Woman kept alive to save unborn baby

[RebelOne]

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20050616/1a_cover16.art.htm

[GarySeven]

1. That's not so unusual -

and are you arguing that they shouldn't do this? Sounds like the best way out of a very tragic situation if you ask me.

[BayouBengal07]

2. well

between this and the "al-Qaeda operative" we captured today, there goes Conyers DSM hearing. Especially as that's on page 1A.

[trotsky]

3. Ooh, did we capture Osama's #3 man again? n/t

[jojo54]

4. I saw a report on ABC this morning

It's a heartbreaking story. They said melanoma is one of the few cancers that can go into the placenta. I hope they can save the baby. At least the husband will have something other than memories.

[spinbaby]

5. Here's text from the article

Page 1A
Woman is kept alive to save unborn baby
Survival hopes hinge on mom living at least a month more

By Richard Willing
USA TODAY 

ARLINGTON, Va. — A 26-year-old pregnant woman with cancer whose brain function ceased last month is being kept alive with a respirator in hopes she can have a very premature baby who has a chance to survive.

Susan Torres, a researcher at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), lost consciousness May 7 when an undiagnosed brain tumor caused a stroke while she dined at home. Her husband, Jason Torres, says doctors told him Susan's brain functions have stopped.

Torres, also 26, says he decided to keep Susan on life support when doctors at Virginia Hospital Center here offered him the chance to disconnect the machines after they determined that she would not recover. He says he believes this is what his wife would have wanted.

[FreedomAngel82]

28. I wish them luck

I hope everything works out okay. The poor couple. :( I just hope Dobson and those freaks don't enter their lives like with Schavio. Good luck.

[Horse with no Name]

6. Wow.

I hope for the best possible outcome for all parties.
This isn't unlike the Schiavo case. In fact, it parallels very close.
Respecting the wishes of the next of kin.
His wish is to keep her alive. That should be honored.

[gordianot]

7. Very tragic, I hope everything works out for this family. 2 questions?

1. The father will have major medical bills what kind of relief will he get from the government and the newly empowered faith based initiatives?

2. How will culture of life advocates respond, will he get personal intervention from George Bush?

[Name removed]

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[DS1]

17. If I weren't so bored I'd laugh

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[DS1]

19. see post 18

Nobody is glorifying the President as you state, they are simply asking if the same kind of attention is going to be afforded this woman as Schiavo

[DS1]

18. Point is that The President of the United States DID personally

involved himself with the Schiavo case - even interrupting one of his countless retreats at Crawford to fly back and try sign a 'keep the braindead' alive act. Maybe he'll do the same again?

Or have you already forgotten this?

[gordianot]

20. It was sarcasm.

I am sick of politicians involving themselves in families personal problems. Bush is among the worst. As for as Bush being President of the United States in 2000 he was selected by the Supreme Court and elected by the Electoral College. 2004 he may have been elected, but check around DU you will find many different opinions, observations on election fraud.

This family deserves support and I doubt they will get it from those who claim they represent a "culture of life".

Since you are new to DU it always helps to check the rules.

[FreedomAngel82]

30. I'm tired of it too

They've envaded every part of our lives from our schools to our bedrooms and now hospitals. I thought the whole Schavio ordeal was heartbreaking and terrible but it was nobody's business but the family members involved, the judges, the doctors and maybe even a spiritual advisor or two. Nobody else. The same should be for anybody in this country. George Bush was a jackass for getting involved. :mad: Oh and also on the election fraud visit http://www.bradblog.com and check out his radio show archives from last Saturday and listen to Bob Firtakis (sp?). Very good interview on the last "election."

[DemBones DemBones]

34. Why would you doubt that those

of us who support a culture of life would support this man's choice to keep his wife's vital functions going in hopes of allowing their child to live? He's doing a very pro-life thing.

