Another Terri

Here you go, that old slippery slope again: Granddaughter yanks grandma's feeding tube.

Here you have the case of an 81 year old woman, who has a living will in place for all measures to be taken to extend her life. She is alert and lucent. She is not terminally ill, comatose or in that "persistent vegetative state." She merely cannot feed herself.

Yet a judge ignores her living will, and hands custody of the grandmother over to her granddaughter. What does the granddaughter do? Transfers Granny to a hospice and proceeds to remove all life support, including food and water.

Reread that second paragraph again, then reread the third.

Such is the culture today. The grandmother wants to live, and the granddaughter wants her to starve to death, because she heard about how "peaceful" the starving process is.

What disturbs me is the words of the granddaughter:

"Grandmama is old and I think it is time she went home to Jesus," Gaddy told Magouirk's brother and nephew, McLeod and Ken Mullinax. "She has glaucoma and now this heart problem, and who would want to live with disabilities like these?"

Obviously Grandma would want to live with disabilities like these, because they have had to keep her sedated at the hospice. If I were her I would be raising holy hell over being starved to death.

But there is good news at the end of this story: 'Grandma' airlifted to medical center.

This is a sad state of affairs, and I am sad to report that this goes on every day. This needs to stop, because every death is an encroachment into life.