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It's Happening Again: Georgia Woman Being Starved and Dehydrated
April 7, 2005 | Rob Johansen

Posted on 04/08/2005 6:59:28 AM PDT by StacyGuay

85 year-old Mae Margourik of LaGrange, Georgia, is currently being deprived of nutrition and hydration at the request of her granddaughter, Beth Gaddy. Mrs. Margourik suffered an aortic dissection 2 weeks ago and was hospitalized. Though her doctors have said that she is not terminally ill, Ms. Gaddy declared that she held medical power of attorney for Mae, and had her transferred to the LaGrange Hospice. Later investigation revealed that Ms. Gaddy did not in fact have such power of attorney. Furthermore, Mae's Living Will provides that nutrition and hydration are to be withheld only if she is comatose or vegetative. Mae is in neither condition. Neither is her condition terminal.

Furthermore, under Georgia law, if there is no power of attorney specifying a health care decisionmaker, such authority is given to the closest living relatives. Mae's brother, A. B. McLeod, and sister, Lonnie Ruth Mullinax, are both still alive and capable of making such decisions. They opposed Mae's transfer to hospice, and are fighting to save her life. But in spite of the lack of a power of attorney, and the fact that there are closer living relatives who should be given precedence by Georgia law, Ms. Gaddy sought an emergency appointment as guardian from the local probate court. The probate judge, Donald Boyd (who, I am told, is not an attorney and does not have a law degree), granted Gaddy's request, thereby giving her the power to starve and dehydrate Margourik to death, though such an action is contrary to the provisions of the living will.

I have spoken to Kenneth Mullinax, Mae's nephew, and he has confirmed all the above. He also tells me that he believes that Ms. Gaddy has no bad motives, but is simply misguided and mistaken. Mullinax said that Ms. Gaddy has testified in court that she has "prayed over" Mae, and is convinced that it is "time for her to go". Whether the fact is relevant or not remains to be seen, but apparently Ms. Gaddy is also the sole beneficiary of Mae's will.

Kenneth has told me that they need help in getting the word out, and bringing Mae's case to the media's attention. Given the amount of coverage of the Holy Father's death, that may be difficult. But we have to raise the visibility of this case. They have another hearing coming up, and Kenneth indicated that they also may need expert assistance, both legal and medical.

The similarities of Mae Margourik's situation and Terri Schiavo's are obvious: Once again we have a family divided over what care should be given to a seriously ill relative. And once again, we have a judge playing God with someone's life. But what is different, and in a sense worse, is that Mae is being deprived of food and water in clear contravention of her own stated wishes, and at the request of someone who should have no standing under Georgia law.

More information is available at Blogs For Terri. If you want to contact Kenneth Mullinax to get more information or to offer help, you may e-mail him at mockingbird@compuhelp.net.


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: margourik; terrischiavo
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To: Grut

Googlize Marjorie Nighbert, read the stories, and then come back here (or don't) and talk about her.


21 posted on 04/08/2005 7:42:28 AM PDT by TenthAmendmentChampion (Click on my name to see what readers have said about my Christian novels!)
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To: JanetteS
Strangely enough Judge Greer doesn't always see the guardian's right to choose as the Supreme Law of the Land. At least not in cases where the spouse has created the legal instruments to give the other spouse that authority.

Schiavo judge's other 'right-to-die' case

22 posted on 04/08/2005 7:47:19 AM PDT by TigersEye (Are your parents Pro-Choice? I guess you got lucky! ... Is your spouse?)
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To: TigersEye

I guess Greer just sides with whoever is on the side of death? I'm starting to wonder if there's not something to those Scientology conspiracy stories.

(excuse me while I go put on my tinfoil hat)


23 posted on 04/08/2005 7:54:43 AM PDT by JanetteS (www.CommonSenseRunsWild.com)
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To: djreece; ExPatInFrance; eeevil conservative; nicmarlo; maine-iac7; schmelvin; Netizen; Sun; ...
Save Mae Magouirk from Forced Euthanasia Ping!!!

If you’d like to be added or deleted from this Ping List please freepmail me.

Another lady is being dehydrated and starved to death – AGAINST HER WRITTEN WISHES – for more information see this thread.

24 posted on 04/08/2005 7:58:06 AM PDT by Wneighbor
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To: Wneighbor

bttt


25 posted on 04/08/2005 7:59:08 AM PDT by nicmarlo
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To: JanetteS

Follow the money. Thar's gold in them thar deaths.


