called me and said she needed to know how the hospital disposed of the body. She also revealed that she secretly hung an ornament for that baby on the Christmas tree every year.

And I wrote a November 2016 blog “Why Talk About Abortion” about one of my elderly hospice patients who told me that she was afraid to die because of a secret abortion she had 60 years ago because she believed that abortion was an “unforgivable sin” and she would go to hell. She also felt her now swollen belly due to her terminal condition was God punishing her for the abortion.

My heart went out to this woman who was suffering so much, more emotionally than even physically.

We talked for a long time and in a later visit about God’s love and forgiveness. I told her about Project Rachel, a healing ministry for women (and even men) wounded by abortion. I gave her the phone number and offered to be with her to meet a counselor or priest, but she insisted that my talking with her was enough to help. I felt it wasn’t, but she seemed to achieve a level of peace and she even started smiling! 

Rose died comfortably and apparently in her sleep about a week later.

SOME RESOURCES TO HELP WOMEN WHO ARE CONSIDERING ABORTION OR OTHERS WHO ARE HURTING AFTER AN ABORTION

  1. Support After Abortion “aspires to shift the conversation to compassion and support for those impacted by abortion” (including men)
  2. Project Rachel for women and even including how to talk to a friend who has had an abortion
  3. Birthright An organization with many resources and help
  4.  American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists states it “Promotes Dignity for BOTH our Patients!”
  5. There are also organizations like Prenatal Partners for Life and Be Not Afraid that provide support, information, resources and encouragement for carrying to term with an adverse prenatal diagnosis.

6. CareNet helps find a crisis pregnancy center in your area

CONCLUSION

Serrin M. Foster of Feminists for Life in her 2018 National Review article “Women Deserve Better than Abortion: The Ultimate Exploitation of Women” perhaps said it best:

 “The reality is that there is no such thing as a safe abortion. Few unborn human beings escape a violent death, but what is underreported is the mortality of healthy pregnant women killed during or as a result of abortion.

When we know how much a woman grieves from reproductive loss through miscarriage or stillbirth, who would choose abortion? According to the Guttmacher Institute, those who have abortions come primarily from the poorest among us (75 percent), women of color (61 percent), women pursuing post-secondary degrees that would lift them out of poverty (66 percent), and mothers who already have dependents (59 percent). Half of all abortions are performed on a woman who has already had one or more abortions, proving that abortion solves nothing. Abortion isn’t empowering, and it’s not something to celebrate. Abortion is a symptom of, not a solution to, the problems faced overwhelmingly by women who don’t have what they need and deserve. Abortion is a reflection that we have not met the needs of women. Women deserve better.”

And ALL of us deserve a better and more peaceful society!

What Will It Take?

nancyvalko abortion, assisted suicide, brain injury, Compassion & Choices, culture, disability, euthanasia, law, medical ethics, Planned Parenthood, pro-life

I recently wrote a blog titled “The War Against Crisis Pregnancy Centers Escalates” about the attacks on crisis pregnancy centers after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision returning abortion law to the individual states was outrageously leaked.

 Now that the final Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision  is public, the violence against crisis pregnancy centers and churches has continued with few if any arrests.

However, now even pro-life individuals have been targeted.

For example, an 84-year-old pro-life volunteer was shot on Sept. 20 while going door-to-door in her community to talk about a ballot measure concerning abortion in Michigan. Thankfully, she is expected to recover.

Even more disturbing and over the last weekend, was the news that the FBI raided the home of a pro-life advocate Mark Houck and arrested him in front of his 7 crying children for the alleged crime of “Assaulting a Reproductive Health Care Provider”.

According to the National Review, Mrs. Houck “described an incident in which her husband ‘shoved’ a pro-abortion man away from his 12-year-old son after the man entered ‘the son’s personal space’ and refused to stop hurling ‘crude… inappropriate and disgusting’ comments at the Houcks.” The man did not sustain any injuries but did try to sue Houck. The charges were later dismissed.

WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO RESOLVE THE NATIONAL TURMOIL SURROUNDING ABORTION?

I was a young intensive care unit nurse when the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision came down in 1973. Like most people I knew, I was surprised and shocked when abortion was legalized. However, I quickly found that my medical colleagues were split on the issue, and I was vehemently attacked for being against abortion. I was even asked what I would do if I was raped and pregnant. When I replied that I would not have an abortion and would probably release the baby for adoption, I was ridiculed. Our formerly cohesive unit began to fray.

But I was professionally offended by the pro-life argument that legalizing abortion would lead to the legalization of infanticide and euthanasia.  

It was one thing to deny the truth with an early and unobserved unborn baby, but it was quite another to imagine any doctor or nurse looking at a born human being and killing him or her.

But I was wrong.

As I wrote in my 2019 blog “Roe v. Wade’s Disastrous Impact on Medical Ethics”, personal and professional experiences opened my eyes to the truth.

I have seen the push for “choice” to expand to abortion for any reason up to birth, infanticide and medical discrimination against people with disabilities, including my own daughter who had Down Syndrome.

I wasn’t long until “choice” also became the heart of the “right to die” movement to include to include legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia, withdrawal of feedings from people with serious brain injuries whose “choice” was exercised by family members or doctors and even the voluntary stopping of eating and drinking (called VSED by the pro-death-choice group Compassion and Choices).

With VSED, Compassion & Choices maintains that:

“Many people struggle with the unrelieved suffering of a chronic or incurable and progressive disorder. Others may decide that they are simply “done” after eight or nine decades of a fully lived life. Free will and the ability to choose are cornerstones of maintaining one’s quality of life and dignity in their final days”.  (All emphasis added)

CONCLUSION

I have long preferred the term “respect life” to “anti-abortion” because obviously we should respect the lives of all people at any age or stage of development.

But this doesn’t mean anger or vilification of others.

Over the years I have written, spoken, debated, etc. people who do not agree with the respect life philosophy, but I never became angry.

I also found that listening to and not judging others-especially people in crisis-was crucially important.

For example and many years ago, I ran into an acquaintance I will call Diane and I congratulated her on her obvious pregnancy.

I was stunned when she replied, “Don’t congratulate me yet. I might not be pregnant.”

Diane, the mother of a 5-year-old boy, went on to explain that she was awaiting the results of an amniocentesis and said, “I know what you went through with your daughter but I can’t give up my life like that. If this (the baby) is Downs, it’s gone.”

I reassured her that the test would almost surely show that her baby was ok, but I added that if the results were not what she expected I would like her to call me. I promised that I would give her any help she needed throughout the pregnancy and that my husband and I or even another couple would be willing to adopt her baby. She was surprised, as I later found out, both by my reaction and the information about adoption.

Diane gave birth to a healthy baby girl a few months later and ran up to me to apologize for her comments, saying that she probably would not have had an abortion anyway. But I understood her terrible anxiety. Society itself seems to have a rather schizophrenic attitude towards children with disabilities. Special Olympics is considered inspirational but Down’s Syndrome is too often seen as a tragedy.

Whether it is abortion or legalized assisted suicide, we must be prepared to help desperate people either personally and/or referring them to a crisis pregnancy center or suicide hotline.

Every life deserves to be respected.

Good Healthcare Tips To Help the Elderly

nancyvalko culture, dementia, end-of-life, mental health

My first volunteer work was feeding elderly patients in a local nursing home when I was 13. Although I was nervous at first, I came to love being with these elderly patients and especially hearing their stories.

After I graduated from nursing school in 1969, I took care of many elderly patients in ICU, oncology, kidney dialysis and home health/hospice as well as my own relatives and friends. I learned a lot from all these people about the special needs of older patients and have written about them in my blogs.

 In 2018, I wrote a blog titled “Don’t Write Off the Elderly”  about “Melissa” (not her real name), my friend who is also the mother of one of my best friends and who died recently at the age of 99 years, 9 months and 5 days.

Melissa had wonderful care from her family, caregivers and spiritual support but she also had some difficult situations with the healthcare system. Thankfully, these situations were resolved and Melissa died peacefully and comfortably in her own home, as she had hoped.

So I was delighted to see this wonderful article at ‘Medical Methuselahs’: Treating the Growing Population of Centenarians (medscape.com) from the website Medscape for healthcare professionals that can help not only doctors and nurses but also older people and their friends and families.

Although this article is mainly about people who reach 100, it has observations and tips that can help other older people over 65. And as an older person myself, I really appreciate the positive outlook in this article.

Although the article is longer than most other Medscape articles, it is well worth reading for anyone who is older or who has elderly friends and/or relatives.

Here are some excerpts and all emphasis is mine:

1.“Priya Goel, MD is a New York doctor who works for a national home healthcare company that primarily serves people older than 65. Dr. Goel has observed that although some of the ultra-aged live

in nursing homes, many continue to live independently. They require both routine and acute medical care.

Dr. Goel urges her colleagues not to stereotype patients on the basis of age, saying that:

“You have to consider their functional and cognitive abilities, their ability to understand disease processes and make decisions for themselves… Age is just one factor in the grand scheme of things.” Dr. Goel visits her patients aged 65 and up in their homes to provide herself with insights into how well they’re doing, including the safety of their environments and the depth of their social networks.

2. Geriatrician Thomas Perls, MD says “”People can age so very differently from one another” and agrees that “that healthcare providers and the lay public should not make assumptions on the basis of age alone as to how a person is doing. People can age so very differently from one another,” he said and that:

“Up to about age 90, the vast majority of those differences are determined by our health behaviors, such as smoking, alcohol use, exercise, sleep, the effect of our diets on weight, and access to good healthcare, including regular screening for problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer. “People who are able to do everything right generally add healthy years to their lives, while those who do not have shorter life expectancies and longer periods of chronic diseases,” Perls said.

“Paying diligent attention to these behaviors over the long run can have a huge payoff” and

“Centenarians are the antithesis of the misguided belief that the older you get, the sicker you get. Quite the opposite occurs. For Perls, “the older you get, the healthier you’ve been.“

3. “We have to be very cognizant of what we call a typical presentation of disease or illness and that a very subtle change in an older adult can signal a serious infection or illness,” Baker said. “If your patient has a high fever, that is a potential problem.”

The average temperature of an older adult is lower than the accepted 98.6° F, and their body’s response to an infection is slow to exhibit an increase in temperature, Baker said. “When treating centenarians, clinicians must be cognizant of other subtle signs of infection, such as decreased appetite or change in mentation,” she cautioned.

A decline in appetite or insomnia may be a subtle sign that these patients need to be evaluated, she added.”

4. Environmental changes, such as moving a patient to a new room in a hospital setting, can trigger an acute mental status change, such as delirium, she added. Helping older patients feel in control as much as possible is important.

“You want to make sure you’re orienting them to the time of day. Make sure they get up at the same time, go to bed at the same time, have clocks and calendars present ― just making sure that they feel like they’re still in control of their body and their day,” she said.”

6. And, in a very important observation: 
“Dr. Flomenbaum, a pioneer in geriatric emergency medicine, says physicians need to be aware that centenarians and other very old patients don’t present the same way as younger adults.

He began to notice more than 20 years ago that every night, patients would turn up in his ED who were in their late 90s into their 100s. Some would come in with what their children identified as sudden-onset dementia ― they didn’t know their own names and couldn’t identify their kids. They didn’t know the time or day. Flomenbaum said the children often asked whether their parents should enter a nursing home.

 “And I’d say, ‘Not so fast. Well, let’s take a look at this.’ You don’t develop that kind of dementia overnight. It usually takes a while,” he said.”
 Dr. Flomenbaum also said: 
“The decline in hearing and vision can lead to a misdiagnosis of cognitive impairment because the patients are not able to hear what you’re asking them. “It’s really important that the person can hear you ― whether you use an amplifying device or they have hearing aids, that’s critical,” he said. “You just have to be a good doctor.” 

Often the physical toll of aging exacerbates social difficulties. Poor hearing, for example, can accelerate cognitive impairment and cause people to interact less often, and less meaningfully, with their environment. For some, wearing hearing aids seems demeaning ― until they hear what they’ve been missing.
 I get them to wear their hearing aids and, lo and behold, they’re a whole new person because they’re now able to take in their environment and interact with others,” Perls said.” 

Dr. Flomenbaum said alcohol abuse and drug reactions can cause delirium, which, unlike dementia, is potentially reversible. Yet many physicians cannot reliably differentiate between dementia and delirium, he added.”

7. The geriatric specialists talk about the lessons they’ve learned and the gratification they get from caring for centenarians.

“I have come to realize the importance of family, of having a close circle, whether that’s through friends or neighbors,” Goel said. “This work is very rewarding because, if it wasn’t for homebound organizations, how would these people get care or get access to care?”

For Baker, a joy of the job is hearing centenarians share their life stories.”

CONCLUSION

In helping to care for many elderly people over many decades, I can attest to the wisdom and hope of these experts.

Aging itself is not a terminal disease and it can be a wonderful time to spend more time with loved ones and reflect on how much we have learned and can still enjoy in every stage of life!

CDC OVERHAULS IT’S COVID 19 GUIDELINES

nancyvalko Covid 19, medical, nursing, vaccines

This month the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced significant changes in its Covid 19 guidance in a press release. Author Geta Massetti, PhD, MPH, MMWR explained that:

“We’re in a stronger place today as a nation, with more tools—like vaccination, boosters, and treatments—to protect ourselves, and our communities, from severe illness from COVID-19. We also have a better understanding of how to protect people from being exposed to the virus, like wearing high-quality masks, testing, and improved ventilation.  This guidance acknowledges that the pandemic is not over, but also helps us move to a point where COVID-19 no longer severely disrupts our daily lives.”(Emphasis added)

Among the biggest changes are:

“The CDC’s COVID-19 prevention guidance will no longer differentiate by whether people are up-to-date on their vaccinations.

Testing to screen for COVID-19 will no longer be recommended in most places for people who do not have COVID symptoms. 

The CDC says people who have tested positive for COVID-19 can stop wearing masks if their symptoms have improved and they test negative twice in a row — initially on the sixth day after their infection began, and then again on the eighth day.

And the CDC says that “to limit social and economic impacts, quarantine of exposed persons is no longer recommended, regardless of vaccination status.” 

And there are also new changes to guidance for schools, including:

“-Removed the recommendation to cohort

-Changed recommendation to conduct screening testing to focus on high-risk activities during high COVID-19 Community Level or in response to an outbreak

-Removed the recommendation to quarantine, except in high-risk congregate settings

-Removed information about Test to Stay

-Added detailed information on when to wear a mask, managing cases and exposures, and responding to outbreaks”

Also and as of June 12, 2002, “CDC will no longer require air passengers traveling from a foreign country to the United States to show a negative COVID-19 viral test or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 before they board their flight” but must be “fully vaccinated”.

And, according to CBS News, “U.S. agents will begin to offer COVID-19 vaccines to migrants in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody who are processed under regular immigration procedures and can’t show proof of vaccination.” (Emphasis added)

CONCLUSION

This sounds like progress but there is still controversy and court cases about Covid 19 vaccination mandates and exemptions. Stay tuned for further developments.

The War Against Crisis Pregnancy Centers Escalates

nancyvalko abortion, culture, family, family planning, pro-life

When the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization draft decision by the US Supreme Court to return abortion law to the individual states was outrageously leaked, I wrote about the pro-abortion violence perpetrated on crisis pregnancy centers and the threats against Supreme Court judges.

Now, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is not only strongly protesting the final ruling but also states:

“With Roe gone, it’s more important than ever to crack down on so-called ‘crisis pregnancy centers’ that mislead and deceive patients seeking abortion care,” said Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren, promoting her bill. “We need to crack down on the deceptive practices these centers use to prevent people from getting abortion care, and I’ve got a bill to do just that,”

Her bill titled the “Stop Anti-Abortion Disinformation Act” or “SAD Act” directs the Federal Trade Commission to “promulgate rules to prohibit a person from advertising with the use of misleading statements related to the provision of abortion service.” It would also allow charities to be fined $100,000 or “50 percent of the revenues earned by the ultimate parent entity” for disinformation, although the legislation itself does not define the prohibited speech.

Joining Senator Warren on the bill are Senators Hirono, Schatz, Booker, Smith, Klobuchar, Sanders, Murray, Merkley, Blumenthal, Feinstein, Wyden, Gillibrand, Markey, Warner and Markey.

Speaking with reporters in July, Senator Warren stated that:

“In Massachusetts right now, those crisis pregnancy centers that are there to fool people who are looking for pregnancy termination help outnumber true abortion clinics by 3 to 1. We need to shut them down here in Massachusetts, and we need to shut them down all around the country. You should not be able to torture a pregnant person like that” (All emphasis added)

This pronouncement was met with derision, even from some reporters.

A CRISIS PREGNANCY DIRECTOR RESPONDS

Heidi Matzke, who heads a Crisis Pregnancy Center in Sacramento, California was eloquent in describing the violence her center has faced as well as responding to Senator Warren’s point that centers like hers must be shut down:

“We have had to stop operations of our mobile clinic. We’ve had to hire 24-hour onsite security. We’ve had to add cameras. We’ve had to arm our staff with pepper spray,” she said, adding last week a man with a machete showed up and was stopped before he could inflict any harm or damage.”

She also called Ms. Warren statements “horrific”:

“Pregnancy centers give away $266 million of free medical services and resources to communities all over this incredible country. And her words are just incredibly hurtful.” (Emphasis added)

She also said her center provides fully licensed OB/GYN care with medical professionals and that “most of the women working at her clinic have had an abortion before and many believe their lives would be ‘so much different’ if they had gone to a pregnancy center.”

CONCLUSION

Personally and as a nurse, I have had experience with women considering abortion as well as women (and men) who relate how they were damaged by an abortion. They need compassion and real help.

