The Abortion Question

[Brownshoe]

(09-30-2015, 08:24 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: We can keep someone on life support with a pulse and respirations, but if the EEG shows limited or no brain activity then they are dead.  Technology allows us to keep their heart and lungs working, hemodialysis can allow us to maintain kidney function, thus keeping their body alive when it would otherwise be dead.  While the EEG allows us to determine they are dead despite continued respirations and pulse which have been the traditional way to determine death before technological advances.

If someone doesn't have a pulse, respirations, and brain activity they are dead.  In rare cases of heroic medical treatment, some people who are clinically (and legally) dead can be revived back to life.  For example, young children who have been drowned in freezing cold water for hours.  Thus the phrase "they're not dead until they're warm and dead."

Keeping them alive is different than determining if they're dead.