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Original poster

This poor man...

17 replies

MrsMerryHenry · 08/02/2009 11:27

What a sad story.

I think it's utterly despicable that Berlusconi and the Vatican are trying to prevent this man from letting his daughter go. Having watched both of my parents die it amazes me that centuries of intellectual debate over theology have led the Vatican to completely misinterpret the value of life by demanding that it be preserved life under all circumstances. They clearly prize this over God's value for us as individuals. Had this poor woman been run over in the middle of the Gobi Desert she would not be alive today. It is medicine keeping her going and she can hardly be said to be 'living' now. What are they hoping to achieve by keeping her heart pumping? Surely as believers in God, the Vatican authorities should be delighted to enable her to hurry along to the next life? Hasn't her father's heart been broken enough? Why are they cruelly trying to extend his suffering?

It makes me think of the time when Alan Greenspan (I think it was him) had a heart attack and then apparently quipped: 'Told you I had a heart'. At times like this I sincerely doubt the Pope's capacity for human understanding and feeling.

OP posts:

cocolepew · 08/02/2009 11:33

"in a condition to have babies" is a bit .

DrowningInClutter · 08/02/2009 11:34

And they say keeping her alive is about human dignity?

I also find it pretty grim that people have to be starved to death, why not just give them enough morphine to make it quick and peaceful? I know she's getting sedatives and won't know what's going on but 2 weeks? And that's if the court ruling isn't reversed...

Original poster

MrsMerryHenry · 08/02/2009 11:36

Drowning - I know, isn't that awful?

OP posts:

MmeLindt · 08/02/2009 11:39

I am horrified at Berlusconi's comment "in a condition to have babies". How on earth did this person get elected? He is an embarrassment.

I have an Italian friend and he voted for him. He thinks he is great. It makes me wonder if somethings get lost in translation.

The poor woman and her family.

Original poster

MrsMerryHenry · 08/02/2009 11:43

Mme Lindt, I half expected the old bastard to add something like 'and I will help her to have them'. I think he got elected the same way Dubya did; i.e. through contacts. He is un-believable. Unbelievable.

OP posts:

DontSwimInTheLiffey · 08/02/2009 11:51

Wow, I would have thought that after 16 years in PVS a person could be regarded as already gone really.

How linked are the vatican and the state in Italy?

Berlusconi isn't the pres anymore is he? He only ever saw women as arm candy. What's he suggesting? That she should be a surrogate mother or something? or that somebody might have sex with her without her knowing it????

That is an absolutely hideous argument for keeping her alive.

She looked lovley in that photo, really happy.

HecateQueenOfGhosts · 08/02/2009 11:55

Have babies? If someone gets her pregnant while she's in a coma, surely that's a crime

And wtf are the vatican dictating consulted for? I thought the government was elected.

DontSwimInTheLiffey · 08/02/2009 11:57

Absolutely Hecate, and are they saying that if she'd been ten yrs older when the accident happened, and so 48 now, then they could say 'yeah pull the plug boys, she's menopausal so it's no biggie"

HecateQueenOfGhosts · 08/02/2009 11:57

And yes, starving someone is barbaric. The reasoning is that you are letting 'nature take its course', not ending the life yourself. If someone cannot get food themselves - they die. It's a piss poor argument. You ARE killing them. It would be kinder to give them an injection.

HecateQueenOfGhosts · 08/02/2009 11:59

I know. Next they'll be suggesting she is impregnated because God would want it.

I fecking HATE organised religion sometimes.

At that level, you just know it's not about God, it's about power.

Original poster

MrsMerryHenry · 08/02/2009 12:08

Hecate, I think I agree with you about the power thing. Awful.

On a separate but related note, has anyone seen 'Talk To Her' - the Almodovar film? It's about a woman in a coma who ends up pregnant. Surreal, but Almodovar makes it funny and touching.

Hope that doesn't sound irreverent in the context of this news story, does it? I just pointed it out as an aside because of Berlusconi's bizarre statement.

OP posts:

spongebrainbigpants · 08/02/2009 12:12

That's the Pope for you - such a charming man .

It is appalling that he is interfering at all - cruel beyond belief what they are putting this family through. Bastard.

DontSwimInTheLiffey · 08/02/2009 13:01

Almodovar has a thing about comas. I saw another film of his, there was a dancer in it who was in a coma, was it that one?

Original poster

MrsMerryHenry · 08/02/2009 17:31

That's the same film, Liffey!

OP posts:

jemart · 11/02/2009 18:38

If it was worth keeping her alive this long, why must she die now?

MilaMae · 11/02/2009 19:15

I thought she died at the weekend after they stopped feeding her,apparantly the argument will still continue.

MrsSchmaltzyMerryHenry · 12/02/2009 16:40

Jemart, I think the question is why has she been kept going so long. It can hardly be called a life, and the whole Vatican drive to preserve her body in this vegetative state flies in the face of what they are meant to stand for - a life focused on greater things than just the material. I'm sure the father has thought long and hard about his decision for many months, if not years, and if it has taken him this long to finally decide that she should go, I think that's perfectly understandable.

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