I want to be perfectly clear on this matter. I DO NOT condone illicit drug use at any time and especially not during pregnancy (I am an alcoholic and have been in recovery and completely sober for over 17 years, I have seen all too many times how destructive drugs and alcohol can be).
However, and again remember that I AM NOT condoning it, use of opiates like heroin during early pregnancy DOES NOT have any significant impact on fetal development. The real risk is to the mother.
Lauren was in the first trimester of pregnancy, the baby COULD NOT have been born addicted, it is impossible. Lauren's baby was not even premature and nothing in any of the news articles I've been able to find indicates that the baby has any health issues.
Another thing that was unclear is whether or not Lauren was even aware of the pregnancy. She was only three months pregnant, it is not inconceivable that she didn't realize that she was pregnant (heroin addicts are anything but responsible).
There are a lot of things here that we don't know, and they really aren't important. Even if Lauren is allowed to live, she does have brain damage and, barring some miraculous event, she no longer has the mental capacity to want or use heroin. I agree that what she did was selfish, reckless, horrific and possibly even criminal, but to say that she should be sentenced to death is unforgiving, callous, inhumane and anything but Christian.
I'll add to something I said somewhere upthread. I believe that in these kinds of situations there are very few coincidences. I don't think it's just happenstance that she's in a coma that may not end for decades. All of this may, in fact, be Divine Judgement for what she did. If it is, and obviously I believe it is, everything I've said thus far is very Chistian indeed.
-------
I don't disagree that the idea that someone can 'pull the plug' is a dangerous one, and needs to be fought. However, this is not the case to use as a 'poster child'.