Posted on 02/01/2006 7:29:10 AM PST by 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:
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
Nice rant!!!
Oh, I just love this interview so far! Looking forward to the rest of it tonight. Thanks for the info. I'll have to bring my barf-o-meter and my barf-bag to make it through it, I suppose.
According to medline
Untreated severe dehydration may result in seizures, permanent brain damage, or death.Symptoms in an infant include "Markedly sunken fontanelles (the soft spot on the top of the head) in an infant"
I love your rant!! Such wisdom-filled words!! Should be required reading by all.
When anyone joins the humanists, they are not required to renounce their religion, but many of them do. Some of them continue to claim to be Christians, Jews or whatever religion they used to be, while others proudly proclaim they no longer adhere to any religion.
There are even some who go back and forth, claiming the protections of their former religion, while renouncing their adherence to it. They will claim to be Jewish when they see real or perceived persecution of Jews, so they can instantly claim victim status. Then they say they aren't bound by Jewish teachings, because they aren't really Jewish. Then they will represent themselves as Jewish again, so they can show that Jews support humanist propaganda. Other religions get bastardized this way too.
Would you fight to live like Terri lived for 10-12 years? Let's say what the autopsy said was true...blind...almost no brain activity (Ill giving your side the benefit of the doubt on that one). Would you beg to live like that? If you walked into a hospital and saw Terri in a bed, would you turn to your partner and say, Hey, if I'm ever in that condition, make sure no matter what happens, you keep my body alive? Please, please be honest.
Chilling reminder of how taking God out of our lives reduces us to clever animals.
Hildy, I know you didn't direct this towards me, but I can be quite honest with you. If I were ever to be in Terri's place, I would hope like hell that I had a family as loving as her parents and siblings were, who would fight for my right to live whatever the cost, and continue to be fed via a tube for whatever length of time. I mean that. I would also like to be afforded to be given rehab, particularly if money had been set aside specifically for that purpose. I would want to be treated like a human being, and be allowed to go outside, and not be kept shut in one room for five years. I would love to have animals come to visit me, and I would love to hear music and be spoken to kindly. Yes, I would want to live, and I hope that if I am ever in a situation like Terri's that no one would find me disposable or unworthy of continuing to live my life the way that I would be, brain-damaged, partially blind, unable to speak well, needing lots and lots of care, but especailly loved and cherished by family and friends. Just like right now, whatever my different abilities are from anyone elses, I would want to live and be loved.
The video has already disappeared.
Then, in my opinion...and this is my opnion alone...you are one of the most selfish people I have ever come across. 99.9% of people would say they wouldn't want to be kept alive, and you know why? Because of the toll it takes on OTHER people...on the people you love...the effect it has on the people you love. That's why I think it's selfish.
Didn't you know the freedom of speech is on the endangered rights list in Massachusetts?
Why do you insist on using the autopsy to determine her condition?
Her brain had shrunk from 13 days of dehydration.
What would I have liked?
1. To have been helped outside, to feel the sun's warmth, feel the breezes on my face, and hear the birds sing. People usually head to Florida for that, right?Let's get real....unlike those con artists Michael Schiavo and George Felos and Ronald Cranford who depend on the short memories of their viewing audiences.2. To be given real medical tests to determine my condition, rather than given an autopsy after 13 days of starvation and dehydration.
3. To have been given stimulation, instead of being placed in isolation in a room designed for sensory deprivation. (Sensory deprivation can drive me crazy).
4. To have had my own money spent on my own rehabilitation, and on dental and gynecological care.
5. If I were dying, (and, remember, Terri wasn't dying, even though she was illegally placed in a hospice for the dying) I'd want my parents and siblings with me, not Michael.
One moment they say they want to release Terri from her suffering. The next moment they say dehydration and starvation are fine because she isn't "there" in her body and she won't feel anything.
Could she feel, or not? If she couldn't feel, why would she care if she was being kept alive? If she could feel, how horrible her starvation and dehydration must have been!
The people who wanted Terri dehydrated have to get their stories straight.
Was she aware, or not?
In my opinion, any honest person in the "death is a private family matter" crowd, should look for another cause célèbre.
Felos and Schiavo are as dishonest as the lawyers who lied about Roe's situation when they brought us Roe v. Wade.
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/020106StithDies.html
The selfish folks are the people in the medical field who "terminate" patients.
I imagine that very few beneficial medical breakthroughs are made by the medical nihilists who think killing is the best answer to injury and disease.
Glad to say my partner and I trust each other on this. We've discussed this and both know we would not dehydrate each other to death.
I think Howard needs to come clean up the Coco Puffs again. You won't believe who spilled them this time.
Good comment! Pithy and true!
In my opinion, dehydration is better than 10 years like that. But I'm glad you and your partner are clear. By the way, have you ever watched someone die of dehyrdration?
I guess no one told you....You can relax....
Brain dead people aren't usually kept alive for any length of time. And next to nobody thinks should be kept alive.
Hadn't you heard??
Thank you for posting the information on dehydration. Terri's brain shrunk because she was deprived of fluids for many days. Dogs get better treatment than Terri got.
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