In case you haven't noticed, Marlowe's Shade is doing an excellent job reporting historical cases involving euthanasia and paralleling them with current events. Recently, the case of Robert Wendland was examined through a report by the International Task Force on Euthanasia:
ROBERT WENDLAND should die so that his family can "be allowed to live their lives," Dr. Ronald Cranford, a Minnesota neurologist and bioethicist [also the expert witness in Terri Schiavo's case - more here], testified recently in the Stockton, CA, courtroom of Superior Court Judge Bob McNatt. The chosen method of death? Intentional dehydration and starvation.What has Wendland, 45, done to deserve such a fate? He went into a coma in September 1993 from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. Sixteen months later, he awakened from the coma, paralyzed on one side and unable to walk, talk or swallow well enough to eat. He is physically and cognitively disabled and dependent on others for his care. He is not terminally ill. He is not hooked up to machines. He does require a feeding tube to sustain his life.
Rose Wendland, Robert's wife, claims Robert would not want to live in his current condition. She bases her claim primarily on her husband's statements made in the aftermath of her father's death, three months before Robert's injury, that he would not want to live if he could not "be a husband, father or a provider."Read more about what happened here. Also, check out the following:But is it right to kill someone because he might have said he would not want to live in a dependent state? Is it right to kill someone because he can't work and be productive? Is it right to kill someone because he is disabled? Robert Wendland's mother, Florence Wendland, and half-sister, Rebekah Vinson, say no. They sued to prevent the dehydration.
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Euthanasia
"This patient is too ill" experts say,
finish them now - they're passed their day
with a remedy, efficient and quick
just remove the intravenous drip"
pausing, whilst conscious ponders, still
but logic screams this patient is terminally ill!
"Our resolve must be to hasten their end
since what's the point in helping them mend
not withstanding a waist of space
would only overflow this pitiful place?"
Hence, the evil thing is done
the intravenous drip has gone
Helpless, the victim stairs into space
sensing a fate so cruelly sealed
The drip now removed, the truth revealed
yet not an end where suffering is no more
nor a life contested before death's door
only an endless wait, lying helpless and still
unable to communicate their thoughts at will
yet, within, comes an silent cry
to stay alive - " please don't let me die"
abandoned, forsaken, the patient feels pain.
like a lamb to the slaughter, the victim is slain,
the evil deed is done - the intravenous drip has gone.
Weep with me all who love humanity, for
this has happened to someone's son and someone's daughter,
Anne White copyright www.skytopia.com/anne