Mike the Usurper wrote:
] ] President George W. Bush, in fact, signed a law as
] ] Governor George W. Bush, the Texas Futile Care Act, which
] ] contradicts the one he rushed back to Washington from
] ] vacation to sign. That law allows a hospital to decide
] ] when to pull the plug. Just last week, against the wishes
] ] of his mother, a 5-month-old baby with a fatal genetic
] ] disorder was disconnected from life support and died in
] ] Houston.
]
] I can understand the Schiavo case. There are two sides, both
] intimately involved, both family and they are at odds. The
] courts chose to side with the husband and let her die. The
] Texas Futile Care Act however really does amount to not just
] state sponsored euthanasia, it is state MANDATED euthanasia.
] This I don't understand at all. Hospitals are allowed to
] terminate patients over the objections of ALL the related
] parties??? Want to see something god is really going to be
] pissed about? And why aren't all these nutjobs down
] protesting every one of these cases in Texas?

CUZ G DUBYA DONE MADE THAT LAW!

What's even better about that law, is not only are we taking the euthanasia decison away from an appropriate decision maker (like, oh, I don't know, a parent!) but we're giving it to a commercial or state sponsored entity. The law also has significant language around the ability to pay, so essentialy, if you have insurance that will cover it, they can force the person to stay alive against your wishes. Alternatively (as in this case), if you don't have funding, they can force euthanasia against your wishes. NICE!

In the Schiavo case, the interesting thing is I believed she's being covered by Medicaid, the state funded health insurance. Since I'm sure her case is now in the multi-millions of dollars, I'm surprised a tax payer hasn't sued the state for breach of fiduciary responsibility.