Dying of "convenience"

(or, perhaps I should say, "INconvenience....")

My posting here is mainly a link dump to all possible resources on Mae Magouirk's battle. I am offering very little some commentary of my own. Please check out as many of these links as you can. I realize there will be quite a bit of redundancy, but it will let you know which blogs are talking about this, and you can keep up with their newer posts yourself. If anyone knows of any important posts that I've missed, please contact me at "romeokat (at) gmail (dot) com" to let me know. Look at the bottom of this post for the most recent updates!

An article on WorldNetDaily, Granddaughter yanks grandma's feeding tube, puzzles and maddens me. In a close parallel to Terri Shiavo,

an 81-year-old widow, denied nourishment and fluids for nearly two weeks, is clinging to life in a hospice in LaGrange, Ga., while her immediate family fights desperately to save her life before she dies of starvation and dehydration.

Why? Why is this woman's family even needing to fight for her life?

Claiming that she held Magouirk's power of attorney, Gaddy had her transferred to Hospice-LaGrange, a 16-bed unit owned by the same family that owns the hospital. Once at the hospice, Gaddy stated that she did not want her grandmother fed or given water.

"Grandmama is old and I think it is time she went home to Jesus," Gaddy told Magouirk's brother and nephew, McLeod and Ken Mullinax. "She has glaucoma and now this heart problem, and who would want to live with disabilities like these?"

Now, Mrs. Magouirk has left very specific intructions already about end of life care:

In her living will, Magouirk stated that fluids and nourishment were to be withheld only if she were either comatose or "vegetative," and she is neither. Nor is she terminally ill, which is generally a requirement for admission to a hospice.

And yet,

Also upon Gaddy's request and without prior legal authority, since March 28 Hospice-LaGrange has denied Magouirk normal nourishment or fluids via a feeding tube through her nose or fluids via an IV. She has been kept sedated with morphine and ativan, a powerful tranquillizer.

Now do you Culture of Death vultures understand why we were all up in arms about Terri Shiavo? This situation is not necessarily unusual, and even a Living Will is not effective with this self-centered, selfish, callous, unfeeling, and obscene excuse for (Update, 10Apr05,10am ET - I'm sorry. Without both sides of this story, I really shouldn't have gone off on a rant like that. If the story stands, those are my feelings. But until Ms. Gaddy tells her story, I should have been less hostile. It was wrong, and I'm sorry.) granddaughter, Beth Gaddy.

Blogs for Terri is researching the story.

(HT to my friend, TJ of the Wide Awakes blog NIF)

(MORE - thanks also to Raven, at And Rightly So!, who is in the health industry, and also blogging about this situation.)

Updates are below the fold.....

(FYI - most recent additions are at the bottom of the post, unlike the "typical" blog-style. Sorry, this is just an easier way for me to handle this)

I'm bumping this up top through Sunday night.

08 April 2005

Jackson's Junction has commentary

Lorie Byrd at PoliPundit says the Devaluation of Life Continures

Blogs for Terri has more information about Mae Magouirk's terrifying situation here and ...links out to this, at Straight Up With Sherri, who has contact information

Even the Instapundit has taken notice

JunkYard Blog is on top of things as well:

Is the Magourik case another Terri Schiavo? Perhaps it is and perhaps it isn't, but it's certainly a product of the same convenience culture that views the lives of the most vulnerable and weakest as essentially options to be decided at the whims of the strong.

The Bandwagon also has some valuable thoughts.

Ace of Spades weighs in (with Bill of INDCJournal adding snotty comments)

words from the Anchoress

Musing Minds asks

• "I have a disabled daughter. She has epilepsy, a developmental delay and moderate hearing and vision losses. She doesn't speak much, or very clearly. What will happen to her after I'm gone? Will someone, somewhere ask, "who would want to live with disabilities like those?" Would someone, somewhere decide that her life is not worth living, or that resources expended on her would be better spent elsewhere? And then decide to "euthanize" her?"

