Fire up the Bill O’Reilly scream machine! In Austin Texas right now there is trouble brewing of the Terry Schiavo sort. Emilio Gonzales is a 17 month old baby suffering from Leigh’s disease. This rare disease attacks the central nervous system and has left the child unable to see, speak or eat and in excruciating pain. The hospital staff has decided to remove him from the ventilator because of the excruciating pain it causes the child as well as the fact it’s useless because all the ventilator does is keep something alive that shouldn’t be.
Despite the futility involved, the mother wants to keep the child on the ventilator. Emilio’s mother, Catarina Gonzales, was quoted as saying she wants her child to die “naturally, the way God intended.” Brilliant. Because we’re all brought into this world hooked up to a ventilator and in horrible pain that only gets worse with each passing moment. Yeah. That’s exactly how God wanted it. According to Texas law however, it isn’t the mother’s decision to make. It is the hospital’s decision. It’s the law. I can’t imagine someone felt it necessary to put a law into effect that allows the staff of a hospital to determine whether or not a patient lives or dies. Who would do such a thing?
George W. Bush . That’s who.
In 1999 then Governor George W. Bush signed that exact thing into law. We all know him. The man who as governor still holds the record for most death penalties being carried out under one’s term(s) as governor. The same guy who is sending our sons and daughters to war. The same guy who is pro-life. Yeah. That guy. The law he passed in 1999 states that a hospital has the authority to stop treatment if doctors deem it “inappropriate” despite a family’s wishes. There’s some family values for you. And he got voted in on his flimsy morals! Twice! Thanks America.
I personally don’t think the kid should be on a ventilator anymore than I thought Terry Schiavo should’ve been. That child is in pain for no reason. We kill dogs don’t we? “Well we don’t want a dog to suffer, but a baby? Who cares?” Let the hospital make the decision for the family in this case.
However, I feel the real issue at hand is that this woman does not have health insurance. Well, not the good kind. She has Medicaid which is like the KIA of medical coverage. If she had the ability to pay for a private nurse or medical support at home, this probably wouldn’t even be an issue. “Let the kid live, as long as it’s on her dime, but since she’s only got Medicaid let’s unplug that kid and send that woman on her way. We’ve got sick people with REAL insurance waiting.”
So what is my stance on this? While I agree the hospital is right in this situation, I still think it is up to the family. To a point. If the patient is in excruciating pain and there is no hope, unplug away. Put all superstitious (religious) beliefs aside and let that person go. If the hospital deems it necessary to unplug someone then you’d better be sure that all avenues of treatment have been explored. Once that is done, let go.
So what have we learned? Bush is a hypocrite with only the interests of large corporations in mind. We’ve also learned some people’s superstitions eliminate the need for objective thought process. That statement also applies to things such as evolution, global warming, not letting the dead die, and believing we’ve won the war. So many things to choose from.
If God truly chose him as our leader, as Bush believes, then the good lord hates us and I don’t think that’s the case.
- Joel David