BTW, "culture of life" is a phrase made popular among Catholics by Pope John Paul II long before Karl Rove stole it and programmed Dim Son to say it at every opportunity.
Of course, they got it mostly wrong. It means a culture in which killing by war and capital punishment is considered wrong, not just a culture that opposes killing by abortion and euthanasia. It also means a culture in which every life is valued and protected, including the lives of the poor, the sick, the disabled, the elderly, meaning we must help the poor, etc.

[gordianot]

37. For the most part I don't.

Sorry if you took offense I was responding to a post that tombstoned.

I do recall a friend who took a strong pro-life stance. This person was also a school administrator who complained frequently about the cost of services for a student who was severely disabled. I pointed out his stance for this student was inconsistent complaining about service costs given his pro life stance. He understood what I was saying. In this case the child may have severe disabilities (which I work with daily). I have strong opinions that children who are born with severe disabilities deserve the best care possible after they are born. My experience is that some who use this position for political gain are not willing to provide the support that is needed. Per pupil costs for most non disabled children average $4,000 to $5,000 per year, those who I work for spend as much as $35,000 per year working with severely disabled children.

I do distinguish those who make these decisions as a matter of personal belief and those who use these issues as a matter of political gain. The Individuals with Disabilities Act IDEA has not been fully funded with the complicity of legislators who give lip service to "culture of life".

[DemBones DemBones]

38. You are so right that many don't care about the disabled.

I support this child having a shot at life, even if he or she is disabled as a result of a premature birth.

I was teaching in the public schools when that bastard Reagan approved major cuts in the funding for special education, causing many kids with special needs to be thrown into all mainstream classes and allowed to sink or swim -- a bad deal when your arms are tied. Oh, they "tested" the kids to determine who could be put out. As one of our guidance counselors told me "Maybe they asked this kid to point to a picture of a dog or cat to prove he could do regular classroom work."

[gordianot]

39. I agree this child needs a shot at life.

This child's father should not be bankrupted, or as they can do if in Bush's Texas have the plug pulled by the hospital if no one can pay. While the Shaivo case was going on a Texas hospital denied life support to a severely disabled infant (against mothers wishes) and pulled the plug because no one could pay. Guess who signed that bill while he was Governor of Texas? That is what I call lip service.

[Dora]

8. -sniff- -wipe eyes- n/t

[Modem Butterfly]

9. Yikes. Absolutely ghoulish.

Words fail me.

[muriel_volestrangler]

21. You think so? This seems perfectly acceptable to me

and normally, I'd think my ethical views would be pretty close to those you've expressed.

The choice is to switch off life support, and guarantee you'll never get a live baby, or to keep it on and have a chance. If the woman is brain dead, this is no different from keeping someone on life support until they're ready to use their organs for transplants.

I wouldn't have thought it was national news, though.

[Modem Butterfly]

22. I don't believe women should be reduced to incubators

I recognize the human desire to procreate is enormous, however, this seems to me a bit too far.

I believe the reason this case is getting this coverage is due to the Terri Schiavo case, in that you have a woman with no chance for recovery being kept on life-support. Of course, there's where the similarities end, but our media is far too lazy to not pander to the lowest common denominator and sensationalize a sad story...

[Vladimir]

23. I have some sympathy with what you are saying

but surely it needs to be the partner's decision, for the sake of consistency (I'm thinking vis-a-vis Schiavo) if nothing else?

[Modem Butterfly]

40. Well sure

But that doesn't mean I give up the right to object. He's the decision maker by law and by the choosing of his wife when she married him. Make no mistake, I do not advocate anything like the existance-at-any-costs crowd did in the Terri Schiavo case. That being said, however, I do find his choice rather horrifying.

[Vladimir]

44. Fair enough n/t

[muriel_volestrangler]

27. Yes, but in this case, she is already brain dead

so there's an argument that she is no longer a woman (and she had no idea this would happen when she got pregnant, so it's not as if this was some "I must do everything to have another baby, even if I die" effort). As I said, I think the organ donation analogy is valid - faced with a life that's ended, the next of kin has the right to ask for the body to be used for some good.