Crisis pregnancy centers are a wonderful resource and even Sen. Warren acknowledges that crisis pregnancy centers outnumber well-funded abortion clinics by 3 to 1. There’s a lesson in that.

But most importantly, I wish that all of us would realize that abortion is a tragic loss of a life regardless of the circumstances, not a political cause to celebrate!

Pain, Choice, and Canada’s now “most permissive euthanasia legislation in the world”

nancyvalko assisted suicide, Cancer, Compassion & Choices, culture, dementia, disability, economics, end-of-life, euthanasia, hospice, law, medical ethics, mental health

In his excellent July 10, 2022 blog, Alex Schadenberg, chair of the International Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, reveals that now “Canada’s medical assistance in dying (Maid) law is the most permissive euthanasia legislation in the world”.

He says “Canada’s MAiD law currently allows suicide facilitation for persons with disabilities and is on track to expand in March 2023 to those living with mental illness. “ (Emphasis added)

How did assisted suicide/euthanasia laws get so far and so fast down the proverbial “slippery slope”?

In my December, 2016 blog “Pain and ‘Choice’”,  I wrote about how I saw the warning signs when I was a new nurse in 1969.

Here is my blog:

PAIN AND “CHOICE”

December 15, 2016 nancyvalko 

It was 1969 and I was fresh out of nursing school when I was assigned to a patient I will call “Jenny” who was thirty-two years old and imminently dying of cancer. She was curled up in her bed, sobbing in pain and even moaned “just kill me.” The small dose of Demerol I injected into her almost non-existent buttocks every four hours “as needed” was not helping. I reassured Jenny that I was immediately calling the doctor and we would get her more comfortable.

However, I was shocked when the doctor said no to increasing or changing her medication. He said that he didn’t want her to get addicted! I told him exactly what Jenny said and also that she was obviously very close to death so addiction would not be a problem. The doctor repeated his no and hung up on me.

I went to my head nurse and told her what happened, but she told me I had to follow the doctor’s order. Eventually, I went up the chain of command to the assistant director of nursing and finally the Chief of the Medical Staff. The verdict came down and I was threatened with immediate termination if I gave the next dose of Demerol even a few minutes early.

I refused to abandon Jenny so for the next two days before she died, I spent my time after my shift sitting with her for hours until she fell asleep. I gave her whatever food or drink she wanted. I stroked her back, held her hand and told stories and jokes. I asked her about her life. I did everything I could think of to distract her from her pain and make her feel better. It seemed to help, although not enough for me. I cried for Jenny all the way home.

And I was angry. I resolved that I would never watch a patient needlessly suffer like that again.

So, I educated myself by reading everything I could about pain medicine and side effects. I also pestered doctors who were great at pain control to teach me about the management, precautions, and rationale of effective pain management. I used that knowledge to advocate and help manage my patients’ pain as well as educating others.

I was delighted to see pain management become a major priority in healthcare and even called “the fifth vital sign” to be evaluated on every patient. I saw new developments like nerve blocks, new drugs, and regimens to control pain and other techniques evolve as well as other measures to control symptoms like nausea, breathlessness, and anxiety. Now we also have nutritional, psychological, and other support for people with terminal illnesses and their families.

Best of all was that I never again saw another patient suffer like Jenny despite my working in areas such as ICU, oncology (cancer) and hospice.

TWENTY-FOUR YEARS LATER

When my oldest daughter was 14, she attended a public high school where the science teacher unexpectedly started praising the infamous Dr. Jack Kevorkian and his public campaign for legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia.  Kevorkian’s first reported victim was Janet Adkins, a 54 year old woman with Alzheimer’s in no reported physical pain who was hooked up to a  “death machine” in the back of a rusty van. Mrs. Adkins was just the first of as many as 130 Kevorkian victims, many if not most of whom were later found to have no terminal illness. Kevorkian escaped prosecution-even after he harvested a victim’s organs and offered them for transplant-until the TV show 60 Minutes aired Kevorkian’s videotape showing him giving a lethal injection to a man with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). Shockingly, Kevorkian served only 8 years in prison before he was paroled and eventually became a media celebrity peddling assisted suicide and euthanasia.

My daughter, who never before showed any interest in my speaking and writing on the topic of assisted suicide, now stood up and peppered her teacher with facts about Kevorkian. The teacher asked her where she learned her information and she answered, “From my mom who is a cancer nurse”.

Sarcastically, he responded “So your mother wants to watch people suffer?” My daughter responded “No, my mother just refuses to kill her patients!” End of discussion.

CONCLUSION

But not the end of the story. Tragically, we now have legalized assisted suicide in several states and serious efforts  to expand it to include people without physical pain but with conditions like Alzheimer’s, mental illness or other psychological distress as well as even children.

As Wesley Smith recently and astutely observed:

 “Moreover, the statistics from Oregon and elsewhere show that very few people commit assisted suicide due to physical suffering. Rather, the issues are predominately existential, such as fears of being a burden or losing dignity

The public is being duped by groups like Compassion and Choices that campaign for legalized assisted suicide on the alleged basis of strict criteria for mentally competent, terminally ill adults in unbearable physical pain to freely choose physician-assisted suicide with (unenforceable) “safeguards”.

The emerging situation throughout the world is more like Kevorkian’s dream of unfettered and universal access to medical termination of the lives of “expendable” people. How much easier is that when people with expensive mental health problems, serious illnesses or disabilities can be encouraged to “choose” to be killed?

A Crisis Pregnancy Close to Home

nancyvalko abortion, adoption, culture, economics, family, law, pro-life, sex ed

A few days ago, I read an article from one of the medical news sites I subscribe to titled Would You Like to Keep This Pregnancy?’ I Asked My 13-Year-Old Patient–Having a choice can help end cycles of poverty among marginalized teen patients”.

Of course, the doctor/author was pro-abortion and the article was horrifying to me. I thought how differently a pro-life healthcare provider would handle the situation and remembered a news article I wrote in March, 1998 for the National Catholic Register newspaper.

Here is the news article:

“A Crisis Pregnancy Close to Home“

When it’s your own unmarried teenage daughter facing a staggering ‘choice,’ are you still pro-life?

“Mom, I’m pregnant.” When these words are uttered by your unmarried teenage daughter, it’s a heart-stopping moment for any parent. When the parent is a committed pro-lifer, the shock is often overlaid with stunned disbelief, shame, and guilt. “Hasn’t she been listening? This isn’t supposed to happen to my daughter!” and “How did I fail her?” are common first reactions. I know.

This Christmas, my 18-year-old daughter quietly told me that two at-home pregnancy tests came out positive.

Marie, named after the Blessed Mother, had long been my “worry child.” A brittle crust of teen rebellion had long covered a soft, sensitive heart, leading to a constant round of minor and not-so-minor infractions and arguments. Lately, though, her life seemed to be coming together. A“B” average at college and a job she loved lulled me into a sense that the worst was over. She confided that she thought she was falling in love and we talked about the pressures and temptations such strong emotions bring. Street-wise and assertive, I thought she was “safe.” But, as countless other parents have also discovered, my child lives in a world that too often considers virginity a disability and chastity an old-fashioned ideal.

The one bright spot in that night of tears and fears was that abortion was never considered an option by Marie: “Mom, I couldn’t kill my baby!” Although I was heartbroken by the circumstances of this pregnancy, I couldn’t help but feel proud of her for having the courage and common sense to reject the abortion “option.”

Surprisingly, she said all her friends were against her having an abortion and a few who had been leaning “pro-choice” were now rethinking their position. Two of her friends actually threatened to physically stop her from having an abortion even before she told them that she would never abort.

We didn’t resolve everything that first night or even later. Adoption or keeping the baby is still the big question and one that will involve a lot of prayer, thought, and discussion. It hasn’t been easy, but facing this crisis together has taught both of us so much already. What the future holds for Marie and her baby is uncertain but, with prayer and love, it is still a future bright with promise for both of them.

A Common Stereotype

A January 1998 New York Times article, “Many Women Make No Link Between Abortion and Politics,” perpetuates a common stereotype-the pro-lifer who chooses abortion when a crisis pregnancy hits home. Writer Tamar Lewin states, “Almost every abortion-clinic counselor can reel off stories of patients who say that they have always opposed abortion but that their own situation is different, or men who bring their pregnant wives or teenage daughters to the very same clinics that they have long spoken out against.”

But conversations with people active in the pro-life movement reveal a very different picture. Not surprisingly, pro-life people willing to help total strangers with a crisis pregnancy are also ready to help and support their own sons and daughters facing the same crisis.

“You think it’s the blackest day in your life when your daughter tells you she’s pregnant,” Lucy R., long active in the pro-life movement, says. A smile lights her voice. “But it’s really the beginning of a great blessing. That little boy (now six years old) is the light of our lives.” She credits prayer and pro-life principles for that happy ending.

Janet B. was a young professional when her sister told her that she had had an abortion without their parents’ knowledge because although their mother and father were strongly pro-life, the sister was sure they “just couldn’t take it (an unwed pregnancy).”

When Janet herself became pregnant out of wedlock, her parents became her biggest supporters. “We became so much closer,” she says. “My sister was wrong.” Interviews with pro-life supporters around the country reveal that this kind of family support during a crisis pregnancy appears to be the norm, not the exception.

Marcia Buterin RN, founder of Missouri Nurses for Life and active in the pro-life movement for 25 years, has had broad experience with pro-life parents whose daughters or sons have had crisis pregnancies. “It almost seems like an epidemic sometimes,” she says. “Pro-lifers are not immune from what is happening in the rest of society.”

But, she says, the reaction of the parents she has known has been invariably positive despite the heartache at discovering a son or daughter has been sexually active. She also says that, in the vast majority of cases, the young women keep their babies rather than releasing them for adoption. This echoes statistics which show that more than 90% of unmarried mothers keep their babies, almost the opposite situation of a generation ago when most of these mothers chose adoption. Thus, pro-lifers are not only supporting their daughters and sons during their pregnancies but also are usually involved in helping to raise their grandchildren.

Waning Support for Abortion

Not only do pro-lifers appear to routinely reject abortion for their unmarried children, society seems to be slowly starting to change its attitude toward abortion and the unmarried. According to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, not only has support for abortion-on-demand eroded by an estimated 8% since 1989, but public support for abortion when pregnancy threatens to interrupt a woman’s career or education has also dropped 14% and 8% respectively.

A clear majority of the people polled did not feel these circumstances justified abortion. Undermining a basic abortion rights tenet that familiarity with abortion increases public acceptance, the same poll showed that “personal experience” was twice as likely to be given as a reason for becoming less favorable towards abortion rather than more supportive of abortion.

At the same time, a new wave of pro-life sentiment appears to be rising in a most unexpected place-the young people who have grown up under the shadow of Roe. The Times/CBS News poll showed even less support for abortion on demand among 18-29 year olds (29%) than among the general public (32%). The Alan Guttmacher Institute, the research arm of Planned Parenthood, has noted that “in recent years, fewer pregnant teens have chosen to have an abortion.” Even the media is beginning to notice. In a Jan. 21 New York Times article “A New Generation Rising Against Abortion,” writer Laurie Goodstein interviewed an eclectic group of young people attending a Rock for Life concert and found thoughtful and strong pro-life support even among those sporting tattoos and punk-style clothing.

Some explained that they began considering the value of life after losing friends to suicide, drug overdoses, and automobile accidents.

Goodstein also noted that many of the concert-goers she interviewed said that they arrived at a “right to life” position on their own and that, to be consistent, they also opposed the death penalty and assisted suicide and supported abstinence.

Countering Rock for Choice and other groups which help raise money for abortion rights groups, Rock for Life is a relatively recent phenomenon which reaches young people through the potent medium of music. Concert organizer Bryan Kemper told Goodstein that 15 concerts have already been staged and that there have been 110 bands “willing to perform for gas money.” Rock for Life is not the only sign that the pro-life movement is connecting with a new generation. Teens for Life, started in 1985, is a national organization run by young people encouraging teens to speak up for life and get involved in community activities. It has chapters throughout the country and continues to grow in numbers.

Another positive sign is the increasing number of pro-life groups springing up on college campuses. And not just on religiously-affiliated college campuses. MIT, Princeton, and the University of Texas are among colleges which not only have pro-life groups but also have websites on the Internet.

What Helps, What Hurts

But trends and statistics do not meet the needs of the individual young woman and her family suddenly facing a crisis pregnancy. The first reactions of parents and others to the news is extremely important to the woman and can even make the life-or-death difference for the unborn baby. When the first reaction is anger or a stern lecture about premarital sex, the young woman can feel abandoned and, in her despair, decide that eliminating the baby will make everyone feel better.

Parents and friends of young men and women coping with an unwed pregnancy are often unsure of what to say or how to handle the situation. One newer resource developed to help with this problem is a video and pamphlet called First Words: Can Our First Reaction to an Unplanned Pregnancy Save a Child’s Life? produced by American Life League.

The video tells the stories of four young women who faced an unwed pregnancy and encountered a range of reactions from friends and family. In their own words, these young women share how these reactions influenced their decisions about whether or not to abort their babies. The pamphlet is written by Cathy Brown who candidly tells her own story and offers helpful advice to parents and others.

But deciding against abortion is only the first step in a crisis pregnancy. The decision about whether to keep the baby or release him/her for adoption is often the most agonizing question for a young woman. Questions about insurance coverage and prenatal care, maintaining or losing a relationship with the father, the reactions of other children in the family, etc. are some of the practical and immediate concerns. Birthright and other pro-life pregnancy counseling centers can be a big help to families struggling with a crisis pregnancy.

Members of the family’s church can also help provide much needed spiritual and emotional support as well as involving the community in the nurturing of a new life.

For parents, especially pro-life parents, embarrassment and feelings of failure are common and understandable. It’s hard to put aside such feelings and concentrate on the feelings and needs of a son or daughter. But, as Donna B., a long-time pro-life activist and herself the mother of a pregnant teen, says, “Abortion is the real failure. It’s OK to be proud when your daughter chooses life.”

Nancy Valko writes from St. Louis, Mo.

WHILE PRO-ABORTION VIOLENCE AGAINST PRO-LIFE CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTERS INCREASES, THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION SAYS CONSCIENCE RIGHTS REGARDING ABORTION MAY BECOME “INDEFENSIBLE”

nancyvalko abortion, assisted suicide, bereavement, Compassion & Choices, conscience rights, culture, law, medical ethics, Planned Parenthood, pro-life

We have been witnessing the rage and misinformation dividing Americans after the outrageous leak of Supreme Court Justice Alito’s draft decision on the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization returning abortion laws back to the states since it was reported on May 2, 2022.

Many pro-life crisis pregnancy centers are now being attacked with paint, firebombs, etc. by pro-abortion groups like “Jane’s Revenge”. But as Nicole Ault of the Wall Street Journal points out:

“No woman is forced to go to one of these clinics, where more than 10,000 licensed medical professionals worked or volunteered as of 2019, according to the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute. In addition to providing ultrasounds and pregnancy tests, the centers help women get supplies and counseling.”

But then, on June 8, 2022 and during the night, U.S. Marshals protecting the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh from illegally picketing protesters apprehended an individual with a gun and a knife who readily admitted that “he was there to kill Justice Kavanaugh in response to the leaked draft opinion that indicated the Court might be preparing to overturn Roe v. Wade.”

Now, Jane’s Revenge has issued a call to ‘riot’ against the Supreme Court if it does overturn Roe v. Wade.

Their flyer “DC CALL TO ACTION NIGHT OF RAGE” declares “THE NIGHT SCOTUS OVERTURNS ROE V. WADE HIT THE STREETS YOU SAID YOU’D RIOT. TO OUR OPPRESSORS: IF ABORTIONS AREN’T SAFE, YOU’RE NOT EITHER.’ JANE’S REVENGE.” (Emphasis added)

THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION ON ABORTION

On March 8, 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO), the international body responsible for public health and part of the United Nations involved in many aspects of health policy and planning, issued its’ “Abortion Care Guideline“.

In the Guideline, WHO recommends “the full decriminalization of abortion” and calls conscientious objection to abortion a major obstacle to making abortion freely available.

According to the WHO recommendations:

“If it proves impossible to regulate conscientious objection in a way that respects, protects and fulfils abortion seekers’ rights, conscientious objection in abortion provision may become indefensible.” (Emphasis added)

CONCLUSION

Personally, when my daughter Karen, born with Down Syndrome and a severe heart defect, died at 5 1/2 months in 1983, my grief was substantially lessened by donating Karen’s clothes, formula, etc. to our local Birthright organization, one of the many pro-life organizations providing help to pregnant women.

Since Karen and as a nurse and mother, I have been able to help advocate for distressed mothers and their families, children and adults with disabilities and, best of all, my own daughter who found she was pregnant in her first year of college and gave birth to my first grandchild.

And I know that the WHO is absolutely wrong in calling conscientious objections to abortion “indefensible”. Conscience rights are critically important for all of us, whether or not we are healthcare providers.

As I wrote in my December 13, 2019 blog “Are We Witnessing the Coming Extinction of Conscience Rights?”:

“With the current support of a predominantly sympathetic mainstream media, well-funded and politically active groups like Planned Parenthood and Compassion&Choices are also putting pro-life health care providers and their supportive institutions in grave danger of becoming an endangered species in law, politics and health care.

If this happens, our health care system will radically change-especially for the unborn, the elderly and people with disabilities.

When dedicated and compassionate people are denied entry into the health care professions because they refuse to deliberately end lives, harassed and/or fired when they refuse to participate in a deliberate death decision and efforts to make religiously based healthcare institutions to allow lives to be ended by “choice”, will any of us ever be able to trust our healthcare system when we need it the most?” (Emphasis added)

Rest in Peace, “Melissa”

nancyvalko bereavement, Covid 19, culture, disability, end-of-life, faith, family, inspiration

I have written blogs about my elderly friend “Melissa” (not her real name) and some of her health care experiences to explain some of the pitfalls elderly people may encounter when they get seriously ill.

