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To: Ohioan from Florida; Goodgirlinred; Miss Behave; cyn; AlwaysFree; amdgmary; angelwings49; ...
From the Dakota Voice a perspective on Haleigh Poutre...

..............................

Have you ever wondered why some people are opposed to euthanasia, and believe that as long as there is any evidence of life, that the date of someone's death is best left up to God?

Unless you're very young, or have been on Mars for a few years, you've probably heard of the Terri Schiavo case from a few years ago. She was the woman who was hospitalized unconscious under suspicious circumstances, and was diagnosed as being in a Persistent Vegetative State (PVS). Her husband, who had since moved on and produced children with another woman and stood to gain financially from Terri's death, lobbied the courts until they finally gave permission to starve this woman to death.

No one denied Terri had suffered brain damage, but despite videos showing her laughing, trying to talk, and responding to various stimuli, a judge in Florida determined her life wasn't living and ordered her feeding tube removed. After about 13 or 14 days, she finally died of dehydration.

~Snip~

Now comes word from ABC News of Haleigh Poutre who was beaten into a coma by her stepfather Jason Strickland in 2005. She became a ward of the state and the Massachusetts Department of Social Services tried to have her life ended. Almost at the last minute was her death sentence by the state lifted, when her stepfather--probably trying to avoid a murder trial--petitioned the court to keep her alive, and before the state could remove her ventilator, she began breathing on her own.

Now, after doctors said she would never recover, the girl is awake and communicating.

Here is what the "experts" said:

"Short of developing a technique for a complete brain transplant, there is no hope that medical treatment will be discovered in the foreseeable future which could reverse" her condition, a doctor said, according to court records.

How many people--like Terri Schiavo--have we, in our vast wisdom, killed when life remained? How many have we killed who might have recovered, had we not taken life-and-death into our own hands?.............................

Coma Patient Who Would Never Recover Has Recovered

8mm


594 posted on 03/04/2008 3:00:50 AM PST by 8mmMauser (Jezu ufam tobie...Jesus I trust in Thee)
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To: All; BykrBayb; bjs1779; floriduh voter; amdgmary; Lesforlife
As news rolls in about Haleigh's progress, I plucked this excerpt from a blog by a doctor.

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This is especially true in children, who have a more “plastic” brain that often recovers from even severe injuries. So why the rush to discontinue life support before there was time? Yes, her father might have interest in keeping her alive.

But the state (who faces a huge hospital bill, not to mention a huge lawsuit for her care since they failed to intervene when previous evidence of abuse had been noted) also had an interest –in making her dead.

Ironically because of the slowness of court appeals, Haleigh’s life support was not ended in October after the first court approved the state’s petition, and by the time the courts made the final decision in January she was starting to show signs of alertness.

A January 2006 report shows that the day after the court authorized the hospital to stop treatment, she was able to be removed from the breathing machine, and needed only a feeding tube, and the DSS said they didn’t plan to do that quite yet..........................

Haleigh Poutre: Not Dead Yet,

8mm

595 posted on 03/04/2008 3:09:06 AM PST by 8mmMauser (Jezu ufam tobie...Jesus I trust in Thee)
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