technically once it's born, you can't, unless the baby's life functions are being supported by machines, and then you could "pull the plug".

Would i? I don't know. I think I would have a very hard time doing so, and I would have to make that desicion at the time it happened, after a lot of talk with my partner. It would definately be a pair desicion, since the baby is born now. S/he is no longer just my responsibility, it is my husband's too.

Well, I would deliver the baby and if s/he was basically going to live a life attached to machines and unable to communicate or move then I would have the life support machines turned off. That would be no kind of a life. It would break my heart to do so though. However, to change the scenario a little bit, if I was late term and was told that my baby would basically be born a vegetable, I think I would continue the pregnancy and give the baby a chance. Doctors can be wrong. If they turned out to be correct, however, I would have life support removed.

I don't know, perhaps that is selfish of me though and it would be far kinder to have my baby 'put to sleep' in my womb and not have to suffer.

I may react very differently if, god forbid, I am ever faced with that situation.

i pretty much agree with this. There isn't much for certain in life, and I have to make the best decision I can with what i've got.

I have never been in this situation thank goodness. But I really cant say what I would do. It all depends on how bad the situation is and wether or not the baby would have a normal or somewhat normal life

it's interesting because you couldn't have chosen to abort since the pregnancy was okay with the incident happening right at birth. Sandyallen, jenn what do you think about this?

i would "prefer", as you call it, to deny further treatment, other than pain killers, so that the infant can experience a peaceful, dignified death. If, at birth, the infant became vegetative, it would mean that they never reached or experienced sentience. Their body may have experienced physical birth but "they" did not and I have no qualms about allowing people's bodies to match the state that their conscious occupies.

My grandfather experienced an aneurism (sp?) and entered a vegetative state. "he", the person I knew and loved, was already gone and the family decided that the best course of action would be to remove life support so that his body would follow "him." this is the same situation.

however, I must say, that when discussing end of life issues, perhaps more appropriate vocabulary should be used. When I first read the question which began this thread, I thought that it was only posted to incite people's anger and gut reactions against end of life decisions. as such, I did not want to become involved.

I pretty much agree with .Jenn on the vocabulary part !
I watched my .Dad living with alzheimers aand I knew that he would have not have wanted to be this way, I would have gladly have given him a shot that would have ended his life but I couldn't, instead I had to watch a man go from 225 lbs most of his life down to 90 lbs who knew nothing or noone, he finally ended up with pneumonia and past on and I watched my.Mom died of cancer when I was 7y/o.
No I would not abort it if it was being born but if it had to depend on life support the rest of its life, I feel like .Eiri, myself, my husband and I would sit down and discuss having the life support machines turned off. I do not like to see any human or animal in pain or suffering or be a vegetable for any longer then they have to be.

I would do what I would do for any child and fight for that child to liveand give him/her the best possible life that I could you cannot pick and choose which child gets medical help and which doesn't what would you do if the child was 5 years old got run over and was then classed as pvs would you then choose for the child to be left to die?

if there was no hope of recovery then yes. I don't think it is fair for someone to live like that; it is no kind of a life.

all life is sacred we don't have the right to take anothers life period no matter what circumstances

what if it is only machines keeping someone alive? Do you think someone has the right to turn the machine off?

hope you're a vegan!

If the child was going to be pretty much dead and "living" wired to a bunch of machines, I would agree to simply let it go peacefully. Being kept alive with wires and machines like some kind of science experiment is no life and it would be cruel to force someone to remain alive when they shouldn't be. This doesn't just apply to babies either - I think it would be inhumane to allow someone of any age to remain alive in such a state.

The way I understand it, if a child was meant to be a part of this world, it would not require a machine to do everything for it.

of course

according to whom????

i guess you are no better than "pro choice", eh? Classifying life! Shame on you!

personally I would wait a few days and would request second and third opinions before making a decision to pull the plug, what if the child suddenly woke up
Thing is with my hubby being a nurse, I know that after about a month there is no hope, anytype of body movement within the first week is a sign of progress or of changed and I think that is why it should be held off!

Now if after that time baby was still vegetive, than yes I would pull the plug!

At that stage it's beyond a choice, it's in the process of being born and so it's not a 'choice'

in texas, the recommendation to remove the person from life support already comes with multiple opinions. When the doctor asks to see you and your family, it, without exception, means that there is no hope left and the time has come to let that person go peacefully.