This is a pathetic shame! No one should have to fight for their right to be allowed to continue living! Terri Schiavo was MURDERED and I fear her case sets a terrible precedent.
I pray daily for Les Burke and I hope you all will too. This man has fought long and hard...he should have the GOD GIVEN RIGHT to LIVE in any condition his health is in. I can only imagine the devastating effects of his disease...it must be horrible and frightening. Yet, NO ONE but GOD should have the right to decide Les Burke's fate. Pray fervently for this long-suffering man.
Check out this great site dedicated to speaking up for Les Burke...
Please forward the below to as many as you can
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SPEAK UP FOR LESLIE BURKE!
SPEAK OUT AGAINST EUTHANASIA!
"(CNSNews.com) - An appeal court has denied a terminally ill British man the assurance that his wish not to be starved to death once he becomes incapacitated will be respected to the end. " ... Leslie Burke, 45, has a progressively degenerative disease that although leaving him fully conscious, will eventually rob him of the ability to swallow and communicate." " ... the General Medical Council (GMC) -- the medical licensing authority .. guidelines give doctors the final say in whether a patient should be given life-sustaining "treatment," a term legally defined to include artificial feeding or hydration." "The latest ruling obliges doctors to provide life-prolonging treatment if a terminally ill and mentally competent patient asks for it. However, once a patient is no longer able to express his or her wishes or is mentally incapacitated, doctors can withdraw treatment, including ANH, if they consider it to be causing suffering or "overly burdensome." Ultimately, the court said, a patient cannot demand treatment the doctor considers to be "adverse to the patient's clinical needs." Anti-euthanasia campaigner and author Wesley Smith told Cybercast News Service it was important Burke had taken the case to court because "it is now clear that a patient who can communicate desires cannot have food and water withdrawn." " ... he added, the judgment had "cast aside" those who were mentally incompetent or unable to communicate their wishes -- "those who bioethicists call non-persons because of incompetence or incommunicability." "Burke was quoted as saying in reaction to the ruling that it held "no good news at all" for people who shared his concerns. In the light of public health service cuts and underfunding, Burke said he was worried about "the decisions that will have to be made" by doctors in the future. "I have come to realize that there are quite a few people who feel the same way I do," the Yorkshire Post quoted him as saying. "Not everyone wants to be put down. Not everyone wants their life to be ended prematurely." [Disability Rights Commission] "DRC Chairman Bert Massie expressed the group's dismay at the Appeal Court decision, saying it did nothing to dispel the fears of many disabled people that "some doctors make negative, stereotypical assumptions about their quality of life." It had also "totally ignored" the rights of those who were unable to express their wishes, he added." - Terminally Ill Can Be Starved To Death, UK Court Rulesby by Nicola Brent, CNSNews, August 02, 2005http://www.cnsnews.com/news/viewstory.asp?Page=%5CCulture%5Carchive%5C200508%5CCUL20050802a.html
"Burke, who had argued against the council's guidance giving doctors the final say over treatment in the final stages of a patient's life, said he was "disappointed" with the ruling."
"Joyce Robins, co-director of group Patient Concern, said the decision was "a huge step backwards for patients." - Patient loses landmark right to life case ScienceDaily, (UPI), July 28, 2005 http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/?feed=TopNews&article=UPI-1-20050728-07472200-bc-britain-right-to-life.xml
"Leslie Burke does not want to spend the rest of his life imagining a slow, painful end. He can picture it: lying still, unable to communicate but conscious every second as his doctors let him die.
"That is, in my mind, the most inhumane way possible for someone to die," said Burke, 45, who suffers from a degenerative brain condition that in 15 to 20 years will incapacitate him.
Burke has launched a legal battle in Britain that has far-reaching medical and ethical implications, raising questions about patient autonomy, doctor responsibility and use of resources. His case, simply put, is that he demands that the state give him nutrition and water to stay alive once he is no longer able to feed himself, even if the quality of his life might seem poor to an outsider."
"Burke went to court last year to object to guidelines issued by the General Medical Council, the body in Britain that oversees medical licensing. It says doctors may, even against a patient's expressed wishes, withhold or withdraw life-prolonging treatment if they deem a patient's condition so severe and his prognosis so poor that artificial feeding would be more of a burden than a benefit."
