The efforts of so many people finally paid off. Andrea Clark is being transferred to a hospital in Chicago. While her condition remains very, very serious, at least she now has the chance to recover. She did not have that at St. Luke's.

ProLifeBlogs.com has a letter from Melanie Childers, thanking everyone who took time to contact the hospital and spread information.

My family has made the decision to move our sister to the hospital in Chicago. Thank God there is someone willing to take her. And, really, it is best to get her out of Texas, because of the futile care law here.

St. Luke's played hardball with us on this issue. We were told that we could make the decision today and they would pay the entire amount of $14 thousand to move her, but if we made the decision tomorrow, they would only pay half of it, and if it were the day after tomorrow, they would pay nothing.

As you know, I'm a Democrat, but one that is against abortion. I agree with the Republicans on that issue, at least. After this experience, though, I have to tell you: I am in absolute awe of the power that the right to life people generate. I, of course, first posted on Democratic Underground, and I have to give them some credit: they let my post stand against the rules about posting something like this under the wrong topic. They also let it stand, even though it had people's (my sister's and mine) personal numbers in it. And, of course, some people there forwarded it to other blogs. And everyone there was very supportive in their comments, as well.

But the pro-life people stepped forward and just absolutely ground St. Luke's into submission on this issue. You have, without a doubt, saved my sister's life. I want you to know that. Without the pro-life/right to life people stepping in from the very first of this fight for Andrea, we would have lost. I have never in my life seen such a centered, focused and energized group of people.

You used that energy and focus to do some good in this world and you didn't care whether you were fighting for a Democrat's life or a Republican's. Now, that's conviction.

There are not enough words in the English language to tell you how grateful I and my family are, for what you people have done. When we protested at St. Luke's last Saturday, the strangers that showed up were people that had had relatives killed at St. Luke's in much the same way that St. Luke's had planned to kill my sister. These people hadn't known any better, and they hadn't known that there was such a powerful group of individuals out there, devoted to this one cause, that might be able to help them.

Because of the people in the pro-life movement, a light has been shown on the truth, for all of Texans; indeed, for all of the world to see. May God bless you for your works. And, please, do not hesitate to ask myself or my family, for anything that you may ever need in order to continue your fight for these precious lives. We are here for you and your cause, as you were here for us in ours.

Melanie Childers

She also left this post on Democratic Underground:

Some of you might remember my posting on DU about my sister, Andrea Clark, for whom St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston was threatening to terminate care. Andrea would have died had St. Luke's been successful. Because of DU and others, Andrea is now being transferred to a facility in Chicago, Illinois. They have no futile care law in Chicago, so Andrea will be okay there.

Andrea is now showing some signs of improvement, although slight. She has endocarditis, which takes about four months, at best, to resolve itself. It's going to be a long road back for her, if she makes it, but I want to thank the mods here and Skinner, for helping us to get the word out.

I have to tell you, too, that the right to life people were with us on this all the way. And we never made a secret of the fact that we were Democrats, either. They are an absolutely formidable force. I don't know what we would have done without them. They pinned St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital to the wall with calls, emails, blogs, radio interviews, etc. St. Luke's is so utterly happy to get my sister out of that hospital ALIVE, if it weren't so tragic, it would be almost comical.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know that this had a happy outcome, and express our family's thanks for your help.

Now Andrea can stop worrying about treatment and start focusing on recovery.

Good Luck Andrea!

An attorney for Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said that he plans to go to court Friday to appeal a warrant for his client's arrest that was signed Thursday by a Douglas County judge.

Attorney Roy Barnes, the former Georgia governor, said he did not expect Howard to turn himself in to face the aggravated battery and other charges before the petition to dismiss the warrants is filed with the Georgia Court of Appeals.

"I've never heard of anybody arresting a district attorney in my 35 years of practicing law," Barnes said.

The warrants charge Howard with aggravated battery and other crimes following a courtroom struggle with a Fulton deputy a month ago.

I bet, in his 35 years of experience, no district attorney ever got physically violent with a deputy either.

At first I thought this whole thing was odd, simply because of the seeming appearance of "judge shopping", but I tell you what. After discovering the Georgia law that allows such cases to be filed in any county, and the more I hear from Howard's defense attorney, the more convinced I am that the deputy's attorneys did the right thing here.

