Haleigh Poutre, now 14, was on the verge of being dehydrated to death by court order. She was spared a potentially agonizing and slow death because she showed unmistakable signs of consciousness just prior to the deed being done.
Now, apparently, she is talking. From the story:
A motion filed in Hampden Superior Court by Alan J. Black, defense lawyer for Jason D. Strickland who is charged with assaulting the girl, states that Poutre is communicating new information to authorities about Strickland. A trial date of Oct. 11 for Strickland, of Westfield, was set yesterday. Black wrote that it is clear to him that the victim “is now making statements alleging abuse by the defendant.” Black said after the hearing that he is prohibited by the court from saying anything beyond what he wrote in the motion filed late last month.
Let’s be clear here: Accepting the “quality of life ethic,”which is promoted so heavily among bioethicists, led to the Department of Social Services and the Supreme Court of Massachusetts to approve taking a little girl’s food and water away. No thanks to them, she lives, is in rehab, and apparently is talking.
Will we learn a lesson from this travesty? Not on your life, or better stated, not on the lives of people with profound cognitive disabilities.
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