The ever awesome Superhawk, of Rightwing Nuthouse says this

I don’t know what the answer is. I don’t know if there necessarily is an answer. All I know is that this case and the thousands of other similar cases that occur every year in this country amount to nothing less than a recipe for disaster. Somehow, we’ve got to regain control of this runaway euthanasia train before our outrage is replaced by a shrug and our passions are replaced by a deadening of wonder at the miracle of life itself.

blogicus also gives information about contacts, as well as mentioning the Georgia law involved in this case

MAJOR UPDATE - Glenn Beck has free audio of an interview with Kenneth Mullinax, Mae Magouirk's nephew. Heartrending. Outrageous.

Paul over at Wizbang posts the story, along with a link to the LaGrange newspaper and another link to the audio of the Kenneth Mullinax interview

Conservative Revolution has a forceful and persuasive post that is more than worthy of your time. Way to go!

Jared at Truth. Quante-fied has a fairly detailed dissection of the legalities involved. Informative, and give a look inside just how screwed up things can get

KelliPundit also is tracking this issue

Right Wing News weighs in with reasonable hesitations

My gallant and intrepid friend, Cao (of Cao's Blog and Wide Awakes fame), is setting up a execllent link round-up of her own. Thanks, Cao, your support is always the best!

JackLewis.net is right on top of things, as well, with a more detailed timeline and other information.

Linda, at Civilisation Calls, is asking some very good questions about Mrs. Magouirk's situation.

Blogs for Terri is continully updating. I highly recommend making them your first stop for information.

Random and Politically Incorrect Thoughts is discussing the effects so far on the LaGrange Hospice, where Mae Magouirk is at this time.

Kenneth Mullinax posts his plea on Liberty Post forums - this was on 06 April - requesting help to save his aunt, Mae Magouirk.

***OK, at 8pm ET, that's enought for me on this tonight (I have to spend some time with the Darling Munchkin, right?) I will continue tomorrow, so PLEASE send me any links so I can keep this resource updated. (-- Romeocat, 805pm ET, 08Apr05)***

-------

09 April 2005

*** All right, all right, already! I'm awake! *yawn* Let me get my coffee, and I'll continue tracking down links and information for you...

First off this morning, I find that I have been greatly honored to have been noticed by my Dread and Feared Lord, Emperor Misha I. Please keep an eye on his discussion of this issue; He and His Loyal Citizens can make these things very clear.

Straight Up With Sherri has a very complete list of contacts to save Miss Mae.

The Rottweiler Puppy (any relation to Emperor Misha?) bears fangs on behalf of Mrs. Magouirk.

Illuminaria's Voice has a transcript of Glenn Beck's interview with Kenneth Mullinax. Fantastic!

Darleen's Place brings some thoughtful musings to the table and highlights some troubling issues.

BIRD reminds us that evil doesn't take a holiday. Ever.

Expertise's Politics and Sports Blog also has excellent comments on Mae Magouirk's plight.

Hyscience has alarming facts about the hospice industry, with detailed background on its ties with the euthanasia industry. I regard this as a critical article of information.

Superhawk, of Rightwing Nuthouse, sent the Wide Awakes an e-mail this morning with a link to Hospice Patients Alliance, which appears to be an organization diligently fighting against this death-oriented agenda. Thanks, 'Hawk!

.... aaaannnnd this morning, Superhawk follows through with a scathing condemnation of "America's Dirty Little Secret." You really need to go read his essay, it's well researched and chilling.

Thanks to Superhawk (you rock, guy!), I'm pointed to Paul's second post at Wizbang, where he details the interview he personally conducted with Kenneth Mullinax.

Here is the crux of the argument between the two sides of the family. Ken's mother went thru this exact problem 2 years ago. She was treated at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, which is considered the 5th best coronary hospital in the nation. The docs at UAB treated her without surgery and the dissection sealed itself.

Ken's side of the family want Mae brought to UAB for treatment. They had arranged for a life flight from Georgia to Alabama and UAB had accepted Mae as a patient. When the granddaughter, Beth Gaddy, heard they were going to do this, she went to the local judge (who has never been to law school or passed the bar) and got herself named guardian.

The granddaughter says, "Grandmama is old and I think it is time she went home to Jesus. She has glaucoma and now this heart problem, and who would want to live with disabilities like these?" so she is content to let the woman starve to death.

