Can . . . Can The Governor *Do* That?

[Cindy C.]

Hey, all,

The most fascinating thing is going on in Florida, and I'm just
mesmerized by it.  In short, the husband of a woman who has been in a
persistent vegatative state for over a decade won a protacted court
fight to disconnect her feeding tube over the objections of the
woman's other relatives.  The feeding tubes were disconnected.  The
Florida legislature immediately passed a law giving the governor of
Florida emergency authority over the woman's care, and he ordered that
the feeding tube be reconnected against the husband's wishes.  That is
where matters now stand, I think.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2971-2003Oct22.html

Gee.  I've never heard of this happening before.  By what authority is
the state allowed to *do* such a thing?  What happened to the privacy
rights of the family involved, or does that sort of thing not matter?  

I had no idea that the state could pass a law concerning the medical
care of one person like that.  But if they can, I also can't think of
a good reason why governors all over the U.S. couldn't do exactly the
same thing -- just intervene in gut-wrenching family decisions and
decide the question.  Oh, dear.

So.  How do other countries handle these sorts of euthanasia-type
questions?  In the U.S., I think (but am not sure) that the next of
kin gets to decide unless there's a living will in which the patient
has made his/her wishes known.

Cindy -- who has a lot of trouble understanding how the doctors can be
so sure that this patient will never get better, but who figures it
isn't her place to decide

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http://www.clark04.com/