A Rwandan woman in a permanent vegetative state whose feeding tube had been removed against her family’s wishes is being fed again.

A Rwandan woman
in a permanent vegetative state whose feeding tube had been removed against her
family’s wishes is being fed again. (See BioEdge, March 5.) Judge Nolan
B. Dawkins of Alexandria Circuit Court ordered that Rachel Nyirahabiyambere,
59, be given nutrition and hydration immediately after the Alliance Defense
Fund, a Christian legal alliance, lodged a petition on behalf of her children. A
court-appointed guardian had ordered the tube removed because she was
profoundly impaired and would never recover. The legal issues are still being resolved.
Ms Nyirahabiyambere, who is currently in a Maryland nursing home, had not been
fed for more than two weeks but is still alive. ~ New
York Times, March 12

Michael Cook
futile care
PVS

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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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