Friday, January 27, 2006

Haleigh is moved to rehabilitation

Do you believe in miracles? Do you believe that God answers our prayers in unexpected ways? Well, I definitely believe in God, even though I sometimes wonder why he does not seem to answer my requests. The positive changes in Haleigh Poutre's health serve as a reminder that miracles do happen.

It has only been a short time since the courts declared that Jason Strickland had no right to seek to have a say over Haleigh's welfare, a decision that left her fate in the hands of the Department of Social Services in Boston, and already Haleigh has been moved to a children's rehabilitation facility. The spokeswoman for Haleigh is Denise Monteiro, and I suspect that this woman really does give a damn about giving Haleigh a fighting chance to live a normal life.

On the day after the court decided that the Department had the ultimate say over Haleigh, the little girl started to stir. The good news happens to be that further opinions from other neurologists were sort (at least they did not use the quack Cranford) and as a result of the second opinion Haleigh was moved to the rehabilitation facility.

The department spokeswoman has also indicated that the DNR has been lifted and if anything should happen that Haleigh needs life saving treatment, she will receive that treatment. This is very good news. The child's life is no longer in the balance from the point of view that the department is no longer seeking to prematurely end Haleigh's life. Ms Monteiro has been adamant in stating that nutrition and hydration would not be withdrawn.

It seems that Haleigh has given positive responses to questions that have been put to her. She has been observed moving her eyes towards people's voices. Funny thing is Terri Schiavo was doing those things too, but in the cover up over Terri's condition, this positive evidence that she was progressing was ignored by those who were seeking to murder her.

I have to applaud Jason Strickland for making the legal attempt to prevent the authorities causing harm to Haleigh at a point in her life when she was so very vulnerable as far as living or dying is concerned. I do not applaud this man's other actions, but his legal move has saved Haleigh's young life for the time being.

I am feeling upbeat over this case because of the positive indications regarding Haleigh's progress towards coming out of her coma. My gut feel over the issue happens to be that I think that the medical profession has started to become too hasty in attempting to end the lives of people who present to the hospital in a coma condition. They need to slow down in making those life and death decisions. They need to learn to err on the side of life so that more people are given the opportunity to fully recover from their injuries.

Just for the record, in 1959 my family was involved in a near fatal car accident. My sister was in a coma and lay near death for 2 weeks. During that time a member of the family actually informed my mother that she was praying that my sister would die. Well, God answered the prayer in the negative. My sister came out of her coma. She has slight brain injury. In 1959 we did not have access to all of the fancy equipment that is available now. At that time no one attempted to end my sister's life just because she was in that state. She was given the opportunity to live and she continues to live today, as a mother of 4 daughters and a grandmother to many grandchildren.

It is wrong to attempt to end the life of someone just because he or she is in a coma. That person should have the chance to wake up and be rehabiliated. This is what is meant by the "Culture of Life".

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Should left wing judges be allowed to decide?

In my last blog I mentioned the story of Maria Korp. Sadly, that case ended in Maria's death, and then her husband, who was the co-accused with regard to the injuries she received (the mistress did the bashing and left Maria for dead and then blamed Joe Korp) committed suicide.

In that case, Joe Korp was accused of having a vested interest in his wife remaining alive. I have no doubt that the accusation had weighed very heavily upon his fragile mind, and that somehow this had something to do with the finality of his decision-making. I am not excusing Joe Korp. I am not saying that he was totally innocent. He had a sexual and immaturity problem and he needed psychiatric help for that problem. However, I do think that the mistress was not necessarily telling the truth about what really happened. It was a very strange case.

The original reason for starting the blog had to do with Theresa Schindler-Schiavo who was a severely disabled woman who was being abused by her husband, and was forced to die via dehydration and starvation. Dehydration is an extremely unpleasant way to die, and what Terri endured at the end of her life should have been enough to have this man hurled before the criminal court on a count of murder. However, that has not happened to date. Terri's life was placed in jeopardy because of an activist judge - a man who has a vested interest in doing what the lawyers want him to do. Oh yes, Greer was given awards for his handling of this case, by the Clearwater Bar Association and other lawyers involved in yes, that is right, the Guardianship Association. That group went as far as giving an award to the spouse murderer claiming him as guardian of the year for 2005. Like pigs will fly if that man was a good guardian!!!!!!!

Now, there is a similar case in Boston, but this time, it is a child who is in danger of being put to death. Haleigh's case is a mixture of Maria Korp and Terri Schiavo and there is no easy way of knowing the full truth about the situation. In Maria's case we were told that her health was deteriorating but we were not given precise detail about exactly why this was the prognosis. Anyway, I doubt that Maria was left to feel the pain of having sustenance removed, but that is not something I want to discuss here. My subject is Haleigh Poutre, an 11 year old who ended up in hospital, and in a coma because someone bashed her to the point of senselessness. This is a peculiar case, because the birth mother had allowed a boyfriend to abuse and rape Haleigh when she was only 3 years old, and then she abandoned the child, leaving her with her sister (who is now dead), who adopted Haleigh, and then allowed her husband to bash Haleigh.(or at least that is what the media are stating). Jason Strickland is the alleged perpetrator of Haleigh's injuries, yet he is the only one who spoke up on her behalf.

Unfortunately, Jason Strickland, as the alleged perpetrator of the injuries, is seen as one who has a vested interest in keeping Haleigh alive. If she dies, then just like Joe Korp, he faces the possibility of having charges against him revised to that of murder. It is because of the perceived vested interest that the judge who heard the case refused to give Jason Strickland the right to determine what will happen to Haleigh. Her mother, who has come out of the woodwork had gone on record as stating that Haleigh should be allowed to die. So what does the female judge decide? That Jason Strickland, who wants the child to be given a chance, has such a vested interest in Haleigh remaining alive that his opinion does not count at all.

Why on earth are these people being appointed to the bench when they are only interested in killing people?