Medical ethics
There's a story on CNN about a woman in Texas fighting to keep her child on life support against a hospital that wants to take him off of the ventilator that is keeping him alive.
This child has Leigh's disease, a degenerative disorder attacking his central nervous system. He is 17 months old and cannot see, speak or eat. He doesn't breathe on his own and, in fact, would die within hours if taken off the ventilator. His mother wants him to die "naturally, the way God intended."
Baby Emilio
Now, I understand loving your child and wanting him to have the best life possible for as long as possible. What I can't understand is keeping your child alive when there is absolutely no hope for any meaningful life.
I, in no way, think that the hospital should have the right to say "We're taking your child off life support". That is a decision that should be made by the family alone. In this mother's case, though, I think she's being incredibly selfish. This child is in pain. His central nervous system is being destroyed. He cannot survive without the ventilator. I don't think that t his is "what God intended." This is not "natural". "Natural" would have been to let him stop breathing on his own without forcing a breathing tube down his throat. "Natural" would have been, as painful as it is, to let him die months ago.
I have a friend (well, *had* a friend, I haven't spoken to her in years) but her first child was a girl who was born anencephalic. It was tragic and heartbreaking. But to their credit, the parents never once considered trying to keep her alive. To my way of thinking, that would have been incredibly cruel. And, to my way of thinking, this mother would better serve her son's best interests by letting him go.
But I still don't think the hospital should have a say.
This child has Leigh's disease, a degenerative disorder attacking his central nervous system. He is 17 months old and cannot see, speak or eat. He doesn't breathe on his own and, in fact, would die within hours if taken off the ventilator. His mother wants him to die "naturally, the way God intended."
Baby Emilio
Now, I understand loving your child and wanting him to have the best life possible for as long as possible. What I can't understand is keeping your child alive when there is absolutely no hope for any meaningful life.
I, in no way, think that the hospital should have the right to say "We're taking your child off life support". That is a decision that should be made by the family alone. In this mother's case, though, I think she's being incredibly selfish. This child is in pain. His central nervous system is being destroyed. He cannot survive without the ventilator. I don't think that t his is "what God intended." This is not "natural". "Natural" would have been to let him stop breathing on his own without forcing a breathing tube down his throat. "Natural" would have been, as painful as it is, to let him die months ago.
I have a friend (well, *had* a friend, I haven't spoken to her in years) but her first child was a girl who was born anencephalic. It was tragic and heartbreaking. But to their credit, the parents never once considered trying to keep her alive. To my way of thinking, that would have been incredibly cruel. And, to my way of thinking, this mother would better serve her son's best interests by letting him go.
But I still don't think the hospital should have a say.
posted by Blue Blankie at 10:42:00 PM
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