And while 81 might seem old, but as Ken put it, "the women in the McCloud-Magourik family live to be ancient. My aunt May Magourik is 81. Guess what, her aunt is still living. The one she was named for, Aunt May Oliver, and she is 95. Maya's mother lived to be 90 and she had two aunts that were 100 and 104."

Actually, Paul also states "Mae Magouirk has a condition called an aortic dissection. This is a small leak in her aorta. It's inherited; both of Mae's siblings have the same condition." {emphasis mine} That strongly implies that Beth Gaddy, Mae Magouirk's granddaughter, may have the same condition in the future. I hope her granddaughter and relatives are more... considerate... then, mmm?

Danny Carlton, at JackLewis.net, sets up a timeline for us regarding when things have been happening in this fight to save Mrs. Magouirk. Thank you, Danny!

Our blunt and fearless friend, Kender, of Kender's Musings, castigates BOTH the left and the right for not addressing the issue. Bravo, Kender! (crossposted to the Wide Awakes site)

HERE is the first "News" news (non-local) story I've seen. WXIA TV in Atlanta, GA, has video as well. They note that "[t]he CEO of the West Georgia Health System told 11Alive News, 'No patient at our hospice is denied food or water.'" OK. Then what's all the fuss about Mae Magouirk, mmmm? (HT to the Dread Pundit)

NOW ON THE OTHER SIDE.....

The Commissar, over at the Politburo Diktat, is of the opinion that

... it is important to create a huge ruckus on the internet, demand an end to the culture of death, burn down Hospice LaGrange, and pass a federal law on behalf of Ms. Magourik. Then, if the WND story turns out not to be so, we just blame the whole mess on Tom Harkin. This is the obvious course to anyone who has any core conservative principles.

He points out that the Hospice says it's offering food and hydration, but WND is saying "Hospice-LaGrange has denied Magouirk normal nourishment or fluids via a feeding tube through her nose or fluids via an IV." [emphasis mine]

So, what I'm asking the Commissar is this: if an ill patient requires feeding tube or IV nourishment in order to recover his or her health, is it medically negligent to only "offer" it (which implies a tray of food to the patient)? Does "offering" food fulfill the medical oath of healing in this situation?

Now, I understand that we do not have all the information available to rule on that distinction. However, with all the blustering about making sure all the facts are correct and that we're not jumping the gun, isn't that a hesitation that the Commissar should also make?

I'm just asking the "other side" to have the same cautions in their commentaries as they appear to be demanding of "this side." Sounds fair, right?

---

Next up, on "the other side" - and, yes, I'm going to use the scare quotes, because I really don't think we're on different "sides," exactly. I just think that both "sides" need to come back into the middle, more moderate outlook (!!!!! Yes. Really. I mean it.), and stop assuming the worst of people who don't hold their exact view.

Anyway.

Outside the Beltway's James Joyner, states his reaction as well, but concludes with three bullets that concern me. I would assume that his wording in the first point is simply not quite precise enough for my preferences, and that we merely have a stylistic difference. Nevertheless, he says:

We clearly don't have all the facts here. What we do know:

1. This is not simply a case of some crazy granddaughter trying to kill a conscious woman because she's old and has glaucoma. The woman has a serious heart condition.
2. Powers of attorney are revokable, so it's absurd to suggest that someone with a piece of paper could subvert the expressed, known wishes of a conscious person.
3. A judge and the hospital officials deny the nephew's story.

My response to these statements of "knowledge" would be

1. Yes, Mae Magouirk - she has a name, y'know -  has a serious heart condition. Does that mean that we can disregard the possibility that her granddaughter may be acting against her stated wishes? Does having a serious heart condition therefore mean we should offer less than the best medical care to someone? Does this mean that, by definition, a serious heart condition means you are in immediate peril for your life, and probably will not survive?

2. IS it really absurd that "someone with a piece of paper could subvert the... wishes of a conscious person"? Are there no cases at all where this has happened? Also, there is the question of whether Mae Magouirk, having a serious heart condition, is conscious and coherent enough to make her wishes known at this time. I mean, after all, she has a serious heart condition, and she is possibly weak from lack of nourishment, and she is an old lady, right? But that, of course is what her Living Will was for.... Oh, yeah, Beth Gaddy - according to the information we have at this time - ignored that Living Will. Oops.

