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.
At last weeks Toronto conference of the international Right to Die movement, speakers laid out the course of the movements strategy for legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide around the world.Of particular note is the emphasis on the right to be starved and dehydrated to death, especially for patients suffering from dementia or cognitive disabilities.
But of course, none of this is really happening. Nothing to see here. Move on.
.................
Terri Schiavo Family Says Ellen Goodman Op/Ed "Morally Misguided"
Describes column on "Playing vegetative mind games" as "frightening"
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Sept. 21 /Christian Newswire/ -- Bobby Schindler, Terri Schiavos brother, submits for publication the following letter in response to the Sept. 15, opinion piece by Ellen Goodman, Playing vegetative mind games.
Ms. Goodman:
I read your recent column, "Playing vegetative mind games".
The lengths that you and many of your colleagues continue to go to in order to somehow justify the barbaric killing of my sister, Terri, are truly sad and in my opinion a tragic reflection of how you and those that think like you have truly misplaced your humanity.
What is so profoundly frightening about what you wrote is the effort to use this scientifically inaccurate persistent vegetative state (PVS) label to indiscriminately decide when its permissible to kill those that are disabled. As you pointed out in your column, there are tens of thousands of people that have experienced a brain injury. The idea that certain lives have somehow lost their meaning because they exist in this so-called PVS, which according to you, is some type of "horrifying" state of consciousnesses or lack thereof (not quite sure how you or anyone would have knowledge of this) is equally alarming. It is this form of lethal bigotry that my family battled in our efforts to get help for my sister.
Terri Schiavo Family Says Ellen Goodman Op/Ed "Morally Misguided"
8mm
(Original Ohioan from Florida's ping list, update to September 17.)
Terri on the road to recovery before the second stage began.
TORONTO, September 20, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) At last weeks Toronto conference of the international Right to Die movement, speakers laid out the course of the movements strategy for legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide around the world.
Of particular note is the emphasis on the right to be starved and dehydrated to death, especially for patients suffering from dementia or cognitive disabilities.
Right to be Dehydrated Key Right to Die Strategy
8mm
In 1984, while working as charge nurse in the intensive care unit, a 20-year-old man asked, Can you give my mother enough morphine to let her sleep away? I was horrified. I can not kill your mother, I responded. That was only the beginning. Recently, an 80-year-old was admitted to the emergency room and the physician said, LETS DEHYDRATE HER; one more patient was sentenced to die in hospice with NO TERMINAL DIAGNOSIS and once again, THE LIVING WILL determined the death of a 70-year-old man regardless of how he pleaded to live. I can no longer remain silent.
Are you being targeted for euthanasia?
8mm
Early morning mistake. I should have identified the thread as by littlepaddle. Thanks Coleus for the ping.
8mm
Kerry: "Language Used By Both Sides In Abortion-Rights Debate Often Misleading And Unconstructive"
8mm
T'wit and I are at his place, and on our way to Washington DC for the big FreeRepublic rally we posted about recently. We hope to see others of Terri's Legacy there and hope to advocate for us all!
If posting is spotty, well, we are enroute and at the mercy of time restraints and wireless connections. Over and out...
8mm
He shouldn't have given them that. A label, no matter what title is no reason to kill innocent people.
Please remove from Ping List.
Beautifully said!!
May the Lord bless this moral clarity with world wide circulation!!!
that's what I'm going to call him win or lose. governor kevorkian. He helped kill Terri. Thus, he qualifies for that moniker.
hope you're having fun and a bttt for Rick Santorum. He's doing well in his campaign.
bttt. Florida is turning into a liberal state. I have no idea what all the conservatives are going to do about it.
Starvation is immoral whether it's in the US or in SUdan.
"I keep my promise" - Michael Schiavo
Another federal judge has ruled that Bush's warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional. "There are no hereditary kings in America and no powers not created by the Constitution," the judge said.
Last year, federal judges around the country refused a White House demand that they intervene in the Terry Schiavo case in Florida and order a feeding tube reinserted in the comatose woman doctors had found to be brain-dead. The autopsy confirmed that diagnosis.
Federal courts also have struck down the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 proudly signed by Bush. Judges have declared the law unconstitutional because it lacks an exception to protect the health of the woman.
Bush has not sat idly by accepting what he calls the "activism" of federal judges. He has proposed steadily more conservative judges to be "activist" in favor of his pursuits. While Democrats have filibustered some of his nominees, he has succeeded in getting most of them confirmed.
Bush is hoping to finally control judicial branch, too
8mm
(Original Ohioan from Florida's ping list, update to September 22.)
Terri on the road to recovery before the second stage began.
Rally at noon today at Sylvan theater on the Mall near the Washington Monument, as per my post of #701.
8mm
Support our troops!
Where do they find these stupid people? Coma and brain death are completely different. You cannot possibly be both dead and alive at the same time. Terri was neither comatose, nor dead. Some doctors claimes she met their own personal criteria for PVS, though even they admitted she didn't meet Florida's legal definition of PVS, nor the medical communities accepted standards for PVS. And the autopsy did not confirm coma, PVS, or brain death. The medical examiner specifically stated that autopsy did could not confirm a diagnosis of PVS, which can only be diagnosed while the patient is still alive. And yet, these stupid people who cannot understand any of the facts, are attempting to instruct their readers on facts they know nothing about. The scary thing is, some of their readers will repeat these fantasies as proven facts. Stupid, stupid people.
T'wit and I represented Terri's Legacy.
God Bless the sons and daughters who gave their all for us, for their parents, the Gold Star members and for all who have chosen to take the courageous step.
It is still early but watch for the after action reports on this gathering featuring the gutsy freepers.
God Bless Jim Robinson for the voice he gave us all.
God Bless Terri and her Legacy and those innocent victims in similar straits.
8mm
(Original Ohioan from Florida's ping list, update to September 22.)
Terri on the road to recovery before the second stage began.
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