2008 Woodie Awards
Conservatives should value all life
Kristen Gross
Issue date: 4/19/05 Section: Forum
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George W. Bush said, "It is wisest to always err on the side of life." President Bush is fond of touting the "culture of life," usually when speaking to opponents of abortion, and most recently during the Terri Schiavo fiasco. The president and radical conservatives in Congress were practically falling over themselves to get in on the media circus surrounding Schiavo?s death, and there was no shortage of pundits and politicians who were simply outraged that the courts were not deciding the way they wanted.
What is truly outrageous is that they claim to support a "culture of life." Lost in the obsessive coverage outside the Florida hospice was the fate of a six month old boy in Texas. Sun Hudson was born with a genetic disorder that is often fatal, and his life support was removed on March 14 after his doctors decided that he had no hope of recovery.
This was made possible by a law signed by George W. Bush while he was governor of Texas that gave hospitals the right to remove life support if the patient could not pay and there was no hope of revival, regardless of the patient?s family?s wishes. It is called the Texas Futile Care Law. Sun Hudson was removed from life support against his mother?s wishes because of this piece of legislation.
The Hudson case is the first time ever that a court has allowed a hospital?s economic concerns to override the wishes of the patient?s guardians. "They gave up in six months," Wanda Hudson, the child?s mother, told the Houston Chronicle. "They made a terrible mistake." Wanda apparently was not "cable ready," and she failed to get support from Right to Life groups.
In a similar case, Spiro Nikolouzos may soon be removed from life support because health care providers believe his case is futile. Nikolouzos is unable to speak and must be fed through a tube because of a shunt in his brain, but his wife says that he can recognize family members and show emotion.
Apparently the lives of Texans who can not afford to pay for their health care or not important to politicians and the Right to Life groups. If Hudson had received funds from conservative groups like the Schindlers did, she may have been able to challenge the Futile Care Law.
What is truly outrageous is that they claim to support a "culture of life." Lost in the obsessive coverage outside the Florida hospice was the fate of a six month old boy in Texas. Sun Hudson was born with a genetic disorder that is often fatal, and his life support was removed on March 14 after his doctors decided that he had no hope of recovery.
This was made possible by a law signed by George W. Bush while he was governor of Texas that gave hospitals the right to remove life support if the patient could not pay and there was no hope of revival, regardless of the patient?s family?s wishes. It is called the Texas Futile Care Law. Sun Hudson was removed from life support against his mother?s wishes because of this piece of legislation.
The Hudson case is the first time ever that a court has allowed a hospital?s economic concerns to override the wishes of the patient?s guardians. "They gave up in six months," Wanda Hudson, the child?s mother, told the Houston Chronicle. "They made a terrible mistake." Wanda apparently was not "cable ready," and she failed to get support from Right to Life groups.
In a similar case, Spiro Nikolouzos may soon be removed from life support because health care providers believe his case is futile. Nikolouzos is unable to speak and must be fed through a tube because of a shunt in his brain, but his wife says that he can recognize family members and show emotion.
Apparently the lives of Texans who can not afford to pay for their health care or not important to politicians and the Right to Life groups. If Hudson had received funds from conservative groups like the Schindlers did, she may have been able to challenge the Futile Care Law.
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