3. Well, for this point, I'm going to quote Darlene's comment over at Wizbang:

We know that the granddaughter did not have the legal power to transfer Mae to a hospice. We also know that the grandmother did not qualify for hospice care. We know that as soon as her other relatives found out they made arrangements to have Mae transferred into a regular hospital for evaluation and treatment. We know upon learning of these plans the granddaughter went to court for an "emergency" guardianship and that the hospice refuses to make any statement about Mae's care and instead issues boiler plate legalese disclaimers.

And we know Mae left specific written instructions on just what kind of care she wanted, including NO EUTHANASIA unless very specific conditions were met.

Even these simple facts bespeak a very troubling scenario. Either the granddaughter was the dupe of doctors who felt it was time to "put grandma down" despite grandma's wishes and she trusted "the doctors knew best" and entered into a questionable arrangement with a hospice to make sure she "died" within the hospice timeline, or she was complicit with the doctors, or she pushed the doctors.

All in all one has a situation in which one cannot dismiss the nephews comments out of hand because the situation itself stinks to high heaven

And we are not talking about a surgical feeding tube here, but the nasal kind. And IV fluids. For a woman who had just been in the hospital for a dissected aorta (stablized). This constitutes "extraordinary" care?

UPDATE...UPDATE...UPDATE...UPDATE

Blogsfor Terri is reporting the good news that Miss Mae is on her way to the University of Alabama Birmingham Medical Center! However, there is a hint that there is some continuing effort to return her to the hospice.

This is great news, but let's still keep an eye on this.

WorldNet Daily has added this (which I'd missed before), as well as a report on Mae Magouirk's release from the hospice. Here is an interesting exerpt:

In her petition [I assume in the petition for guardianship] Gaddy argued that "irreparable harm" would occur to Magouirk if she were removed from Hospice.

In his order, Probate Judge Douglas Boyd permitted Gaddy to continue as Magouirk's temporary guardian, but in a formal letter attached to the order stated that her powers were limited. One of the conditions of her guardianship is "To see that the ward [Magouirk] is adequately fed, clothed, sheltered and cared for, and receives all necessary medical attention, including placement in a nursing home, if appropriate."

Still no information, from the hospice or whoever, that Mrs. Magouirk was in fact given nutrition after this ruling. One would think that, even taking into account patient confidentiality, the hospice would want to publicize this in some way.

Paul from Wizbang has another update, in which he, too, questions the intent behind the "offering food" statement by the hospice. He also takes a look at the "other side" of this ordeal, and discusses several of the problems with it.

***** OK, that's it for posting on this subject for today. It's almost 11pm, and I'm dead tired. But please, I want the tube to be kept in place until at least 10 different doctors not associated with any euthanasia societies confirm unanimously that I am "really very truly dead," all right?

I'll see y'all tomorrow, but may not post on this unless we hear how Mrs.Magouirk is doing. Again, this post will remain at the top until tomorrow at 11pm.

Good night, all!*****

***** And good morning, again. (It's 7:25 a.m., ET - do you know where your pillow is?)...

10Apr05

OK, starting right off this morning, Stop the Bleating has an article I saw last night (but was just too  tired to link to) that sheds more light on the various angles of the legal issue of Mae Magouirk's Living Will.

And, the reason I was so tired last night was that I got into a discussion over at INDCBill's in his discussion about Paul of Wizbang's, um, reading comprehension. I don't particularly care for Bill's outlook on this general subject, but you might possibly want to see my comments there.

Now, this morning I've gotten a link to Cait's Oz Blogs about Judge Boyd's pro-life stance. This is very troubling, but I'm very glad to see more information coming from the "other" side of this ordeal. She concludes:

We now have a responsibility to make Judge Boyd's pro-life views widely known. He was offended by comparisons to George Greer and worried that the public was gaining a false impression. He was at pains to point out that although he would always seek to follow the law in his judgements he was acutely aware of the sanctity of human life.

I was impressed by the fact that Judge Boyd responded quickly to my initial email and followed up my response to him by giving me his cell phone number and asking me to call him. It became obvious to me at that point that he was not another Judge Greer.