I have known “Melissa” for decades and, with her permission, she agreed to my writing about her in my blogs. She was thrilled to hear about my 2018 blog “Covid 19 and Nursing Homes”   and my 2020 blog “Don’t Write Off the Elderly”.

She even told me she like the name “Melissa” better than her real name!

I first met Melissa when she was in her 80s through her daughter who is also one of my favorite people.

Both were involved in planning the beautiful wedding reception at my home when my second husband and I were married in 2008. Melissa even remembered my favorite flower and made beautiful centerpieces with them for every table.

After Melissa could no longer drive, I took her to Mass at her parish and then to Chic-Fil-A on Fridays for breakfast with her daily Mass friends until she couldn’t physically make it.

I then visited her on Fridays and was inspired when she accepted hospice care and the care of her family with grace and gratitude.

Eventually, she spent her last days in a bed near a large window where she could watch the birds at her birdfeeder and have some of her beloved flowers at her bedside.

During that time, Melissa and I laughed a lot, prayed together, chatted about current events and family, and watched funny videos and old episodes of TV shows she enjoyed like “Barney Miller” and “Bewitched”.

She also told me many of the fascinating stories behind the pictures of her and her family covering the walls of her room.

Melissa died peacefully on May 6, 2022, at her home at the age of 99 years, 9 months and 5 days, lovingly cared for by her family and great home health and hospice providers.

A devout Catholic, Melissa was unafraid of death and knew she would meet her late husband and her son who died at age 4. Another son unexpectedly died at 56, shortly before Melissa.

Melissa generously donated her body to Logan College to help future doctors with their education.

After her funeral Mass, her family had a Celebration of Life event with pictures and stories about her life. There was a lot of laughter and some tears as we all talked about Melissa and what she meant to us.

CONCLUSION

Melissa and her family are an inspiration to me and an example of how to have a good death, something that seems impossible to many people.

I visited her the day she died peacefully and comfortably, but not awake.

She died just as she hoped.

We will miss you Melissa but we will never forget you!

Rest in peace.

THE TRAGIC DIVIDE ON THE ROE V. WADE ABORTION DECISION

nancyvalko abortion, adoption, education, euthanasia, hospice, law, medical ethics, nursing, Planned Parenthood

It has been almost physically painful to watch the tidal wave of rage and misinformation dividing Americans after the outrageous leak of Supreme Court Justice Alito’s draft decision on the Dobbs V Jackson Women’s Health Organization returning abortion laws back to the states.

But this is not the first time I saw such division about abortion.

I was a young intensive care unit nurse when the Roe v. Wade decision came down in 1973. Like most people I knew, I was surprised and shocked when abortion was legalized.

However, I quickly found that my medical colleagues were split on the issue, and I was vehemently attacked for being against abortion. I was even asked what I would do if I was raped and pregnant. When I replied that I would not have an abortion and would probably release the baby for adoption, I was ridiculed. Our formerly cohesive unit began to fray.

But I was professionally offended by the pro-life argument that legalizing abortion would lead to the legalization of infanticide and euthanasia.  

It was one thing to deny the truth with an early and unobserved unborn baby, but it was quite another to imagine any doctor or nurse looking at a born human being and killing him or her.

How wrong I was!

As I wrote in my 2019 blog “Roe v. Wade’s Disastrous Impact on Medical Ethics” , it wasn’t until the 1982 Baby Doe case and my daughter Karen’s birth and death opened my eyes and changed my life.

HARD TRUTHS ABOUT ABORTION

Because I am a nurse and mother, I have personally learned some hard truths about abortion and the abortion industry. Here are some of my experiences.

A young relative came to me after visiting a Planned Parenthood clinic for a suspected sexually transmitted disease. She said the clinic told her that she didn’t have an infection but the girl continued to get worse-and scared.

I arranged for her to see my own pro-life ob-gyn who discovered that the infection had damaged her cervix so much that part of it had to be removed and, even worse, she would probably have to have her cervix sewn shut until delivery if she became pregnant in the future.

Learning that Planned Parenthood had apparently missed the diagnosis, my doctor never charged for his services.

KNOWLEDGE IS ESSENTIAL

I will never forget the Christmas day my 18-year-old daughter told me she was pregnant.

We talked for hours, and I told her that I would support any decision she would make-except abortion.

She laughed and told me that abortion was not an option because she “knew too much”, especially from the prenatal pamphlets I showed my children with each pregnancy. They all were excited about how their brother or sister was developing and asked almost daily what their unborn sibling was now able to do.

My first grandchild is now 23 years old and has a loving family who allows us to be part of her life.

And we know even more now about pregnancy, as I wrote in my 2019 blog “An Amazing Video of a Living, First Trimester Unborn Baby” . The video shows an approximately 8 week old unborn baby moving its’ tiny head and limbs remarkably like a newborn baby. Unfortunately, the video was both heartbreaking and beautiful since this little one was developing outside the mother’s womb (ectopic pregnancy) and had to be removed surgically. He or she could not survive for long but this recognizable baby was obviously not a “clump of cells”!

POST-ABORTION TRAUMA IS REAL

Many years ago when I worked in home health and hospice, I cared for a very cranky, elderly woman I will call “Rose” who had rejected all the other nurses in our agency. Even her own doctor had problems with her and told me that he could not understand why she was even still alive because her end stage congestive heart failure was so severe. Part of my assignment was to measure her abdomen and legs to adjust her diuretics (water pills).

As I got to know Rose over a few visits, she softened towards me and began telling me about her life. But one day, while I was measuring her abdomen, she burst into tears and told me she hated looking 9 months pregnant because of the fluid retention in her abdomen. Rose said she knew it was God punishing her for the abortion she had 60 years before!

Rose had never told anyone, not even her late husband, about the abortion she had before marrying him. She felt that baby was the boy she never had but she didn’t feel worthy to even name him. She also told me that she knew she had committed the “unforgivable sin” and was afraid to die because she would be sent to hell. My heart went out to this woman who was suffering so much, more emotionally than even physically.

We talked for a long time and in a later visit about forgiveness and God’s love. I told her about Project Rachel, a healing ministry for women (and even men) wounded by abortion. I gave her the phone number and offered to be with her to meet a counselor or priest but she insisted that my talking with her was enough to help. I felt it wasn’t but she seemed to achieve a level of peace and she even started smiling.

I wasn’t surprised when Rose died quietly and comfortably in her sleep about a week later.

OFFERING HELPFUL INFORMATION IS CRUCIAL

In 1989, I had just started working as an RN on an oncology (cancer) unit when we discovered that one of our patients had CMV (Cytomegalovirus).

One of our nurses was pregnant and tested positive for the virus. Her doctor told her how her baby could die or have terrible birth defects from the virus and he recommended an abortion.

“Sue” (not her real name) was frantic. She had two little girls and worked full time. She said she didn’t know how she could manage a child with serious birth defects.

I told her that it was usually impossible to know if or how much a baby might be impaired before birth. I also told her about my Karen who was born with Down Syndrome and a critical heart defect and died at 5 months. I told her that I treasured the time I had with her and later babysat children with a range of physical and mental disabilities.

Most importantly, I also told her that I would be there to help her and her baby.

“Sue” decided against abortion and told the other nurses what I said.

The other nurses were furious with me and said if the baby was born with so much as an extra toe, they would never talk to me again.

But slowly, the other nurses came around and also offered to help Sue and her baby.

In the end, we all celebrated when Sue had her first son who was perfectly healthy!

CONCLUSION

Many people don’t understand is that being pro-life isn’t just being against abortion, infanticide and euthanasia. What being pro-life really means is truly caring about all lives, born or unborn.

What I have found most helpful is a  sincere interest and willingness to help when encountering people struggling with an abortion decision for themselves or someone close to them.

Why talk about abortion? Because we never know who may need to hear the truth and we need to help heal the tragic divide in our nation by our example.

Baby Tinslee Lewis Finally Goes Home after Beating the Texas 10 Day Rule

nancyvalko futility, law, medical ethics, pro-life, Simon's Law, ventilators/life support

In 2019, Baby Tinslee Lewis was born prematurely with a rare heart condition called Ebstein’s anomaly and underdeveloped lungs at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Texas. She needed life support, including a ventilator to help her breathe.

The medical team began talking to her family soon after her birth about possible end-of-life care. Eventually, the medical team met with the hospital’s ethics committee and the committee agreed that it would be inappropriate to continue to treat Tinslee.

As HALO (Healthcare Advocacy and Leadership Organization) explains, this met the Texas 10-day rule for removing Tinslee’s life-sustaining treatment:

TEXAS 10-DAY RULE
  The 10-Day Rule is a part of the Texas Advance Directives Act (§166.046). Basically, this “rule” allows a hospital ethics committee to decide to remove life-sustaining treatment from a patient against the patient’s or family’s wishes. The patient or patient’s decision maker (usually family)    most likely, not professionals and are generally ill-equipped to defend their position. The committee follows with a written notice of its decision that life-sustaining treatment is “inappropriate.” Receipt of this notice marks the start of a ten-day countdown. “The physician and the health care facility,” states the law, “are not obligated to provide life-sustaining treatment after the 10th day after the written decision.” Finding another facility that will honor the patient’s/family’s treatment wishes and transferring the patient—at the expense of the patient and/or family—are monumental tasks which often prove impossible within the ten-day window.

The family was told they had until Nov. 22 to find a new hospital willing to take Baby Tinslee.

However, Tinslee’s family fought for her and they won a last-minute reprieve from a judge to stop the Texas hospital from taking the now 9 month old off life support against their wishes.

The hospital spokesperson stood by the hospital’s decision to end life support, saying:

“In the last several months, it’s become apparent her health will never improve,” and

“Despite our best efforts, her condition is irreversible, meaning it will never be cured or eliminated.” and

“Without life-sustaining treatment, her condition is fatal. But more importantly, her physicians believe she is suffering.

In July 2020, the hospital again wanted to take Tinslee off life support while Tinslee’s mother asked for another specialist to see her. The specialist recommended a tracheostomy to help her.

With help from individuals, lawyers and groups like Texas Right to Life and HALO (Healthcare Advocacy and Leadership Organization), Tinslee’s case was eventually taken all the way up to the Texas Supreme Court. Finally, this court ruled to keep Tinslee on life support. The US Supreme Court upheld the Texas court‘s decision.

Now, Tinslee has so steadily improved (see the pictures) that the hospital released her to go home to her family. She is now on a portable ventilator with a tracheostomy and home health care.

Texas Right to Life states:

“Tinslee’s success story shows that in the absence of an anti-Life countdown, families and hospitals can work together for the benefit of the patient. Tinslee has received excellent care from Cook Children’s Medical Center. It is with their efforts that Tinslee will now transition to home health care. Meanwhile, Texas Right to Life is committed to doubling our efforts in the Capitol and with our full-time patient advocacy team to combat and stop the deadly 10-Day Rule from destroying the lives of more vulnerable patients like Tinslee. “

CONCLUSION  

I have been writing about medical futility problems for decades, especially about Simon’s Law to protect medically vulnerable children and their parents from medical discrimination, including my own daughter.

We need to send a strong message that medical discrimination against medically vulnerable or disabled people of any age based on subjective judgements of “medical futility” and/or predicted “poor quality of life” is wrong.

Homicide is a Leading Cause of Death During Pregnancy-How Can We Help?

nancyvalko abortion, domestic violence

A February 22, 2022 USA Today article “Homicide is a leading cause of death during pregnancy. These women are more likely to be killed.”, cited a 2021 study in Obstetrics and Gynecology that found that homicide exceeded all top cause of maternal death “by more than twofold” in 2018 and 2019.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t until 2003 that the United States required death certificates to include information on whether the person who died was pregnant at the time or had recently given birth. Then the CDC paused on releasing reports on U.S maternal mortality rates “over concerns that the data collect was incomplete and potentially incorrect” until 2017 when all 50 states included some type of checkbox on death certificates allowing officials to track maternal mortality.

Pregnancy-associated homicide covers the perinatal period (pregnancy and up to 1 year postpartum) and when the perpetrator of the homicide is identified, the assailant is most often an intimate partner. Most of the victims were found to be black or younger than 25.

The USA Today article states that:

“Experts say the alarming statistics reflect a grave nationwide public health concern, with the inequity adding urgency to widen the lens on maternal mortality causes, track them better and raise domestic violence awareness.”

Dr. Andrea Jackson, an obstetrician and gynecologist and professor at the University said the findings felt like a call to action for all of us in obstetrics” and that the “whole system needs to be built with the most vulnerable at the center”.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

While clinicians are encouraged to be “more proactive in screening for signs of domestic violence during prenatal appointments”, the rest of us should be aware that many women are afraid to tell others about domestic abuse-whether or not they are pregnant.

Both personally and professionally, I have seen women hide their domestic abuse problems from others with a happy face for years before the abuse was evident.

When we encounter women considering abortion, we need to be aware that some women may be in abusive situations and need help beyond food insecurity, lack of child care, transportation barriers to health care, etc.

Live Action, a pro-life group, published a March 2022 article “Love Them Both: How to help a pregnant mother in a crisis situation” that has helpful information on numerous resources available to help pregnant women facing a crisis situation like domestic violence, homelessness, drug addiction and more.

As Live Action says:

“Pro-lifers can help any woman considering abortion by helping her out of the crisis with real solutions.”

And we all need to know about the resources available to help women-pregnant or not-with these serious problems.

A New Profile in Courage

nancyvalko courage, inspiration

I will never forget turning 13 and watching President John F. Kennedy on television during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

My whole family was watching when the president told us that a nuclear war with Russia could be imminent.

I was terrified, especially since my parents were leaving for a golf trip the next day and I was left in charge of my younger brothers and sister.

I tried to be calm and brave like President Kennedy so that my siblings wouldn’t be upset. It was very hard.

When the threat was over and my parents returned home, I read President Kennedy’s book “Profiles in Courage”. I was so inspired by these stories of brave politicians standing up for their principles that I started reading the two newspapers (one liberal, one conservative) and news magazines that came to our house to try to better understand politics, economics, etc.

But over the next several decades, it sadly seemed that real courage was often in short supply-especially in politics-until now.

PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY AND THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE

President Volodymyr Zelensky is a 44 year old former actor and comedian, who is now the sixth and current president of Ukraine. President Zelenskyy grew up as a native Russian speaker in Kryvyi Rih, a major city in central Ukraine. He is Jewish and married with three children.

In 2015, he played the lead in the tv series “Servant of the People”, a satire about an ordinary history teacher who is caught on camera ranting about his country’s rampant corruption and cynicism and surprisingly becomes the president of Ukraine.

His characterization of the honest and dedicated teacher-turned-politician amazingly resulted in Mr. Zelensky’s own election to president of Ukraine in 2019 in a landslide. (Subtitled episodes of his show “Servant of the People” are available on YouTube.)

Then, when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, President Zelensky became the face-and heart-of the beleaguered country of Ukraine.

In an interview just after the Russian invasion began and he was offered help to safely get out of the country, President Zelensky famously said “I don’t need a ride [out of the country]. I need more ammunition.”

Instead of hiding from the Russian attacks and by using social media videos,  President Zelensky went out into the streets to show that he was with his people despite the personal danger to himself. He also called for the US and other countries to help him and his people fight the unprovoked Russian invasion.

So far, President Zelensky has survived 3 assassination attempts to continue communicating with his people and the world. On March 8, he addressed the UK Parliament by video and spoke emotionally about his country’s attempt to stop the Russian invasion and how the Ukrainian citizens have rebelled against the Russian forces. President Zelenskyy received a standing ovation from the UK parliament with many members wearing pins with the Ukrainian flag colors.

 Despite overwhelming odds, the Ukrainian people have been able to survive and fight back for weeks so far.

Many other countries have now sent reporters to Ukraine where they have chronicled both the atrocities of the Russians and the bravery, kindness, and resolve of the Ukrainians trying to save their country.

CONCLUSION

Like many other people, I have been riveted while watching this new war on tv and seeing the terrible suffering of the Ukrainian people. It is heartbreaking to watch.

But what has surprised and inspired me is the conduct of President Zelensky and his people.

Despite the terrible hardships and suffering, President Zelenskyy and his people have shown tremendous resolve and determination not to respond with anger or with the same cruelty that they receive. They just ask to live in peace in their own country.

The news videos of caring citizens helping the elderly, mothers with small children, the wounded, etc. to get food, water, and medical care as they try to escape to a safe country are unforgettable.

President Zelensky continues to be composed but emphatic about what he and his people need to survive and save their homeland.

Those of us who can help through prayers, donations through organizations like the Red Cross, etc. should do so.

No one yet knows what the final result of this terrible invasion will be but the we should never forget the bravery and dedication of Ukraine’s president Zelenskyy and his people.

I know I won’t.

A DISTURBING BUT IMPORTANT LOOK INTO THE TRAINING OF DOCTORS FOR MEDICALLY ASSISTED SUICIDE

nancyvalko assisted suicide, Canada, Compassion & Choices, conscience rights, disability, end-of-life, law, medical ethics, mental health

Most people seem to assume that medically assisted suicide is a simple matter of getting a doctor to prescribe a lethal overdose, taking a pill or two and then go to sleep and die. Many seem unaware that a second consulting doctor (or other healthcare provider in some states) must agree.

This view, abetted by polls, well-funded groups like Compassion and Choices as well as a mostly sympathetic mainstream media, is disastrously wrong.

A stunning February 2022 article in Medscape for healthcare providers titled  “Medical Aid in Dying: Your Clinical Guide and Practice Points” exposes some very real problems with medically assisted suicide that are largely hidden from the general public.

