Posted on 03/03/2020 6:47:14 PM PST by marshmallow
Two South Australian sisters have been denied their plea to feed their dying mother, with a public guardian refusing to reinstate the woman's feeding tube despite the intervention of the Catholic Church.
The Office of the Public Advocate (OPA) has been making decisions on behalf of the mother, after her daughters were stripped of her guardianship amid a dispute with her aged care provider.
The mother, who had end-stage dementia and breast cancer, died this week, more than a month after the nasogastric tube, which had been providing her nutrition, fell out.
Before her death, the sisters urged the public advocate to reinstate their mother's tube, arguing it would be in keeping with her Catholic faith.
But in a decision upheld by the state's Civil and Administrative Tribunal, the OPA declined.
Instead she was given saline through a drip.
"It's mum's religious belief and wishes, she always said, 'Where there's life there's hope' and she wanted to be fed and watered right until the end," the eldest daughter said.
In a letter to the family, the OPA said the tube would not be reinstated because the patient was in a "pre-terminal phase".
It said: "Treatments offered should not be those that prolong her life which would only result in more suffering."
"You just go in there and look at your mum and see her dying before your eyes and you're helpless, you can't do anything," the eldest daughter said.
"She's withering away and starving, you think, how did we get to this point? We can't honour your wishes, we can't give you your last bit of what you wanted in this life.
(Excerpt) Read more at abc.net.au ...
Absolutely disgusting. One can only hope that whoever was responsible for this heinous decision should suffer the same end themselves. Starving the elderly sick to death when they are helpless to fight back—only a scion of Satan would force them to starve to death.
Gotta say, not a good way to spend your last days. I was conflicted when a stroke compromised my Dad's ability to breathe on his own on New Year's Day. After that, he didn't get worse, but he didn't get better either. We decided to take out the feeding and breathing tubes, and he passed about a day and a half later.
Sometimes the humane thing is to let go.
She was completely unable to care for herself or even eat. Continuing feeding her through a tube was only extending the quantity of her life, not the quality.
We went thru an episode with our mom in November/December. Sepsis and pneumonia. Almost died. She has a DNR. Sis and I have power of attorney but not guardianship as she is of sound mind.
Doc sent her home and dumped everything in our lap without any support from Hospice (which he didn’t approve). It was HELL on my family. She told him she wanted to die....but didn’t tell us and only her doc.
We understood her wishes...but needed support.
She survived, thank God, with a long recovery.
It sounds like the laws in Australia are “socialized” (death panels) and “the state” decide whether you live or die. Just like the UK.
Heartbreaking!
If they're not going to let her live, why kill her in such a horrible manner? At least they could give her a shot of chloroform so that she would die quickly and painlessly.
Yes. It’s never an easy decision.
The soul and consciousness of that person lies within until called home by God. The physical body is meant to be left behind at some point.
**Sometimes the humane thing is to let go. **
But is this God’s way?
I don’t think so. The government will have to answer for killing this woman.
Should they have kept her body alive until it died of old age? I say ‘it’ because at some point she would have become unresponsive, and at that point she would have been close to being a vegetable. That’s how my Dad was after his last stroke. My sister found him in the hospital bed unresponsive, looking up at the ceiling with his eyes wide open. I don’t want to begin imagining the pain she felt at seeing that, as she had a better relationship with him than I did.
Would you keep a body alive despite the emotional pain it would put everyone else through?
*** Would you keep a body alive despite the emotional pain it would put everyone else through? ***
Isn’t that the same argument given for abortion?
What do we expect from these British entities? They never respected the value of human life. Their behavior is a warning to us about how America can turn.
Yes, to your question. It is God who makes the decision when a person dies.
Pro-life ———— from the womb to the tomb.
Government healthcare strikes again.
Aren’t we all in pretty much of a “pre-terminal stage”?
So you would really force a family to suffer for years with someone on life support, with no chance of their condition improving?
Pro-life ———— from the womb to the tomb.
Isn’t everyone who is living in a “pre-terminal phase?”
What about honoring the wishes of the person who is dying?
..a feeding tube can be painful and uncomfortable and may require a patients hands to be tied down so they don't pull it out partially, causing a terrible pneumonia, and then there's the loose stools causing severe irritation....
why do we have so little care for people that we would make them go thru this?...
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