god's will strikes again
In Egypt, an
outpouring of support for "god-willed" suffering:
It's because of advances in Egypt's health system that [conjoined twins] Ahmed and Mohammed Ibrahim are still alive 14 months after being born to a laborer's family in rural southern Egypt, and have a chance - however risky - at normal lives.
Even so, last month, after a nationally broadcast program on the twins, state television was deluged with 30,000 letters and calls, most saying the twins' condition was God's will and they should not be separated, according to program host Tarek Allam. While not a scientific survey of opinion, the response showed how the case has gripped the nation.
Luckily for the twins, religious authorities have given the go-ahead:
After consulting the staff, Abdel Al, head of Abu el-Reesh Hospital's neonatal surgical intensive care unit, consulted Grand Mufti Sheik Mohamed Ahmed el-Tayeb, Egypt's top government-appointed cleric. El-Tayeb gave written approval for separation provided doctors believed at least one twin would survive and as long as the surgery wasn't "experimental."
And here I thought needing
HMO approval was rough!