Posted on 11/08/2009 12:32:07 PM PST by wagglebee
Most contested cases of removing babies or profoundly disabled adults from needed life support have involved those with serious brain injuries or cognitive impairments. But once the idea that dead is better than disabled takes hold, it will soon spread to those with physical disabilities.
Now, in the UK, parents are fighting over withdrawing life support from a seriously disabled one-year-old child who is cognitively normal. From the story:
The mother of a chronically ill baby has defended her court battle with the child’s father to have his life support machine turned off. The boy, known only as RB, has congenital myasthenic syndrome, a rare neuromuscular condition that severely limits limb movement and the ability to breathe independently. He has been hospitalized since birth. Doctors want to take the 1-year-old off a ventilator, which helps him breathe, but the boy’s father, who is separated from his mother, opposes the plan. The hospital trust which provides his care has taken the case to the High Court. If the trust wins, it would be the first time a British court has ruled against the wishes of a parent whose child does not suffer from brain damage.
In a statement, the mother's lawyer, Anthony Fairweather said: “RB’s mother has sat by her son’s bedside every day since he was born. “In her mind the intolerable suffering experienced by her son must outweigh her own personal grief should she lose her child,” the statement said. But lawyers for the father argue the baby’s brain is unaffected by the condition and that he can see, hear, feel and recognize his parents. They will submit video footage, which they say shows Baby RB playing with toys, enjoying and listening to music and interacting with his parents. The father argues that a tracheotomy, where a hole is made in the neck to allow air to reach his lungs, would allow his son to leave hospital and be cared for at home.
This is an important case. First, shouldn’t the benefit of the doubt go to life? Second, shouldn’t everything be done to try and help the boy live instead of die? Third, that a hospital arguing to end life is very alarming. Finally, if the hospital/mother win the case, the message that would be sent by taking a child out of life against the wishes of a parent solely because of disability is that dead is better than disabled. As a society, do we really want to accept that meme?
And it will eventually become the norm.
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A lifetime from birth of machines, difficulty moving, and assisted breathing? Leaving aside the philosophical and political ramifications, as a practical matter, I’d hate to live that life, watch a family member deal with it, or even wish it on my worst enemy. Watching every one be able to go outside, breathing easy, playing, etc. I won’t hate the mom for her choice... but I will oppose it as a step in the wrong direction for the legal system.
Shocking. This is just plain evil.
Kid has a mind, soul and perhaps a will to live.
My son was stillborn reveived and due to the damage to his basal ganglia has all the bells and whistles to live and no moter control at all which leaves him a flailing useless movement quad only eyes and ears were unaffected and his zest for life..
He has never known different.
When he was growing up he did it all just with the assistance of others.
Has been very active in the political arena and a whole life full of experiences.
It was his interest in Alan Keyes that led us here to FR back in 1998.
His view is nothing like you can only imagine your life would be like and then you would chose to end your life.
I say let the baby grow up and decide.
Living with a trach and feeding tube is not as bad as never having lived.
Was told my son would never make his 1st B Day and now he has had 3 decades.
Of course I have to add I believe my sons Catholic Faith has been very important in shaping his views.
The baby has a Mom that loves him and wants to care for him so be it.
As a society, we’ve lost the ability to appreciate and revere life. We decide that we’d rather be dead than handicapped, then we foist that idea onto people who are handicapped. We forget that suffering is truly relative.
We don’t love for the sake of loving. We no longer understand that love is a *verb*, not a reflex. It’s something that takes work and commitment.
We abandon our marriages when things get tough. We abort our babies when they are a burden or untimely. Now we want to “put down” the old and the infirm for nothing more than the crime of not being productive or for costing *us* money.
We put human beings on the same level as we do dogs. We forgot that human life is precious and must be defended at all costs.
If innocent *life* isn’t worth fighting for, what *is*? Honor? Liberty? Justice? Love? What’s left?
This society needs a massive sea change. As a group, we must ban together to say, “I will not accept this. I will fight the devaluation of innocent human life with everything in my body. I will argue, persuade and teach at every opportunity. For *this*, I will give my own life to defend. For without this; we, as a nation, cannot know love. Without this, we have no honor. Without this, there is no justice. If a man can take my life when I’ve committed no crime, then I have no liberty and I am his slave.”
Thanks for posting this.
Exactly!
This society needs a massive sea change. As a group, we must ban together to say, “I will not accept this. I will fight the devaluation of innocent human life with everything in my body. I will argue, persuade and teach at every opportunity. For *this*, I will give my own life to defend. For without this; we, as a nation, cannot know love. Without this, we have no honor. Without this, there is no justice. If a man can take my life when I’ve committed no crime, then I have no liberty and I am his slave.”
Amen!
A classic camel’s-nose-under-the-tent situation. Who would be next? Someone will be — it always happens that way.
Isn’t this similar to what Stephen Hawkins suffers from? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hawking
Wonder what the world would’ve been like if his Mother had decided he was better off dead?
There have been over ONE BILLION abortions worldwide in the past hundred years, that means that OVER ONE MILLION human beings with the intelligence of people like Stephen Hawking, Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton were never born.
Hear, hear [applause]. The amount of suffering both you and your son have endured because of his disabilities has enabled not only the both of you to receive the full knowledge of Christ and His sufferings, but think of the others who come in contact with you as well and have had their own "awakenings" because of it, not to mention the myriads of miracles that are released from the heavens onto others because of your embracing and accepting and loving His/his/your great sufferings in life. God love you and your beautiful family.
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