But while citing a Gallup poll showing that 74% of the American public support legalizing “medical aid in dying” (their preferred term for medically assisted suicide) as well as 58% of doctors, the article admits that:

“Study data, however, have revealed a discrepancy between attitudes about legalization and willingness to practice. Only 15% to 22% of physicians in favor of legal access to medical aid in dying would be willing or likely to provide such assistance” (Emphasis added)

And citing Oregon, the first state to legalize assisted suicide, the article claims that:

“Pain management and hospice use have improved in Oregon since passage of the Death with Dignity Act” but also that “Opponents of medical aid in dying express concern that in Oregon, more than 70% of patients who elect medical aid in dying are elderly and have cancer–both being commonly associated with depression–but fewer than 5% are referred for psychiatric evaluation”. (Emphasis added)

Tellingly, the article recognizes the toll assisted suicide can take on the medical professionals involved:

“A Mental Note for the Healthcare Provider: Discussion of end-of-life options represents a profound event for both the patient and the healthcare provider. Do not neglect your own self-care while guiding your patient through the emotionality that can be brought on by end-of-life decision-making.” (Emphasis added)

THE MEDICALLY ASSISTED SUICIDE PROTOCOL IS COMPLICATED

It is recommended that the patient does not eat or drink for 6 hours before ingesting the lethal dose called D-DMAPh.

Anti-nausea medication and a gastric motility medication is to be taken 1 hour before ingesting the life-ending medication.

A large dose of Digoxin to slow the heart is taken 30 minutes later and then a compound of anxiolytic, opioid and tricyclic medications are to be swallowed in less than 90 seconds.

Recommendations include:

– adding a favorite liquor may counter the bitterness of the mixture

– a small amount of sorbet can be ingested to avoid potential post-ingestion esophageal burning or distress

-Prepare for the possibility that the medication may not work if not quickly and fully ingested; it is crucial that the patient who self-administers not fall asleep before consuming the full dose-Patients should not take the medicine when alone or in a public place

-kept carefully out of the reach of children and vulnerable adults

-and must be disposed of properly. (Emphasis added)

For special circumstances:

“It is legal in all jurisdictions for physicians, other HCPs, or family members to assist in medical aid in dying but not to administer medical aid-in-dying medications.[1-9] The law requires that the patient self-administer the medication through ingestible means, which may include:

•         Drinking the medication mixture

•         Ingesting through a nasogastric tube

•         Ingesting the medication through a feeding tube, or

•         Insertion through a rectal catheter

Patients are permitted to receive help in preparing or mixing the medication for self-administration, but the patient must take a voluntary, affirmative act (i.e., swallowing or pushing a syringe) and administer the medication him- or herself. Medical aid-in-dying laws do not allow physicians, family members, or anyone else, including the dying person, to administer medical aid-in-dying medication by intravenous (IV) injection, parenteral injection, or infusion.” (Emphasis added)

The article states that decision-making capacity is the basis of informed consent and that:

“Guidance begins with assessment of the patient’s decision-making capacity and understanding of palliative measures as alternatives to or concurrent with medical aid in dying. No matter the practice specialty, HCPs (health care providers) are trained on the art of assessing a patient’s medical decision-making capacity and their ability to understand the situation, appreciate the consequences, reason rationally, and express a choice.” (Emphasis added)

If there is a concern, the patient:

 “must be referred for additional evaluation by a licensed psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, or clinical social worker. The request for aid-in-dying medication does not proceed unless the mental health professional affirms that the patient is free of mental illness, acute psychological distress, or demoralization.” (Emphasis added)

COMPLICATIONS

The article admits that complications such as regurgitation and seizures can occur but says they are infrequent.

Prolonged dying can also occur so the “families should make contingency plans for how to manage such circumstances” and “remain calm and engage with hospice or other support services as needed. Families should understand that to help avoid unnecessary deployment of police and emergency medical personnel, they should not call 911.” (Emphasis added)

The article also warns that:

“Those present at the death may witness the following changes, which frequently occur during the natural dying process: snoring; gurgling noises; changes in rate of breathing; and fluctuations in body temperature that may leave their skin cool, warm, moist, or pale. Physical movements or other external signs of distress are sometimes exhibited, but the internal peace of the person is not disturbed.” (Emphasis added)

Sadly, the article reports that 4% of patients in Oregon “chose not to inform their families of their decision” even though support groups “strongly recommend that at least 1 other person be present” but not the doctor.

LEGAL REQUIREMENTS DIFFER WIDELY BETWEEN STATES

The article illustrates how dramatic the differences are in state laws such as the eligible medical providers in New Mexico to include APRNs (advance practice registered nurses) and physician assistants and no consulting provider is required if the patient is in hospice.

and

“In Hawaii, a mental health evaluation is mandatory for all patients requesting medications under the law. In New Mexico, a mental health evaluation is also required if the patient has a recent history of a mental health condition or intellectual disability.” (Emphasis added)

Required waiting periods to make the second request varies from as little as none in Oregon and New Mexico if the patient is unlikely to survive the waiting period to at least 20 days in Hawaii.

The article also recommends that health care providers familiarize themselves with the assisted suicide group Compassion and Choice’s Doc2Doc helpline that “offers free, confidential telephone consultation with clinicians who are experienced in providing end-of-life medical care”.

Right now, 9 U.S, states (California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont,  Washington)  and the District of Columbia have medically assisted suicide laws and 12 states (Massachusetts, Delaware, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky, Rhode Island, Virginian, Arizona and Utah) have bills in their legislatures.

And there are more states seeking to expand their existing assisted suicide laws such as Vermont S 74  that threatens conscience rights by defining assisted suicide as a “healthcare service” and allows assisted suicide by telemedicine and Washington state HB 1141 that expands the prescriber to PAs (physician assistants), advanced registered nurse practitioners and allows the lethal dose to be sent by mail or courier.

CONCLUSION

Our neighbor Canada is a cautionary tale about the inability to limit medically assisted suicide.

In a June, 2021 article in the Psychiatric Times titled “First, Do No Harm: New Canadian Law Allows for Assisted Suicide for Patients with Psychiatric Disorders” , Dr. Mark Komrad chronicles the expansion of the 2016 MAID (medical aid in dying) law allowing medical euthanasia (the doctor directly administers a substance that causes death, such as an injection of a drug) and physician-assisted suicide for the terminally ill to expand to those “with nonterminal chronic illnesses and permitted euthanasia for those whose psychological or physical suffering is deemed intolerable and untreatable”.

Now, those Canadians “whose only medical condition is a mental illness, and who otherwise meet all eligibility criteria, will not be eligible for MAID until March 17, 2023″. (Emphasis added).

As a nurse with over 50 years of personal and professional experience in hospice, critical care, oncology, etc., I am willing to do anything for sick people– except kill them or help them kill themselves. These people deserve better!

Medically assisted suicide is a dangerous proposition that has proven to be impossible to strictly limit. It also corrupts the essential element of trust we must have in the health care system and makes suicide more attractive to vulnerable people as a way to solve life’s problems.

Finding Hope, Healing and Purpose after a Devastating Tragedy

nancyvalko bereavement, education, faith, family, grief

I met Polly Fick a few years ago after I gave a talk about physician-assisted suicide and my own daughter’s suicide in 2009.

Polly told me the tragic story of her and her husband’s loss of their daughter, son-in-law and baby granddaughter. She also told me what she and her husband were doing to bring awareness of postpartum depression because of this loss. She and Frank hope this information may help or even save another mother and her family.

Polly has been spreading this message on local radio and most recently in the December 22, 2021 St. Louis Review Catholic newspaper article titled “St. Francis of Assisi couple finds hope through tragedy in spreading awareness of postpartum depression”

THE TRAGEDY

Polly and Frank were very close to their daughter Mary Jo Trokey and son-in-law Matthew and celebrated with them when their new granddaughter Taylor Rose was baptized in 2018.

Tragically, all three of them were found dead when Taylor Rose was 3 months old. Investigators believed “that Mary Jo, possibly suffering from postpartum psychosis, killed her daughter and husband, then died by suicide.”

Polly Fick and her husband, Frank, were stunned. “We had no idea she was going through this,” Polly Fick said.

The Ficks have since dedicated themselves to raising more awareness of postpartum depression and related illnesses. Now the members of their parish are also spreading the word about resources through their involvement with Postpartum Support International (PSI) as well as local groups mentioned in the article.

“When this sort of thing happens, you either grow from it or you end up being broken by it,” Frank Fick said. “As horrible as it was, we wanted something positive to come from it.”

POSTPARTUM ILLNESSES

According to PSI,:

“While many parents experience some mild mood changes during or after the birth of a child, 15 to 20% of women experience more significant symptoms of depression or anxiety. Please know that with informed care you can prevent a worsening of these symptoms and can fully recover. There is no reason to continue to suffer.”

“Postpartum psychosis is a rare illness compared to the rates of postpartum depression or anxiety. It occurs in approximately one to two out of every 1,000 deliveries, or approximately .1% of births. The onset is usually sudden, most often within the first 2 weeks postpartum.” 

Postpartum Support International runs a helpline (1-800-944-4773), in-person and online support groups, a mentor program and a directory of care providers. See http://www.postpartum.net/

GRIEF SUPPORT

The Ficks were moved when their parish held a prayer service the evening the family learned about the deaths.

“People that I didn’t even know stepped forward,” Polly Fick said. “Left things on the porch. All of the South County deanery (parishes) really stepped up to the plate. And people prayed for us.”

“We would not be sitting here right now without the support,” she said. “It’s only by the grace of God.”

CONCLUSION

Polly and Fred Frick’s willingness to publicly talk about their tragedy has led to significant new information.

As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch October 28, 2018 article titled “Following tragedy, St. Louis hospitals renew commitment to postpartum mental health” reported:

“Until recently, mental health screenings were not standard for pregnant women and new mothers even though at least 20 percent will experience depression or anxiety that can be exacerbated by hormonal surges, lack of sleep and the demands of an infant.

The screenings can be lifesaving — as many as one in five deaths of women in the postpartum period is caused by suicide.”

and in 2018, “the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued new “fourth trimester” recommendations for women’s ongoing care after childbirth, including a full assessment of their emotional well-being. The American Academy of Pediatrics also recommends depression screenings for new mothers at all of the baby’s checkups during the first six months.”

Nothing can bring back our deceased loved ones but Polly and Fred Frick are an inspiring example of how help, hope and healing can be brought out of even the most devastating tragedy.

Our “Covid” Christmas

nancyvalko Covid 19, culture, education, faith, family, law, medical ethics, vaccines

My husband and I were excitedly looking forward to finally having all our blended family members to our home for Christmas this year but Covid 19 almost ruined it. We will forever remember it as the “Covid” Christmas.

We felt fortunate that one of our families was driving to Ohio for an early Christmas with their vaccinated in-laws before driving home in time for our Christmas celebration, especially after we saw other people around the country waiting in lines for hours to get a Covid test before the holidays. We were also glad that they decided to drive when we saw thousands of airline flights delayed or cancelled because of Covid, bad weather and staffing shortages.

However, it turned out that one vaccinated in-law in Ohio attended a large rock concert a few days before the Christmas celebration. Although he showed no symptoms at the time, our youngest grandchildren started to cough and get sick on the ride home.

Early on Christmas morning, the parents were notified that the in-law now tested positive and they tried frantically to get covid tests for themselves and the grandchildren, one of whom was recently diagnosed with asthma. But there were no covid testing kits available and the pediatric emergency room near them told the parents that they could not do a covid test unless the children were admitted.

After two days, they all finally got their covid tests and were negative.

They missed the Christmas party with the other relatives but celebrated with us grandparents a few days after Christmas and it was wonderful.

HOW COULD THE DEARTH OF COVID 19 TESTS HAPPEN ON CHRISTMAS?

As I wrote in my January 7, 2021 blog “When Can We End Lockdowns for Covid 19?”:

“the FDA (food and Drug Administration) approved the use of several rapid Covid 19 tests, some that can even be done at home. This can be a gamechanger with some experts saying that the massive distribution of rapid self-tests for use in homes, schools, offices, and other public places could replace harmful sweeping lockdowns with knowledge.

And as the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) itself has reported:  

“Since March 2020, the FDA has authorized more than 400 COVID-19 tests and sample collection devices, including authorizations for rapid, OTC at-home tests. The FDA considers at-home COVID-19 diagnostic tests to be a high priority and we have continued to prioritize their review given their public health importance.” (All emphasis added)

However in a December 21, 2021 interview, President Biden was said to “express some regret that he didn’t ramp up necessary supplies before the nation got hit with yet another winter coronavirus surge” and announced a plan for the government to “distribute 500 million free rapid in-home test kits in an effort to slow the spread of the virus” and admitted  that ““I wish I had thought about ordering half a billion [tests] two months ago”.

However, as reported on December 24, 2021 at webmd.com:

“President Biden has promised Americans that 500 million coronavirus tests will be available for free, but the kits won’t arrive for several weeks or longer”

and

“the Biden administration hasn’t yet signed a contract to buy the tests, and the website to order them won’t be available until January, according to The New York Times“.

CONCLUSION

I have been writing blogs on the various aspects of the Covid 19 pandemic for almost 2 years and I am frustrated by the missteps, lack of accountability and the constantly changing rules that often seem to often be more based on politics rather than science.

We need to demand better from ourselves, our leaders and our country to become a healthier nation mentally, physically and spiritually.

What is a “Death Doula” and Why is Compassion & Choices so Interested?

nancyvalko assisted suicide, Compassion & Choices, end-of-life, law, medical ethics

Most people have heard of doulas, specially trained people who help pregnant women during pregnancy, labor, birth, and immediate postpartum by providing “emotional, physical, and informational support”.

My daughter used a doula for both of her children and was so happy with the results that she is considering taking the training to become a doula in the future.

But now, there are “death doulas” that have nothing to do with birthing.

As Wesley Smith wrote about in a 2014 article titled “Good Grief: Now It’s “Death Doulas”, there was an op-ed in the LA Times about the Hippocratic oath and the terminally ill by a journalist and medical professor who wrote:

“If we allow medicine to prolong life, should we also allow it to shorten life for the terminally ill?

We could, however, skirt the controversy entirely: What if we created another class of medical professionals known as death doulas, who could fill a gap between treatment doctors and hospice workers?” (All emphasis added)

But “death doula” idea continued and in 2017,  the “National End-of-Life Doula Alliance (NRDA) was formed and even more importantly in 2018:

“a special council within The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), the leading hospice and palliative care membership organization in the US, was held. The purpose of the special Council is to provide information and resources to its members, affiliated organizations, and the public regarding the role of end-of-life doulas.” (Emphasis added)

Unfortunately, while the NHPCO “opposes MAID (medical aid in dying) as “a societal option to alleviate suffering”, the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) has had a position of “studied neutrality” on the issue of medically assisted suicide since 2007.

According to a New York Times June 2021 article “Death Doulas’ Provide Aid at the End of Life” , there are nearly 800 members in the National End-of-Life Doula Alliance with membership nearly doubling in the past year and increasing interest in training programs such as the International End-of-Life Doula Association, Doulagivers, and the Doula Program to Accompany and Comfort.

Death doulas do not have to be medically trained and death doula training and certification programs can cost as little as the $189.00 holiday special online course at the International Association of Professions Career College for 6 weeks part-time.

According to the New York Times, death doulas “don’t get involved in medical issues” but rather, “they support clients emotionally, physically, spiritually and practically.” Prices for these services “range from $25 an hour on up, although many do it voluntarily.”

WHY IS COMPASSION & CHOICES INTERESTED IN DEATH DOULAS?

Last month, Compassion & Choices (the largest organization attempting to pass assisted suicide laws in every U.S. state) filed an amicus brief in the federal court case Full Circle of Living & Dying v. Sanchez in support of a lawsuit to protect “to protect the First Amendment free speech rights of death doulas in California.”

The plaintiff Full Circle of Living & Dying is described by Compassion & Choices “as a non-profit organization that provides death doula services and home funerals”.

The defendant in the Full Circle of Lining & Dying lawsuit is the California Cemetery and Funeral Bureau which issued a 2019 order to the death doula plaintiffs to:

“immediately discontinue advertising and operating as a funeral establishment until a license is issued by the Bureau” and “threatened fines of up to $5,000 if Full Circle continued to operate without a license.”

Compassion & Choices’ chief legal advocacy officer Kevin Diaz argues in the amicus brief that:

Full Circle “has a disclaimer on its website that they are not funeral directors, do not offer funeral home services, and do not operate out of a funeral home”; that “Full Circle does not need a physical location for its services and the cost of obtaining such a location far exceeds the non-profit’s small budget.”

and added that

“a ruling in favor of the California Cemetery and Funeral Bureau “will force most, if not all, death doulas out of practice.” (Emphasis added)

As Kim Callinan, the President and CEO of Compassion & Choices explains in her 2021 article “Medical Aid in Dying: The Role of Death Doulas” for the National End-of-Life Doula Alliance newsletter:

“Death doulas can play a key role in shifting end-of-life care from a paternalistic to patient-directed system by bringing non-judgmental support to patients and serving as their advocate. This is particularly needed for patients who would like the option of medical aid in dying. All too often, interested and eligible patients are unable to navigate the complicated, multi-step process to access medical aid in dying (aka medically assisted suicide); too many unfortunately die suffering. (All emphasis added)

CONCLUSION

Over more than 52 years, I have cared for many dying people, both personally with friends, my mother and daughter and professionally in cancer units, critical care and home hospice. The people I have cared for range from babies to the very elderly.

My interest in people with terminal or life-threatening illnesses started when I first became an RN in the late 1960s and saw people with terminal cancer routinely secluded in in a private room at the end of a hall.

I asked the more experienced nurses how I should approach these patients and if I should be cheerful or solemn.

