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
Well, I didn't know that you knew how HE feels on every subject.
You people that claim to know how GOD thinks are just a little pretentious don't you think?
People like him make good communists,or Taliban.
My comment about prostitution went right over your head so I will explain. Of course its not legal...my point was that you are encouraging this sick kid to break the law thereby telling the rest of the world in your approval that its ok.
All you people who are making excuses for this sick kid are wrong. If your kid was sick, I can't believe you would encourage him and giev approval for him to break the law,and/or lose his morals. What if something happens and he lives?? Pretend this is a girl..your daughter.
No wonder society is like it is today with all these pregnant teenagers. You make poor role models.
There is no talking to someone whose thought processes are wrapped up in circular logic.
Remember Gandalf 3:16.
Makes as much sense.
I for one am glad this kid got his wish.
And when he is breathing his last,he has a vision of a real angel who carried him to heaven.
No, the rest of the world does not have a terminal illness.
If your kid was sick, I can't believe you would encourage him and giev approval for him to break the law,and/or lose his morals.
Break the law?? Oh give me a break. You and I BOTH break laws every day. He didn't ask to harm anyone, he just wanted to experience something that most everyone else on this planet gets to experience. As for losing his morals, I've had a bit out pre-marital sex myself, does that make me immoral?
You make poor role models.
Some would say that holy-than-thou people aren't good role models since they sometimes tend to drive people away from organized religion.
Nowhere does religion anywhere say that sex is inherently wrong. But we weren't talking about sex per se, but rather unmarried sexual behaviors for money with an underaged boy. So much for the Libertarians claiming to be personally against sex with children or prostitutes or both, eh?
What if...your kid has luekemia and has to have her amputated? She asks you to get her a stud before they chop off her legs? Would that be ok? What if she is going to have to go through an organ transplant and might not make it? Would that be ok? What if your 14 year old daughter has to have an operation that has a 50/50 chance of surviving...she asks you to let her sleep with your neighbor 15 year old....woudl that be ok?
I dont' break the laws everyday....speak for yourself.
Giving your approval for special circumstances that seem logical to you is sending out a bad message. It ain't right.
Terminally ill,you forgot that,but whatever.
So long,it's been ...........well,whatever.
The government had no capability in this case to perform, IMO. But you argue about Libertarians! Your arguments are baseless and false.
It's funny how all those different religions/denominations all use the Bible, but they all come up with different interpretations of it. Well my interpretation is that GOD is a loving deity and a forgiving deity, not the wrathful and vengeful GOD I was raised with. The GOD I believe in, is not going to send a 15 year old with a terminal illness to eternal damnation for wanting to have a roll in the hay before he left this earthly veil. If the GOD that you believe in would, then Heaven is going to be a very lonely place.
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