Posted on 09/05/2006 4:45:45 AM PDT by 8mmMauser
Boston, MA (LifeNews.com) -- Haleigh Poutre was the victim of child abuse and was nearly killed via euthanasia when Massachusetts officials gave up on her after she entered a coma. Now Poutre, once termed "brain dead" by doctors, continues to improve and is speaking a few words, her grandmother says.
Sandra Sudyka, the girl's biological grandmother, is no longer allowed to visit her granddaughter and now says she is ready to speak to the media about Poutre's condition.
She told The Republican newspaper that she last saw Poutre on July 18 but indicated she was "doing well."
"She was bright-eyed and smiling. She is always responsive to us," Sudyka explained.
Department of Social Services had asked Sudyka not to talk with reporters about Haleigh, but since they will no longer allow her and Haleigh's biological mother, Allison Avrett, to visit the 12 year-old, she said she's going to talk to the media.
"I decided since they broke the deal, I am going to talk. People should know how well she is doing," Sudyka told the newspaper.
"They don't want people to know how she is doing after they wanted to pull the plug," Sudyka said.
DSS spokeswoman Denise Monteiro declined an interview with The Republican but said that the visiting privileges have been suspended, not terminated.
Haleigh first began speaking in June, her grandmother told the newspaper.
"I was saying to her 'I love you,' and she was trying to say 'love' and it came out as a vibration...'ove,'" Sudyka said.
Sudyka, who is working with an attorney to adopt the girl, said she has said hello, responds to comments and questions, speaks nonverbally and is able to write her name. Haleigh can't walk and is confined to a wheelchair.
Avrett, Poutre's biological mother, lost custody of her daughter after physically abusing her. Poutre was put into a foster home where her adoptive parents also abused her. Her adopted mother committed suicide after abusing Poutre so much she had to be hospitalized.
DSS took Poutre into custody and when she appeared to slip into a coma, the agency asked the state Supreme Court for permission to take her life. That's when Poutre began responding.
Poutre has been receiving physical, speech and occupational therapy since January 26 at Franciscan Hospital for Children in Brighton.
Gov. Mitt Romney appointed a commission to look into how the state failed to properly handle the girl's case.
I often wondered how he steered to the left. (Some event in his family?) My wonder increased as a friend (now deceased) was an ardent Goldwater supporter in those early years, then over time shifted left as well, and grew into an out-and-out liberal.
Along with drifting left, Barry G. got curmudgeonly and mean. That was as big a departure, for he had been a man of generous spirit. Who knows why these things happen. Losing Peggy? Simply getting old and cranky? Drifting with the political tide, with no further reason or wish to resist the pressures to be politically correct? Nobody knows. I never stopped wishing him well, but I did stop listening to his opinions. They made me cringe too often.
The faux-Christians in the GOP have a liberal agenda. The liberal agenda is anything but Christian or any other faith. Libs are what Ann Coulter said in her book they were, "godless".
Proverbs: "Those who hate me love death." (would that be Goldwater and Danforth?) Isn't that special.
It is ugly when someone says that organs should be harvested from people before they're even dead. Asking why someone thinks they're above the treatment they advocate for others is only ugly to those who advocate ugly things for others but not themselves.
Ahayes said that organs should be harvested from other people while they're still alive. I'd still like to know why ahayes wants to wait. What makes him/her different from those who should have their organs harvested while they're alive?
That's actually part of a bigger question that I've been ingtrigued by for quite some time. Why is it that while most people can empathize with others, there are always certain people who have no concern for others. They consider themselves elite, and above the treatment they wish to impose on others. They use their own standards for determining the worth of others, and advocate the most abusive treatment for those they consider to be at the bottom of the heap.
Some of these self-appointed elites consider brain damaged people to be the bottom of the heap. For some, it's a certain race, religion, gender, financial status, etc. The list goes on and on.
The self-appointed elites advocate the most inhumane abuse for those they determine to be at the bottom of the heap, but cry foul when asked why they don't subject themselves to the same treatment. They think it should be obvious to everyone, even the objects of their scorn, why they are above such treatment.
They don't understand why anyone would object to those at the bottom of the heap being subjected to such treatment. They think that because they don't feel any pain from it, those being subjected to it don't feel any pain either. They seem not to understand why the whole world doesn't experience their thoughts and emotions along with them. Other people's thoughts and emotions have no meaning to them. They refuse to believe that those at the bottom of the heap even have thoughts and emotions of any kind. Their own thoughts and emotions are uneffected by others.
What creates a person like that? How does a person become that detached from the world around them? And why don't we lock them up in rubber rooms anymore?
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51998
Organs, in this country, are not harvested while people are alive. There is a very clear definition of death that must be met before any organs may be harvested.
You, apparently, have a different definition of the point at which death occurs in human beings. I agree with the current medical definition of death, and am an organ donor. I hope that, when I die, or if I die in an accident or some other way that brings me to brain death, as it is defined currently, my organs will be of some use to others.
