Haleigh Poutre Could be Dehydrated Even Though Conscious

One of the misperceptions that arose out of the Terri Schiavo case is that people have to be permanently unconscious before having their tube feeding withdrawn. Not true. Conscious cognitively disabled patients are dehydrated to death in this country all of the time.

It is one thing if a person refuses their own tube feeding. But should a child like Haleigh Poutre be dehydrated based on the value judgments of others about the “quality” of her life? It could happen, as I demonstrate in this article in today’s National Review Online.