Posted on 01/19/2006 6:53:08 AM PST by ItsOurTimeNow
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) -- Doctors say new tests are needed on a severely beaten 11-year-old girl, who officials said was responding to medical stimuli and breathing on her own a day after Massachusetts' highest court ruled the state had the authority to remove her from life support.
Denise Monteiro, a spokeswoman for the state's Department of Social Services, which has custody of Haleigh Poutre, said doctors will perform more tests "to see what the movements mean."
She would not say how Haleigh was responding or to what tests. The girl has been in a coma for four months and thought to be in an irreversible vegetative state.
"There's a possible change in her condition," Monteiro said Wednesday. "She's having some responses."
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Haleigh's stepfather, Jason Strickland, is charged with beating the girl and could face a murder charge if she dies. He has fought to keep her on life support but lost his appeal Tuesday in the Supreme Judicial Court, Massachusetts' highest court.
The court ruled that the social services department had the authority to remove the ventilator and feeding tube after doctors said the girl was in an irreversible vegetative state.
On Wednesday afternoon, however, doctors told the social services agency that Haleigh's condition had changed, Monteiro told the Boston Globe in its Thursday editions. She said Haleigh was breathing on her own and the agency had no immediate plans to remove her feeding tube.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
Obviously you don't know how to tell time either...It is 1030 where I am. Smart gal you are. So he was close to 40. So what still to old to be going after young girls.
Like I said, it's l0:30 where you are, time for bed little one.
I'm sure you will have sweet dreams of "pulling the plug"!
Sheesh, if you really are an Xer (despite clear evidence to the contrary, we still know you are around l3 according to your verbal style and poor spelling), God have mercy on our future.
Sleep tight, for one day you will be infirm.
I am sure that you are ready to sleep with grandpa. Sleep tight yourself. I married a wife that is only five months younger, we have two children (perfect family of four like most families). Two cars and a house. Normal family. Can you honestly look in the mirror and say the same thing?
We aren't grandparents yet, but will be thankful when the grandchildren do begin to arrive!
Your immature verbiage- "we have two children (perfect family of four like most families)"- is such a laugh.
This latest post and your failure to respond to the original concern about your propensity to want to kill the infirm verifies that you are so obviously juvenile.
Good night.
Good night. I have gone on to other posts. Hope you have a nice life. Take it easy. You were having as much fun as I was...admit it.
Seriously, good night. I have moved on to other postings like you have. If you want to continue this just send a personal freepmail.
Fair enough. I also agree with you. But it is important to talk about the issues that lead to the decision making process and money is a very, very big one.
Killing someone for money is murder.
I've been following your posts on this thread with great interest. May I suggest the following:
And finally, perhaps you might consider that people older than you just possibly have a tiny bit more knowledge, experience and compassion than you do. This must be so, for it is quite obvious that your mother did not choose abortion.
And finally, perhaps you might consider that people older than you just possibly have a tiny bit more knowledge, experience and compassion than you do. This must be so, for it is quite obvious that your mother did not choose abortion.
I totally agree with that. I was just replying to her postings. I said one sentence about looking at the costs of keeping somebody on life support longer than necessary and everyone went crazy. I do not advocate killing this little girl and never claimed to. I was not for killing Terri Shivo with the starvation. You know folks are acting like what I said was something that has never been heard before. Has anyone heard of living wills? That is all I am saying. Why have someone who has a living will be on life support longer than their wishes?
Non sequitur. How many children in this country do suppose have living wills? Haliegh is a child, without an advocate to speak for her except for the step-father who attempted to murder her. His only motive is self-preservation.
I'm sorry to disappoint you, but speaking as a former paramedic (I served over 10 years in the city of Chicago), the right thing to do with children is to throw out the rule book, for they will surprise you every time.
To emphasize my point, a child not too much younger than Haleigh fell into Lake Michigan, and it took divers more than 45 minutes to find him. According to the "rules", brain death begins within 6 minutes of cardiac and respiratory arrest. Compassion caused medical personnel to take a chance, and he was revived.
His hospital stay was lengthy and his memory was virtually wiped clean, but in the end he was returned alive and whole to his family.
The only rule with treating children is...there aren't any rules.
My point had nothing to do with the child. Don't know where you received that wrong information from...
Why do we allow these liberals on our site? I know freedom of speech, but this old gal needs to go to the DU site where she belongs.
>>So calling it messing with God's will is actually what the doctors are doing by keeping her alive.<<
Nobody "messes" with God's will. If it's His will to take her, then no feeding tube will make a difference. We should err on the side of life, because we're commanded to defend, help and protect the innocent.
>>This comes down to dollars and cents.<<
No, it comes down to life and death. And I can't see anyone who has children of their own claiming this is a "dollars and cents" issue.
I never added up how much it cost me to bear my son and raise him to adulthood. I know it would have been cheaper to have him dismembered in the womb. The longer I waited, the less cost effective it would have been to kill him. Still, I would estimate that up until he was almost 18, the cost of hiring someone to kill him would have been cheaper than the cost of raising him. Of course, that's not quite the same thing we're talking about here. Someone else probably would have stepped forward to pay for his care if it came to that. I could have auctioned him off to the highest bidder. During his teen years, the bids would have been pretty low, but at least he wasn't disabled from a lifetime of beatings.
It's a good thing most of us don't use money as the deciding factor in life and death decisions. It plays a big roll in deciding how we fulfill the wants and needs of those under our care, but most of us would never kill anyone for money.
"so they sold all her stuff"
Wow! Is she still speaking to them?
You know, I'm not sure. I think she has mentioned speaking to a brother from time-to-time.
She lost everything. She is determined to pay back the hospital the thousands of dollars she owes them, which has destroyed her credit. She refuses to declare bankruptcy.
Your point had everything to do with killing Hailegh, based solely upon economics, as evidenced by your comments in post #40:
"No because we are not talking about people who are just sick. We are talking about people who are pretty comotose. There is a big difference. You can pay for the care I don't care, but I don't particularly want too. It should be up to the families. I am surprised that you would want a bigger government paying for this."
Facts you should be aware of:
"...We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...
Securing the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" is our government's job. As Hailegh has been denied these rights, it is the role of government to step in and correct the injustice done to her.
Uh-oh. Yogi proliferation. Never been much for that far eastern stuff myself...
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