You differ in your opinion. So, apparently, does Ahayes differ from you in that regard. There is a huge difference between someone who is walking around, breathing and talking, and someone who shows no brain activity.
The decision to harvest organs for transplant purposes is not made lightly. It is a very serious decision, and involves family members, medical professionals, and others. All must agree.
It does not, however, involve people who are not related to the donor, or involved in medical decisions, in any way. It does not involve protestors on the street. It does not involve religious leaders who have no direct connection to the donor or his/her family. Such people are not part of any of these decisions, and should not be.
You may, very easily, indicate your objection to organ donation through a living will and through communications with your relatives. If you do this, no organs will ever be harvested from you for transplantation in another human being. If you have strong feelings about this, then you should make every effort to let everyone involved with you know your wishes. They will be honored.
I also have strong feelings about these decisions. I have decided to be a donor. I have also decided that I do not wish any medical intervention if I am near the point of death. I have communicated this to all my family members, have a living will, a copy of which is in my wallet at all times, and hope that my death will result in organs being transplanted in others who need them to continue their lives, or to make their lives more livable.
What you wish to do is to deny me my wishes. I, on the other hand, have no wish to deny you your wishes in this regard. Do you see the difference? I make no decisions in this matter for anyone other than myself and my wife, who also has a living will and has communicated her wishes to me and the rest of her family.
Leave me alone to decide for myself, please. Also, please to not suggest that someone who feels as I do commit suicide to hurry the process along. That is ugly.
Finally, since you are so set against organ donation, and the process required to harvest usable organs, I assume you will never accept an organ donation from another person. That would be, in my opinion, hypocrisy.
In this country, organs are routinely harvested from people that are alive.
Straw man, I have not, and do not object to organ donation. I object to harvesting organs from people who are still using them. This is not about any difference of opinion about the defintion of death. It is about harvesting organs from people while they are still alive. If you can't keep up, maybe you could just sit in the corner and read, until you figure out what the conversation is about.
"In this country, organs are routinely harvested from people that are alive."
As I said in my earlier message, death is defined differently by different people. The standard is brain death, in most cases, of the donors. I do not leave such decisions to amateurs. Unless you are a physician, you are not competent to make any judgment regarding brain death.
If you believe that there are physicians in hospitals killing people so they can harvest organs, then your definition of death is way off track, in my opinion. No individual physician makes the call in these cases. Very careful records are kept to protect the hospital doing the harvesting from lawsuits, and decisions are never made by a single person.
Further, families are almost always involved in such decisions. Only if no family exists and a clear donor statement is available would harvesting of organs take place.
Can you find one or two cases where mistakes have been made? Perhaps you can. However, transplant hospitals have very clear guidelines they follow. There is a medical definition of death. No organs are harvested from people who do not meet that definition, except in the case of living donors, as in donations of a kidney or a portion of a liver. In those cases, the donor voluntarily consents to the procedure. They're very brave to do so.
Now, if you'd care to go beyond a single sentence and lay out the situations where "organs are routinely harvested from people that [sic] are alive," I will be happy to read them. However, you must document them fully, and indicate your own level of medical expertise.
In other words, you don't have the right to post unless MM approves of your qualifications and sources.
BykrBayb,
I have been polite in my messages to you. I will continue this discussion only if you reciprocate. This is precisely about the definition of death. From the Terri threads, I know that your definition is different from mine. Your opinion regarding end of life issues is also different from mine.
You're welcome to your opinion. You are not, however, welcome to insult me or others in these threads. You are not, however, welcome to suggest that another poster commit suicide rather than donating organs after death.
I keep up just fine. You can either discuss things with me, and do it civilly, or I will not discuss things with you. It is that simple. That will not, of course, keep me from posting on threads in which you are a participant. It will only result in my ignoring your posts. It's your call.
I did not say that, nor did I suggest it. Anyone may post on any thread he or she wishes. That said, I do draw conclusions regarding the validity of posters' opinions based on their knowledge of the topic.
Why are you pinging me? Please leave me alone.
Oh quit making false accusations. I didn't suggest anyone commit suicide. I asked why he doesn't advocate for himself what he advocates for others. How many times are going to repeat the same old lies?
Death is not a matter of opinion. Just because you're bigoted against an entire group of people, in this case cognitively disabled people, does not mean they are dead.
Rationality is pretty much a waste of time here!
It's called a courtesy ping. I was responding to a post about you. What the hell is wrong with you people? I am not going to keep a list of your various psychotic tendencies, and try to pussy foot around them. If you can't deal with this forum, go elsewhere.
It has never been standard procedure to fill out an application with credentials before posting here. Do you have a list of everyone's credentials here?
Mmm, projection.
Don't reply to any of my posts again on this thread and you won't have to courtesy ping me. I don't want to speak to you.
Actually it's even weirder than I thought, you weren't responding to my post at all. . .
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