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
Hmmmm.... and I didnt even ask a question...
Is it only when they're dying or do I have the right to make decisions about your minor children behind your back even when they're going to live?
That's very well put. They imagine they can preserve and enjoy the fruits of a Biblical framework, while whacking away heartily at the roots. Folly of a uniquely self-destructive sort.
Dan
Unfortunately, the article in case doesn't mention the parenting skills, the child's upbringing, his schooling, his social skills etc.. I'd say he wasn't too smart, hiring a ''prostitute''.. This tells me him and his buddies were very ignorant and careless in SO MANY WAYS. Naiveness at its best.
In my humble opinion, what a child does outside of a parents control is the child's responsibility..
There is a proverbs that is fitting in most cases.. raise a child in the way he should go, and when he is older, he shall not depart from it. This tells me that teens sway from parents guidance.. That's how bible instructors have explained it to me. I think it's true. Rebellion or acting out as a teen is somewhat normal in the sense that they are trying to gain independence and test boundaries in a different way than when they were younger.
I am NOT giving them excuses..heaven knows they are accountable for their actions.
By replacing the central portion of your post with an ellipsis I acknowledged its existence without using bandwidth unnecessarily.
Purely a courtesy to the forum owner.
Only in this case it was other adults ---the hospital staff --which overrode the parent's authority.
Let me try to clarify it for you...
I disagree with your conclusions, with the philosophy of your post, without commenting one way or the other on your observations regarding the mentality of 15 year old boys.
My original comment was in response to the article, and those remarks stand without modification.
Your replies are both subsequent to that post, and entirely unsolicited by me. 'Bottom Line'... You either understand what it means to 'disagree' with someone, or you don't. If you don't there's frankly very little I can do or say here to be of further assistance to you.
And I agree that the article conveys no useful information about the unfortunate boy's parent's child-rearing skills.
Life seldom provides us with all the data we'd like to have before answering, making comments, deciding on a course of action, etc.
I'm going with what I regard as the 'house bet' in my remarks.
And I'll be the first to admit that the entire situation is a tragedy, on any number of levels.
You really shouldn't be handing out advice to your betters.
Ideology is helpful in the normal course of events because it allows us to make good decisions under normal or common circumstance. It usually isn't built for handling the exceptions and I think much of the angst comes from attempting to apply an ideological standard for a situation that's outside the normal bounds.
You will note that I advised my fellow Christians on FR to examine their own souls, and cited sins of the sort mentioned in Christ's "extended" version of the Law: lust rather than adultery, wrath rather than murder.
Folk writing condemnations of the unfortunate young man from across the Pacific in an electronic forum do nothing to improve morals sexual or otherwise in New South Wales and do not offer the young man either correction, a route to repentence or consolation in his suffering. I fear they do little but heap condemnation on themselves.
You are referring to a "SEXUALLY MATURE" Human Male, Sir!
The "Boy" is CLEARLY past interest in "Barbie Dolls & Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!!"
He apparently understands, empathizes with, & wishes--as a LAST REQUEST--to experience one of the more Powerful Human/Biologic Forces--Knowing his life will End soon, He Wished to experience That Which Generates our Species!
We are Dealing, Here, with a Dying Adolescent!---! It is a KINDNESS to grant him this "Experience!"
HE REQUESTED IT!!
Doc
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