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Dying boy, 15, gets wish: losing virginity
Chicago Sun Times ^ | 12/23/01 | BY BENJAMIN ERRETT

Posted on 12/23/2001 6:26:24 AM PST by Mopp4

A terminally ill boy had his dying wish granted in Australia this month, but ethicists are still at odds over whether it was the right thing to do.
The wish was not for a trip to Disneyland or to meet a famous sports star. Instead, the 15-year-old wanted to lose his virginity before he died of cancer. The boy, who remains anonymous but was called Jack by the Australian media, did not want his parents to know about his request. Because of his many years spent in the hospital, he had no girlfriend or female friends.
Jack died last week, but not before having his last wish granted. Without the knowledge of his parents or hospital staff, friends arranged an encounter with a prostitute outside of hospital premises. All precautions were taken, and the organizers made sure the act was fully consensual. The issue has sparked fierce debate over the legal and ethical implications of granting the boy's request. By law, Jack was still a child, and the woman involved could in theory face charges for having sex with a minor. The debate was sparked by the hospital's child psychologist, who wrote a letter to "Life Matters," a radio show in which academics debate ethical and moral dilemmas. The scenario was presented in the abstract, with no details about the boy's identity.

"He had been sick for quite a long period, and his schooling was very disrupted, so he hadn't had many opportunities to acquire and retain friends, and his access to young women was pretty poor," the psychologist said recently in an interview with Australia's Daily Telegraph newspaper. "But he was very interested in young women and was experiencing that surge of testosterone that teenage boys have." Hospital staff initially wanted to pool donations to pay for a prostitute, but the ethical and legal implications prevented them from doing so. The psychologist presented members of the clergy with the dilemma and found no clear answer. "It really polarized them," he said. "About half said, 'What's your problem?' And the other half said [it] demeans women and reduces the sexual act to being just a physical one."

Dr. Stephen Leeder, dean of medicine at the University of Sydney and a "Life Matters" panelist, said the issue was a difficult one. "I pointed out that public hospitals operated under the expectation that they would abide by state law," he said. "While various things doubtless are done that are at the edge of that, it's important the public has confidence that the law will be followed." Jack's psychologist, who works with children in palliative care, said the desire was driven in part by a need for basic human contact. "In a child dying over a long period of time, there is often a condition we call 'skin hunger,'" he said. The terminally ill child yearns for non-clinical contact because "mostly when people touch them, it's to do something unpleasant, something that might hurt." Leeder called the diagnosis "improbable." Judy Lumby, the show's other panelist and the executive director of the New South Wales College of Nursing, argued that the details as presented made it abundantly clear the boy's wish ought to be granted. "I said that I would try my darndest as a nurse to do whatever I could to make sure his wish came true," she said. "I just think we are so archaic in the way we treat people in institutions. Certainly, if any of my three daughters were dying, I'd do whatever I could, and I'm sure that you would, too." National Post


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To: innocentbystander
how do you go about that? seriously, that sounds like something that should be brought up before thansgiving next year (unless we both are banned by that time for not fitting "The Mold")
221 posted on 12/23/2001 11:54:53 AM PST by bigcheese
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Comment #222 Removed by Moderator

To: innocentbystander; bigcheese
Here is a thought; next Thanksgiving, you might consider sponsering a dinner at your home for a few Marines away from home? My ex and I used to do this every year. You might meet the gal of your dreams, if you can manage to keep the lumps out of your gravy! LOL!

Fresh meat, eh?

223 posted on 12/23/2001 11:55:15 AM PST by Cultural Jihad
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To: Mopp4
He's a 15 year old kid dying. Of caurse he was upset about other things, but at 15 how can you blame him for wanting to have sex at least once before he dies?
224 posted on 12/23/2001 11:56:26 AM PST by j.cam
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To: Mopp4
Standing by for some flames, but come on thats the only way to go in throws of passion:) I can think of a lot worse ways and things he could have asked for!
225 posted on 12/23/2001 11:57:49 AM PST by Ordie 1
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To: Sungirl
strawman argument. Darnnit, sungirl, ive watched you for year(s?) now on this board and you are much more intelligent than this! Your letting me down.
226 posted on 12/23/2001 11:58:18 AM PST by bigcheese
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To: bigcheese
And, praytell, where exactly is fornication condemmed in the Tanach? (hint: the Tanach is the "old testament")

Didn't somebody go over this on those other threads?

Holy Writ is grand, but I am not sure why you insist on dragging it into the question. I'm content to rely on natural reason. Would you care to explain to me why it is not immoral to engage in an act that could generate a child whose father would be in no position to care for him?

227 posted on 12/23/2001 11:59:14 AM PST by Dumb_Ox
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Comment #229 Removed by Moderator

To: Sungirl
Bogus answer. Where in the 10 Commandments does it say "Thou shalt not have sex?" Whose rules are you going by?
230 posted on 12/23/2001 12:01:03 PM PST by Osinski
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Comment #231 Removed by Moderator

To: Osinski
Rules in general. Your rules you set for your kids, teachers rules, Laws, commandments whatever. Why bother having them if there are always excuses and reasons to break them. Just like Clinton...he was the president..so they let him break the rules.

I hope you will let your sick 12 yr old kid have sex when she wants it...or is that only if she's dying. Better hope she doesn't get pregnant!

232 posted on 12/23/2001 12:02:34 PM PST by Sungirl
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To: Sungirl
Breaking the rules doesn't damn you.
234 posted on 12/23/2001 12:03:56 PM PST by cocknlock
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To: Dumb_Ox
Would you care to explain to me why it is not immoral to engage in an act that could generate a child whose father would be in no position to care for him?

Well, that's why the DNC wants to build a Nanny Government, to help facilitate the desires of the rugged libertarian individualists who are ruled solely by their passions and instincts.

236 posted on 12/23/2001 12:04:42 PM PST by Cultural Jihad
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To: Osinski
Bogus answer. Where in the 10 Commandments does it say "Thou shalt not have sex?" Whose rules are you going by?

Bogus question. Nowhere in Scripture does it explicitly condemn counterfeiting. So therefore is counterfeiting okay?

237 posted on 12/23/2001 12:06:56 PM PST by Cultural Jihad
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To: innocentbystander
I am just going to not respond to you, ...

Feel free to flee the battle, O moral-coward.

238 posted on 12/23/2001 12:08:13 PM PST by Cultural Jihad
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Comment #239 Removed by Moderator

To: Sungirl
I have no sick 12 year olds and don't envision any sick 12 year olds in my lifetime. (Isn't the article about a 15 year old?) Irrelevant comment, nonetheless. "Rules in general"? Your proselytizing has no basis in the 10 Commandments. Judge not...
240 posted on 12/23/2001 12:10:41 PM PST by Osinski
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