[Modem Butterfly]

41. So was Terri Schiavo

I believe this case may very well be used by those who think uteruses are public property. But that would be a profoundly stupid reason upon which to base an end-of-life decision.

[mondo joe]

29. I would presume she had some opinion on this matter

seeing as she knew about her condition(s).

It seems a purely personal choice to me. I can well imagine some people deciding if the last thing they can do is carry their child to term they would do so without hesitation.

[Modem Butterfly]

42. Her next-of-kin speaks for her now, in this case it's her husband

Whatever we imagine her wishes were, or were not, the ultimate decision is up to her next-of-kin.

[FreedomAngel82]

31. It only is I think because of Conyers

Have to have some sort of distraction now that people are getting tired of the Aruba girl (no offense to her) and Jackson's trial is over. So they have to have something else.

[Name removed]

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[shrike]

11. Well, we yammer on about everything else

Why not this? I understand your feelings, though -- a tragic situation, give it some privacy. The husband did, however, give an interview to a national newspaper. He must have his reasons for going public.

'Bout twenty years ago, a young co-worker of mine died suddenly of a brain aneurysm. She was 24, married less than a year, and pregnant. The baby died despite the best efforts of everyone involved. I can understand this man's feelings, for trying to preserve the life his wife was so looking forward to welcoming into the world. I can't say I wouldn't do the same thing myself, particularly because she doesn't seem to be suffering.

Remembering my young co-worker, how thrilled she was to be expecting her first child, I'm sure she would have supported such a measure in her case, had it been possible.

I'm well aware that my opinion doesn't count, BTW

[DS1]

12. It's about feeding the machine

What with all the complaints about the MSM avoiding the real news, whenever they throw some shiny bait into the pond we eat it right up.

Same goes for bloggers - if they'd all STFU and collectively focus on the War, Bush, the economy, important things like that, maybe the MSM would get the idea. But focusing liberals is like herding cats, never gonna happen. And it's a shame, divide and conquer is why we're getting pummeled.

[shrike]

13. You have a point

S'pose it's human nature to go after the shiny stuff. Doesn't excuse us, but it's one explanation.

Hopefully this gentleman will not let his tragic circumstance turn into a Schiavo-like circus. I wish him well.

[doodadem]

15. The wave of the future

Isn't this the ultimate fundie dream? Screw the mother--the fetus is what matters.

[TimeChaser]

26. The article didn't give the impression

that they had not given the mother life saving treatment in order to save the fetus. It's cases like that that really bother me.

Just like the Shaivo case, it's the spouse's role to dictate what she would have wanted. And if this is it, so be it.

I just hope the government doesn't butt in again when all is said and done and he ends life support for her.

[FreedomAngel82]

33. Yep

I would hope that he would tell them to STFU and butt out. That's where it'll count I think if that does happen.

[FreedomAngel82]

32. It's always been that way with them

Always the fetus. They're not even pro-life. I call them pro-fetus.

[SCDem]

24. The question is

will she be kept on life support after the birth of the baby?

[FreedomAngel82]

35. From reading the article

it's my understanding it's just to have the baby.

[flygal]

25. That poor family

I can't imagine - and I hope to God there is a not another circus created out of this.

[DemBones DemBones]

36. It's very unfortunate when a young woman dies like this but the father

is doing the right thing by trying to save their unborn child. To lose them both would compound his sorrow and loss, and the wife/mother isn't being harmed by having her organs kept functioning.

Organ donors are often "kept alive" for some time to harvest their organs, perhaps longer than you think. A friend of mine lost her son a couple of years ago when he was in his late twenties and he was kept on machines for days after his brain died in order to harvest his organs. This was done at the hospital's expense, not the family's, in case you're curious. Many people benefited by receiving organs from this young man.

[NMMNG]

43. I would want to be kept alive until the baby was born safely

then allowed to slip away peacefully.

[GreenPartyVoter]

45. That poor family :^(