i've been reading about hannah

for the past week now. i'm feeling a bit of everything. i WANT her to WANT the new heart but at the same time, i understand the decision she made. she has suffered for more than half of her young life. a transplant may very well kill her anyway. if it DID take, she'd have to get another one in about 10 years time. she'd have to be on heavy duty meds for the rest of her life

at 13, hannah made a decision. hannah, you have moved me a great deal. hannah you're wise well beyond your 13 years.

Britain Debates a Child's Right to Choose Her Own Fate
By Kevin Sullivan
Washington Post Foreign Service
LONDON, Nov. 13 -- Hannah Jones needs a heart transplant. But after nine years of battling leukemia and heart disease, she has had enough of hospitals, operations, drugs and constant pain. So she has opted to skip the surgery and die at home in the company of her family.

Hannah is 13 years old, and her case has prompted a wrenching public debate in Britain.

Her story has dominated headlines this week, and people have found themselves staring sadly at her serious young face, unsmiling and freckled, looking back at them from newspaper pages.

"I'm not a normal 13-year-old," she told reporters this week, short of breath and speaking in clipped sentences. "I'm a deep thinker. I've had to be, with my illness. It's hard, at 13, to know I'm going to die. But I also know what's best for me."

The case has raised complex questions about children's legal rights to decide their own medical care, and whether such cases are private tragedies or matters to be decided by governments and courts. .....

from cliff schecter's blog

another consequence of king george and his court's invasion of a country that never attacked us or even THREATENED us

Iraqis forced to sell their children
by GottaLaff
How bad does it have to get? This story is making the rounds today:
Omar Khalif, vice-president of the Iraqi Families Association (IFA), an NGO established in 2004 to register cases of those missing and trafficked, said that at least two children are sold by their parents every week. Another four are reported missing every week.
See how things have improved since we invaded?
He said: "[The] numbers are alarming. There is an increase of 20 per cent in the reported cases of missing children compared to last year."
"In previous years, children were reported missing on their way home from schools or after playing with friends outside their homes. However, police investigations have revealed that many have been sold by their parents to foreign couples or specialised gangs." ........