Haleigh, day by day – UPDATE

Haleigh is being moved into a rehab facility.

Haleigh Poutre was discharged Thursday from Baystate Medical Center in Springfield and admitted to the Franciscan Hospital for Children. She has been hospitalized since September, when authorities say she was beaten into a coma.

A statement issued by the Franciscan Hospital said: “It is our hope that her stay at Franciscan will afford her the opportunity to maximize her potential for gains in her recovery.”

Maxed Out Mama has a remarkable post recounting the timeline of events and decisions concerning Haliegh Poutre. It is angry, erudite and stunning.

Haligh is, of course, the young girl who was beaten into a coma by her stepfather. Having already pulled Haliegh off of life support only to find her stubbornly breathing on her own, the state now wishes to stop giving her nutrition. The stepfather doesn’t want this of course; he doesn’t want to be charged with murder.

It is an obscene situation all around, but Mama looks past the obvious and at the effect this story has on all of us as a society. She also recounts events in her own health situation and how it has charged her perceptions.

All the excuses are gone here. The issue stares us unambiguously in the face. The child has no one to speak for her and never did. This is the raw exercise of state power, so the claim that government is interfering in private lives is obviously null and void. What we are left with is the desire to kill the kid because she is an expensive and heartwrenching problem.

This is a stunning piece of work by Mama. Please read it.