euthanasia

This issue is very sensitive, with most people feeling strongly one way or another. Unfortunately it is not a black-and-white issue in reality, the truth being much more complicated than the soundbite's often used to describe it.

Foreign-policy has a good post worthy of the debate about the Chinese case of Terri Schiavo. most interesting to me was that George W. Bush signed a law in Texas that allowed hospitals to remove life support from patients after notifying their family. Spiro Nikolouzos, a baby born with fetal 'defects' in Texas, died in just this way, against his mother's wishes while the Terri Schiavo spectacle was unfolding in Washington and across the nation and world. Blatant Hypocrisy...you decide.

Is it humane to let someone died from starvation after taking off the life support? Is it equally humane to keep them alive, suffering in agonizing pain simply against there will? Tough questions without easy answers.