[B]A woman with "severe" anorexia who wanted to be allowed to die is to be force fed in her "best interests" by order of a High Court judge.
[/B]Mr Justice Peter Jackson declared that the 32-year-old from Wales, who cannot be identified, [B]did not have the capacity to make decisions for herself[/B].He made public his judgment on Friday after making the ruling last month.
But Glyn Davies, Conservative MP for Montgomeryshire, used Twitter to criticise the judge's ruling.
He tweeted: "Shocking that judge orders anorexic Welsh woman be force fed against her will.
[B]
"She should be allowed to die with dignity. Shameful decision".
[/B]The case was brought by the woman's local authority, which also cannot be identified.
The court heard that the woman - known only as E - had altered her living will.
Initially, it said she wanted to die when the time came and she did not want to be revived.
Later, she said she wanted to live and wanted to make her own decisions about her future.
The judge, sitting in the Court of Protection, said it was a "a very difficult decision" for him to make because it required "a balance to be struck between the weight objectively to be given to life on one hand and to personal independence on the other".
Giving his reasons, the judge said that although she was "[B]gravely unwell, she is not incurable[/B]".He said: "[B]She does not seek death, but above all she does not want to eat or to be fed.
[/B]"She sees her life as pointless and wants to be allowed to make her own choices, realising that refusal to eat must lead to her death."
When her case was brought to the court last month by the unnamed local authority the judge said: "[B]E's death was imminent[/B]. She was refusing to eat and was taking only a small amount of water.[B]
"She was being looked after in a community hospital under a palliative care regime whose purpose was to allow her to die in comfort."
[/B]He revealed that the "intelligent and charming" woman began to control her eating at the age of 11 and had not taken solid food for over a year.
The judge said the balancing exercise had to be intuitive and considering all the factors.
He added: "On one side, I have been struck by the fact that the people who know E best do not favour further treatment. They think that she has had enough and believe that her wishes should be respected.
"They believe she should be allowed a dignified death."
He acknowledged that her parents were in an "impossible" position and that "does not merely entail bodily intrusion of the most intimate kind, but the overbearing of E's will in a way that she experiences as abusive".
The judge said that E's own views were "entitled to high respect" adding: "[B]She is not a child or a very young adult, but an intelligent and articulate woman, and the weight to be given to her view of life is correspondingly greater.[/B]"
He said that he also had regard to the fact that the application was only brought after E and her family and carers had embarked a long way down the course of palliative treatment.
He said: "The state is now seeking to intervene very late in the day and a return to compulsion will be excruciating for them."
The judge added: "E is a special person, whose life is of value. She does not see it that way now, but she may in future.
[B]"I would not overrule her wishes if further treatment was futile, but it is not. Although extremely burdensome to E, there is a possibility that it will succeed.
"Services and funding will now be provided that were not available before and it would not be right to turn down the final chance of helping this very vulnerable young woman."
[/B]
[URL]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-18464254[/URL]
Difficult decision to make, however if she does not want to die then I think this decision is just. Especially if she is not sound in her mind.
[editline]16th June 2012[/editline]
Also
[quote][b]Mr Justice Peter Jackson[/b] declared that the 32-year-old from Wales[/quote]
really?
[quote]Mr Justice Peter Jackson [/quote]
This cannot be his actual name, can it?
I'm with the judge on this one. For God's sake, the woman is only 32. She's far too young to be throwing her life away, especially due to anorexia. I'm sure if she gets through this and becomes healthy, she'll look back and be grateful she didn't end up dying. Honestly, at 32, there's still so much that can happen in your life.
I'm glad she's been given life over death.
She sounds pretty 'caught up in the story'.
Unfortunately she's not going to get the help that she needs, because traditional psychology is not the way to go in these circumstances.. It'll simply mask the cause by adding more 'story' when she really needs to figure out, in her own way, that it's just a story.
it's funny that this is technically a human rights violation lmao
[QUOTE=SCopE5000;36353758]She sounds pretty 'caught up in the story'.
Unfortunately she's not going to get the help that she needs, because traditional psychology is not the way to go in these circumstances.. It'll simply mask the cause by adding more 'story' when she really needs to figure out, in her own way, that it's just a story.[/QUOTE]
Someone who has experience in this sort of thing would definitely be helpful. There are good and bad psychologist and some of them are more suited to handle and help people through these situations. Someone who tells her its her moms fault is clearly a bad choice, but someone that can listen to her and try and figure out why she has made this decision could definitely help her.
Either way is morally good
...For some reason I imagined her being strapped down and have burgers shoved down her throat...
That aside, I think this is good. No other way she'll recover, right?
[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;36353727]This cannot be his actual name, can it?[/QUOTE]
It's a title applied to certain judges, like Mr Speaker in parliament.
Edit: Why is this funny?
[QUOTE=David29;36353859]It's a title applied to certain judges, like Mr Speaker in parliament.[/QUOTE]
Didn't know that. But still Peter Jackson?
I still remember this movie about women in WWI, they were doing peaceful protests for their voting rights. They ended up going to jail.
One of the women went on a hunger strike. She was on it for the longest, but her friends followed. Eventually, they force fed her. She strapped her down on a chair, locked her in, forced and locked her jaw open, and stuck a clear tube down her throat. You could see the pipe moving down her neck. They cracked open some eggs, hooked up this funnel/nozzle contraption to the end of the pipe. They put the eggs into the funnel and pulled the nozzle to pull the eggs down into her stomach. After they fed her enough, they unstrapped her and quickly pulled the hose out so she can vomit, then they proceeded again. This happened every day.
I'm pretty sure this is still how they do it.
