Terry Schiavo, Sun Hudson, and the republicans

There are a lot of things I'd like to say about the absurdity of living in a country that so indolently regards its butchery of Iraqis (and others) while aparently getting apoplectic about the legal status of a hapless woman whose brain effectively died over a decade ago, but I don't have the energy at present, and several others have already said it pretty well.

for example, Eric Boelert, here: "When Public Opinion Doesn't Matter"

Atrios/Duncan Black, here: "Spiro Nikolouzos"

George Bush signed the law which allows the hospitals to make this decision:

A patient's inability to pay for medical care combined with a prognosis that renders further care futile are two reasons a hospital might suggest cutting off life support, the chief medical officer at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital said Monday.
Dr. David Pate's comments came as the family of Spiro Nikolouzos fights to keep St. Luke's from turning off the ventilator and artificial feedings keeping the 8-year-old grandfather alive. St. Luke's notified Jannette Nikolouzos in a March 1 letter that it would withdraw life-sustaining care of her husband of 34 years in 10 days, which would be Friday.

(And yes, I think it's interesting that the Houston Chronicle article has disappeared.-HZ)

Zeynep Toufe, here: 'Terri Schiavo's Bulimia: Not on "The Agenda"'

and finally from Sandy at Light Up the Darkness, another Texas story, this one of Wanda and Sun Hudson. I guess you shouldn't have been born black, Sun. Maybe Fox News would've found you* more interesting if you hadn't done that.



courtesy Light Up the Darkness



*I also think it's interesting how Fox phrases their description of the 1999 law which then governor Bush signed:

"The dispute centers around the legal standard over hospital care in Texas. Under state law, a hospital must continue care if there is a reasonable probability that another hospital will admit the patient."

The law Bush signed allows hospitals to discontinue life support over the objections of parents and guardians if 1.the prognosis is that there is no chance of recovery and 2. the patient cannot pay, whereas previously Texas hospitals were not allowed to do this. But would you understand this from Fox's slippery verbiage?