Danger Zone - (Haleigh Poutre)

National Review ^ | February 01, 2006 | Wesley J, Smith

[Ohioan from Florida]

In the court (and courts) of life and death, a little 11-year-old Massachusetts girl named Haleigh Poutre could be the next Terri Schiavo. For those who have not heard the tragic story, Haleigh was beaten nearly to death last September, allegedly by her adoptive mother and stepfather. The beating left her unconscious and barely clinging to life.

Within a week or so of the beating, her doctors had written her off. They apparently told Haleigh's court-appointed guardian, Harry Spence, that she was "virtually brain dead." Even though he had never visited her, Spence quickly went to court seeking permission to remove her respirator and feeding tube. The court agreed, a decision affirmed recently by the supreme court of Massachusetts.

And so, no doubt with the best of intentions, a little girl who had already suffered so much was stripped by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts of even the chance to fight to stay alive. If she didn't stop breathing when the respirator was removed, which doctors expected, she would slowly dehydrate to death.

Close Call

Then came the unexpected:

[8mmMauser]

Thank you

[8mmMauser]

Check with Wampus. He can hook you up with a gig at the Florida Room Bar & Grille. Howard, the maintenance man, is used to sweeping up Fruit Loops & Coco Puffs. BYOC (bring your own cereal.)

Good idea but I wouldn't want to go against the grain.

[T'wit]

From the link:

>> It blamed his internal bleeding on sickle cell disorder, which is present in one in 12 African-Americans but doesn't show up in routine blood work.

Two serious mistakes in one sentence -- a reminder that reporters are lazy and not to be trusted.

An inherited sickle cell trait is present in 1 in 12 African-Americans. But this is a genetic disposition, not a disorder. Persons who have this trait are generally healthy. The sickle cell disorder appears only if both parents have the trait. Offspring then have a 25% chance of inheriting the sickle gene from each parent, and having the disorder. They have the same chance (25%) of inheriting a healthy gene from each parent, and a 50% chance of having the trait (= one healthy gene, one sickle cell gene). Sickle cell "disorder" is much less common than the "trait." It is given, in two different articles, as 1 in 385, or 1 in 500, African-Americans.

The trait can be identified with a simple, inexpensive blood test called hemoglobin electrophoresis. Some 40 states test newborns for sickle cells.

[T'wit]

You are getting too, too corny.

[8mmMauser]

Are you calling me a corn flake?

[T'wit]

There's nothing wishy-washy about his hatred for moral principle, faith, family, tradition, constitutional government and Republicans who do not belong to country clubs.

[8mmMauser]

He redefines RINO

[T'wit]

>> Are you calling me a corn flake?

I think there's hope for you, if just barley.

[T'wit]

>> ...University of Pennsylvania bioethicist Arthur L. Caplan, who co-edited "The Case of Terri Schiavo: Ethics at the End of Life," due out March 1.

There he is again. I don't think I've ever come across anyone as eager to kill as Arthur L. Caplan is. At least Ted Bundy did it for the sex. Caplan does it for the sheer excitement of picking on a disabled woman who cannot possibly fight back.

[TheSpottedOwl]

My 1130. There is NO EXCUSE for beating a child. NO EXCUSE. Child's last name I think was Robinson. Honors student. Dead after boot camp beating by a circle of sheriff's employees, black and white employees while a nurse looked on.

I've been trying to follow this story, but I'm confused. How could the boy be in boot camp, and an honor roll student at the same time? I haven't yet seen the tape, so I don't know how big this boy was, but there is no excuse for police brutality against a child. Against anyone for that matter. LE has tools to prevent this type of end result. If the child was honestly in need of being subdued, they should have just hit him with a tazer once or twice.

The reason I'm so curious about his honor roll status and his being in custody, is that my son was a hellraiser. Just getting a measurable GPA was an accomplishment. He is by no means intellectually stupid, but the brat did not want to go to school. I remember when my two girls and I would have to wrestle his clothes on him and frog march him to the car, every morning. This was primary grades. His father didn't care. He's 18 now, and he's daddy's problem, not mine. If I didn't love him, I wouldn't care, but I do. Just can't handle all the BS anymore.

Imo, great grades and being a trouble maker don't exactly go together.

Meanwhile the deputies actions are being defended. I think no matter what that kid did to provoke them, the adults were completely out of line.

[TheSpottedOwl]

Joyriding? Is that it? Okay, I had to keep my wallet, car keys and cigarettes in my pillow case when I went to sleep. He got my mom's car running, so I had my son in law disable that, and my New Yorker that had a blown transmission, was also permanently disabled. My son was old enough to get a license, but I could not afford the insurance, so no license. He didn't deserve one, either.

Pepper, I remember hearing about that boy who died. It changed my mind about putting my son in a similar program.

You can't go against CPS or a juvenile judge. If you don't have the money for a damn good attorney, they will run you over. No lie. I feel badly for the family. I'm sure they did their best for the boy.

[TheSpottedOwl]

Thanks for the story link, FV. The kid was heading for major trouble. His family did the right thing by deciding that he needed a lesson and discipline, though. It just saddens me that they will feel guilt over that decision for many years to come.

[TheSpottedOwl]

Just horrible. They had no business beating that boy. Thank you for providing that link.

[Ohioan from Florida]

I hope the lack of coverage is because of good news for Haleigh, and not indicative of a DSS who is enforcing their own gag order on Haleigh's biological mother.

[Ohioan from Florida]

That story of Martin Anderson brings to mind the many times that the state of Florida let Terri down. So many places where protection should have been implemented, but weren't. Florida needs a good house-cleaning, IMHO. It's needed one for years. (Of course, Ohio needs a house-cleaning too, and if Blackwell becomes governor, we may just get one.)

[Ohioan from Florida]

Hey, better late than never! I hope Massachusetts will do a better job than Florida has been doing lately. Prayers for Haleigh!

[Ohioan from Florida]

Wouldn't his family have known that he had sickle cell? I thought it was one of many things that are tested for when babies are born. Maybe I'm wrong, and am confusing it with some other disease. I did a research paper on sickle cell a bazillion years ago. I guess I should look into it again. I thought the signs of SCA were very apparent during childhood.

[amdgmary]

George Felos, Schiavo's lawyer, is shopping his more philosophical "Beyond Schiavo: Searching for Death with Dignity."

"Unlike most of the titles, Felos said, his does not take a he-said, she-said tack, which he believes "hardens the divisions in our country."

"One thing that the hysteria over Terri Schiavo's death showed is that this is still a death-averse, youth-seeking, materialistic culture," he said [And Felos isn't???]

The case's "saving grace," Felos said, would be if it encouraged thoughtful exploration of the issues of death and dying.

Ghoulish Felos Shops for Publisher of New Book

[Ohioan from Florida]

Another excerpt from your link:

I remember when suicide was stigmatized. If you did it, or a family member did it, you were saddened. In Asian cultures, this is a form of making one an outcast if their family member does this. OK, enter in euthanasia. If we allow this, then we need to quit interventions when people attempt suicide. You can't have it both ways.

[Ohioan from Florida]

A saint in his own mind is right!