Is this life worth living?

Description

Through the personal experiences of three families, this documentary explores the ethical issues involved in sustaining the life of a severely brain damaged or comatose patient. It explores the plight of Patricia Brophy, who fought a legal battle for permission to remove her husband s feeding tube after he lapsed into a vegetative state. Then we meet the Barashes, who are emotionally and financially exhausted from caring for their helpless 12-year-old son. He was saved by heroic measures at birth, despite their wishes to the contrary. For another point of view we meet the Micros who will not give up on their brain damaged son after an accident in the Marine Corps. Our society is reluctantly allowing a mentally competent person to refuse life-lengthening measures. Who then should make that decision when the individual is mentally incompetent or an infant?.

Runtime

30 min

Subjects

Genre

Date of Publication

1989

Database

Alexander Street

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