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.
We agree, how nice.
Yes, there is such a thing as futile care. Futile care is treatment that fails to serve its intended purpose. Futile care is not the effective treatment of a patient whose life you don't value.
Once again, we agree.
We all agree...
Yay! :-D
Hadn't thought of that. What better source of a nice fresh *commodity*. Sick.
Er... sounds like you get the picture :-) Yes, the commodity must be fresh. Most big hospitals nowadays have a surgical team on call 24/7 in case they get a brain-dead patient or a very, very fresh cadaver. Organ transplants do save lives and we can't argue much with this. Trouble is, the demand for the organs is so great and their value so high, there is a constant temptation to cut corners and ignore moral niceties. Patients' conditions (like Haleigh's) may be portrayed as worse than they are, in order to harvest organs. Iow, chop them up fast and never mind if the patient was really "dead." Keep in mind that there is still controversy in the medical profession whether "brain dead" is even dead.
For the record, the original conditions for "brain death" were pretty strict. The brain stem had to be gone (too), so the patient would die without a ventilator. Patients who can breathe without life support are NOT brain dead -- for a surprising example, Karen Ann Quinlan. Terri Schiavo wasn't brain dead, of course, though she was called that all the time in the media. Terri wasn't on any kind of life support as people understand the term.
The once-strict "brain death" conditions have tended to get loosened over the years, in the face of demand for organs for transplant.
Much food for thought. I need to look into NY's laws.
Davis won a concession from state Sen. Rod Smith, who trailed 47 percent to 41 percent with 96 percent of precincts reporting. Davis' opponent in November will be Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist, who claimed the Republican nomination to replace Bush.
Katherine Harris wins Florida GOP primary
8mm
(Original Ohioan from Florida's ping list, update to September 2.)
Terri on the road to recovery before the second stage began.
“There have been a half-dozen states or so that have introduced this legislatively but this is the only one that we’re aware of that’s on the ballot in November.”
Nebraska Voters Decide on Humane Care This November
8mm
In northeast Florida, King, one of the longest-serving members of the Legislature, was leading in his effort to fend off a challenge from conservative activist Randall Terry.
8mm
Several prominent anti-abortion politicians, including Orrin Hatch and Bill Frist, joined the Senate majority in endorsing the public funding of embryonic stem cell research. To the casual observer it might appear that the arguments against abortion must be stronger than those against publicly funding the destruction of embryos. This conclusion, however, would be mistaken. The funding of destructive embryo research is actually worse than legal abortion.
Embryonic Stem Cell Research Funding Worse Than Abortion
8mm
Good, that's a start. Finding a way to rein in a renegade judge will be... much... more difficult. Greer proved that in our so-called judicial system, judges are little godlings with absolute power. They can decide a case simply by manipulating what evidence they are willing to allow. Is that not prejudice? Denial of due process? Of course it is. But neither citizens nor other branches of government can stop them. We all watched this absolutist power murder a beautiful young woman for the crime of being disabled and helpless.
At the least we need to insure that patients who cannot speak for themselves have an attorney to represent their rights.
Any other suggestions for reform?
A glimmer of hope in an otherwise rather grim morning.
Florida appears to care naught for the destruction of innocent
life.
Lord help us, we are desperate for justice!
And don't forget it was Dick Lamm who passed America's
first abortion law, signed April 25, 1967.
Lots of blood on those hands!
Pray for his repentance.
Please put me on your ping list for updates about this case. May the Lord protect her life and provide continued healing.
I didn't know that info about Dick Lamm, thanks for posting.
A requirement that the patient's lawyer, judge, and other interested parties actually see the patient and observe their condition. No one should be allowed to argue in court for the death of a patient they haven't even seen. No judge should be allowed to order the death of a patient they haven't seen.
Jay Wolfson came out publicly in support of killing Terri Schiavo. When he was selected as her guardian ad litem, he broke with tradition, and actually spent time with her, in addition to reviewing her records. He changed his recommendation real quick.
Judge Greer never saw or heard Terri Schiavo. Not in person. Not even on the videos that were played, but muted in court. He couldn't see the videos, or hear the audio. He knew less about Terri's condition than the average Internet blogger.
The one most important thing that needed to be done, to save Terri's life, was to clean up the corruption in Pinellas County, and the State of Florida. There's no easy fix there.
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