These nurses said they didn’t know the answer either so I had an idea. I decided to go visit these patients after I finished my shift and just ask to sit down and speak with them. Many of these wonderful people told me how isolated and lonely they felt when friends and family members treated them differently and we would talk about what they wanted both before and after their expected deaths.

I shared what I learned with the other nurses and family members who were relieved to know how they could help.

Whether or not these people were in hospitals, institutions or at home, the goal was always to help them live as well as possible until death. It was imperative that these people felt loved, respected and cared for even when they seemed to be unconscious. I also saw that the person’s relatives and friends also needed understanding and support. It helped that I personally knew how hard it can be to lose a loved one.

I feel privileged to have cared for my loved ones, friends, patients and their families and I never witnessed an excruciatingly painful death or was tempted to help end a life because I knew how to help.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the Full Circle of Living & Dying v. Sanchez case but I know that no matter whether a person is physically healthy or terminally ill, assisting a suicide is never good healthcare!

Six Problems with Covid 19 Vaccination Mandates

nancyvalko civil rights, conscience rights, Covid 19, culture, law, medical ethics, vaccines

When the Covid 19 vaccine was first authorized for emergency use in December, 2020, President-elect Joe Biden said that he wouldn’t impose national mandates to get vaccinated for Covid 19.

But on September 9, 2021 and in a televised speech, President Joe Biden announced a federal Covid 19 vaccination mandate affecting as many as 100 million Americans “in an all-out effort to increase COVID-19 vaccinations and curb the surging delta variant.”

Calling Covid 19 “a pandemic of the unvaccinated” and that “our patience is wearing thin” with the estimated 80 million Americans who have not been vaccinated, President Biden announced new rules that:

“mandate that all employers with more than 100 workers require them to be vaccinated or test for the virus weekly, affecting about 80 million Americans. And the roughly 17 million workers at health facilities that receive federal Medicare or Medicaid also will have to be fully vaccinated.”

and signed

“an executive order to require vaccination for employees of the executive branch and contractors who do business with the federal government — with no option to test out. That covers several million more workers.” (Emphasis added)

PROBLEM ONE

There are different rules for different groups people, leading to confusion and further divisiveness.

For example, while international travelers visiting the US must provide proof of vaccination before being allowed into the country, the hundreds of thousands of people illegally crossing our southern border and being released into our country are not required to have the Covid 19 vaccine.

What scientific justification is there for this?

PROBLEM TWO

Now the Biden administration just unveiled its new 490 page Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) “emergency temporary standard” that also requires companies with 100 or more employees to mandate that workers get vaccinated, or tested weekly and wear a face mask. 

But surprisingly, as a November 4, 2021Wall Street Journal editorial article titled “OSHA’s Vaccine Mandate Overkill“ notes:

“Separately, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a vaccine mandate for health-care facilities with no testing option.” (Emphasis added)

and

“According to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey last week, 37% of unvaccinated workers said they would leave if their employer required them to get a vaccine or be tested weekly.“(All emphasis added)

PROBLEM THREE

Firing unvaccinated employees in a tight labor market when so many employers are desperate to hire hurts not only employees but also businesses.

In addition, these vaccine mandate rules have led to vaccine refusal by some essential workers like police, garbage collectors and healthcare workers in cities like New York who then lose their jobs. This not only affects these workers and their families but also the delivery of these essential services to the populace.

PROBLEM FOUR

Religious or medical exemptions from taking the vaccine are often difficult to obtain.

For example, a hospital system in Arkansas maintains that the “majority of religious exemption requests cited the use of fetal cell lines in the development of vaccines” but counters that the “practice uses cells grown in labs to test many new vaccines and drugs, including common antacids and cold medications.”

Therefore, the hospital’s religious exemption form “includes a list of 30 common medications that used fetal cell lines during research and development” and asks employees to attest that they:

“truthfully acknowledge and affirm that my sincerely held religious belief is consistent and true” and that they won’t use the medications listed.” (Emphasis added)

PROBLEM FIVE

Now the CDC has announced emergency use authorization of Covid 19 vaccine for children 5-11. If mandated, what will that mean for schools and parental rights to refuse or consent to medical treatment?

PROBLEM SIX

So far, 68% of Americans have received at least one dose of a vaccine and 59% are fully vaccinated.

At the same time, at least 27 states so far have decided to take legal action against the new rules, claiming the mandate is an example of federal overreach and both “unlawful and unconstitutional.” And on November 6, 2021, a US federal appeals court temporarily halted President Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for businesses, citing potentially “grave statutory and constitutional” issues.

CONCLUSION

Unfortunately, the Covid 19 vaccination mandates have caused some severe divisions between those who have been vaccinated and and those who refuse to be vaccinated for various reasons.

My husband and I are fully vaccinated but some of our adult children are not. We encouraged them to take the vaccine but we have to respect their decision. We believe that people who refuse or are hesitant about the vaccine should not be vilified or treated as second class citizens.

We are all Americans and we need to work together.

And there may be hope on the horizon as new Covid 19 pills are being developed and showing promise with Pfizer’s pill said to be 89% effective for mild to moderate Covid 19 symptoms. Pfizer now plans to ask the Food and Drug Administration to authorize the pill’s use this month. Another Covid 19 pill from Merck & Co. was cleared for use in the U.K. this week.

These pills could be a gamechanger and help heal not only Covid 19 but also our fractured country.

Why “Living Wills” Are Not Working Well

nancyvalko advance directives, Compassion & Choices, end-of-life, Living wills, medical ethics

In a stunning October 8, 2021 article titled “What’s Wrong With Advance Care Planning?“ in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association, three prominent supporters of “living wills” and other advance care documents admit that after 30 years of the promotion of such advance care plan (ACP) documents:

“The assumption that ACP will result in goal-concordant end-of-life care led to widespread public initiatives promoting its use, physician reimbursement for ACP discussions, and use as a quality measure by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, commercial payers, and others. However, the scientific data do not support this assumption. ” (Emphasis added)

Drs. R. Sean Morrison, Diane E Meier, and Robert M. Arnold are prominent doctors and ethicists at prestigious institutions who have long promoted the advance care documents that are asked about when people enter hospitals, nursing homes, long care facilities, etc.

I have been writing about such documents and their uses and hazards for decades.

ACPs were promoted as essential to document a person’s healthcare wishes like Do Not Resuscitate orders and forgoing interventions like feeding tubes and ventilators in the event that the person is unable to speak for himself or herself. Many such documents also designate a trusted friend or relative to assist in the potential future decision-making process.

All adults have been encouraged to make such documents regardless of their health status because it was assumed that such ACPs would lead to higher quality care at the end of life.

But, as the authors now admit: “The inability of ACP to achieve its desired outcomes represents the gap between hypothetical scenarios and the decision-making process in clinical practice settings.” (Emphasis added)

After 52 years of experience working in ICUs, oncology (cancer), dialysis, hospice and home health as well as caring for relatives and friends, I wholeheartedly agree with the authors that:

“Treatment choices near the end of life are not simple, consistent, logical, linear, or predictable but are complex, uncertain, emotionally laden, and fluid. Patients’ preferences are rarely static and are influenced by age, physical and cognitive function, culture, family preferences, clinician advice, financial resources, and perceived caregiver burden (eg, need to provide personal care, time off from work, emotional strain, out-of-pocket or noncovered medical costs), which change over time.” (Emphasis added)

WHAT DOES WORK?

The authors point to the patient having a trusted person in advance to act as a surrogate decisionmaker and improving the communication with healthcare providers in real time. They also point to:

“training clinicians and preparing patients and families to engage in high-quality discussions when actual (not hypothetical) medical decisions must be made is needed to achieve the outcomes that ACP has not.” (Emphasis added)

However, pitfalls still remain.

Patients and their decisionmakers do need accurate information about their conditions and potential treatments.

However, as I found as a nurse, patients and their surrogate decisionmakers often have negative preconceptions (often reinforced in the media) about treatments such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation, ventilators, feeding tubes, etc.

Unfortunately in hospital situations, the advance care plans with the common DNR (do not resuscitate) directive are sometimes misinterpreted as not wanting to live  or “do not treat” when the person had assumed it would apply only in extreme circumstances. And some healthcare institutions have medical futility policies that allow doctors to overrule the person’s decisionmaker.

In addition, we have well-funded organizations like Compassion and Choices that not only work to get assisted suicide laws passed in every state but also promote their own advance directive to allow the lethal “healthcare option” of VSED (voluntary stopping of food and water) to ensure death.

Particularly in the frail elderly, it can be difficult to determine whether or not a person is truly dying. And while we are never required to accept treatment that is medically futile or excessively burdensome to us, sometimes this can be hard to determine. Far too many times, feeding tubes and other interventions are automatically assumed to be futile and/or burdensome. But there is another alternative that is often ignored: trying an intervention with the option of stopping it if it truly is futile or burdensome.

There are no guarantees in life or death but even finding out that something doesn’t work can be a step forward and can relieve any guilt in the surviving relatives.

CONCLUSION

I was surprised but very pleased to read that the three prominent doctors writing the article “What’s Wrong With Advance Care Planning?” after years of promoting “living wills” and other end of life documents.

But, in the end, the real answer is a return to the traditional medical ethics of “First, do no harm”, a presumption for life and excellent, unbiased information.

That is why my husband and I made our own healthcare directives to require full information about all options, risks and benefits before making medical decisions.

And, most importantly, that we believe that “quality of life” is something to be improved, not judged.

My 2000 Voices Magazine Article: Who Wants a “Defective” Baby?

nancyvalko abortion, adoption, civil rights, disability, education, faith, family, law, medical ethics, prenatal testing, pro-life

This month, it was revealed that President Joe Biden “wants Congress to pass a law making abortions legal up to birth” after the US Supreme Court refused to temporarily block the Texas Heartbeat Law.

While talking to a friend about this, I remembered a 2000 Voices magazine article I wrote about why every unborn child deserves protection and she asked that I send it to her. Sadly, this magazine is no longer publishing.

This is the article I wrote that appears on my other blogsite that contains articles, op-eds, etc. that I wrote up to 2014, when I started this blog. The reflection at the end of this article was published by the National Down Syndrome Association and was-to my surprise-eventually reprinted in several other countries.

Voices Online Edition
Summer 2000
Volume XV, No. 2 – Jubilee Year

Who Wants a “Defective” Baby?

by Nancy Valko, R.N.

“Of course, no one wants to adopt a defective baby. ” This was said with much emotion (and not much charm) by an older gentleman in a class at a local university where I was speaking this past April. I had been invited to discuss the legalities and effects of Roe v. Wade from a pro-life point of view to a class of senior citizens studying the Constitution and the Supreme Court.

While several of these senior citizen students defended abortion as a matter of complete privacy for the mother, their arguments centered around the “need” for legalized abortion as a solution for social problems.

Since I had told the story of my daughter Karen, born in 1982 with Down Syndrome and a severe heart defect, the pro-abortion students were extremely vocal about the personal and societal justifications for aborting a baby like Karen. Hence the statement about no one wanting to adopt a “defective” baby.

“Happily, sir,” I told the senior student, “You are wrong. Even back when I had Karen, I found out from the National Down Syndrome Association that there was a list of people waiting to adopt a baby with Down Syndrome. Just the night before, I added, I had found a new website for matching prospective parents with children who had chromosomal and physical defects.”

The student refused to believe that this could be true.

The effects of Roe v. Wade
Life of the mother, incest, rape and fetal defect are the four hard cases usually cited to justify what has now become abortion on demand. All of these are uncommon reasons given in the estimated 1.3 million abortions every year; but the possibility of having a child with a birth defect is a common fear nearly all expectant mothers experience and, not surprisingly, polls show that the majority of the public support abortion in this circumstance.

Although I have always been pro-life, I could understand the fear underlying these poll results — until my own daughter was born.

Just two weeks before the birth of my daughter Karen, I saw a mother trying to pry her young son with Down Syndrome away from a display case at the supermarket. She looked exhausted.

“Please, Lord,” I silently prayed, “Let this baby be ok. I can handle anything but Downs.”

When Karen was born with Down Syndrome, I was stunned. But I was quickly put in touch with mothers from the Down Syndrome Association who replaced my fears with information and realistic hope.

Then a doctor told me the truly bad news. Karen had a heart defect, one so severe that it seemed inoperable and she was not expected to live more than 2 months. That certainly put things in the proper perspective.

What “pro-choice” really means
It turned out later that Karen’s heart defect was not quite as bad as originally thought and could be corrected with one open-heart surgery, but I was shocked when the cardiologist told me he would support me 100% if I decided not to agree to the surgery and allow her to die. This was especially hard to hear because, as a nurse, I knew that the doctor would have been otherwise enthusiastic about an operation offering a 90% chance of success — if my child didn’t also have Down Syndrome. Apparently, even though Karen was now a legal person according to Roe v. Wade by the fact of her birth, this non-treatment option could act as a kind of 4th trimester abortion.

It was then that I realized what pro-choice really meant: Choice says it doesn’t really matter if a particular child lives or dies. Choice says the only thing that really matters is how I feel about this child and my circumstances. I may be “Woman Hear Me Roar” in other areas according to the militant feminists, but I was not necessarily strong enough for a child like this.

I also finally figured out that Roe v. Wade’s effects went far beyond the proverbial desperate woman determined to end her pregnancy either legally or illegally. The abortion mentality had so corrupted society that it even endangered children like my Karen after birth. Too many people, like the student in Supreme Court class, unfortunately viewed Karen as a tragedy to be prevented.

Medical progress or search and destroy?
In the late 1950s, a picture of the unborn baby using sound waves became the first technique developed to provide a window to the womb. Ultrasound in recent years has been used to save countless lives by showing women that they were carrying a living human being rather than the clump of cells often referred to in abortion clinics.

But while expectant parents now routinely and proudly show ultrasound pictures of their developing baby, there is a darker side to prenatal testing. Besides ultrasound, which can show some birth defects, blood tests like AFP testing and the Triple Screen to test for neural tube defects or Down Syndrome are now becoming a routine part of prenatal care. Amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling are also widely available tests to detect problems in the developing baby. It seems that every year, new testing techniques are tried and older ones refined in the quest to find birth defects prenatally.

97% of the time, women receive the good news that their baby seems fine; but the tests are not foolproof, and they can only test for hundreds of the thousands of known birth defects. Relatively few such birth defects can be treated in the womb at the present time. Some women want testing so that they can prepare for a child who has a birth defect, but when the tests do show a possible problem like Down Syndrome, up to 90% of women will abort.

While some hail prenatal testing as a way to prevent birth defects, the effects of such testing has led to what author Barbara Katz Rothman calls the “tentative pregnancy” in her 1993 book of the same name. Although Rothman calls herself pro-choice, her studies of women considering amniocentesis led to her conclude that such testing has changed the normal maternal-child bonding in pregnancy and the experience of motherhood, usually for the worse.

“I might not be pregnant”
I observed this firsthand several years ago when I ran into an acquaintance and congratulated her on her obvious pregnancy. I was stunned when she replied, “Don’t congratulate me yet. I might not be pregnant.”

Diane, the mother of a 5-year-old boy, went on to explain that she was awaiting the results of an amniocentesis and said, “I know what you went through with your daughter but I can’t give up my life like that. If this (the baby) is Downs, it’s gone.”

I reassured her that the test would almost surely show that her baby was ok, but I added that if the results were not what she expected I would like her to call me. I promised that I would give her any help she needed throughout the pregnancy and that my husband and I or even another couple would be willing to adopt her baby. She was surprised, as I later found out, both by my reaction and the information about adoption.

Diane gave birth to a healthy baby girl a few months later and apologized for her comments, saying that she probably would not have had an abortion anyway. But I understood her terrible anxiety. Society itself seems to have a rather schizophrenic attitude towards children with disabilities.

On one hand, people are inspired by the stories of people who have disabilities and support organizations like the Special Olympics; but, on the other hand, many people consider it almost irresponsible to bring a child with disabilities into the world to suffer when prenatal testing and abortion are so available.

But as the vast majority of parents who are either natural or adoptive parents of children with disabilities will attest, all children are born with both special gifts and special limitations. No child should be denied birth because of a disability or even a limited life expectancy.

Women who do abort after a diagnosis of a birth defect are also hurt. Besides depriving themselves of the special joys — which occur along with the difficulties — of loving and caring for such a child, these women often experience unresolved grief, guilt and second-guessing instead of the relief and peace they expect.

A few years ago, a local hospital which performs late-term abortions for birth defects asked a miscarriage and stillbirth counseling group to help with their distressed patients. The group declined, citing the fact that the most reassuring message they give grieving mothers is that there is nothing they did or didn’t do that caused the death of their babies. Obviously, that was not a statement they could make to mothers who abort. There is a very real difference between losing and terminating a child.

How many of these mothers knew before their abortions that, in practical terms, there has never been a better array of services and support for children with disabilities and their parents? Or that their children were dearly wanted by prospective adoptive parents? Such information might have been just the support they needed to choose life for their children.

Final thoughts
Despite the best medical care, my Karen died at the age of 5 and 1/2 months, but the impact of her life has lived on. At her funeral Mass, the priest talked about how this child who never walked or talked had transformed the lives of those who met her.

Especially mine.

After Karen died, I sat down and tried to put into words what Karen and all children with disabilities have to teach the rest of us. The following reflection was published in the National Down Syndrome Association newsletter in May, 1984.

THINGS NO TEACHER EVER TAUGHT
In 1982 my daughter, Karen, was born with Down Syndrome and a severe heart defect. Less than six months later she died of complications of pneumonia. Karen may have been retarded but she taught me things no teacher ever did.

