[nickcarraway]

Oregon Judge Rejects Woman's Request to Keep Brother on Life Support

[nickcarraway]

ping

[HiTech RedNeck]

However, Werth Sargent, Schmidt's partner, said the decision to remove life support was cruel.

Will the gays jump in on the pro-Terri side? Politics can make for very strange, er, bedfellows.

[Cicero]

Apart from the issue of who should have the say, a ventilator is artificial support and just not comparable with the issue of withholding food and water.

As a Catholic, I would have no quarrel with being removed from artificial heart or lung support, if there was no reasonable hope of recovery. I would not think it legitimate to withhold ordinary medicines, food, or water.

These issues are difficult, and unfortunately the Catholic Church has not yet spoken definitively on many of them. But the distinction seems perfectly obvious. You need not be kept alive by extraordinary means, but it's not permissible to withdraw ordinary means.

[Flying Circus]

It would be interesting to see what other responses there are...

My take is there is not much in common with Schiavo's case. Food and drink are basic necessities of life that we are morally obligated to assist others with. Breathing, on the other hand, should happen autonomously and we are not obligated to do it for them- especially when they are not recovering after the better part of a year.

May God have mercy on his soul... his "partner" could use some help too.

[Salvation]

Prayers for this man and his family, and thanks for the follow up article.