BOSTON - The grandmother of Haleigh Poutre began sobbing yesterday as she testified about the child's struggle to recover from a brain injury, and said she believes that a state ban on family visits could be causing more harm.
Sandra L. Sudyka, 53, of Agawam said that Haleigh probably believes her mother and grandmother no longer care about her. Without any public explanation last July, the state Department of Social Services stopped allowing Sudyka and the girl's biological mother from regularly visiting with Haleigh.
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Sudyka appeared to win the sympathy of the chairman of the House of Representatives' panel when she testified about her final visit with Haleigh on July 18. The girl lifted her left hand to flex muscles, wrote her first name in capital letters, and said "no" and "hello," the grandmother testified.
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On the other side, Judy Davis, 50, of Boston, who said her 15-year-old daughter is in the custody of the state, testified that it is a "terrifying experience" to meet and talk with social workers.
"Anything they said was the final and ultimate word," she told legislators. "I didn't know what to do - except be afraid of them."
Haleigh's grandmother testifies
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The article from The Republican wasn't up yet when I posted the link to the other one. The Republican seems to have the best coverage.
There is still no explanation why these horrible social workers will not allow the child visits from her own mother and grandmother. Love is the best therapy. They won't let a needy child have that love, just as they wouldn't take her away from extremely abusive stepparents despite 20 (!) abuse complaints. These people are as cruel as Michael Schiavo was to Terri.
A hallmark of liberal youth is their conviction on mush so deep they actually think they can outvote God. After all He has only (three votes per us Christians) His vote against all these intellectual giants. So naturally they are at liberty in their brilliance to judge the Pope.
Pope Benedict XVI denounced euthanasia over the weekend, once again proclaiming life a gift from God and asserting that it could not be terminated under "the guise of human compassion." The pontiff's announcement came after an Italian doctor was cleared of wrongdoing in an euthanasia case, and more or less echoed the statements made by Pope John Paul II during the 2004 Terri Schiavo case. While it is indeed the pope's prerogative to take a stance on such divisive issues, the purportedly infallible Benedict is undoubtedly mistaken on the issue of euthanasia. Without question, euthanazing a pain-wrought patient who is not going to recover is an act of genuine human compassion that should not be prohibited.
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I am sure the grandma is right in saying the ban on family visits is harmful.