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Haleigh Poutre update...

Wouldn't it be great if all the euthanasia attempts we counter turned out so well as Haleigh's?

The Republican reports.

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More than two years ago, the state's highest court ruled that doctors could remove the feeding tubes of Haleigh Poutre - so convinced was the court that the condition of the 11-year-old child abuse victim was virtually hopeless.

Before the decision to end life support was implemented, Haleigh began to breathe on her own. The Westfield girl was transferred to a children's rehabilitation hospital in the eastern part of the state where she still resides.

In a dramatic turn of events, Haleigh, now 14, is able to communicate and may be able to testify against her stepfather, Jason D. Strickland, who is charged with assaulting the girl, according to recent court documents.

Haleigh's apparent ability to communicate coincides with Statehouse efforts toward adopting a bill that would create an "office of the child advocate" in the governor's office that would be responsible for monitoring and reviewing services for children in the custody of the state. The bill would also impose other systemic changes aimed at preventing child abuse.

The Senate voted 36-0 on Tuesday to approve the bill, which was crafted in response to Haleigh's plight. Starting in 2001, the state Department of Social Services received more than 20 complaints of abuse and neglect of the girl.

How could the DSS, which had been supervising Haleigh's adoptive mother, have failed Haleigh so terribly? That is the haunting - and central - question lawmakers have been asking as they craft a bill that will reform the state's child welfare system.

"There are still gaps in the system," Sen. Stanley C. Rosenberg, D-Amherst, said after the vote. "This bill goes a long way toward closing those gaps."

We expect there will be some changes in the legislation after a House-Senate committee develops a compromise bill. We applaud lawmakers for their work so far and urge them to continue with judicious speed so that no child will ever have to suffer as Haleigh Poutre has suffered.

Haleigh Poutre case impetus for change

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Because it is the Boston Globe, I can only excerpt, but check out the link for the whole story.

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Haleigh Poutre, the center of one of the nation's most passionate end-of-life cases, has been at an acute rehabilitation hospital in Brighton 12 times longer than the typical patient, prompting some child advocates to question whether the state is allowing political and legal factors to delay placing her in a permanent home.

~Snip~

Flatley said DSS cannot be entirely trusted to act in Haleigh's best interests, given its lengthy history of missing overt signs of the girl's repeated abuse in her Westfield home and then its aggressive effort to withdraw life support when she clearly, in hindsight, still had life in her. She said "it's allowing the fox to guard the henhouse."...................

Some child advocates question Poutre's lengthy hospital stay... DSS is delaying hunt for home, critics say

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Good morning.

March 1, 2008

PRESS RELEASE

Mothers' Outcry to Shock National Organization of Women

On March 8th 2008, mothers across the nation will join the efforts of leaders like Adele Guadalupe from Florida, Palm Beach County, N.O.W., one of the largest and most active in the country, to honor Susan B. Anthony and to denounce continuous bias against women in court.

As director of FACTs Court Watch and member of National Now Family Law Advisory Committee, Adele says that: "After hearing from hundreds of parents in matters of domestic violence and child abuse, the court has frequently rewarded the offender with primary custody. This travesty must stop!" Adele, explains.

"There is widespread, systematic failure of agencies and the courts in America. A system that was created to protect victims has for years now, further oppressed children and their protective mothers, " according to leader and researcher, Liz Richards of National Alliance for Family Court Justice.

"Equipped with broad discretion decision, family court judges are not subject to scrutiny and their decisions are hard to reverse: That is where all across our nation, bias and discrimination against women are present, more than in any other public arena," states Puppet Child's, author Talia Carner.

"It has only gotten worse for abused women and children, who increasingly find themselves oppressed also by the courts," says Texas' leader Tommy King, of Justice for Us. "We are concerned and closely monitoring the courts after hearing from many victims and studying the issue in depth," he adds.

"Other Judicial watchdogs groups are also increasingly and loudly denouncing this judicial crisis in America," adds Alex Petroski of Florida, We the People.

Dr. Mo Theresa Hannah, psychologist and Chair of the Battered Mothers Conference, adds that "Gardner's brainchild, `Parental Alienation Syndrome,' continues to be applied regularly, even against standards of courtrooms procedure and rules of evidence; Despite ongoing controversy and widespread criticism from top legal and medical experts, as well as victims' advocates in the country. "

In response to this unprecedented crisis in America, women across the nation will be joining National Organization for Women on March 8th to draw attention to this devastating trend with far reaching consequences.

A call for action, from protective mothers and victims of abuse across the country, is the message that many will send on this, March 8th, marking a new historical hallmark for the rights of abused women and children across the United States.

For more information, contact Mari Fernandez of Mothers in Crisis Coalition, Florida Chapter at 813-610-2842

Mari worked very hard in Terri's Fight. This press release reveals that it was never just about Terri. Mari met Senator Jim King. She should get some kind of medal for that. He was rude and threatening. He gets excited discussing dehydration and Senator Jim King had a special law written SO THAT HIS DOG CAN BE BURIED WITH HIM WHEN HE DIES. (Now, I don't know if the dog is on ice or if Senator King's wishes are to kill the dog upon his death).

He's really a sicko).

Anyway, MARCH 8TH A DAY TO REMEMBER MISTREATED AND ABUSED MOTHERS & KIDS. When will they get justice??? Is this a third world country or what?

THIS IS NOT PART OF THE PRESS RELEASE WHICH IS ON THE END.

FV SAYS: Mari worked very hard in Terri's Fight. This press release reveals that it was never just about Terri. Mari met Senator Jim King. She should get some kind of medal for that. He was rude and threatening. He gets excited discussing dehydration and Senator Jim King had a special law written SO THAT HIS DOG CAN BE BURIED WITH HIM WHEN HE DIES. (Now, I don't know if the dog is on ice or if Senator King's wishes are to kill the dog upon his death). He's really a sicko).

Anyway, MARCH 8TH A DAY TO REMEMBER MISTREATED AND ABUSED MOTHERS & KIDS. When will they get justice??? Is this a third world country or what?