" In order to kill Cruzan, it was necessary to first dehumanize her, a task willingly and expertly taken up by Dr. Fred Plum, Chief of Neurology at the Cornell New York Hospital. During testimony, he referred to her as a mere "collection of organs" and an "artifact of technological medicine."In an interview with Nat Hentoff, Dr. Ronald Granford observed that she was the "moral equivalent of a biopsy from Nat Hentoff's arm," and asserted that her "legal personhood" should be removed so she could be disposed of or experimented upon without the bother of having to go to court.
"Nancy's parents petitioned a lower court to order the Missouri Rehabilitation Center at Mount Vernon to allow their daughter to die. This court granted the petition, but the Missouri Supreme Court overturned the lower court decision, stating that a decision to withhold or refuse treatment must be an "informed" one, and, most importantly, that a state's interest in human life does not depend on the of that life. On appeal, the case became the first to directly address the question of euthanasia at the United States Supreme Court level. In a stunning victory for life, the Supreme Court narrowly averted making this case the euthanasiast's by denying that the so- called "right to die" is unfettered and absolute. The justices ruled that the States may require "clear and convincing" evidence that a comatose person actually wished to die before they lost their ability to decide their fates for themselves. The Court essentially held that the States do not have to buckle under to family member's demands when a patient's wishes cannot be concretely proven.
"However, the ruling indicated that there is a Constitutional right to refuse tube feeding and other life-sustaining measures when patients make their wishes clearly known before they become incompetent. So a determined Joe and Joyce Cruzan headed back to the Missouri courts, and rounded up a string of Nancy's co-workers who were willing to testify that she would never want to live "like a vegetable." Nobody bothered to explain how her co-workers could all remember such a statement so clearly after more than eight years. Nancy did not enjoy any kind of representation in the State court; nobody testified for her, because all of those who wanted her to live were ruled nonparties by the judge. The outcome of the one-sided hearing was a foregone conclusion.
"Her feeding tube was removed on December 14, 1990 at the Missouri Rehabilitation Center in Mount Vernon, Missouri. In a chilling portent of the future, the first rescue mission staged to save a person from death occurred on Tuesday, December 18, 1990. 19 persons were arrested as they tried to reach Nancy's hospital room. They were charged with the same offenses they encountered at abortion mills; criminal trespass and unlawful assembly. Scores of armed police officers patrolled the halls of the Missouri Rehabilitation Center (George Orwell would be proud!) until she finally died of starvation and thirst after 12 days, on the day after Christmas 1990. 1988 - Missouri Supreme Court
"Carrie Coons was an 86-year old woman in a "persistently vegetative state." She was not terminally ill. She was being sustained only by a gastronomy tube in April of 1989, when this case was heard. The Court had originally approved the removal of Mrs. Coon's gastronomy tube, but delayed the actual order for two weeks so that a facility could be found that would starve her. During this grace period, Mrs. Coon's roommate and several nurses "weaned" her off the gastronomy tube and began feeding her by mouth. She recovered completely. After the order to withdraw treatment had been rescinded, the Court asked Dr. Michael Wolff, one of Mrs. Coon's physicians and a nationally recognized expert in geriatric medicine, how doctors could accurately foretell how long a person would remain in (or even they would remain in) a "persistent vegetative state." Dr. Wolff replied that "I don't think there is any mechanism to establish that with absolute certainty."1989 - New York State District Court
"These court cases describe with crystal clarity the trend from abortion on demand to infanticide to passive euthanasia to active euthanasia. As time passes, the requirements for "rubber-stamping" euthanasia inevitably become looser and looser, just as they did for abortion. The final result will be, as the Hemlock Society desires, the 'right' to kill oneself at any time, for any reason, or the 'right' to demand that a licensed euthanasiast do the job for you. In other words, euthanasia on demand. Next will come the elimination of those who are deemed to be a burden to individuals or society. And, ultimately, we will begin eliminating 'useless eaters' unless we can stop this death machine in its tracks."