26 posted on 04/08/2005 8:01:02 AM PDT by TigersEye (Are your parents Pro-Choice? I guess you got lucky! ... Is your spouse?)
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To: TigersEye
Sad but probably true. I strongly believe that the reason Michael Schiavo rejected the millions that he was offered to turn Terri over to her parents was because he knew he'd get a bigger payoff later. Same probably goes for Greer. Felos is just a death worshiping slime ball. He'd do it all over again for free.
27 posted on 04/08/2005 8:06:13 AM PDT by JanetteS (www.CommonSenseRunsWild.com)
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To: StacyGuay
Whether the fact is relevant or not remains to be seen, but apparently Ms. Gaddy is also the sole beneficiary of Mae's will.

And there you have the motive. This is why Ms. Gaddy wants to kill her grandmother.

What a sick, greedy bitch.

28 posted on 04/08/2005 8:11:52 AM PDT by Houmatt (Terri Schindler Schiavo 1963-2005. Murdered by Michael Schiavo and Judge Greer.)
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To: All

Another woman is being dehydrated and starved to death. For those who don't know background, story is at end of contacts.

Also, see this thread: http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/post?id=1379016%2C591

Please help us notify media. Do as much as you can. If you only have a little time, please do SOMETHING. Thanks.

If you have a lot of time, you can contact eeevil conservative by PM, in order to get her name & give it as contact info., as she has talked with Mae's family and others.

Sean Hannity's e-mail: James.Grisham@abc.com

And click next link for the media in GEORGIA

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media/?command=state_search&state=GA&submit.x=13&submit.y=10

Special Note

Nationwide local media contact database - one of the best all-purpose links.
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media
For contact info for all media in a local area, enter your zipcode.
For contact info for all media in a state, click that state on the map.
For national media, check the "show national media" box.

When it returns your list of media outlets, you can click on the name to go to the website.

If you want to send email to any or all of them, click the box next to the name. Then, click "compose message". When the next screen comes up, enter the requested information, type in your message, and click "send message".

==>Added bonus: on the left hand side of the search page are links to the same kind of contact info for national, state and local officials; and state agencies.



To Call FOX News Channel:
1-888-369-4762

FOX News Channel Comments
Comments@foxnews.com

cbs phone # is 212-975-3247; e-mail is audsvcs@cbs.com

If you call you can either leave a message on their answering machine, or if you wish to talk with a "real person," call between 10 - 11:30 a.m. or 2 - 3:30 p.m.



Here's the background for those who don't know:

To view ENTIRE article, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/a...RTICLE_ID=43688

Thursday, April 7, 2005
MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH
Granddaughter yanks grandma's feeding tube
81-year-old neither terminally ill, comatose, nor in vegetative state
Posted: April 7, 2005
7:33 p.m. Eastern

By Sarah Foster
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

In a situation recalling the recent death of Terri Schiavo in Florida, an 81-year-old widow, denied nourishment and fluids for nearly two weeks, is clinging to life in a hospice in LaGrange, Ga., while her immediate family fights desperately to save her life before she dies of starvation and dehydration.

Mae Magouirk was neither terminally ill, comatose nor in a "vegetative state," when Hospice-LaGrange accepted her as a patient about two weeks ago upon the request of her granddaughter, Beth Gaddy, 36, an elementary school teacher.

Also upon Gaddy's request and without prior legal authority, since March 28 Hospice-LaGrange has denied Magouirk normal nourishment or fluids via a feeding tube through her nose or fluids via an IV. She has been kept sedated with morphine and ativan, a powerful tranquillizer.

Her nephew, Ken Mullinax, told WorldNetDaily that although Magouirk is given morphine and ativan, she has not received any medication to keep her eyes lubricated during her forced dehydration.

"They haven't given her anything like that for two weeks," said Mullinax. "She can't produce tears."

The dehydration is being done in defiance of Magouirk's specific wishes, which she set down in a "living will," and without agreement of her closest living next-of-kin, two siblings and a nephew: A. Byron McLeod, 64, of Anniston, Ga.; Ruth Mullinax, 74, of Birmingham, Ala.; and Ruth Mullinax's son, Ken Mullinax.

Magouirk's husband and only child, a son, are both deceased.

In her living will, Magouirk stated that fluids and nourishment were to be withheld only if she were either comatose or "vegetative," and she is neither. Nor is she terminally ill, which is generally a requirement for admission to a hospice.

Magouirk lives alone in LaGrange, though because of glaucoma she relied on her granddaughter, Beth Gaddy, to bring her food and do errands.

(Excerpt)


29 posted on 04/08/2005 8:13:51 AM PDT by Sun (Visit www.theEmpireJournal.com * Pray for Terri. Pray to end abortion.)
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To: TigersEye; JanetteS

To TigersEye: I know where you're going with this, but if you can't understand the basic premise of my posting, then objectivity might be a trait to work on.