Karen taught me:

That life isn’t fair — to anyone. That self-pity can be an incapacitating disease. That God is better at directing my life than I am. That there are more caring people in the world than I knew. That Down Syndrome is an inadequate description of a person. That I am not “perfect” either, just human. That asking for help and support is not a sign of weakness. That every child is truly a gift from God. That joy and pain can be equally deep. That you can never lose when you love. That every crisis contains opportunity for growth. That sometimes the victory is in trying rather than succeeding. That every person has a special purpose in life.

That I needed to worry less and celebrate more.

Sources:

1. “Prenatal Testing”, by Nancy Valko, R.N. and T. Murphy Goodwin, M.D., pamphlet, Easton Publishing Co.

2. “Doctors have prenatal test for 450 genetic diseases” by Kim Painter. USA Today, 8/15/97

3. Rothman, Barbara Katz. The Tentative Pregnancy. Revised, 1993. WW Norton and Co.

4. “Advances, and Angst, in a New Era of Ultrasound”, by Randi Hutter Epstein. New York Times. May 9, 2000.

Nancy Valko, R.N., a contributing editor for Voices, is a former president of Missouri Nurses for Life who has practiced in St. Louis for more than thirty years. An expert on life issues, Mrs. Valko writes a regular column on the subject for Voices.

**Women for Faith & Family operates solely on your generous donations!

What You Should Know about the New Federal Covid 19 Vaccine Mandate

nancyvalko Covid 19, education, law, vaccines

In my December 17, 2020 blog “Should a Covid 19 Vaccine be Mandatory?“, I wrote that “it seems unlikely that there will be a federal mandate for the Covid 19 vaccine.”

But on September 9, 2021 and in a televised speech, President Joe Biden announced a federal Covid 19 vaccination mandate affecting as many as 100 million Americans “in an all-out effort to increase COVID-19 vaccinations and curb the surging delta variant.”

Calling Covid 19 “a pandemic of the unvaccinated” and that “our patience is wearing thin” with the estimated 80 million Americans who have not been vaccinated, President Biden announced new rules that:

“mandate that all employers with more than 100 workers require them to be vaccinated or test for the virus weekly, affecting about 80 million Americans. And the roughly 17 million workers at health facilities that receive federal Medicare or Medicaid also will have to be fully vaccinated.”

and signed

“an executive order to require vaccination for employees of the executive branch and contractors who do business with the federal government — with no option to test out. That covers several million more workers.”

However, it turns out that some groups of people are not required to get the Covid 19 vaccine, including the US Congress and people illegally crossing our southern border.

Even worse and back in an August, 2021, an NBC News article titled “18 percent of migrant families leaving Border Patrol custody tested positive for Covid” stated that:

“More than 18 percent of migrant families and 20 percent of unaccompanied minors who recently crossed the U.S. border tested positive for Covid on leaving Border Patrol custody over the past two to three weeks, according to a document prepared this week for a Thursday briefing with President Joe Biden. (Emphasis added)

MORE POTENTIAL PROBLEMS WITH THE COVID 19 VACCINE MANDATE

Some hospitals are now telling healthcare workers to get vaccinated or lose their jobs. And in New York, there are now worries that a vaccine mandate “will exacerbate staffing shortages dogging medical facilities.”

And although some U.S. businesses welcome President Biden’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate for firms with 100 or more employees, some small businesses are bristling, saying that the order “imposes yet another burden that could intensify historic worker shortages and supply-chain bottlenecks.“

Already, legal challenges are looming for the covid 19 vaccine mandate.

WHY VACCINE HESITATION OR REFUSAL?

From the start of the Covid 19 pandemic, the rules seemed to keep changing: first gloves and no mask, then lockdown, mask and social distancing. Different states had different rules about opening and closing businesses and schools.

It was frustrating when the scientific data behind the changing rules was often lacking or contradictory. And some people are concerned about some of the reported rare side effects of the vaccines as well.

However, experts say that few people are medically exempt from getting the Covid 19 vaccine.

Now, there is an emphasis on providing booster Covid 19 vaccines for the fully vaccinated. However, it is concerning to now read in the Business Insider that “18 leading scientists, including 2 outgoing FDA officials, say COVID-19 booster shots lack evidence and shouldn’t yet be given to the general public”.

CONCLUSION

My husband and I received our Covid 19 vaccinations in March without any problems and recommended the vaccinations to our children with the caveat that they check with their doctors first, especially since some of our children and grandchildren have special situations.

We are open to receiving the Covid 19 vaccine booster shot but we would like to see more scientific data and hopefully a consensus among the experts.

The Powerful Effect of the US Supreme Court’s Decision Refusing to Block the Texas Heartbeat Act

nancyvalko abortion, law, medical ethics, pro-life

When the Texas Heartbeat Act was signed into law by Governor Gregg Abbot in May 2021 to abolish elective abortions as early as six weeks (when the unborn child’s heartbeat is “detectable using methods according to standard medical practice”), abortion rights supporters were furious and began challenges to the law.

But on September 2, 2021 and surprisingly, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against a request from pro-abortion groups to temporarily block enforcement of the pro-life law.

Pro-abortion groups and almost all mainstream media vigorously denounced the decision and groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, Whole Woman’s Health, and other abortion groups were ready to mount more legal challenges to the law.

Most recently, now a Texas Judge has issued a temporary restraining order barring Texas Right to Life and “100 unnamed individuals” from suing Planned Parenthood, writing that the Texas Law creates a “probable, irreparable and imminent injury” to Planned Parenthood if sued by the nonprofit Texas Right to Life and others.

At the same time, pro-life advocates continue to reach out to pregnant women offering resources and emotional support to help them and their babies while Texas lawmakers had already budgeted in the spring for $100 million specifically to help pregnant and parenting mothers and babies

But while even the Wall Street Journal raised legal questions about enforcement of the law by civilians and the exclusion of rape or incest exceptions, the Supreme Court’s decision to refuse to block the Texas Heartbeat Act (and the torrent of national publicity surrounding the decision) forces a recognition of the the humanity of the unborn baby and the fact that even the Mayo Clinic recognizes: the heart begins to beat at 6 weeks.

Unfortunately, many people are unaware of this fact and Planned Parenthood continues to deny this fact.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH ROE V. WADE

I was a young nurse working in a critical care unit in 1973 when the U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, legalized abortion for any reason in the first trimester of pregnancy.

When other doctors and nurses asked my opinion about the decision, I said I was surprised and horrified. Some of the nurses and doctors angrily disagreed with me and asked what I would do if I were raped and pregnant.

I said I would be upset about the rape but also that I couldn’t deliberately end another human life, born or unborn. That was medical ethics.

A few years after the Roe v Wade decision, I was married and pregnant with my first child. I loved the standard prenatal development pamphlet I was given but I couldn’t help but think about how painful this pamphlet could be for a woman who had aborted before becoming pregnant with a wanted child.

I decided that when I finally had some time, I would volunteer at our local Birthright to help women and their babies.

With my subsequent pregnancies, my older children were obsessed with the development of their unborn brother or sister and asked what the baby had or could do almost every week of the pregnancy. It was touching to see how excited they got with each new phase of the baby’s development.

When one of my daughters became pregnant and unwed at age 18, she said she could never have an abortion because she knew so much about prenatal development.

Recently, I was delighted to view the “Meet Baby Olivia” video, a beautiful and “medically accurate, animated glimpse of human life from the moment of fertilization” produced by Live Action. I highly recommend this video and sharing it widely.

CONCLUSION

Until Texas, other state heartbeat laws have been blocked in court. The Texas Heartbeat Act is facing more legal challenges but it has already changed minds and hearts in Texas: An April poll by the University of Texas-Austin found that 49 percent of Texans support making abortions illegal after six weeks of pregnancy, while 41 percent oppose it.

Education about abortion and outreach to help women struggling with an unexpected pregnancy can save lives!

An Unexpected Recovery and What We Can Learn from It

nancyvalko brain injury, disability, drug addiction, Drugs, medical ethics, nursing

When 28 year old Jacob Haendel was rushed to an emergency room in Massachusetts four years ago, the doctors thought he was having a stroke but brain scans showed something very different. Instead, his brain scans showed that his “brain seemed to be unplugging itself from the rest of his body”. One doctor described it as “The wires weren’t sending signals from place to place.”

The doctors were unsure what was going on until Jacob revealed that he had been doing drugs, mostly opioids, until he turned to street heroin. The medical team thought he might have ingested a toxin which led to their diagnosis of a very rare condition called: Toxic Acute Progressive Leukoencephalopathy. Only a few dozen people had ever been diagnosed with this.

Six months later, Jacob deteriorated to what the doctors thought was a “vegetative state” and completely unaware of himself or his surroundings. He was sent to an extended care facility on a ventilator to breathe and a feeding tube. Eventually, he was put in hospice and by Christmas, his family told that he probably would die in a couple of days. Jacob’s father whispered to him that it was “ok to let go”.

But Jacob didn’t die and slowly his brain started to sputter back to life.

The first sign was a small twitch in his wrist. Some thought this meant nothing but his family thought otherwise.

A few weeks later, everyone was stunned when Jacob started moving his tongue and his eyes, “almost imperceptibly at first, but enough to use a letterboard to spell out a message he’d been desperately trying to send for almost a year. His message was “I can hear you.“ (Emphasis added)

As Jacob began communicating, the doctors realized that he had not been unconscious but rather awake the whole time. Jacob remembered nurses calling him “brain dead” and that visits slowed over time.

In a July 25, 2021 CBS Sunday Morning tv segment, Jacob told CBS correspondent Lee Cowan that “I couldn’t express anything to anyone. No one knew what was going on in my head, and I just wanted someone to know, like, that I was in there.”

He also said that he talked to himself a lot and felt pain. Jacob also revealed that “he would do math problems in his head just to help keep himself from the guilt that his drug use has caused all of this.”

Jacob’s mother had died of breast cancer and Jacob said he started using drugs to cope.

Jacob’s road to rehabilitation has been long and still ongoing. However, Jacob has “come back with such a profound understanding of what a second chance really means. “I am an improved Jake,” he said. “And I’m a happier Jake. I don’t want to give up.”

Although Jacob still has limitations of speech and movement, he now was a website and writes updates.

WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM JACOB’S STORY

Over my years in mostly critical care nursing, I spoke to all my patients patients-regardless of a diagnosis of coma, “vegetative state”, etc.-as if they were totally awake and explained everything I was doing as well as the time and date, visitors who came, etc.

I also closely watched for any sign of voluntary movement or reaction. Like Jacob, even almost imperceptible movement could be a sign of awareness and I encouraged my patients to repeat the movement.

I was often teased and asked if I spoke to my refrigerator too but the teasing stopped when some of these patients started to respond or even recovered. Some of them later related what they heard and/or felt when they were assumed to be unaware. My point was that speaking empathetically to all our patients was a matter of respect that could even help them get better.

Hopefully, Jacob’s story will be an encouragement for all healthcare providers as well as people with severe brain injuries and their families.

CONCLUSION

But Jacob has another big message for every one of us in our daily lives: simplicity.

In Jacob’s own words:

“My life was never a walk in the park, but I never truly appreciated how important the simplicities of life are until I began my journey to recovery. My reasoning for this word is multi-focal just like my case. The only word that can accurately describe my case is “complex” and I am un-ironically striving for just the opposite; simple. After surviving and overcoming locked in syndrome, all I want are the simplicities in life; things like talking, connecting with friends and family, enjoying solid foods, breathing on my own, going outside instead of being locked in a hospital, being able to feed myself and even taking a walk in the park. All of these simple things I took for granted are now goals I am working towards being able to enjoy again”

Especially at a time of such discord in our society now, we all need to remember and celebrate the so-called “little things” that make us grateful for our own precious lives.

Covid 19 Vaccine Refusal?

nancyvalko Covid 19, culture, law, vaccines

Last December, I wrote the blog “Should a Covid 19 Vaccine be Mandatory?“ and concluded that:

“It is more likely that only certain groups of people may be required to take the vaccine like healthcare workers, universities and some employers. Even then, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 may help people who have a religious objection to a vaccine as well as anti-discrimination laws and exemptions for medical reasons. An employer would have to make a reasonable accommodation as long as it’s not too costly for the business.

It is also possible that airlines, stores and stadiums could also make vaccination a condition of doing business with a person.”

In March 2021, a Monmouth University poll showed that 25% of those polled would refuse the vaccine.

VACCINE REFUSAL NOW

After a concerted public effort to encourage Covid 19 vaccination, about 67 percent of Americans 18 and older had received at least one dose of a vaccine by July 4.

So far, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommends that everyone 12 years and older should get a Covid 19 vaccination but has not issued guidance on COVID-19 vaccines for children under 12.

But even though there is no federal requirement for Covid 19 vaccination, there are many colleges that require students have the Covid 19 vaccinations before arriving on campus.

However, according to CNN:

“at least seven states– Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Montana, Oklahoma and Utah — have enacted legislation this year that would restrict public schools from requiring either coronavirus vaccinations or documentation of vaccination status“

and

“(a)s of June 22, at least 34 states had introduced bills that would limit requiring someone to demonstrate their vaccination status or immunity against Covid-19″

with

“At least 13 states — Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Utah — have passed them into law.” (All emphasis added)

In addition, more than 150 staff members at Houston Methodist Hospital were fired or resigned in June after refusing to get vaccinated for COVID-19. They are now appealing a judge’s ruling that sided with the hospital’s right to terminate their employment.

According to an April 27, 2021 American Academy of Family Physicians article, four reasons for some health care workers’ hesitancy to get the vaccine are safety and efficacy concerns, preference for physiological immunity, distrust in government and health organizations and autonomy/ personal freedom.

Some people say they are worried about the reported side effects and adverse events on sites like VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) included on the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) website as “an early warning system used to monitor adverse events that happen after vaccination” and “one of several systems CDC and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) use to help ensure all vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines, are safe.” (VAERS’ reported adverse events can be found at Open VAERS.)

LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS

The March 5, 2021 National Law Review article “Declining a Shot in the Arm: What Employers Should Do When Employees Refuse Vaccines“ regarding health care workers points out that:

“Remember that we are still under the vaccines’ Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) period. The EEOC has indicated that employers can require that employees get vaccinated, but the EUA statute contains some language saying that people have a right to refuse any vaccine during the EUA period. Courts have not yet decided the issue. So, there’s some legal risk for employers that choose to mandate that employees get vaccinated.

Most health care employers have decided to strongly encourage – but not require – employees to get vaccinated, partly out of concern that mandating the vaccine might lead to staffing shortages if enough employees refuse to get vaccinated and quit or are fired.”

The article also discusses religious and medical exemptions.

CONCLUSION

My husband and I received our Covid 19 vaccinations in March without any problems and recommended the vaccinations to our children with the caveat that they check with their doctors first, especially since some of our children and grandchildren have special situations.

Some received the vaccinations and some didn’t but we ultimately had to leave the decision up to them.

I am pleased that Covid 19 infections appear to be waning and that our family is healthy at present but I know that this is no time for any of us to be complacent about our health or our rights.

The “Population Bomb” Fizzles, but Now There is a Birth Dearth with Grave Consequences in Many Countries

nancyvalko abortion, aging, assisted suicide, Compassion & Choices, culture, disability, economics, end-of-life, family, family planning, law

 Dr. Paul R. Ehrlich was an entomologist (a scientist who specializes in the study of insects)  at Stanford University when he published his bestseller “The Population Bomb” in 1968.  Although initially ignored, it incited a worldwide fear of overpopulation and ultimately became one of the most influential books of the 20th century.

In his book, Ehrlich predicted that unless population decreased, “hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death” in the 1970s.

That did not happen but 50 years later in a 2018 interview with Smithsonian magazine writer Charles C. Mann, Paul Ehrlich claimed that the book’s main contribution was to make population control “acceptable” as “a topic to debate.”

However, as Mr. Mann wrote:

” But the book did far more than that. It gave a huge jolt to the nascent environmental movement and fueled an anti-population-growth crusade that led to human rights abuses around the world.” (Emphasis added)

But even 50 years later and with the population declining in many countries, Paul Ehrlich continued to insist that:

“Population will fall, either when people choose to dramatically reduce birthrates or when there is a massive die-off because ecosystems can no longer support us. (Emphasis added)

THE HARSH REALITY TODAY

In 1980, China began a strict one child per married couple policy that even included forced abortions for women who did not comply.

In 2015, China raised the limit to two children, citing a “rapidly aging society and a shrinking working-age population”.

China has now increased the number of children to 3 children but as a June 3, 2021 Wall Street Journal article states “China Delivers Three-Child Policy, but It’s Too Late for Many“.

Even with years of declining birthrates, there are fewer young people willing to buck the trend of postponing or forgoing marriage and children.

The result is an aging population with a shortage of children. In one Chinese province almost 40% of the province’s population of 880,000 are 60 or older and there is a surging demand for nursing homes. The local government is looking for private investors to help some 7,000 elderly residents who cannot take care of themselves.

Even beyond China, a May 22, 2021  New York Times article titled “Long Slide Looms for World Population, With Sweeping Ramifications“ recognized that:

“All over the world, countries are confronting population stagnation and a fertility bust, a dizzying reversal unmatched in recorded history that will make first-birthday parties a rarer sight than funerals, and empty homes a common eyesore.” (Emphasis added)

HUNGARY FIGHTS BACK

A replacement rate of about 2.1 is necessary to sustain a population but the population in Hungary had been declining since 1981. It reached an all-time low of 1.23 in 2011.

Katalin Novák, the Minister for Family Affairs in Hungary, has facilitated a family-friendly approach that has seen birth rates start to rise. The birth rate is now up to 1.56, still low but improving.

