I did not say that the girl is in the same condition as Schiavo. There are conflicting stories that I have read about the case. I do not know what the girl’s true condition is, but it is not up to a hospital administrator to pull someone’s plug. The parents do not want to, and they have that right and may move her to a facility of their choosing. It crosses a very precarious line when bureaucrats determine who lives and dies and next of kin have that decision taken from them. I clearly remember many in the media stating that Schiavo was brain dead when she was not.
Again, I have never heard of a death certificate being issued to someone who’s heart was still beating. I thought you had to be declared clinically dead i.e., no heartbeat in order for a coroner or doctor to make the determination.
No, clinical, legal, death has often been redefined as evidence of brain death. The body can be kept alive by technological means long after brain death and the heart is one of the organs often kept alive for harvesting.