[Sopater]

She can't walk, talk or do anything for herself.

I have to side with the school on this one. A child who cannot speak for herself having a DNR order? I wouldn't honor it.

[wideawake]

I’m with you. I for one could not stand by and watch a helpless child die, no matter how badly her parents wanted her dead.

[RegulatorCountry]

The child is unable to consent to this. It’s tantamount to a postpartem abortion. What passes for “love” these days, just turns my stomach. And dragging the entire school system into this death wish?

[lesser_satan]

Me neither. Only people who are of sound mind should be able to make that decision.

[Bluegrass Conservative]

I’m of the opinion that the only people that should honor a DNR request be medical professionals.

[bigfootbob]

Why is this child in public school anyway? What about the needs of the other children?

[cyclotic]

I don’t understand, if someone is that near to death that they need DNR with them, why are they even in school?

Nopt to be cold, but why would any parents let a kid out of their sight for 6-8 hours a day when every day could be their last?

[MEGoody]

I don’t get why a child like this is in school anyway. What can she gain from it? If the point is to give the parents some respite from caring for her, there are other ways to accomplish that.

[Yaelle]

WHY THE BLEEP IS THIS CHILD IN A PUBLIC SCHOOL????

Why can’t she be at home? What is she getting out of this institution?

[Retired Greyhound]

I agree with each of the above statements.

[frogjerk]

How did we get to the point in this country where a DNR order can infringe on the moral conscience of everyday Americans?

[GovernmentShrinker]

Did you read the article? The school has decided it WILL honor it, so how can you “side with the school” and also say you “wouldn’t honor it”.

Personally, I don’t think a public school has any business second-guessing ANY orders approved by both the child’s doctors and parents. But I do have a problem with public schools having children in this condition attending in the first place. I’m sure she attends with full time aide, at massive cost, and her presence is no doubt quite disruptive to the education process that is supposed to be going on.

If doctors have determined that there is no possibility that this girl will ever grow up, much less be even partially self-sufficient, then there is no benefit to having her “participate” in a school program that is designed specifically to prepare children for self-sufficient adulthood. This is political correctness gone mad. If she seems to actually enjoy going out and being with other children, she could do that in a special program designed to meet the needs of severely disabled children.

[PAR35]

Given her disabilities, is school any more than free day care for the parents?

[frogjerk]

This is just pushing the Euthanasia evil into our faces just a little bit more

DNR T-Shirts need to be sent to Katie's parents for them to wear at the next shootin' match.

[najida]

If she’s that sick and close to death (via aspiration pneumonia it seems) then she shouldn’t be in school but at home.

The only reason I can think is that maybe they think she gets some pleasure out of being around other kids (just guessing).

BTW, CPR and resuscitation hurts...leaving bruises and often broken/cracked ribs. Making it even harder and more painful to breath than before. You can only resuss them only so many times.

[heartwood]

On a recent morning, Beth Jones could readily see how keenly her daughter enjoyed her trips to school. The little girl was beaming up at her from her wheelchair as they waited for the bus.

The little girl can still enjoy life.

On the other hand, she has frequent choking episodes, near death events. How many does she have to endure before she does die?

On another hand, could a tracheotomy help her, or would she need a ventilator?

The procedure, if she stops breathing, is that she will be taken to the nurse's office, she can be suctioned and given oxygen, the mother and the paramedics will be called, the paramedics will be on standby if the mother changes her mind.

The child already stopped breathing once at school but revived when a teacher picked her up.

I don't think school is the place for a child to go to die, and IMO, medical intervention would be appropriate here - the child gets pleasure out of life. Christopher Reeve had a ventilator, for instance.

[Melas]

I have to side with the school on this one. A child who cannot speak for herself having a DNR order? I wouldn't honor it.

I guess I'm the heartless one then, because I think the DNR is wholly appropriate. I'm against active euthanasia, but there comes a time when heroic measures to preserve life aren't warranted. We all die, and sometimes a natural death is kinder than artificial life. Unfortunately, we as a culture have lost sight of this.

Worse, I'm sure this really going to offend some, but I'm also of the opinion that children who cannot benefit from it do not belong in school. It's taxpayer sponsored babysitting for the parents of severely brain damaged children, and it's a huge waste of not only money the time of the staff.

[VirginiaConstitutionalist]

It’s a decision that disgusts me, but parent’s rights trump all. If the parents and doctors decide on a DNR order, their will should be honored.

Kind of funny how some “conservatives” love to rail in favor of parental rights...until other parents reach a decision they don’t agree with. Then they become Hillary.

[goldstategop]

I posted a DNR order when it became clear my father's condition could not improve if he was revived. I saw no point to prolonging his suffering if extending his life would not improve the quality of his existence. I was prepared to authorize all measures to keep him alive in every other circumstance but I also realized that life and death are ultimately in God's hands and if He wanted to heal my father He would have but He decided it was time for him to come home.

[hoe_cake]

Asking a by-stander not to act in the event the by-stander witnesses this child’s body struggle to live in the event of breathing or heart failure is cruel.

There are a lot of points about this situation that are cruel, for everyone...the child, the parents, the students, the teachers, the by-standers.

[The Great RJ]

My wife is a former school nurse and had the same misgivings about sending children with complex medical problems to the public schools. The reason this is happening is that federal law mandates public schools to accept any student even if they need medical care during the school day up until age 21. It is not unusual in larger public schools to have students needing tube feedings, IV medications, suctioning and tracheotomy care, osotmy care etc. Even in our school district there was one student being mainstreamed in a regular class who could best be described as being in a persistent vegetative state. Of course paid aides were doing her school work while she stared obliviously and without cognition.