Catholics in the Public Square">Haleigh Poutre is only 11 years old, and she has been on life support since she was nearly beaten to death last September. Ever since she was rushed to hospital by her relatives, it is as if no one has cared about whether Haleigh lives or dies, except for the man who is accused of beating her to the point of near death. Up until now he has been the lone family voice who has been advocating for her life, which is in stark contrast to the child's real mother.
Haleigh's short life has not been a picnic. She had been neglected by her biological mother, so she was removed and given to her aunt, who did adopt Haleigh. However, the aunt then met and married the man who has been acting as Haleigh's stepfather, (and dare I call him her advocate for life?). The department of social services was informed of charges of neglect and abuse against the aunt, but they failed to act. After Haleigh ended up in hospital, having being bashed within an inch of her life, the aunt and stepfather ended up being arrested over the bashing. Two days after being released from jail, Haleigh's adoptive mother, and grandmother were found to be shot dead. Mr. Strickland faces fresh charges of murder if Haleigh dies, and so he has a vested interest in keeping her alive (but really is that such a crime, that he does not want her to die in such a fashion as having her nutrition and hydration withdrawn?)
Haleigh has been made a ward of the state, and the officials of the department sought to have a DNR placed upon her charts, and they sought permission to withdraw all life support. Haleigh's biological mother joined with the departmental officials who are seeking to end Haleigh's life. What kind of mother would respond to her child's desparate situation by making the following statement?:
CBS reporter SHARYN ALFONSI: This is Haleigh Poutre before, before her teeth were broken, before her tiny body was burned and before she was beaten, doctors say, into a vegetative state. You're her mother.
Ms. ALLISON AVRETT (Biological Mother): Yes.
ALFONSI: What do you want for her?
AVRETT: I want her to rest.
ALFONSI: And right now?
AVRETT: She's not. Being kept like that is not a life.
So it would seem that Ms Avrett sees her daughter in terms of what is, and what is not a life. Her comments point to a woman who does not love her daughter, and who wants her dead.
However, Haleigh, it seems has other ideas because no sooner did the courts decide against Mr Strickland and said that the life support could be withdrawn when Haleigh began to show signs of coming out of her coma. The doctors who have written off Haleigh have not been doing their work as doctors because they have been more interested in ending her life, than they have been in rehabilitating this child, and giving her a chance to live a normal life.
This child is too young to be able to tell anyone what her end of life wishes might be. An adult has to make the decision for her. As usual the court has refused to listen to the one person who wanted them to err on the side of choosing life. It would seem that the court decided against the petition of Mr. Strickland because of his vested interest in keeping the child alive. The case sounds like Maria Korp and Terri Schiavo redux. Only this time it is the mother who wants her child to die.
Even after Haleigh has shown signs of coming out of the coma, it would seem that her mother is intent upon giving the all too famous line from the culture of death: "the movements that you have seen is nothing more than a reflex action".
Well there are people who care if Haleigh lives or dies. Michelle Malken has spoken up and is advocating for Haleigh's life, and there are others in the blogosphere who care about whether or not this child is given the opportunity to live a full life.
Haleigh is an innocent child. She is not a criminal and she does not deserve to have a death sentence. It is truly amazing that the more liberal types in the community will raise their voices in protest over the impending death of a criminal who has been sentenced to death because of crimes committed against others, but their silence in the case of innocent disabled people being condemned to death is totally deafening. It is about time that these Hollywood activists were called into line and forced to get their act together with regard to priorities.
If Haleigh is allowed to die at the hands of the state, then we will all be moving headlong along the slippery slope of destruction. It is time to wake up and it is time to stop the killing of innocent people in the name of the culture of death.
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