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Parents of "Baby Joseph" Suffering Threats and Harassment by Hospital

By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Staff Journalist A Canadian hospital is now threatening and harassing the parents of a 13 month-old boy who is suffering from a terminal neurological condition, denying them private visits and trying to force their consent to having the child's life support removed. According to LifeSiteNews.com, little Joseph Maraachli continues to be at the center of a bitter end-of-life feud between his parents, Moe Maraachli and Sana Nader, and the London, Ontario hospital where he is currently being kept. Joseph has a deteriorating neurological condition and will die when his respirator is removed. The parents are asking the hospital to perform a tracheotomy on the boy to enable him to live long enough to make it home where he can die surrounded by family.  The hospital is refusing and, after months of legal battling, won permission from an Ontario court to have the respirator removed on Monday, an action that was delayed when the family hired a new attorney who instructed the family to refuse to consent to the procedure. This temporarily halted the process, but the hospital has now asked the Office of the Public Guardian to assume decision-making power in the case, which could result in the removal of Joseph's respirator within the next few days. In the meantime, hospital security is denying private visits to the boy's family members. "They fight my family. ... they put security for me," Moe, a Lebanese immigrant, told Fox News. "They never give me private to pray with my son. . . Security watch me and security stay with me. When I go to hospital I feel I am not in Canada. I feel I’m in jail or they kidnapped my baby.” Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, which has been offering support to the parents, confirmed that he was not permitted to see Joseph on Monday and was denied access to the room by security personnel. “It’s become crazy. The hospital’s going overboard and it makes no sense,” he told LifeSite. “It’s ridiculous. It’s not like they could pick the child up and take him home.  The baby would die.” The hospital claims nine specialists have confirmed that Joseph is in a "persistent vegetative state" but the family disagrees. They claim Joseph is fully responsive to touch, tickles easily and moves his head when his hair is brushed. He also responds to noises by moving his head toward the sound. The hospital has warned the family that they will be banned from the hospital if they try to take videos, which has resuledt in preventing them from documenting Joseph’s responses and movements. The child's best hope is to be transferred to a different hospital, preferably one in Michigan where he was treated once before. Apparently, the paperwork is in process and Joseph's file has already been transferred to the facility, but the final word has yet to come. In the meantime, you can track the progress of this case on Joseph's Facebook page. © All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace®  http://www.womenofgrace.com

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