Although various therapeutic approaches are followed in clinical practice, most of them are not life saving.
This does not imply that healthcare is not life-saving for those who need it, when they need it.
The Refugee Council's chief executive, Maurice Wren, said: "This announcement is life changing, if not life saving news for the small group of children and their families who will benefit.
She said it was "a very sad day for our country … despite what the Taoiseach and others claim, the new law is life-ending, not life-saving.
The goal of intensive therapy is not only saving the patient's life, but also to restore their quality of life.
Or how about a newborn born in a vegetative state — are we allowed to snuff out that life at birth since, it can be argued, this is not a life worth saving?
"These transplants may not be life saving, they are certainly quality-of-life altering," says Levin.
But inducing labor, if it is not to save the life of the fetus, is legally defined as abortion, and doctors and hospital lawyers concluded that the procedure would be illegal under Nebraska's new law.
But the real purpose of health insurance is not to save your life (just as the purpose of auto insurance is not to reduce your chances of an auto accident).
The moral admonition to "adopt, don't shop" is not only about saving the life of a homeless dog but also about moving past shaky and unsubstantiated assertions that certain dogs, usually the so-called purebreds, are somehow smarter, more athletic, more beautiful and better behaved than mongrels, and that by spending loads of money on a dog, we're going to get exactly what we want and expect.
