Just to ask a basic practical question here, who is going to pay for keeping alive a person in a vegetative state, or unable to eat or drink on their own anymore. The relatives? You better hope that the wait is a short one for someone to pass away, or all of your money will be eaten up by nursing home expenses or hospital expenses. Hospitals can’t keep all vegetative patients alive in their hospitals for days, months, or years on end. Nursing homes won’t want that responsibility either unless you are willing to pay for it. Or, be prepared to take your vegetative relative home with you, along with all of the necessary in-home treatment and/or in-home nursing, and pay for that too, as well as attending to your relative every day until the end comes, which again could be days, months, years. Or do you expect that the State or Federal gov’ts should pay to keep your relative alive? Just like a good Dem would end up introducing one day as a bill in Congress.
So, just as long as you are willing to accept the financial responsibility for your choice, then fine. Otherwise, not fine, and the decisions should be left up to each individual family as to what that choice is, and no one else. No big brother, whether it be gov’t or church should be in on this decision. Let the families decide what is best for themselves, whatever that decision is. End of life decisions have always been the choice of the family. It shouldn’t be messed with by anyone. Before today’s modern medicine which allows for hydration and nourishment, people just died. Therefore, hydration and nourishment is indeed an artificial means of prolonging life that didn’t exist before when death would otherwise occur. Oh boy, what a hornet’s nest. Here we go with the Shiavo stuff again, I smell it coming.
Euthanasia is wrong.
I think there will be medical advances if this becomes an issue.
Euthanasia-enthusiasts are pessimists who do little or nothing to help mankind.
My elderly mother occasionally has days of weakness. At those times I have to help hold her upright as she drinks her ensure or water through a straw. Would it be all right if I decided I didn't want to assist her in obtaining her nutrition and hydration?
And, now, many lives are saved because people can get their nutrition via a tube, rather than drinking a glass of Ensure like my mother does.
As I wrote above,
people who are concerned about others are resourceful and inventive and help make things better for humanity..
Concerned people look for positive answers and don't settle for finding the quickest way to kill.
Here's info about a woman who looked for ways to help children with feeding tubes.
Message from Bundiebaby Founder and President Jody Williams
I had been a foster parent for medically fragile infants for over nine years. In that time I have cared for more than twenty special needs babies in my home.One of our babies was old enough to pull out his tubing. The baby's discomfort along with tubing reinsertion several times a day were frustrating. It prompted me to look for clothing options that would assist me with daily living, but I found none.
With experience in fashion design, I started creating outfits that safely and securely stored medical devices and tubing. Working with doctors, nurses, therapists and parents, the designs were refined. Our flagship garment, the Bundie, was born. This new outfit gave me the peace of mind I was looking for while providing quality care for the babies.
I have asked that question many times on similar threads and never gotten a straight answer. As for myself, I’m making a note to stay out of Catholic hospitals. I don’t want to linger on like that, no matter what the Pope says.