Another post that I saw late last night was from Just One Minute, who asks "Just who is Kenneth Mullinax?" This is an important question, since most of the information of the case has been coming from him. If I only have one source, I want to be able to evaluate that source. JOM posts:

At this point, the assembled staff of JustOneMinute is stuck on a sidebar - just who is this nephew, Ken Mullinax?  That is not a common name; however, in 2004 the Democratic candidate for the Third District in Alabama had a press spokesperson named Ken Mullinax; former Democratic Congressman Ike Hilliard of the Seventh District did as well.  And for the geographically inclined, the Third District seems to be near Birmingham (where Ms. Magouirk might be moved), and is just over the state line from LaGrange, GA, where the legal and medical drama is unfolding.

As of this writing, the question is still mostly speculation, but JOM has some excellent questions if this angle continues to develop.

Citizen Z has a follow-up on JOM's post here and here. The second post is particularly interesting. He follows up on JOM's question -

"Are you the Ken Mullinax who did press relations for Democrats Ike Hilliard and Bill Fuller?"  I can see why that was received as inappropriate under these circumstances and Ken - assuming, I imagine, that I am a Republican (which I am not) - didn't answer it.  As is his right, of course.  Ken did state that he was, "an aide to Governor George Wallace in his fourth term of office... and an aide to Coach Paul Bear Bryant.....", however.  So the point of my question - finding out why someone with political contacts had, as yet, not contacted a politician to help him - was missed.  Again, understandable under the circumstances and given the fact that this was an email conversation and not a phone interview.

Patterico weighs in again. Good reading, particularly on the contribution of bloggers and See-Dubya's comment

It boils down to this, for now: one side has presented a clear, if alarming, portrait of the threat to Ms. Magouirk. Ken Mullinax has appeared on talk shows and contacted several bloggers with consistent statements about the details of the case. Meanwhile the other side has made no effort I can see to clarify their position. As Wizbang points out, the press release from the hospice commits to very little. The judge disputed Mullinax’s account of things, but there’s no indication of exactly what was wrong. And this could have been stopped days ago had the attorneys for the granddaughter merely e-mailed .pdf’s of the relevant judgments, medical charts, etc. to interested bloggers and media sources. The fact that Mr. Mullinax has been willing to put his case before the public eye, and the other side has not, lends credibility to his version of events. When they weigh in, maybe we’ll learn something new.

Tim at blogicus talks about the Intrensic Value of Mae Magouirk. For some odd reason, this is one of the sites that my cursor refuses to cut-and-paste, so please go over and read it.

The Birmingham News briefly comments on Mae's arrival. (HT to Hyscience)

And Hyscience has this very encouraging post this morning:

I spoke with Judge "Donald" Boyd by telephone early this morning. I read the following comments from this post to him:

"One of the conditions of her guardianship is "To see that the ward [Magouirk] is adequately fed, clothed, sheltered and cared for, and receives all necessary medical attention, including placement in a nursing home, if appropriate." A nursing home is not a hospice - in a nursing home you are suppose to continue living, in a hospice you are suppose to continue dying(if AND ONLY IF, you are dying in the first place)."

Judge Boyd agreed with our version of his order and with our comments regarding the difference between nursing home care and hospice care. Judge Boyd seems to believe that things fell apart between the families AFTER they left his courtroom and that Beth may have acted upon information from her grandmother's doctors - that the two doctors in LaGrange must have told Beth that Mae should go into the hospice - else Beth could not have put Mae in the hospice. As to the issue of feeding and hydration, Judge Boyd said that it was testified in his court that Mae "was" getting nutrition and hydration. As to whether or not it was adequate, that may be the issue(my comment not Judge Boyd's).

Finally, Judge Boyd has agreed to provide BlogsForTerri with his views and opinions in the matter(not legal opinions but his personal opinions) on Monday. We have promised to post them on BlogsForTerri, Hyscience, ProLifeBlogs, and at the discretion of all other bloggers of the BlogsForTerri team.

Based on this interview, it certainly does look like we jumped the gun when accusing Judge Boyd of ignorance or nefarious motives. Please do your best to e-mail him and apologize.