As Minister Novak states:

“The government’s measures of the past ten years have evidently moved demographics in the right direction. The number of childbirths, abortions, the infant mortality rate, marriages, and divorces have all moved in a favorable direction. This also proves that we have made the right decision when we made family-centered governance a priority and are now on the right path. Families are enjoying government support, and we are helping our youth by giving them the opportunity to start a family whenever they want.” (Emphasis added)

THE SITUATION IN THE UNITED STATES

As of 2019 (the latest year for which data is available), the U.S has the lowest fertility rate on record and the lowest number of births in 35 years.

As the New York Times noted in its article about population decline:

“The change may take decades, but once it starts, decline (just like growth) spirals exponentially. With fewer births, fewer girls grow up to have children, and if they have smaller families than their parents did — which is happening in dozens of countries — the drop starts to look like a rock thrown off a cliff. (Emphasis added)

CONCLUSION

The “population bomb” theory has had unintended and disastrous consequences, even in the U.S. and despite immigration.

In 2018, a US Census Bureau article predicted “The Greying of America: More Older Adults than Kids by 2035” for the first time in US history-joining other countries with large aging populations.

As the US Census Bureau states:

“With this swelling number of older adults, the country could see greater demands for healthcare, in-home caregiving and assisted living facilities. It could also affect Social Security. We project three-and-a-half working-age adults for every older person eligible for Social Security in 2020. By 2060, that number is expected to fall to two-and-a-half working-age adults for every older person.” (Emphasis added)

A country with more older people than children can unbalance a society socially, culturally and economically.

Even worse, legalizing abortion and assisted suicide/euthanasia will only make the situation more dire the US.

Since the US Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1973 with the Roe v. Wade decision,  more than 62,000,000 abortions have been performed and now the new Biden administration wants to roll back restrictions on abortion  and make abortions taxpayer-funded. 

And as efforts by groups like Compassion and Choices to legalize assisted suicide throughout the US has now spread to 9 states and the District of Columbia despite pro-life and disability rights opposition, we should not be surprised if there is another US Supreme court case in the future like the 1997 Vacco v Quill Supreme Court case  that attempted to establish physician-assisted suicide as a fundamental right for the terminally ill like the Roe v. Wade abortion decision legalizing abortion for (initially) just women in the first three months of pregnancy. 

Instead of threats to human beings at the beginning and end of life, we should be welcoming new lives and families as well as caring for the elderly, disabled and poor to improve and stabilize ourselves and our country.

Rethinking Brain Death and Organ Donation

nancyvalko assisted suicide, brain death, euthanasia, law, medical ethics, organ donation

I have been writing for many years about the implications of brain death, the lesser known “donation after cardiac/circulatory death”, diagnosed brain death cases like the supposedly “impossible” prolonged survival and maturation of Jahi McMath, the unexpected recoveries like Zack Dunlap’s and even that some mothers declared “brain dead” were able to gestate their babies for weeks or months to a successful delivery before their ventilators were removed.

Last August, I wrote about the World Brain Death Project and the effort to establish a worldwide consensus on brain death criteria and testing to develop the “minimum clinical standards for determination of brain death”. (Emphasis added)

I also wrote about the current effort “to revise the (US) Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA) to assure a consistent nationwide approach to consent for brain death testing” that could otherwise lead to a situation where ”a patient might be legally dead in Nevada, New York, or Virginia (where consent is not required). But that same patient might not be legally dead in California, Kansas, or Montana (where consent is required and might be refused)”. (All emphasis added)

The Uniform Declaration of Death Act (UDDA) was drafted in 1981 by a President’s Commission study to brain death and approved by both the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Bar Association (ABA). It was intended to provide a model for states to emulate.

It offered 2 definitions of when a person could be declared legally dead to align the legal definition of death with the criteria largely accepted by the medical community:

“Irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions (the traditional definition of death); or

Irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem (brain death)” (Emphasis added)

The UDDA in some form has since been adopted by all US states and the District of Columbia.

THE PUSHBACK TO REVISE THE US UNIFORM DETERMINATION OF DEATH ACT (UDDA)

But now, 107 experts in medicine, bioethics, philosophy, and law, are challenging the proposed revisions to the UDDA. While they admit that they “do not necessarily agree with each other on all aspects of the brain-death debate or on fundamental ethical principles”, they do object to three aspects of the revision to:

“(1) specify the Guidelines (the adult and pediatric diagnostic guidelines) as the legally recognized “medical standard,” (2) to exclude hypothalamic function from the category of “brain function,” and (3) to authorize physicians to conduct an apnea test without consent and even over a proxy’s objection.” (All emphasis added)

These experts’ objections to those proposed revisions are that:

” (1) the Guidelines have a non-negligible risk of false-positive error, (2) hypothalamic function (a small but essential part of the brain helps control the pituitary gland and regulates many body functions) is more relevant to the organism as a whole than any brainstem reflex, and (3) the apnea test carries a risk of precipitating BD (brain death) in a non-BD patient….provides no benefit to the patient, does not reliably accomplish its intended purpose”… and “should at the very least require informed consent, as do many procedures that are much more beneficial and less risky.” (All emphasis added)

And these experts further state that:

“People have a right to not have a concept of death that experts vigorously debate imposed upon them against their judgment and conscience; any revision of the UDDA should therefore contain an opt-out clause for those who accept only a circulatory-respiratory criterion.”

CONCLUSION

Many years ago, I served on a hospital ethics committee when a doctor complained that he could not arrange an organ transplantation from an elderly woman in a coma caused by a stroke because she “failed” one of the hospital’s mandated tests for brain death. He said he felt like he was “burying two good kidneys”.

Although I already knew that the medical criteria used to determine brain death vary — often widely — from one hospital to another, one young doctor checked our area hospitals and came back elated after he found a hospital that did not include the test the elderly woman “failed”. He suggested that our hospital adopt the other hospital’s criteria to allow more organ donations.

When I pointed out that the public could lose trust in the ethics of organ donations if they knew we would change our rules just to get more organ transplants, I was told that I being hard-hearted to people who desperately needed such organs.

Unfortunately, now some countries’ healthcare ethics have degenerated to the point where euthanasia by organ donation is legally allowed.

Personally, I am all for the ethical donation of organs and tissues. Years ago, I volunteered to donate a kidney to a friend and one of our grandsons was saved in 2013 by an adult stem cell transplant.

But I do not have an organ donor card nor encourage others to sign one because I believe that standard organ donor cards give too little information for truly informed consent. Instead, my family knows that I am willing to donate tissues like corneas, skin and bones that can be ethically donated after natural death and will only agree to that donation.

The bottom line is that what we don’t know-or allowed to know-can indeed hurt us, especially when it comes to organ donation. We need to demand transparency and accurate information because good medical ethics are the foundation of a trustworthy healthcare system.

NEW MEXICO GOVERNOR SIGNS LATEST US LAW TO LEGALIZE ASSISTED SUICIDE AS ARKANSAS GOVENOR SIGNS THE “MEDICAL ETHICS AND DIVERSITY ACT”

nancyvalko assisted suicide, conscience rights, culture, end-of-life, law, medical ethics, nursing

On April 8, 2021, New Mexico became the latest and ninth state (along with Washington D.C.) to legalize “medically assisted suicide”.

Note the new terminology used is no longer called “physician-assisted suicide”. This is no accident but rather reflects the persistent expansion of assisted suicide law to allow even non-physicians like physician assistants and nurse practitioners to determine that a requesting patient has six months or less to live and provide them with the suicide drugs.

Ironically, Medicare benefit rules for certifying a terminal illness with a life expectancy of six months or less to be eligible for hospice states that “No one other than a medical doctor or doctor of osteopathy can certify or re-certify a terminal illness”. (Emphasis added) And having worked as a home hospice, ICU and oncology nurse, I know how difficult it is to predict when a patient is expected to die.

And, like other assisted suicide laws, New Mexico’s law also has unenforceable and easily circumvented “safeguards’ like mental health evaluations that are required for any other suicidal patient.

The law also requires that terminally ill patients has “a right to know” about all legal options including assisted suicide and that healthcare providers who refuse to participate in medically assisted suicide must refer that patient to another willing provider.

Nevertheless, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Grisham said she signed the law HB0047 to secure the “peace of mind and humanity this legislation provides.”

THE MEDICAL ETHICS AND DIVERSITY ACT

In a striking contrast to New Mexico’s assisted suicide law, Governor Asa Hutchison signed the “Medical Ethics and Diversity Act” just days earlier on Friday, March 26, 2021 which expanded conscience rights in the state.

As the statute eloquently states:

“The right of conscience is a fundamental and unalienable right.

“The right of conscience was central to the founding of the United States, has been deeply rooted in the history and tradition of the United States for centuries, and has been central to the practice of medicine through the Hippocratic oath for millennia … The swift pace of scientific advancement and the expansion, of medical capabilities, along with the notion that medical practitioners, healthcare institutions, and healthcare payers are mere public utilities, promise only to exacerbate the current crisis unless something is done to restore the importance of the right of conscience.

It is the public policy of this state to protect the right of conscience of medical practitioners, healthcare institutions, and healthcare payers. It is the purpose of this subchapter to protect all medical practitioners, healthcare institutions, and healthcare payers from discrimination, punishment, or retaliation as a result of any instance of conscientious medical objection.”

However, opponents of the law like the Human Rights Campaign and the American Civil Liberties Union, have argued that it would allow doctors to refuse to offer a host of services for LGBTQ patients.

In response to this criticism, Governor Hutchinson stated:

“I have signed into law SB289, the Medical Ethics and Diversity Act. I weighed this bill very carefully, and it should be noted that I opposed the bill in the 2017 legislative session. The bill was changed to ensure that the exercise of the right of conscience is limited to ‘conscience-based objections to a particular health care service.’ I support this right of conscience so long as emergency care is exempted and conscience objection cannot be used to deny general health service to any class of people. Most importantly, the federal laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, sex, gender, and national origin continue to apply to the delivery of health care services.”

CONCLUSION

As a nurse myself, I would not and never have refused to care for any patient. Discrimination has no place in healthcare.

However, I have been threatened with termination when I have refused to follow an order that would cause a patient’s death. It wasn’t the patient I objected to but rather the action ordered.

Conversely, I would not want a healthcare provider caring for me who supports assisted suicide, abortion, etc. This is why I ask my doctors about their stands on such issues before I become their patient.

Our country and our healthcare systems need laws, healthcare providers and institutions that we can trust to protect us. Conscience rights protections are a critical necessity for that to happen.

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The Assisted Suicide Juggernaut Continues in the U.S.

nancyvalko assisted suicide, Compassion & Choices, conscience rights, euthanasia, food and water, law, medical ethics, nursing

Since Oregon passed the first physician-assisted suicide law in 1997, 8 more states and the District of Washington, D.C. passed assisted suicide laws by 2020. They are:

  • California (End of Life Option Act; approved in 2015, in effect from 2016)
  • Colorado (End of Life Options Act; 2016)
  • District of Columbia (D.C. Death with Dignity Act; 2016/2017)
  • Hawaii (Our Care, Our Choice Act; 2018/2019)
  • Maine (Death with Dignity Act; 2019)
  • New Jersey (Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act; 2019)
  • Oregon (Death with Dignity Act; 1994/1997)
  • Vermont (Patient Choice and Control at the End of Life Act; 2013)
  • Washington (Death with Dignity Act; 2008)

So far in 2021, 13 more states have new proposed assisted suicide bills and 4 states with assisted suicide laws are facing bills to expand their assisted suicide laws.

These 13 states are  Arizona , Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota and Rhode Island. Most of these states have been repeatedly hounded for years to pass an assisted suicide law.  

The 4 states with bills expanding their assisted suicide laws are California , Hawaii , Vermont, and the state of Washington.

The expansions range from expanding “qualified medical providers” from doctors to a range of non-doctors including nurses to eliminating so-called “safeguards” such as 15 day waiting periods, in person requests and even to allow electronic prescribing and shipping of lethal overdoses. Compassion and Choices (the former Hemlock Society) and other assisted suicide supporters have long portrayed assisted suicide “safeguards” as “burdensome obstacles”.

CONSCIENCE RIGHTS AND CENSORSHIP

Conscience rights for health care providers has been a very real problem since the 1974 Roe V. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision legalized abortion in the U.S. The legalization of assisted suicide in several states has made this even worse for nurses, doctors, pharmacists and other healthcare workers. Even healthcare institutions have faced discrimination problems.

The Christian Medical and Dental Association even compiled a long list in 2019 of “Real-life examples of discrimination in healthcare” .

Now, we are seeing censorship. A March 28, 2021 Wall Street Journal op-ed titled “Big Tech Censors Religion, Too“ stated that:

“In January, Bishop Kevin Doran, an Irish Catholic, tweeted: “There is dignity in dying. As a priest, I am privileged to witness it often. Assisted suicide, where it is practiced, is not an expression of freedom or dignity.” Twitter removed this message and banned Bishop Doran from posting further. While the company reversed its decision after public opposition, others haven’t been so lucky.” (Emphasis added)

CONCLUSION

Back in 2014, I wrote a blog “Should a Pro-Life person Become a Nurse” about a worried pro-life student nurse who wrote me asking “what area of nursing can I move into that does not demand that I do things that I absolutely will not do?”

I wrote her back and told her that I had that challenge in several areas I worked in over 45 years but was able to live up to my ethics despite some difficult situations and that I never regretted becoming a nurse.

However, conscience rights are a not a luxury but rather a necessity.

That is why some of us nurses in Missouri worked so hard to get a conscience rights law passed in 1992 after the Nancy Cruzan starvation and dehydration death that, although not as strong as we wanted, is still in effect today. And I was thrilled when the Trump administration announced a new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division  in 2018 to enforce “federal laws that protect conscience and the free exercise of religion and prohibit coercion and discrimination in health and human services”.

Society has long insisted that health care professionals adhere to the highest standards of ethics as a form of for society. The vulnerability of a sick person and the inability of society to monitor every health care decision or action are powerful motivators to enforce such standards. For thousands of years doctors (and nurses) have embraced the Hippocratic standard that “I will give no deadly medicine to any one, nor suggest any such counsel.” Should that bright line to separate killing from caring now be erased by legislators or judges?

Without a strong resistance movement, the assisted suicide movement will only keep expanding. So far, much of the public has been shielded from the real truth by euphemisms and false reassurances from assisted suicide supporters, a mostly sympathetic mainstream media and often spineless professional and health care organizations.

We all must educate ourselves to speak out before it is too late.

A Light at the End of the (Covid 19)Tunnel?

nancyvalko Covid 19, law, medical

My husband and I just returned from a trip to Florida where we were happily surprised to find the closest place to normal since the Covid 19 pandemic started. Everyone wore masks (except one young man we saw at a distance) and everyone was careful about social distancing. Hand sanitizers were everywhere.

Best of all, people seemed happy and we saw very few stores closed.

When we returned home, we both finally received the first of our 2 Covid 19 vaccination doses.

Is it possible that there is a light at the end of the Covid tunnel?

I am cautiously optimistic but aware that Covid 19 may still be a problem in the long term, especially since some younger family members-including children-contracted Covid despite precautions. Thankfully, they all had mild cases with no hospitalizations. My husband and I will continue to follow Missouri’s guidelines of masks, social distancing, etc. even after we receive our next dose of vaccine.

IS FLORIDA A HARBINGER OF GOOD NEWS?

Florida was among the last states to go into lockdown and one of the first states to ease restrictions.

Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis was vilified by many of the media for adopting something similar to Sweden’s strategy of protecting the vulnerable while keeping businesses and schools open but a year after the pandemic hit the US, that strategy seems to be working.

Despite having the second largest number of elderly people by state, Florida’s Covid death rate numbers are better than New York’s and California’s. And, unlike so many other states, Florida’s economy is thriving.

Now, Governor Abbott of Texas and Governor Reeves of Mississippi have announced that they would be lifting their states’ mask mandates and rolling back many of their Covid-19 health mandates.

WHAT HAPPENED?

It has been almost a year since the U.S. went on lockdown for Covid 19 when President Trump declared Covid 19 a national emergency on March 13, 2020.

At first, the lockdown was only supposed to be for a few weeks to “flatten the curve” of infections and prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed by Covid patients.

However, as the lockdowns wore on for months, some doctors and other experts started warning about the emotional and health damage occurring.

Although it received little media notice, a May 19, 2020 letter to President Trump signed by over 600 doctors detailed the physical and mental impact of the lockdown in the US due to Covid 19, calling it a “mass casualty incident” with “exponentially growing negative health consequences” to millions of non-COVID patients. 

The doctors’ letter also stated that:

“Keeping schools and universities closed is incalculably detrimental for children, teenager and young adults for decades to come.”

Then on October 4, 2020, the Great Barrington Declaration was written and released and eventually signed by thousands of doctors and experts from around the world. The Declaration encouraged governments to lift lockdown restrictions on young and healthy people while focusing protection measures on the elderly, stating:

“Current lockdown policies are producing devastating effects on short and long-term public health. The results (to name a few) include lower childhood vaccination rates, worsening cardiovascular disease outcomes, fewer cancer screenings and deteriorating mental health – leading to greater excess mortality in years to come, with the working class and younger members of society carrying the heaviest burden. Keeping students out of school is a grave injustice. “

Unfortunately, Covid 19 rules and lockdowns have become a political football in many states, especially with school and small business reopenings.

CONCLUSION

We know a lot more about Covid 19 now than when the pandemic started, especially from watching U.S. states and other countries use various strategies to try to contain the virus. And now, of course, it appears we have several promising vaccines.

Although there is much more to learn, we indeed might be seeing a light at the end of the Covid 19 tunnel.

Can You Tell “Fake News” from Real News?

nancyvalko culture, education, Planned Parenthood, sex ed

In 2019, Nick Sandmann, a Catholic high school teenager in a MAGA hat from Covington, Kentucky was filmed allegedly showing the teen confronting an elderly Native American man after a big pro-life rally in Washington, D.C.

The tape was shown on mainstream media outlets and the young man and his classmates were then vilified in the media.

