re: #87 Obdicut

What bugs me is that I feel these decisions are often not made by the parents for the sake of their child, but for their own sake. In this case especially. I understand the pain of a parent being told that their child is not going to recover, but I cannot understand simple, blank refusal to accept that.

This was the second child to die in this fashion. They are part of a pro-life movement, but deliberately having children even though they know that their children will die. I cannot see how willingly having a child that you know has a very good chance of being doomed to suffer and die is consistent with that worldview.

The disease is a degenerative one. Rarely do the children live past five, and they suffer their whole lives. And having one child with this disease, they chose to have another, or to forgo birth control. Even if they honestly hoped for a miracle, to me it seems utterly selfish.

In the end, the government simply refused to pay for the procedure. The parents got it done, the baby had a few more tortured months— or, if you think a persistent vegetative state is equivalent to death, was already dead when it had the operation performed— and then died. I fail to see how that was of any benefit to the child, how anything other than a merciful death could be beneficial to the child.

I don’t think it was of benefit to the child, and didn’t say that.
It was purely for the benefit of the family, to hold on to a child who had no ability or means to respond. I don’t think that’s a good position for a parent to use when making a decision - ensure their own needs and pain are relieved, or that of the child (or whoever is under their care)? I would choose the needs of the person under my care, and did so when I had to make that decision (the same one, basically, as Terri Shiavo’s husband made) for my Dad. But I had THE CHOICE. I was free to choose one way or the other; these parents were NOT free to choose, under the system where they live. And I think that’s wrong.

I don’t want abortions performed. However, there will be women who seek abortions, whether legal or not. And it would be unconscionable, IMO, if we did not ensure that those who seek that procedure were able to have it done safely. Thus, choice. As far as I’m concerned, this is about choice, for those responsible for this baby (or choice for anybody whose care you are responsible for). And these parents did not have that choice under the system where they live; the choice was made FOR them by some Board. That bothers me.