Last month, a 29-year-old woman who’s been in a persistent vegetative state since she was a toddler went into labor and gave birth. An employee of the Arizona health care facility where she’s resided ...

Imagine for a minute — or even for a few seconds — that your working mind is trapped in a body that can’t respond to a doctor’s voice or a spouse’s touch. You are, in essence, a prisoner within your ...

Those who don’t are considered to be in a persistent vegetative state. Patients who suffer heart attacks or strokes, like Schiavo, have a much more widespread death of brain cells because of lack of ...

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Slate senior editor Andy Bowers explains "persistent vegetative state" — the term doctors have used to describe Terri Schiavo's condition. The Florida woman suffered severe brain damage a decade ago, ...

PHILADELPHIA — For two decades, car-crash victim Rom Houben lay paralyzed and voiceless in what his doctors thought was a vegetative state. He appeared to be awake, but showed no signs of awareness.

A cognitively impaired woman at a nursing facility in Arizona gave birth to a baby last month, prompting a sexual-assault investigation and a cascade of news reports. When the 29-year-old patient at ...

News of a woman in a vegetative state for more than a decade giving birth to a boy on December 29 has stirred emotions nationwide. The rare medical event raises many questions, including: How can a ...

During this week's Fall General Assembly, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops approved revision guidelines for medically assisted nutrition and hydration, particularly for patients in a ...