When you act like a criminal, you should be treated like one, whether or not you are the district attorney.

California's state senators on Thursday endorsed Monday's boycott of schools, jobs and stores by illegal immigrants and their allies as supporters equated the protest with great social movements in American history.

By a 24-13 vote that split along party lines, the California Senate approved a resolution that calls the one-day protest the Great American Boycott 2006 and describes it as an attempt to educate Americans "about the tremendous contribution immigrants make on a daily basis to our society and economy."

…

The boycott, also called "A Day Without Immigrants," grew out of huge pro-immigrant marches across the United States in recent weeks. Organizers are urging people to stay home from school and jobs and avoid spending money on Monday to demonstrate their importance to the U.S. economy.

Once again, the media is trying to turn this into an "anti-immigration" event, rather than what it truly is.

"A Day Without Immigrants"? They're kidding right? Our country was founded by immigrants. Legal immigrants are not the issue here.

My grandmother on my mother's side immigrated to America in the 1940's, legally. She worked hard, she provided for her family, she made great contributions to our society.

One of my father's grandfathers, the son of legal immigrants himself, worked on the Trans-Siberian Railway, and helped build the Panama Canal., doing so in service to his country.

In fact, almost everyone in America has a story about an immigrant in their family, because most of us descent from immigrants.

But…

This boycott has nothing to do with legal immigrants. It's the sneaking, lying, cheating, law breaking ILLEGAL immigrants who are the issue.

Of course, I have no problem thinking about "A Day Without Illegal Immigrants". That has a mighty nice ring to it.

Here is an interesting update about Andrea Clark from Hyscience:

The family learned of a facility in Illinois that is willing to accept Andrea and offer her the opportunity to live, an expensive move that would require Andrea to be far removed from her family.

However, placing corporate greed ahead of all patient interests and the interests and wishes of the family, St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital has just notified the family that they are willing to pay the almost $17,000 to move Andrea to Illinois if they will immediately – that's TODAY, move Andrea out of St. Lukes to the Illinois facility. If the family waits until tomorow to decide, St. Lukes will only pay half. And if the family can't make a decision by tomorow, the hospital may consider to pay absolutely nothing. In other words, the hospital is attempting to force Andrea out of the hospital in order to stop the financial drain of the cost of her care.

John Hawkins, from Right Wing News, has been in contact with Melanie Childers, Andrea's sister, and

…So, the ideal situation would be to get her into a hospital in a nearby state, so that her family would have easy access to her. Illinois is a long way from Houston and the idea of having her sister in intensive care, far away from her home and family, is naturally very upsetting, but unfortunately, it may be the only option they really have.

Melanie told me the family is going to be discussing St. Luke's offer to pay for the transportation to the Illinois facility tonight and if they accept it, she believes that Andrea will be moved tomorrow.

That's where the story is at right now. As I learn more details, I'll provide them for you.

I know the thought of moving her all the way to Illinois is unsettling, but it sure beats the alternative they were looking at just a few days ago.

Keep praying.

A Douglas County Judge has signed arrest warrants against Fulton County D.A. Paul Howard Thursday.

The warrants accuse the prosecutor of aggravated battery and other charges following an encounter with a deputy several weeks ago.

The case stems from an incident on March 31 in Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford, Jr.'s courtroom. The Judge ordered Howard handcuffed and locked in a holding cell for refusing to comply with the Judge's orders not to talk to jurors in a rape case.

…

According to the AJC, Douglas County Sheriff Phil Miller confirmed that he would be serving the warrants that were signed by Douglas Superior Court Judge David Emerson on Thursday. The warrants accuse Howard of three felonies, including aggravated battery and obstruction of an officer, and three misdemeanors.

This incident occurred at the Fulton County Courthouse. Why is it that a Fulton County judge did not issue this warrant? Does the Douglas County Sheriff actually have jurisdiction to serve this warrant? Would someone in the know let me know? Please…

Update [02:15 04/28/2006] While watching a replay of the 11 o'clock news from WXIA, they quoted the following:

GEORGIA CODE
17-4-44

"A warrant for arrest may be issued in any county, though the crime was commtted in another county."

Of course, all this means to me is, if you want to charge someone with a crime, and your local county judges won't issue the warrant, you have 158 more chances to "shop-around" to see if you can get the warrant.