(7:48pm, ET) Blogs for Terri has a further update, including the hope of a written statement from Beth Gaddy, and a detailed response from Kenneth Mullinax to several questions. His response appears to clear up quite a bit of the food/no food question, and he does seem to be more cordial in his remarks regarding Ms. Gaddy.

**** 11 April, 2005 *****

Miss Mae is in the hospital in Birmingham now, and Blogs for Terri continues to follow through with this morning's post

Assertions have been made that nourishment and hydration were not denied. However, such claims are a matter of semantics. Those who make these claims need to answer why Mae was found to be so dehydrated that the attending physician at UAB hospital stated that it will take at least two days of intense hydration therapy to get her back to an acceptable level. {any typos or discrepancies are mine - I had to type in the quote, since cut-and-paste isn't working for me at Blogs for Terri}

Go read it: there are quite a few disturbing questions that need to be answered.

Wizbang continues with its coverage and adds to B4T's statement, above, by saying:

The adequacy of that nutrition (occasional ice chips and jello) is what is at issue. Not being terminal, but being heavily medicated with Morphine, Mae could not request foods of fluids. The evidence (that which is available) seems to indicate that the doctors and/or the hospice weren't especially interested in keeping her hydrated or nourished. The letter from Ken Mullinax as well as the information from the hospice helps clear up yesterday's confusion about whether the hospice was denying food and water. Technically their statement about not denying her nutrition is true, but the evidence of her dehydration noted after her move to UAB Medical Center indicates that she was most likely slowly dying of starvation at the hospice. At UAB, Mae is now receiving the food and water she needs, and it was noted that she was seriously dehydrated. Her treatment will be implemented based on the previously negotiated agreement where 3 doctors will confer on her treatment plan. {emph. mine}

Again, there is speculation here, but based on the information that we do have, these are reasonable questions and concerns. The hospice needs to address these issues publically at some point.

Reading through the complete posts at B4T ("Blogs for Terri"), as well as various others, above, I see also the possibility that Beth Gaddy may have been misled by, or misinterpreted the doctor(s) who suggested the move to the hospice. Indeed, this whole incident may have been - essentially - a SNAFU of enormous proportions. Why weren't the restrictions in the Living Will known and followed? Why was Mae moved to a hospice? Did the doctor(s) at LaGrange's hospital reccommend this move, and why? Was Mae's family history of this condition known? Why did it take so long to move Mae to a proper treatment facility?

Hopefully, information will continue to emerge. I am especially hopeful to see Ms. Gaddy's statement, which may be given later today.

(4:13pm) Ooooookay, this has now officially gone to "WTF??!!" status for me... I got a tip from a reader (below - hello, Alnot!), and so I went over to Straight Up With Sherri. About 2 hours ago, the story was that she'd heard on the Glenn Beck Show that Kenneth had called in and said he and the rest of the family have been denied access to Mrs. Magouirk at the UAB Hospital. Security guards are now, apparently, barring the door. Sherri has now updated her post with this:

Confirmation Email:

MY Aunt Mae is now being nourished and hydrated at UAB medical Center.

HOWEVER, BETH GADDY HAS ISSUED AN ORDER TO THE MEDICAL STAFF AT THE CCU-UNIT of UAB WHICH PREVENTS MAE'S BROTHER (A. B. McLeod) SISTER (Lonnie Ruth Mullinax) and nephews/any of the Alabama relatives FROM VISITING MAE MAGOUIRK IN HER ROOM at the hospital. When we appeared today to visit Mae, we were turned away by hospital staff!

It is ironic that my Mom is on the 7th floor and Mae is located on the 8th floor of UAB but she is prevented from seeing her sister who is suffering from the same heart malady. SO IT GOES.

It is heartbreaking..but we are still overjoyed she is receiving substantial nourishment, fluids and a proactive medical treatment....praise Christ!!

Kenneth Mullinax

OK. I'm going '70s here: "Say what???"

I guess the best thing that I can say is that Mae, at least, seems to be in better medical hands. Beyond that, I think I hear Rod Serling saying, "A dimension of sight... a dimension of sound... the Twilight Zone!"

(9:33pm, ET) OK. Blogs For Terri (B4T) has posted here, here (the response from Judge Boyd, with commentary), and here (substantially similar to the previous link, but with different formatting, and a slightly different commentary). It appears that Judge Boyd, according to this information, has acted appropriately with the case as it was set before him. I will leave it to you to read the information and draw your own conclusions.

