Vatican: Tube Withdrawal an Execution

By ALESSANDRA RIZZO, Associated Press Writer

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican (news - web sites) pressed its campaign to keep Terri Schiavo alive Tuesday, saying that removing the brain-damaged American woman's feeding tube amounted to capital punishment for someone who has committed no crime.

In a front-page editorial, the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano criticized U.S. District Judge James Whittemore's refusal to order the reinsertion of Schiavo's feeding tube and disparaged a "society incapable of appreciating and defending the gift of life."

It said Whittemore had condemned Schiavo to an "atrocious death: death from hunger and thirst."

"After all, Terri's destiny appears not unlike that of many men and women who in the United States get capital punishment for their crimes," the paper said.

"But Terri has committed no crimes, if not that of being 'useless' to the eyes of a society incapable of appreciating and defending the gift of life. Of any life."

The Holy See has maintained that there is virtually no justification for the death penalty.

The decision by Whittemore came after feverish action by President Bush (news - web sites) and Congress to pass legislation allowing the brain-damaged woman's contentious case to be reviewed by federal courts.

"She has no possibility of being 'restored' to a 'normal' life. Therefore Terri Schiavo must die," the L'Osservatore editorial said in its interpretation of the judge's ruling. "This is ... the absurd and terrifying reason" for Whittemore's decision.

The feeding tube was disconnected Friday on the orders of a state judge, prompting an extraordinary weekend effort by congressional Republicans to push through unprecedented emergency legislation Monday aimed at keeping her alive.

A top Vatican official, Monsignor Elio Sgreccia, also criticized the ruling, saying it legitimized a "cruel" death by hunger and thirst for Schiavo.

But doctors have said Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state without conscious awareness of herself or her environment. Experts say if she dies from the removal of her feeding tube, her passing should be peaceful.

Sgreccia, who heads the Pontifical Academy for Life, told Vatican Radio that he hoped the ruling would not be repeated in other cases.

"It's not euthanasia in the literal sense of the word," Sgreccia said. "It's not a good death. It's a death provoked by a cruel act. It's not a medical act," Sgreccia said.

"I confirm the moral judgment doesn't change, because it remains an illicit and serious act — even more serious since it appears the decision over who lives and who dies has become a question for a court."

Schiavo suffered severe brain damage 15 years ago. Her husband says she told him that she would not want to be kept alive in a vegetative state. Her parents say she needs treatment and another opportunity for life.

The Vatican paper's remarks reflected earlier comments from several Vatican prelates over the case. The Catholic Church teaches that euthanasia can never be allowed because only God has the power to decide over the life and death of a human being.

Pope John Paul (news - web sites) II has strongly condemned euthanasia throughout his 26-year pontificate.