To JanetteS: YOU give ME a break. All I was doing was looking at an issue with a little bit of objectivity that I mentioned above. I can see my way clear to understanding someone like you blatantly chastizing someone like me for expressing my thoughts - whether or not you have the ability reciprocate is on you.

Good day to you both.


30 posted on 04/08/2005 8:19:55 AM PDT by Don Simmons (Annoy a liberal: Work hard; Prosper; Be Happy.)
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To: Don Simmons
I know where you're going with this, ...

Of course you do.

"Though her doctors have said that she is not terminally ill, ..."

Right back to the article.

31 posted on 04/08/2005 8:29:35 AM PDT by TigersEye (Intellectuals only exist if you think they do.)
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To: Don Simmons
DS: "As much as I respect life, I still find myself questioning the logic of prolonging a life, (that really is not much of a life - rather a mere existence) while possibly racking up huge medical debt for the family. "

"when it becomes apparent that someone's condition of existence will NEVER improve, and/or their time on this Earth is very, very near its end? "

"For me, it comes down to this (in MY living will): When my condition is such that cognitive brain/neurological function ceases to exist to the point where I cannot provide for MY OWN sustainance"

"Furthermore, Mae's Living Will provides that nutrition and hydration are to be withheld only if she is comatose or vegetative. Mae is in neither condition. Neither is her condition terminal."

Objectively speaking your post is unrelated to this article.

32 posted on 04/08/2005 8:35:52 AM PDT by TigersEye (You say Barabbas I say Jesus, let's call the whole thing off. (too late now))
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To: TigersEye

Yeah....and if you go right back to MY posting, you'll see the part about "...time on this Earth near its end..." and also the underlying point of MY stating what I would want, as expressed in MY will....

I understand what HER will states. I also understand the horrible difficulty (leaving the financial part out of the equation) in seeing a loved one being kept alive purely for the sake of not wanting them to die. Sadly, she will die eventually, as will everyone.

My point of the whole thing is that I do not want to be kept around artificially for the sake of being kept around just because it's possible to do so. You can either agree or disagree - matters very little - it's MY point and MY choice.

Since when did it become so wrong on this site to lead into a personal statement with thoughts on an issue examining the difficulty of its entirety?

I guess our "counterparts" on the other side of humanity are not the only ones who can be blinded by subjectivity. It appears that many of us, probably myself included, can stand a little sunlight.




33 posted on 04/08/2005 8:43:40 AM PDT by Don Simmons (Annoy a liberal: Work hard; Prosper; Be Happy.)
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To: Don Simmons

Chalk it up to my passions overcoming my ability to see the logic connecting your statements concerning terminal conditions with this story about a woman whose condition is not terminal. Emotions can be so overwhelming.


34 posted on 04/08/2005 8:47:51 AM PDT by TigersEye (Are your parents Pro-Choice? I guess you got lucky! ... Is your spouse?)
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To: Don Simmons
I also understand the horrible difficulty (leaving the financial part out of the equation) in seeing a loved one being kept alive purely for the sake of not wanting them to die.

Which has nothing to do with this woman's situation.

Sadly, she will die eventually, as will everyone.

Oh, I see now. We're ALL terminal!!! I didn't see it at first. "Grandmama's old ..." Obviously, being so much closer to death (in terms of odds and statistics), regardless of the actual diagnosis she's more terminal than not.

35 posted on 04/08/2005 8:56:15 AM PDT by TigersEye (Are your parents Pro-Choice? I guess you got lucky! ... Is your spouse?)
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To: JanetteS
Oh Boo Hoo! The poor family has to bear the financial burden of FEEDING HER! How freaking tragic for THEM.

Amen.

36 posted on 04/08/2005 9:11:24 AM PDT by madprof98
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To: stuartcr

Well, it's about high time to put an end to it!


37 posted on 04/08/2005 10:54:40 AM PDT by Ohioan from Florida (The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.- Edmund Burke)
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To: Ohioan from Florida

With all honesty, I just don't see that happening in the near future.


38 posted on 04/08/2005 10:59:43 AM PDT by stuartcr
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To: stuartcr

Probably not, but that won't deter me from trying. If I don't try to change it, I will surely fail.


39 posted on 04/08/2005 11:08:17 AM PDT by Ohioan from Florida (The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.- Edmund Burke)
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To: Ohioan from Florida

Good for you.


40 posted on 04/08/2005 11:31:14 AM PDT by stuartcr
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