Posted on 09/24/2016 2:35:27 PM PDT by Kaslin
Jerika Bolen, a 14-year-old girl with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 2, has been allowed to end her life— her own decision—by having her ventilator disconnected. She died Thursday.
Jerika had told her mother that her chronic pain, along with her very significant physical limitations (including relying on a power wheelchair), made her welcome the idea of death.
Jerika clearly was no coward. She had endured more than 30 surgeries for her condition since being diagnosed at eight months of age. Her family made it possible for her to enjoy movies, fireworks, sleepovers and a community-wide “last dance” prom this summer, before her ventilator was turned off.
I am certain Jerika suffered greatly during her inspiring life and I am certain her family endured untold psychological pain, alongside their daughter’s mental and physical anguish. And, yet, I believe that they erred in collaborating in her ending her life.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Good, thoughtful article on a difficult topic. Thanks for passing it along.
This must have been written last week. The young lady is now deceased. She is with The Lord. No loving parent is prepared to live through such an ordeal.
May God forgive her. Suicide is the one unforgiveable sin, since it’s usually too late to repent. But perhaps she didn’t really know what she was doing.
May God have mercy on her soul.
Is her condition terminal? If she is only being kept alive via artificial means, I find the moral arguments around this one dubious. Since it is only artificial means that are keeping her alive to begin with.
Whether a 14 year old fully understands the decision she is making I don’t know... But saying I will take no more medical treatment is not the same as doing something external to cause the failure of a functioning system.
I think this is a deeply personal decison that is for this person and her family to deal with, not activists on either side or the courts.
Agree w/Louie.Thanks.
This guy calls this euthanasia.
I don’t-—she was being kept alive artificially.
Well, she WAS being kept alive by artificial means via a ventilator. She couldn’t breathe on her own. That kid went through her Hell on Earth.
Sometimes enough IS enough.
No she passed away two days ago. September 22
No suicide here. She wasn’t able to breathe on her own.
Very well said. No one has the right to murder person and that includes those who commit suicide. It is a deadly sin.
This type of judgement is beyond my pay grade.
The judgement of the almighty is perfect and ultimately his will be done.
The unpardonable sin is rejection of Jesus Christ. That really makes the American people uneasy.
According to the Bible the only ‘unforgivable sin’ is rejection of Jesus. The assumption of an ‘unforgivable sin’ is that you can’t ask for forgiveness in front of a pastor/priest.
The young lady met her death on her own terms. There was no healing, and death was coming no matter what. She just chose to say ‘enough’. Anyone saying she should suffer just because of someone else’s beliefs should be ashamed.
stopping a machine is not suicide...
Maybe she is with the Lord and maybe she isn’t. That’s the chance you take when you kill yourself. I would argue that at age 14 she does/did not have the perspective to make that decision. If God had wanted her dead she would have died.
It is not murder.
It is not suicide.
If you live long enough, you will face what she faced. You will not call it suicide. You will say you can hear God calling you home. You will answer that call.
Rejecting artificial life extension (like a ventilator) is not suicide, it is accepting the inevitable.
That’s not suicide. She was functionally dead already. All she did was instruct them to unplug the machines that were keeping her fake alive and letting the natural situation of her body come to its own conclusion.
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