Anorexia is a mental disorder that is clouding her judgement, she needs to be protected from herself untill she gets well.
here it is:
(might be nsfw for some)
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO70ZjZ0wrw[/media]
Don't we already interfere when people try to kill themselves?
I mean, it is odd being a court case where the judge is forcing said person's recovery; but it's semi-similar to forcing people who are trying to jump off of some shit; not to/to land safely and then get mental help.
While the force is awkward, I'm glad we're not a society that tells her just to go for it and die already. :v:
[QUOTE]"She should be allowed to die with dignity."[/QUOTE]
I don't see death by anorexia to be a dignified death, it's a mental disorder that killing her, not her own decision.
[QUOTE=SCopE5000;36353758]She sounds pretty 'caught up in the story'.
Unfortunately she's not going to get the help that she needs, because traditional psychology is not the way to go in these circumstances.. It'll simply mask the cause by adding more 'story' when she really needs to figure out, in her own way, that it's just a story.[/QUOTE]
I don't understand any of these uses of the word story
She hasn't eaten solid foods since she was 11? How did her parents not notice that she had been losing weight at such rapidity?
Her family could be like many families in America and not eat together, but I didn't think that was very common for the late 80's/early 90's
maybe I'm wrong.
She says she doesn't want to die but she also doesn't want to eat, if she doesn't eat she's going to die, clearly she isn't thinking things logically for whatever reason and needs help. It's like insisting that you want to live, going on a skydiving trip, and minutes before you jump, demand that you use a parasol instead of a parachute because you think you can just float down like Mary Poppins. Nonsense.
[editline]16th June 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=Nearie;36355219]She hasn't eaten solid foods since she was 11? How did her parents not notice that she had been losing weight at such rapidity? [/QUOTE]
She's been 'controlling her eating' since 11, just eating less than she should have been to be at a healthy weight. Denying herself food when she's hungry. She's only been a year without solid food.
[quote]Her family could be like many families in America and not eat together, but I didn't think that was very common for the late 80's/early 90's[/quote]
She's in Wales, not America.
[QUOTE=Nearie;36355219]She hasn't eaten solid foods since she was 11? How did her parents not notice that she had been losing weight at such rapidity?
Her family could be like many families in America and not eat together, but I didn't think that was very common for the late 80's/early 90's
maybe I'm wrong.[/QUOTE]
She's 'controlled' her eating from age 11, she hasn't eaten solids for a year
[QUOTE=Zang-Pog;36355337]I don't know what to think of this, though I really hate how they can just ignore everything a person says just by blaming it on some mental thing. In some cases it might be the cause, but what if it truly is the will of the person?
It's kind of a dick move to go shove food down somebodys throat who really doesen't want to eat, no?[/QUOTE]
If she wants to live, there's no alternative. You can't say "I don't want to die, but I'll be damned if you take away my Russian roulette!"
This is normal for extreme cases of anorexia, nothing special.
If she's mentally unwell then this is totally justified, we shouldn't just leave those with mental problems to die, anyone who thinks this is wrong is a moron.
Unless her goal is suicide she should be fed & treated for her condition..
If her goal is suicide, we should be making euthanasia legal.
The ability to refuse care if you have a mental disease is such a thorny issue, it sucks that we have to confront it like this all the time.
[QUOTE=redBadger;36353960]I still remember this movie about women in WWI, they were doing peaceful protests for their voting rights. They ended up going to jail.
One of the women went on a hunger strike. She was on it for the longest, but her friends followed. Eventually, they force fed her. She strapped her down on a chair, locked her in, forced and locked her jaw open, and stuck a clear tube down her throat. You could see the pipe moving down her neck. They cracked open some eggs, hooked up this funnel/nozzle contraption to the end of the pipe. They put the eggs into the funnel and pulled the nozzle to pull the eggs down into her stomach. After they fed her enough, they unstrapped her and quickly pulled the hose out so she can vomit, then they proceeded again. This happened every day.
I'm pretty sure this is still how they do it.[/QUOTE]
They'll probably force feed her using feeding tubes that go into the nose.
Has happened to a cousin of mine, He wouldn't even eat a biscuit, He loved tomato sauce though.
When he stayed over our house we made him eat or he couldn't do anything like play the computer..He's mother never really gave him discipline.
Eventually they hooked him up to a tube and force fed him, He didn't really age that much because he never ate..He's 10 year old sister is bigger than him.
He's all better now but he is still looks like a 8 year old kid.
[QUOTE=RaptorBlackz;36360214]Has happened to a cousin of mine, He wouldn't even eat a biscuit, He loved tomato sauce though.
When he stayed over our house we made him eat or he couldn't do anything like play the computer..He's mother never really gave him discipline.
Eventually they hooked him up to a tube and force fed him, He didn't really age that much because he never ate..He's 10 year old sister is bigger than him.
He's all better now but he is still looks like a 8 year old kid.[/QUOTE]
I don't get what can make a child want to not eat. When I was a kid, I'd go run my ass off playing some tag and know "Hey I'm hungry, being full feels good, let's eat". From my understanding a lot of anorexia disorders can be worsened/caused by how the media portray beauty/women etc. I don't get how a kid could let the idea of skinny=beautiful into their heads.
[QUOTE=BrickInHead;36353796]it's funny that this is technically a human rights violation lmao[/QUOTE]
I do like it when unconditionally existent rights are violated (for a non-genocidal murderous horrible cause) and nothing is done about it. I guess I am a bad person for that and I am absolutely stupid for posting this here. Anyway, as long as she does say that she wants to live, I suppose that is good enough to constitute for consent for that.
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