[MeekOneGOP]

"Who's gonna know?" he asked.

Lots of people, he realized, and one of them might go to the district attorney and accuse Baylor, or the Lands, of child abuse. As Zane waited, needing morphine for his pain, attorneys huddled.

Hospital attorneys called the district attorney's office. They called Child Protective Services, the agency charged with enforcing Baby Doe rules. Eventually, Zane's case ended up on someone's desk in Austin.

If the agency blocked the withdrawal of life support, Dr. Fine said, he would help the Lands find free legal help. "I told them, 'We may be in the position of telling you to sue us.' "

So the Lands waited, second-guessing the hardest decision they had ever made, mourning their son, angry at circumstance. Mr. Land was incredulous that a desk-bound functionary in Austin could determine whether his son lived or died: "How can somebody that doesn't have a clue what's going on here sit wherever they are and make this decision for our family?"

But the authorities in Austin eventually did agree that Zane's life support could be withdrawn.

On Jan. 31, Zane's family spread a blanket and some pillows on the hospital floor. A nurse turned off the ventilator. Mrs. Land was finally able to rock Zane wholly in her arms, holding her baby the way other mothers hold babies. "We were able to be parents in the best way we knew how," she said.

On his own, Zane lived 15 minutes.

So sad, but it sounds like they made the right decision. Comments?........

[Steve0113]

So sad, but it sounds like they made the right decision.

Yes, they did. There's no moral obligation to take prolonged drastic measures to sustain life, especially when doing so merely prolongs suffering. They need prayers after what had to be a terrible decision.

[Raleigh's Golden Mountaineer]

That is one of the saddest things I have ever read. I am sitting here crying.

[Dustbunny]

I understand the parents wanted their child to live but the doctors, hospitals and parents do not appear to have taken into consideration the 'quality of life' the child does/would have, if it finally did survive.

Putting this infant through all these operations was cruel.

I don't feel sad for the parents, I feel happy for the child that it's suffering is finally over and it is now safely in the arms of Jesus.

[maxwell]

Hey bro, that's a pretty hardcore article... That one part really got to me-- Mr. Land was incredulous that a desk-bound functionary in Austin could determine whether his son lived or died... There's something intrinsically wrong with that, y'knowwhatI'msayin'...