However, especially in light of this information, as well as the (so far) unconfirmed reports (I only saw this at JackLewis.net for confirmation - still looking around) of the family being denied access to Mrs. Magouirk, I think we still need to hear from Beth Gaddy. Apparently, she was not alone in all this: according to the B4T links above, her brother (?) was also present at the guardianship hearing. What role did he play? We don't know. No one, that I've found, has spoken to the issue from that side.

(9:50pm, ET) Wizbang has an update, but it's basically Kenneth's statement that the family is being denied access.

(11:03pm, ET) And, I will close out today with a quote from Bittersweet, which really is something to remember -

I’d like to caution my fellow pro life advocates against the trend of labeling all hospice programs and workers as being partnered with the culture of death. One of the undeniable facts of being alive is that we all must eventually die. Hospice workers offer compassion and comfort to those at the end of their lives. There are plenty of unfortunate people that have no loving family members to hold their hands as they leave this world, hospice workers provide that gift. Lets not forget that. {emph. mine}

And so I say, "Goodnight." I think probably that was my last update to this post, but if there are other, major developments, I will post them in a new post, and reference this.

Comments

[Jay]

1.

This is absoultely terrible! Feel us sliding down the slippery slope. Scary future ahead, unless we stop this kind of stuff in its tracks now!

[marcus]

2.

Maybe Gaddy stands to inherit some money upon her grandma's death. Maybe she's just evil. In any case, this happened in spite of the fact Mrs. Magouirk had a "living will" specifically stating her wishes. I guess no one is safe, huh?

[Zelda]

3.

Hi Romeocat,
Thanks for blogrolling me. You have me under "Emperor Misha's Minions." However, I have moved off Blogger. The new address of my blog is http://www.theurbangrindblog.com. So if you could please update your blogroll (which I'm honored to be on) when you have a chance, I would be much obliged.

Thank you very much.

[Superhawk]

4.

The Hospice Patient Alliance is actually the ONLY watchdog group that I was able to find. All others were PROMOTING hospices.

Is it any wonder we're in this mess?

[The Commissar]

5.

The plain English of the hospice's statement is clear.

If they have 'yanked the tube,' and the statement is just some sort of Clinton-esque wordsmithing, ... then they are effectively lying.

[Romeocat]

6.

Mmmmm-hmmmm. Yes, Commissar, and we *know* that institutions never lie when caught (or possibly caught) in some low chicanery, right?

How about my other point about your post? Do you want to consider voicing some courteous caution in your own positions?

Actually, I think my I-know-you-don't-care-about-it irritation with your attitude, and INDC Bill's and Mr. Joyner's, yadda yadda, is that I don't know where you stand. All I see is "Well what about this, have you thought of that, and but you don't know..."

Without a clear understanding of where you stand on this right to live/euthanasia issue, we could argue with you and offer logical points of concern for the rest of eternity, and you-all would still be able to "Well what about this, have you thought of that, and but you don't know..." us to death.

[LCRanger6]

7.

Romeocat,

I just called Patient information at the Birmingham Medical Center and the lady said that Mae did not show on her public database, but that she was sure that she had come in. She was shocked to learn the details of the case from me as I have read on the blogs and further shocked that I did not know the poor woman and was calling from Oregon to say "the world is watching". I think a phone call from a couple billion people to patient info might cause the hospital administration to sit up and have a sip of cold coffee.

205-934-4322

Give 'em hell.

[Alnot]

8.

Straightup with Sherry who lives in Georgia and is a very outspoken advocate tells me there are security guards on Mae now. This is a fast breaking drama for sure because yesterday I had heard she was transferred to the hospital and thought she was safe. What happened?

[Alex Batch]

9.

I know of a website in which one can leave their "last message" if you will. You can upload pics or video, and it's 20 dollars for a lifetime membership. They have a money back guarantee, so there's nothing to lose. I thought you might be interested. Also, if you go to their guest menu, you can see John Q. Public's "message". Just sign in as "username" - guest "password" - guest and you can view. www.mylifestoryforyou.com

Thanks,
Alex Batch