Nelson Mandela continues to hang to life in a South African hospital in what the South African government has called “critical but stable condition,” leaving millions of people inspired by his life across the world to hold out hope for a recovery.
The New York Times apparently sees things differently.
In a front-page article entitled “Mandela’s Kin Face Gray Area on End of Life,” the Times explored the possibility on Friday that Mandela’s family might decide to pull the plug if his condition does not improve.
Previously, American voices on the subject had struck a sharply different tone, with President Obama meeting the revered former South African president’s family on his recent trip to Africa, and numerous lawmakers expressing their hopes that Mandela may still recover.
Calling the government’s statement on Mandela’s condition “cryptic,” the Times’ reporting was decidedly less hopeful. The article cited several unnamed medical experts as saying that Mandela is most likely being kept alive by machines with little hope of a meaningful recovery.
With this in mind, the article explored the possibilities, ramifications and precedents for Mandela’s family in regards to end-of-life medical decisions in South Africa.
Because Mandela has no living will, his wishes on the subject of his own death are unclear, and any decision made by his family is likely to be a contentious one, given Mandela’s legendary life and career.
Nor, the Times said, is it known if he has appointed anyone in his large and reportedly divided family to make decisions for him if he is unable to do so. It remains unclear if any member of Mandela’s family is even considering ending the life-sustaining procedures about which the Times speculates.
Curiously, the Times acknowledged, but gave little credence to reports that Mandela’s condition is improving. The report reads:
Indeed, family members and friends who have visited him in recent days say that Mr. Mandela is sometimes awake, smiling, communicating with his eyes, even trying to talk. President Jacob Zuma, who visited Mr. Mandela as recently as Wednesday, said he was now responding to treatment. Still, the anti-apartheid leader’s condition is undeniably grave, and there is a great deal of skepticism about what the government and the family are saying about his condition
There is little precedent for ending the life of a public figure of such stature. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been in a coma since 2006, but tests continue to show brain activity in Sharon, muting for the time being any discussion of allowing him to pass.
South Africa also has little to go on in terms of legislation or previous medical cases dealing with the subject. A 1992 case in which a woman successfully appealed to the courts to allow her husband to die after four years on life support remains the first and most major South African ruling on the subject.