Thursday, January 19, 2006

On the Right Course

During the whole Terri Schiavo mess, I came down on the side of spousal rights. That is why the case of Haleigh Poutre, the eleven year-old abuse victim who was diagnosed as being in a vegetative state. Lacking any responsible care giver, Haleigh has become a ward of the state, and the state had decided to discontinue life support.

Suddenly, it was looking like Terri Schiavo all over again. What various conservative voices are missing in their rush to characterize the other side as ghouls is that when Haleigh has shown signs of recovery, the Department of Social Services has changed its plans and will continue life support.

The likelihood that the doctors are mistaken about the persistence of the vegetative state is much greater for a child than a similar diagnosis in an adult. At this point, everyone seems to be acting out of a position of hope. What more can anyone be asking for?    

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