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 ...
(guardianship judge or probate judge?) The man has no soul. How could a judge order torture for a human being? Boggles the mind that he's not locked up where he belongs.
He's so twisted. Schiavo appeared so cocky on tonight's program.
IMO, Jodi must sleep with one eye open.
His children were in the wedding. Isn't that sweet? They're too young to understand any of this. They don't know that Daddy only loves them if they stay healthy.
I bet he took the people to Vegas who gawked at Terri (while the state of Florida was murdering her)and a few of his brothers.
"....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."
Selfish is making sick people FEEL that they are a toll.
In my family, we LOVE my dad who has Alzheimer's, and would rather have him alive, despite the added work. That is what TRUE love is.
"That's what it sounds like to me. I pray they will change their minds to ever consider removing her feeding tube. While I'm sure it is no picnic to have considerable brain damage, it is also not worth killing someone over. There are worse things in life, giving up is one of them. Time should be on Haleigh's side, not against her."
Yes, being disabled is certainly better than death - As shown by the disabled folks in the website: notdeadyet.org
Anyway, we don't have the right to end a person's life, as you know. Only God does.
I think that Haleigh will improve tremendously, especially since she has youth on her side.
But we all need to keep track of this - ESPECIALLY a year from now.
">> to significantly recover
These are the words I fear most."
Me too. Why should "they" decide who should live and who should die.
I NEVER thought I would see anything like this in my country.
I don't have cable, but was glad to read the posts about the interview.
Thanks for the pix. He looks AWFUL.
I was kind of looking for the hooding of the eyes as Susan Smith did when she was having her interviews during the time she was saying someone had taken her boys but instead it was scrunched up eye lids that made it hard to look into Michael's eyes and try to see what, if anything, was there.
Yes, that's it. He is a lot like Bill Clinton.
I didn't expect for him to be honest but I didn't think he'd not be honest (IMO) on such simple and easily disproved statements.
We'll have to get the transcript and peruse it.
I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE WITH ALZHEIMBER'S. I'm talking about people who are clinically dead.
Tonight's "Countdown" Olbermann show with the Mikey interview should replay at 12:00 Midnight Eastern / 11:00pm Central on MSNBC.
Olbermann teased it throughout the show before each commmercial break, but the main interview segment begins at the bottom of the hour, xx:30.
How could so many Americans not see that Michael was dishonest, when he sues for malpractice $$ because he SAID he would care for Terri for the rest of his life, and AFTER he received the $$ he "remembers" that she would not want to live like that.
It's a no-brainer.
But then maybe it's because MSM didn't give Americans THIS side of the story.
"I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE WITH ALZHEIMBER'S. I'm talking about people who are clinically dead."
Please be more specific next time.
Also, as for "clinically dead," I don't always trust the medical community.
I combine their knowledge with my own common sense.
I couldn't agree more. Most people when they are ill, already feel they are a burden. It wouldn't take much to convince a person in that frame of mind to "die" for the good of the rest of us. It is our duty to let them know they are loved and NOT a burden.
The above has been my opinion since caring for the elderly in a nursing home when I was 19 and working my way through college.
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