Later, a longer version of the video instead showed that it was the Native American man who confronted the teen, chanting and banging a drum in his face.

But by July 2020, after Mr. Sandmann sued several news outlets for defamation, both CNN and the Washington Post settled the cases for undisclosed amounts.

The rush to judgment by so many of the mainstream media over such an arguably small but politically potent news item was eventually exposed as “fake news”.

What caused this and how can we tell the difference between trustworthy news and so-called “fake news”?

An advanced practice nurse friend of mine recently revealed that she had studied journalism in college for three years before dropping out in 1990s. She felt that her professors were enforcing their viewpoints on students’ writings rather than promoting non-biased news reporting. She is happy now that she changed her major to nursing but said she is sad and appalled to see the biased state of journalism now.

Getting trustworthy information from news outlets can be a daunting and time-consuming effort now with the great political and cultural divide that has been occurring in the US, especially in the last few years. Even worse, we now see the rise of an Orwellian-like “cancel culture” that is enforcing new speech codes and concepts with the threat of silencing other views and even people.

WILL THE NEWS LITERACY PROJECT HELP OR HURT?

Recently, I read about the News Literacy Project (NLP) that states it is:

“a nonpartisan national education nonprofit, provides programs and resources for educators and the public to teach, learn and share the abilities needed to be smart, active consumers of news and information and equal and engaged participants in a democracy. ” It declares that “The lack of news literacy is a threat to our democracy“. (Emphasis added)

NLP says it plans to build:

“By 2022, a community of 20,000 news literacy practitioners who, using NLP and resources, will teach news literacy skills to 3 million middle and high school students each year. NLP will also lead efforts to increase public awareness of news literacy and to equip people of all ages with the ability to discern fact from fiction.” (emphasis added)

NLP also has a “Theory of Change” with four pillars that will:

“Pillar One: Increase the use and the measurable student impact of NLP programs and resources (Change educator behaviors),

Pillar Two: Develop a national community of news literacy practitioners as advocates of systemic change (Change general will),

Pillar Three: Raise awareness of NLP and increase news literacy among the general public. (Change public mindsets),

Pillar Four: Build the infrastructure and fiscal sustainability to realize this plan in the short term and our vision in the longer term.” (Emphasis added)

NLP also states that since its start in 2008 ,  “More than 30 news organizations across the United States, from local outlets to internationally known print and digital publications, support NLP in a variety of ways “. NLP also states that it “has a role to play assisting others around the world who are working to expand news literacy in their countries“.

This was news to me and rather concerning because so many of these same news organizations have been involved in “fake news” stories like Nick Sandmann’s. If the NLP so concerned about this, why doesn’t it also work to enforce the standard of accurate, non-biased reporting with its own news outlets instead of trying to teach children and the public how to differentiate between trustworthy news and “fake news”?

MY JOURNEY AND WHY I AM SO CONCERNED

I grew up in a mixed political family. My mother was a passionate Democrat, and my father was an equally passionate Republican. Their arguments were epic, but they spurred my interest in understanding local and national news, even as a child.

I wanted to know what was true and spent lots of time reading different viewpoints in magazines, newspapers and our local library. Back in the 1960s, there was no internet.

Not surprisingly, I wound up as an independent.

My parents and teachers wanted me to go into journalism, but I chose nursing and never regretted it.

However, I began writing again when my late first husband asked me to help him write his medical research papers. I learned a lot but was shocked by the politics of publishing medical research. Certain projects and results were taboo. I learned to have a degree of skepticism when evaluating medical research and I am no longer surprised when many papers are retracted after publication.

After my daughter Karen was born with Down Syndrome and a severe heart defect, I started researching and writing again, first in a journal and then eventually for other publications including a national newspaper.

My newspaper editor was superb, and he enforced strict journalistic principles such as reporting different viewpoints without bias and with meticulous sourcing.

I found I was not immune from occasional mistakes, but I was expected to correct them as soon as possible. Accuracy was paramount. I doubt any journalism school back then could have been better than my experience writing for that newspaper.

Today, I become immediately skeptical when I read or hear sensational news items or intense personal attacks, especially on social media sites.

And with the NLP teaching millions of students every year, I am also concerned about the power of schools and how they educate our children.

Years ago, when my children were in public high school, mandatory school sex education with the promotion of “safe sex” was a concern for many of us parents but dismissed by the school. Now, Planned Parenthood boasts it is the single largest provider of sex education in the United States.

Now, many younger parents are worried about what their children are learning and believing when their schools teach the “1619 Project” and “Critical Race Theory”.

CONCLUSION

We must and should be able to have a high amount of trust in our media, especially with the current Covid 19 pandemic, but now polls show the public’s trust in media has “hit a new low”.

“Fake news” can take many forms from bias and distortions to ignoring major news stories for political reasons. This kind of manipulation is very harmful and even dangerous to achieving a safe and well-informed society. I personally have eliminated most social media.

I also recommend keeping an open mind rather than just reading or watching news outlets with which you agree. Take the time to really try to understand and use critical thinking about contentious issues. Be skeptical when reading shocking news items and check the sources and other verification.

And just as important, we still need to stand up for what we believe and explain our positions without hostility towards those who disagree and without fear of reprisals for our convictions.

Correction to “How Missouri Became the First Abortion-free State in the U.S.”

nancyvalko abortion, Planned Parenthood, pro-life

CORRECTION: It appears that this blog and articles about “How Missouri Became the First Abortion-free State in the U.S.” are premature and inaccurate. My apologies.

Now, according an article in the January 21, 2021 St. Louis Review:

“The archdiocesan Respect Life Apostolate recently issued a statement responding to reports circulating that Missouri may be the first “abortion-free” or “abortion clinic-free” state. However, the apostolate noted that the last freestanding abortion facility in the state, Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region, is still a legally licensed abortion facility by the state of Missouri, with many Missouri women being referred to the Planned Parenthood clinic in Fairview Heights, Illinois. Abortions also continue to be offered by at least one health care system in the St. Louis area.”

How Missouri Became the First Abortion-free State in the U.S.

nancyvalko abortion, nursing, Planned Parenthood, pro-life

Although the pro-life movement has faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion in the U.S., the movement continues to make legal and cultural gains.

This is one of the latest.

In July 2019, I wrote the blog “The Last Planned Parenthood Clinic in Missouri Again Evades Closure” about how the lone Planned Parenthood clinic in my home state of Missouri received multiple court-ordered reprieves from closure after the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) decided not to renew the facility’s license because of dozens of serious health and safety violations.

Public records showed numerous problems at the clinic including unreported failed abortions, life threatening complications, an illegal abortion at 21 weeks, insufficient supervision of medical residents (students) performing abortions and inaccurate medical records among the many other violations.

Yet the St. Louis abortion clinic continued to get court-ordered reprieves.

But this month, Operation Rescue confirmed that now no abortions have been performed there for months.  Instead, all abortion appointments are now being referred to the Fairview Heights Planned Parenthood facility across the Mississippi River in Illinois.

How could this happen?

While Missouri has long been a strongly pro-life state with legislation like the 2019 “Missouri Stands for the Unborn Act” and many active pro-life organizations, Defenders of the Unborn president Mary Maschmeier, who has led a peaceful, prayerful and life-saving ministry outside the St. Louis Planned Parenthood clinic for many years, wrote an email also giving credit to the:

“ordinary citizens who would not take no for an answer. Who persevered day after day, year after year, decade after decade. Ever present on the front lines. In the streets. In the halls of our state legislature. Sidewalk counseling. Prayer warriors…Manning pregnancy aid centers. Staffing Ultra Sound vans. Rain, snow, heat, cold- ever vigilant.”

Mary also wrote that “We will not stop until the that unjust practice is banished from our land and encourage our fellow citizens to end abortion in their respective states. “

CONCLUSION

In 1989, I had just started working as an RN on an oncology (cancer) unit when we discovered that one of our patients had CMV (Cytomegalovirus).

One of our nurses was pregnant and tested positive for the virus. Her doctor told her how her baby could die or have terrible birth defects from the virus and he recommended an abortion.

“Sue” (not her real name) was frantic. She had two little girls and worked full time. She said she didn’t know how she could manage a child with serious birth defects.

I told her that it was usually impossible to know if or how much a baby might be impaired before birth. I also told her about my Karen who was born with Down Syndrome and a critical heart defect and died at 5 months. I told her that I treasured the time I had with her and later babysat children with a range of physical and mental difficulties. Most importantly, I also told her that I would be there to help her and her baby.

“Sue” decided against abortion and told the other nurses what I said.

The other nurses were furious with me and said if the baby was born with so much as an extra toe, they would never talk to me again.

But slowly, the other nurses came around and also offered to help Sue and her baby.

In the end, we all celebrated when Sue had her first son who was perfectly healthy!

My point is that what many people don’t understand is that pro-life doesn’t mean just being against abortion, infanticide and euthanasia. What being pro-life really means is truly caring about all lives, born or unborn.

When Can We End Lockdowns for Covid 19?

nancyvalko Covid 19, culture, education, medical ethics, mental health

When the Covid 19 pandemic hit the U.S. early last year, little was known about this new infection.

But as the highly contagious Covid 19 virus was spreading around the world, President Trump issued a proclamation on March 13, 2020 declaring a national emergency with “preventive and proactive measures to slow the spread of the virus and treat those affected” and state lockdowns began.

Regular healthcare became virtually suspended as states went to lockdown with rules to shelter in place except for essential errands or work. Schools and many businesses were closed. 

On March 18, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recommended that hospitals cancel all elective surgeries and nonessential medical, surgical and dental procedures to prepare for the expected deluge of patients with Covid 19 and the health system complied.

Then, although it received little media notice, a May 19, 2020 letter to President Trump signed by over 600 doctors detailed the physical and mental impact of the lockdown in the US due to Covid 19, calling it a “mass casualty incident” with “exponentially growing negative health consequences” to millions of non-COVID patients. 

The doctors’ letter stated that:

“Suicide hotline phone calls have increased 600%,” the letter said. Other silent casualties: “150,000 Americans per month who would have had new cancer detected through routine screening.”

“Patients fearful of visiting hospitals and doctors’ offices are dying because COVID-phobia is keeping them from seeking care. One patient died at home of a heart attack rather than go to an emergency room. The number of severe heart attacks being treated in nine U.S hospitals surveyed dropped by nearly 40% since March. Cardiologists are worried “a second wave of deaths” indirectly caused by the virus is likely.“

“The millions of casualties of a continued shutdown will be hiding in plain sight, but they will be called alcoholism, homelessness, suicide, heart attack, stroke, or kidney failure. In youths it will be called financial instability, unemployment, despair, drug addiction, unplanned pregnancies, poverty, and abuse.“

“It is impossible to overstate the short, medium, and long-term harm to people’s health with a continued shutdown,” the letter says. “Losing a job is one of life’s most stressful events, and the effect on a person’s health is not lessened because it also has happened to 30 million [now 38 million] other people. Keeping schools and universities closed is incalculably detrimental for children, teenagers, and young adults for decades to come.” (All emphasis added)

Then on October 4, 2020, the Great Barrington Declaration was written and released by three public health experts from Harvard, Stanford, and Oxford. The Declaration was eventually signed by thousands of doctors and experts from around the world. The Declaration encouraged governments to lift lockdown restrictions on young and healthy people while focusing protection measures on the elderly.

These experts surmised that this would allow COVID-19 to spread in a population where it is less likely to be deadly, encouraging widespread immunity that is not dependent on a vaccine.

The Declaration stated:

“Current lockdown policies are producing devastating effects on short and long-term public health. The results (to name a few) include lower childhood vaccination rates, worsening cardiovascular disease outcomes, fewer cancer screenings and deteriorating mental health – leading to greater excess mortality in years to come, with the working class and younger members of society carrying the heaviest burden. Keeping students out of school is a grave injustice. “

The Declaration was swiftly met with intense criticism from other medical experts who called the plan “practically impossible and highly unethical”.

As the numbers of people with Covid 19 and who died from Covid 19 went up and down over the months, various U.S. states and counties ordered different degrees of lockdown and now many states seem to be guided more by politics than science when it comes to lockdowns.

HOPE ON THE HORIZON

We now have more people with Covid 19 surviving and leaving the hospital sooner due to a better understanding of what treatments work best in comparison to what was known when the pandemic started in the US.

And although seemingly impossible at first, new vaccines have been developed for Covid 19 and began being distributed in December 2021 due to Operation Warp Speed. Despite the controversy about some Covid 19 vaccines, it is hoped that the widespread use of vaccines may help the U.S. end the lockdowns.

In addition, the FDA (food and Drug Administration) approved the use of several rapid Covid 19 tests, some that can even be done at home. This can be a gamechanger with some experts saying that the massive distribution of rapid self-tests for use in homes, schools, offices, and other public places could replace harmful sweeping lockdowns with knowledge.

CONCLUSION

Lockdowns have caused enormous economic, physical, social and mental upheaval in the US.

When lockdowns are intermittent in intensity and duration in some states without clear scientific evidence that the lockdowns are working, it seems we need a reevaluation of their usefulness as we evaluate other measures to help end the Covid 19 pandemic.

Should a Covid 19 Vaccine be Mandatory?

nancyvalko Covid 19, law, medical ethics, vaccines

As the first Americans are receiving a Covid 19 vaccine, a December 5 2020 Gallup poll reports that 63% of Americans say they are willing to take the vaccine. 37% are less willing, including some groups like non-white people and Americans age 45-64. But the percentage of Americans currently willing to get vaccinated may still be below where public health experts want it.

Now, there is a proposed bill in New York to make getting the vaccine mandatory to get sufficient immunity if not enough people are voluntarily getting them.

Why are some people unwilling to get the vaccine?

As I wrote in my last blog “Ethics and the Production of Covid 19 Vaccines”, many people are concerned about the use of aborted fetal cells in some vaccines. I also included two lists of vaccines and whether or not such fetal cells were involved in their production. One list is from the Charlotte Lozier Institute and one is from the Children of God for Life organization. (The Charlotte Lozier Institute does disagree with the Children of God for Life organization on the Moderna vaccine.)

Other potential concerns are about the safety, side effects and the effectiveness of the vaccines.

EFFECTIVENESS AND SAFETY

A December 3, 2020 MedPage investigative article “Want to Know More About mRNA Before Your COVID Jab?“ states that “While an mRNA vaccine has never been on the market anywhere in the world, mRNA vaccines have been tested in humans before, for at least four infectious diseases: rabies, influenza, cytomegalovirus, and Zika.”

The Covid 19 vaccines use a synthetic mRNA, which is genetic information used to make the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. When injected, the body produces a strong response to that protein to produce an immune response.

How long that response lasts is still unknown.

But, especially for certain groups of people, there are also concerns about safety.

According to the CDC (the U.S. Center for Disease Control) regarding immunocompromised patients such as those with HIV or who take immunosuppressive medications or therapies may take the vaccine but should be counseled about:

“– Unknown vaccine safety and efficacy profiles in immunocompromised persons
– Potential for reduced immune responses
– Need to continue to follow all current guidance to protect themselves against COVID-19″

Also according to the CDC, “There are no data on the safety of Covid 19 vaccines in pregnant women” but “Animal developmental and reproductive toxicity (DART) studies are ongoing” and more studies are planned.

Regarding breastfeeding, the CDC states that “There are no data on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in lactating women or the effects of mRNA vaccines on the breastfed infant or milk production/excretion”

SIDE EFFECTS

In a Nov. 23, 2020 CNBC article “Doctors say CDC should warn people the side effects from Covid vaccine shots won’t be ‘a walk in the park“, a group of doctors told the CDC to warn people that the Covid 19 vaccine shots now being rolled out may have “some rough side effects so they know what to expect and aren’t scared away from getting the second dose.”

And a December 9, 2020 article in the Wall Street Journal “Covid-19 Vaccines Pose Potential Side Effects, Doctors Say” reported that “U.K. authorities warn people with severe allergies against receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech shots, after two Britons experience allergic reactions.”

But a STAT news article a few days later on December 13, 2020, now reports that the CDC has changed its position from “Persons who have had a severe allergic reaction to any vaccine or injectable therapy (intramuscular, intravenous, or subcutaneous) should not receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at this time“(emphasis added) to that people who had “severe reactions to prior vaccines or injectable drugs can still get the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for Covid-19, but should discuss the risks with their doctors and be monitored for 30 minutes afterward”.

Another concern is that although states rely on the percentage of positive Covid 19 tests for lockdown and other orders, there are many kinds of tests and both false positive and false negative results have been reported.

No wonder many people are confused and anxious!

SHOULD COVID 19 VACCINES BE MANDATORY?

Now we are seeing Covid 19 vaccines being rapidly distributed and more Covid 19 vaccines are coming, including a Johnson and Johnson single dose Covid 19 vaccine that is in testing and the results may be known by January.

Currently, the health care workers and residents and staff of long-term care facilities have first priority for a Covid 19 vaccine.

Although states have the authority to regulate public health and they have in the past mandated vaccines for diseases like smallpox and some mandatory vaccines are required by states before children can attend school, it seems unlikely that there will be a federal mandate for the Covid 19 vaccine.

It is more likely that only certain groups of people may be required to take the vaccine like healthcare workers, universities and some employers. Even then, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 may help people who have a religious objection to a vaccine as well as anti-discrimination laws and exemptions for medical reasons. An employer would have to make a reasonable accommodation as long as it’s not too costly for the business.

It is also possible that airlines, stores, stadiums could also make vaccination a condition of doing business with a person.

CONCLUSION

The Covid 19 pandemic has taken a serious toll on everyone and we will not get back to “normal life” anytime soon, even with the Covid 19 vaccine.

But we still must make sure that any Covid 19 vaccines we take are ethical, effective and safe.