"Burke did not want doctors deciding that his life was no longer worth living." - British Man Adds New Wrinkle in End-of-Life Debate By Sarah Price Brown, Los Angeles Times, 5-31-05http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2002293542_brit31.html
"How right that Leslie Burke should want the GMC [General Medical Council] guidance changed, to be assured that his life will not be cut short by doctors?" ... A doctor's duty is to maintain health and prevent, alleviate or cure disease as far as he can, but above all, to care. Every patient is equally important regardless of size or shape, social position, colour, creed, politics or ability, but we should seek to serve especially the most vulnerable, the most deprived; the most severely disabled, the most seriously ill, those who suffer most, and those who are nearest to death."
"... Doctors have to be guided by authority above that of lawyers and politicians, and be conscientious and open. That is why in the present state of ethical confusion, "Doctors who Respect Human Life" is vital." - M B Howitt Wilson 9th May 2004 - Editorial Doctors & Ethics, Newsletter of the Bristish Section of the World Federation of Doctors who respect Human Life, No. 69 http://www.donoharm.org.uk/doctorsfed/spring2004/all.shtml
"The Mental Capacity Bill will create rules compelling doctors and nurses to withdraw basic treatment or food and fluids from certain patients.
Some doctors are already undermining Hippocratic principles. Mentally incapacitated people (especially those suffering from conditions like stroke or dementia) are being killed by dehydration and starvation - withholding food and fluids. " - 15 Days Till Mental Capacity Bill Second Reading (Society for the Protection of Unborn Children) http://www.spuc.org.uk/lobbying/alerts/20040926
"I just do not want to effectively die of starvation and thirst which may take up to two weeks. I want as far as possible to be able to approach the end of my life with dignity."- Les Burke "If they (doctors) decided it was in my ‘best interests’ to die, I will know about it but won’t be able to do anything about it. I can’t think of a more horrifying way for one’s life to end," - Les Burke
Let us Open our mouths and "...decree that which is just, and do justice to the needy...." - Proverbs 31: 9
Contact: Prime Minister Tony Blair - Direct Gov (UK)URL: http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page3.asp
Contact: Veronica Fraser - Department of Health (UK) Head of Complaints and Public EnquiriesURL: http://www.dh.gov.uk/ContactUs/ComplaintProcedures/ComplaintArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4065201&chk=XGrAPc
Contact: British Embassy, Washington D.C.
General Inquiries about Britain can be sent to:
Public Inquiries The British Embassy Washington D.C. 3100 Massachussetts Avenue NW Washington D.C. 20008-3600
Sumit question on-line [British Embassy Inquiry Service] http://www.britainusa.com/functions/feedback/enquiry.asp
NOTE: When sending correspondence regarding the Leslie Burke case, please request to be copied when they forward it to the correct party and location. 
Leslie Burke...He has been fighting for his right to receive nutrition & hydration, regardless of the progression of his disease, cerebellar ataxia. He hopes to be "allowed" to die "naturally" NOT by means of removal of his nourishment & fluids! NO ONE has the right to decide when Les Burke's life should end, to decide his life has no more value, to decide his usefullness is over. Les, as ALL HUMANS THAT GOD CREATED HAS A SOUL! A SPIRIT THAT GOD PUT THERE! THE BREATH OF LIFE! NO MAN has the right.....ONLY GOD! PLease SPEAK UP FOR LESLIE BURKE and HELP CHANGE THE LAWS! THE LIFE YOU SAVE MAY EVENTUALLY BE YOUR OWN!
I'm so hungry...I can hardly eat because of the condition of my gut...I'm sick from the heat and humidity...I'm very depressed and my choking has worsened...life is so miserable, especially lately. I was turned down for housing because of something my bf did and that just flung me over the edge...I have been crying constantly and sleep terribly...I know it could be worse....I keep praying for help...a relative of mine is in a semi-coma from brain cancer and I would not wish to trade places, yet, my life is truly miserable....I keep praying for her healing...I can only imagine the hellish torment of such an illness....my heart aches for her...I feel like the world has caved in because of so many bad things that have happened in my life lately...summer's nearly over...I never dreamed this would be my life...I had so many hopes and dreams ....once...long ago.....