For those who've been following Maria Korp's case
The Australian woman who has been diagnosed as in a PVS since her attempted murder in February has been sentenced to die.
Brief background info: Maria's husband's girlfriend has admitted to strangling her and leaving her for dead in the trunk of a car, where she was found alive but unconscious several days later. Joe Korp, Maria's husband, stands accused of complicity but maintains his innocence. He will be tried soon.
Mrs. Korp's PEG nutrition and hydration tube is being removed tomorrow, July 27th. It will take a week or two for her to dehydrate to death. More discussion at blogsforterri.
I find this disturbing for several reasons.
For one thing, there has, as far as I can tell, been no evidence or even argument that this would be her desire. She is a staunch Catholic who made no statements about what she would or would not want in such a situation. Her husband, daughter and others are insistent that this is not what she would have wanted.
Her family on both sides seem to be opposed to the move. A guardian appointed by the court is making the decision based on what he deems to be her "best interests."
Whether dehydrating someone to death when they are not otherwise dying is ethical at all, much less "in their best interests" is at best a matter of opinion. In this case someone is making the decision who has no personal connection or love for the person they are making the decision for. Her family claims he didn't consult them about what her wishes would be or what decision should be made.
Secondly, as I mentioned in a couple of earlier posts, Maria's condition has not completely stabilized and has shown at least some level of physical improvement over the past few months. The recommendation of the British Medical Association and many other reliable organizations is that a vegetative state should not be considered permanent until it has lasted for at least a year, simply because there is still a significant chance of recovery before that point.
This situation highlights the continuing trend of the "disability is inherently worse than death" thinking. I staunchly disagree with that argument, or that one person's judgment of another's "quality of life" should be a reason to kill them when they are not dying.
Here are a couple of my most recent posts giving more info. about Maria Korp:
Maria Korp Breathing Unaided
Joe Korp Out on Bail; issues with diagnosis of permanent vegetative state
Brief background info: Maria's husband's girlfriend has admitted to strangling her and leaving her for dead in the trunk of a car, where she was found alive but unconscious several days later. Joe Korp, Maria's husband, stands accused of complicity but maintains his innocence. He will be tried soon.
Mrs. Korp's PEG nutrition and hydration tube is being removed tomorrow, July 27th. It will take a week or two for her to dehydrate to death. More discussion at blogsforterri.
I find this disturbing for several reasons.
For one thing, there has, as far as I can tell, been no evidence or even argument that this would be her desire. She is a staunch Catholic who made no statements about what she would or would not want in such a situation. Her husband, daughter and others are insistent that this is not what she would have wanted.
Her family on both sides seem to be opposed to the move. A guardian appointed by the court is making the decision based on what he deems to be her "best interests."
Whether dehydrating someone to death when they are not otherwise dying is ethical at all, much less "in their best interests" is at best a matter of opinion. In this case someone is making the decision who has no personal connection or love for the person they are making the decision for. Her family claims he didn't consult them about what her wishes would be or what decision should be made.
Secondly, as I mentioned in a couple of earlier posts, Maria's condition has not completely stabilized and has shown at least some level of physical improvement over the past few months. The recommendation of the British Medical Association and many other reliable organizations is that a vegetative state should not be considered permanent until it has lasted for at least a year, simply because there is still a significant chance of recovery before that point.
This situation highlights the continuing trend of the "disability is inherently worse than death" thinking. I staunchly disagree with that argument, or that one person's judgment of another's "quality of life" should be a reason to kill them when they are not dying.
Here are a couple of my most recent posts giving more info. about Maria Korp:
Maria Korp Breathing Unaided
Joe Korp Out on Bail; issues with diagnosis of permanent vegetative state
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Posted by purple_kangaroo at 6:25 PM[Permanent link]
2 Comments:
Oh this is awful! I haven't heard about this! How terrible for her family.
halloweenlover, I just added a bit more background info. to this post for those who aren't familiar with the case. It is very sad.
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