I seriously doubt that you will get much of a responce from anyone, but I offer you a current discusion. Until a certain age
after birth, children are not self aware and have no sentience beyond that of any other animal. We kill animals all the time, so if a child is killed at the time when it is no better than an animal, what is the crime?
Posted on Thu, Jul. 22, 2004
'Brain-dead' Cloquet man's recovery stuns family, doctors
BY JENS MANUEL KROGSTAD
Duluth News Tribune
DULUTH, Minn. — Phillip and Margaret Butler went to a chapel service in Duluth last week after doctors pronounced their son brain-dead from a heroin overdose and recommended the 28-year-old be disconnected from life support.
Death would follow within hours or a few days, the physicians said. The Butlers accepted the advice and the respirator was removed.
After the service, they returned to St. Luke's Hospital in Duluth for the surprise of their lives: John Cordero had snapped out of the coma and asked his nurse where she was taking him.
Stunned, Margaret Butler rushed into his room.
"Johnny, who am I?" she asked.
"You're my mom," he replied.
Phillip Butler staggered and tried to breathe. Margaret jumped up and down, praising God for a miracle.
"The doctors were astonished. They didn't know what to say," said Phillip Butler, Cordero's stepfather. "The doctors can't explain why it happened."
Doctors at St. Luke's did not comment for this story, citing patient privacy. *(yeah, right)*
On July 2, Cordero overdosed in his Cloquet apartment and lay there for 12 hours before his fiancée, Kris LeSavage, found him and called for help.
Upon hearing their son had overdosed, the Butlers had left their home in Williamstown, N.J., and arrived in Duluth after traveling 27 hours by car.
At the hospital, they found the dark-haired man lying in a coma, a condition that persisted for three or four days before he was pronounced brain dead and doctors made their recommendation, Phillip Butler said.
As Cordero's strong body, developed over three years in the Army, lay in a hospital bed, occasionally twitching, his family prepared for the worst.
"We have a big family; everyone was hysterical," Phillip Butler said.
For the next two days, Cordero's parents lived a nightmare. They began arranging their son's funeral and learned a local funeral home needed $1,800 to transport Cordero's body to New Jersey.
For a couple that works at flea markets for a living, the cost was nearly insurmountable.
But Harriet Harrison of the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans, who helped Cordero find housing before his overdose, put the Butlers in contact with the Salvation Army, which offered to pay $1,200.
The Butlers were deeply moved.
"I've been in a lot of places and I've never seen anything like this," Phillip Butler said. "I've never in my life seen the way people act (here in Duluth) — the kindness."
Even though the Butlers and Kris LeSavage now have "Johnny" back, nothing is guaranteed. It isn't clear how full his recovery will be.
Cordero is able to get out of bed and sit in a chair, sing and occasionally talk. Feeling thirsty the other day, he asked for his favorite flavor of Gatorade.
LeSavage, 19, who had been living with Cordero for one week in a rented Cloquet apartment before the overdose, said she has no idea why he was using drugs.
Cordero and LeSavage, who is two months pregnant, were supposed to be beginning a new life together when he overdosed.
They became engaged in early June. Cordero was making plans to enroll in college to become a registered nurse. LeSavage is in the nursing program at Lake Superior College.
LeSavage described Cordero as a "sweetheart" who loves to spend time with his 9-year-old daughter, Lily, from a previous marriage.
Margaret Butler said she hopes other young people see how devastating drug use can be.
"Sometimes we get down when we see him having these tremors," she said.
"But I say New Jersey and Minnesota are praying for him. Miracles are happening everywhere."
The Butlers are trying, unsuccessfully so far, to find a way to move Cordero to a hospital at the University of Pennsylvania, which is closer to home.
LeSavage said she will stay with her parents in Proctor when he leaves.
"I'm sure I'm going to miss him," said LeSavage, her eyes welling up. "I told him he'll have to get better so he can be there for the delivery."
