The Fresno Bee is reporting a story that ought to send shivers up the spines of anyone who cares about their relatives. In a case that the Bee says is “similar to that of Terri Schiavo,” but is actually far worse, a comatose woman is being starved and dehydrated by court order:
Janet Rivera of Sanger has been without food or water since July 14, when a court-appointed public guardian had the tubes removed to end her suffering.
A hearing to determine whether the tubes should be restored is scheduled for 2 p.m. today in Fresno County Probate Court.
Dr. David Hadden, the county’s coroner, public administrator and guardian, said Tuesday that his office adhered to the medical advice of Rivera’s doctors.
The decision to remove artificial life support was made after “immense consideration” and due to Rivera’s “untreatable and irreversible condition and to prevent any and all suffering that she may be enduring,” according to a statement from the guardian’s office.
Hadden added: “If this were a family member of mine, I would want the decision made by the group of physicians who are taking care of this patient.”
Thing is, this isn’t a family member of his, or of anyone else who has hand in this barbarous action. Her family, on the other hand, is united in opposition:
The family will request a temporary restraining order to keep life-support measures in place until its argument can be heard, said Brian Chavez-Ochoa, a Valley Springs attorney who represents the Rivera family.
Rivera, 46, had a heart attack in February 2006. She had been a caregiver for her mother, said her cousin Suzanne Emrich of Boulder Creek.
Rivera never regained consciousness and has been on life support for more than two years, Chavez-Ochoa said.
Rivera’s husband, Jesus Rivera of Sanger, had been his wife’s conservator until he was removed and replaced by the county guardian June 17. Chavez-Ochoa said he didn’t know why Rivera was removed, but the family wants Emrich to take his place.
Jesus Rivera said he assumed the court would appoint another family member to be conservator.
He wants “her body to give out when it gives out between her and almighty God and no one else,” he said. “You can’t starve someone to death.”
Why was her husband removed from his conservatorship? This might give a clue:
The public guardian’s office said in a written statement that the DeWitt Community Subacute Center in Fresno, where Rivera has been a patient, asked the county this past March to take over conservatorship of Rivera
So here’s the deal: the family wants her kept at least fed and hydrated. Unlike the Schiavo case, there seems to be no one actually related to her that wants to pull the plug. Instead, the medical facility asked that the husband be denied the right to make decisions about his wife’s care, and that instead of another family member taking over, asked that it be given to a court-appointed “guardian.” That “guardian” (a coroner of all things–shades of Jack Kevorkian!), a government employee, has decided that it’s time for Mrs. Rivera to meet her maker, and to do so through the means of starvation and dehydration, because he thinks it should be doctors, rather than patients or their families, who should decide when someone should die.
The idea of the government deciding when seriously ill people should be put out of their misery should terrify us all. Be praying that sanity prevails in Janet Rivera’s family’s effort to save her today.
UPDATE: According to the Bee, the judge made the right decision today:
A Fresno County Superior Court judge issued a temporary ruling this afternoon placing a Sanger woman back on life support. Judge Debra Kazanjian will hear evidence next week about Janet Rivera’s condition before a decision on long-term care is made.
Rivera, 46, of Sanger has been without food or water since July 14, when a court-appointed public guardian had the tubes removed to end her suffering. She had a heart attack in February 2006 and never regained consciousness. She has been on life support for more than two years, an attorney for the family said.
Posted by David Fischler 
