A case now before a court in Washington, D.C., involves a 12-year-old boy whose brain has stopped functioning completely, according to doctors, but whose body is being kept alive by drugs and a respirator. The boy’s Orthodox Jewish parents reject their son’s medical diagnosis of death, asserting that the teachings of their faith about the end of life should take precedence over the determination of doctors...
This reminds me of the struggle of the Golubchuk family in Winnipeg last year. The 'Grace'Hospital and the CMA fought the family for THE RIGHT to determine that Samuel Golubchuk's life was over - the EXCLUSIVE right. The Golubchuk family, also Orthodox Jews, succeeded in getting a court order to sustain life, and Mr. Golubchuk recovered somewhat before eventually dying naturally (i.e. not starving).
DO NOT GIVE DOCTORS AN INCH. The medical associations are itching to 'be the ones' that have the EXCLUSIVE RIGHT to determine a 'rubric of human value', from which NONE of us will be safe. Yesterday our unborn, today our grandfathers, tomorrow our accident victims, the next day our chronically ill, and later...people who enter the hospital but don't have really great lives.
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