Right to Life, Unless You're Poor and Black
http://www.diversityinc.com/public/13048.cfm
This week, as Americans followed the legal battle over Terri Schiavo's
feeding tube, a 6-month-old baby was "murdered" by Texas Children's
Hospital officials, according to Arizona Republic columnist Mike Newcomb.
Against the wishes of Wanda Hudson, the boy's mother, hospital officials
took Sun Hudson off a ventilator that was helping him breathe. The mother,
a 33-year-old poor black woman with no prenatal care, begged the hospital
to keep her child alive. "This hospital was considered a miracle hospital,"
Wanda Hudson said. "When it came to my son, they gave up in six months."
Ironically, the fate of Sun Hudson, who was born on Sept. 25 with a
genetic disorder, was determined by the "Texas Futile Care Law," which was
signed by then Gov. George W. Bush. The law stipulates that a Texas
hospital, with the consent of a doctor and an ethics committee, can stop
care deemed futile and too costlyeven if the patient's legal guardian is
against the action.
"Where were all the right-to-lifers when it came to baby Sun Hudson? Where
were the special midnight sessions? Where was the due process for baby
Sun? Where were Tom Delay and Bill Frist?" Newcomb asks. "If you're poor, a
minority and costing a hospital corporation too much money your life is
meaningless."
