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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!alice!rabbit!jj
From: jj@rabbit.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.abortion
Subject: Re: question is not irrelevant
Message-ID: <2594@rabbit.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 12-Mar-84 13:26:27 EST
Article-I.D.: rabbit.2594
Posted: Mon Mar 12 13:26:27 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 13-Mar-84 08:35:17 EST
References: <217@ihnp1.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill
Lines: 26


For a bit of clarification, 
let's assume that I operate under the following generality:
	"Once human, always human, until death."

That very neatly separates the question of what happens
to a person on a heart lung machine.

The definition of death is still sticky, and I'll 
stipulate that.  My own somewhat shaky (due to the
lack of the human being to forsee the future) definition
is that any human is dead if and ONLY if there is no chance
that that person can ever function again in any capacity
other than a repository for not yet expired bodily organs.
I.E. Someone who's cerebral cortex has been totally destroyed
is no longer human, even if their heart, lungs, digestive
system, and so on are completely intact, 
but someone in a coma who has a chance
of becoming functional again is still alive.  


-- 
TEDDY BEARS ARE NICER THAN PEOPLE--
HUG YOUR OWN TODAY !
(allegra,harpo,ulysses)!rabbit!jj