Politics
Friday April 8, 2005
Schiavo Precedent already Reality - Granddaughter Pulls Woman's Feeding Tube
TODAY'S HEADLINES
E-MAIL
PRINT
LAGRANGE, Georgia, April 8, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A woman convalescing from surgery was moved to a local hospice, where her granddaughter, claiming to have legal power of attorney over her grandmother, ordered the hospice to pull the 81-year-old woman's feeding tube.
Mae Magouirk has not had food or water since March 28, even though her living will states that food and water not be discontinued unless she enters a coma or a persistent vegetative state. Magouirk was expected to make a recovery after surgery for a dissecting aorta, until her granddaughter, 36-year-old Beth Gaddy intervened, ordering her transferred to a local hospice and her feeding and hydration discontinued. Hospice care is normally reserved for the terminally ill, which Magouirk is not.
Magouirk lives alone but, because of glaucoma, she relies on Gaddy for errands and groceries. "Grandmama is old and I think it is time she went home to Jesus," Gaddy told Magouirk's brother and nephew, A. Byron McLeod, and Ken Mullinax, according to a WorldNetDaily report. "She has glaucoma and now this heart problem, and who would want to live with disabilities like these?"
Mullinax also said Magouirk's cardiologists told him they believe the aortic dissection, although serious, was contained and not life threatening. Mullinax and McLeod hold the true power of attorney for Magouirk. After learning of her state, they ordered an immediate re-insertion of the feeding tube. Hospice staff distracted McLeod and Mullinax while Gaddy obtained an emergency guardianship order from Troup County, Ga., Probate Court Judge Donald W. Boyd. Gaddy then re-ordered the removal of the feeding tube. Judge Boyd has not made a final ruling, while Magouirk enters her 11th day without water or food.
Meanwhile, Christianity.ca reports that the situation is not a foreign one to Canadians. In 2002, the wife of a man in a similar state to Terri's won a fight with the man's family to have his food and hydration stopped. He died because a Canadian judge sided with the man's wife. In addition, judges have ruled on several occasions in favour of doctor's "do not resuscitate" orders over the wishes of the legal guardians - in one case, the parents of a shaken baby.
Contact information to voice concerns over Mae Magouirk:
State Attorney General: http://ago.georgia.gov/01/home/0,2197,708785,00.html;jsessionid=84688DB2752BC1D7...
State bar association officers to report Judge: http://www.gabar.org/directories/state_bar_officers/
Georgia Bureau of Investigation: http://gbi.georgia.gov/01/home/0,2197,1335502,00.html;jsessionid=F6AB7A8EA189F67...
tv
Back to TopLatest Headlines
- US Congress Passes Health Care Reform Bill 220 - 215
- Stupak Amendment to Health Care Bill Passes 240 - 194 Saturday Evening
- NY Times: Dems Banking on Later Squeezing Pro-Life Language Out of Bill in Committee
- USCCB Spokesman: "Definitely Not True" that Bishops Support Bill As it Stands
- TIME Got it Wrong - Prof. George Opposed Grandiose Kennedy Funeral
- Major Health Care Development - Pro-Life Stupak Amendment Vote OK'd for Saturday
- USCCB Condemnation Tears Facade off "Phony" Abortion Compromise for Health Bill
- Health Care Bill Includes Monthly Abortion Premium: House Minority Leader Boehner
- TIME Article Setting Burke Against O'Malley Called "Tactical strike" on Behalf of Catholic Left
- Dirty Fighting on Abortion Funding: Word-Games and Health-Care Theatrics Boggle the Mind
- Commentary on November 6 News
- Note to LifeSiteNews Subscribers with Rogers email addresses
- New York Gov. Declares Nov. 10 Extraordinary Legislative Session for Same-Sex "Marriage"
- Washington's Pro-Family Amendment Effort Defeated - R-71 Almost Certain to Pass
- Vote Pushed Back on Canadian Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide Bill to Dec. 2
- Elderly U.K. Couple in Good Health Commit Suicide, Complain of Assisted Suicide Law
- Texas Late-Term Abortionist and Baptist Minister Admits: "Am I killing? Yes, I am"
- New Evidence Contradicts CCHD's Findings on Accused Pro-Abortion Partner
- Quebec Priest Denies Possibility of Sexual Reorientation Therapy on TV
- New Hampshire Same-Sex "Marriage" Law in Crosshairs after Maine's Law Crumbles
- Brooklyn Bishop Criticized for Recorded Message Praising Pro-Abortion Politician
- First Group of "Traditionalist" Anglicans in Britain Votes to Enter Catholic Church
Most Read this Week
- Planned Parenthood Director Resigns after Watching Ultrasound of Abortion Procedure
- Nun Defiant Following Rebuke, but Stops Abortion Escorting
- Breaking: Dominican Community Apologizes for Nun Caught Acting as Abortion Escort
- TIME Article Setting Burke Against O'Malley Called "Tactical strike" on Behalf of Catholics Left
- Over 200 Christendom College Students Protest Abortion at Planned Parenthood Clinic
- US Congress Passes Health Care Reform Bill 218 to 215
- Newly Identified Corporate Supporters of Planned Parenthood Named
- Scottish Gay Rights Activists Found Guilty of Pedophilia Sentenced to Life Imprisonment
- Major Health Care Bill Development - Stupak Hyde Amendment Vote OK'd
- Health Care Bill Includes Monthly Abortion Premium: House Minority Leader Boehner
MORE NEWS: 
LifeSiteNews.com Home Page Last 10 Days Archives Special Reports
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.