I do not know much about the health system in New Zealand. I do know that apparently hospitals are authorized to overrule parents in determining whether their child would receive life support.
A girl nearly died in a car accident down there last December. She was placed on life support. Doctors decided that she had enough care and had no chance to live, but the parents wanted to keep trying. The doctors overrode the parents and decided to pull the plug, since life support for someone who is going to die just doesn't make sense.
The girl lived. She not only lived, she's now walking and talking and expected to make a complete recovery.
One argument against the death penalty, which is imposed after someone has been convicted in a court of law of a serious crime that warrants death, is that the system sometimes convicts innocent people. Innocent people die, and we should not take that chance.
Well, with death panels like the one in New Zealand, almost everyone who is slated to die is innocent. Some criminals might be seriously injured or sick and be in the same predicament, but mostly those on "death row" are innocent people. There is no legal appeal system - you have to sue to get the legal ball rolling.
I find it funny, disturbingly funny. On the one hand, imposing death is considered an inhumane penalty for someone who clearly does not deserve to live in a free society. And the same thing is considered so wonderful and therapeutic for someone totally innocent that governments feel the need to step in and impose it against the wishes of the caregivers.
Speaking of lawsuits, I wonder if the parents have given any thought to how much better their daughter would be doing if she weren't taken off life support.
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