The Ashley case

[jawnbc]

For those who've heard about this case - of parents in Seatle who had their severly disabled daughter undergo surgery to prevent her continued growth - her parents' original explanation of what they did and why can be found here.

Based on what I read, I support their decision.

Comments

[paulintoronto.livejournal.com]

Are you familiar with the Latimer Case? (It may have been in the news before you came to Canada.) I would be interested in hearing your views on Robert Latimer, whether you support or oppose what he did. The cases are very dissimilar, of course, but some of the central ethical issues are the same.

[jawnbc]

Oh yes, I remember it well. I felt that his method--though perhaps the best means possible--was disturbing. I think we need euthanasia laws so such cases can be dealt with transparently and consistently. And compassionately.

What are your thoughts?

[paulintoronto.livejournal.com]

The Latimer case seemed to me to be absolutely clear cut: I believe that he was wrong to do what he did. One of the reasons I asked you about this case is that my immediate reaction to the Ashley case was also that it was wrong, but much less obviously so. I only heard about Ashley today, and then I saw your posting, which got me interested. I looked at the website you linked to, and I guess I have some more thinking to do about the issues. I am always troubled by actions by parents on behalf of their children -- from circumcision to euthanasia -- when the parents are asserting a quasi-ownership over the child's body. But I'm not expressing this rigorously here, so perhaps I'll have to blog my own response.

[jawnbc]

Having said I support euthanasia, I'm not convinced Lattimer would have got approval for his daughter's death.

I concede it's possible the parents are full of shite and did it strictly to make caring for Ashley easier for them...but I think it highly unlikely, based on their blog. Having had some contact with kids with this level of disability (through family, not professionally), and having had some of these discussions (about sexual abuse, institutionalization, the importance of touch and cuddling), their testimony resonated with me. But again, I don't mean to imply the issues are cut and dry.

But when is entrusted with a duty of care--through circumstance in perpetuity in Ashley's case--better then exercise that duty than ignore it, like many parents do.

But I think linking this to circumcision...not really comparable.

[paulintoronto.livejournal.com]

I'm willing to accept that the parents are being truthful about their motivations; that is one of the similarities with the Latimer case. (I don't think anyone doubted his sincerity.) For me, the positive motivations of the parents aren't really the issue at all. The problem that I see is the radical intervention in the body of another person based on a presumption that the intervener/parent both knows what is best and has the right to act on that "knowledge" on behalf of the other person. That is way I see other interventions (such as circumcision) and non-interventions (such as denying a child a medically mandated blood transfusion) as being analogous, even though they may be much less extreme.

[deafdyke.livejournal.com]

boredom + puberty = sexualization

The parents deserve to be shot.

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

Sorry, but I want to make sure I'm understanding you clearly. You're saying that the parents did this to that they'd be able to abuse their daughter?

Thanks.

[nursetomsf.livejournal.com]

Having read their story, and all the thought that went into their decision, I have to agree with you.

[danthered.livejournal.com]

JBC, I read about Ashley this morning on the Beeb, and I agree with you. It's hard for me not to look askance at those who think the parents are wrong.

[poohbearjim.livejournal.com]

When I read about it earlier it made me think that none of us is in their shoes, and therefore really have no business making any judgment about what they did. It sounds to me that it was a well-thought-out decision made between them and the doctors about this specific case, which is how it should have been.

[garpu.livejournal.com]

I sure don't envy them having to make such a decision...

[retrosexual-au.livejournal.com]

Wow, thanks for the link. This is just getting coverage over here (Australia), and it is nice to get the info straight from the family, rather than via the usual sensationally distorted media.

[schillerium.livejournal.com]

It's an interesting ethical debate.

I'm not going to pretend I know what the most ethical and moral approach would have been, but I'm personally inclined to support their decision. And I find the opposing argument, that she's being denied the opportunity to develop and mature normally, unconvincing -- she's already never going to have a "normal" life, so why not find ways to make the life she does have more manageable for her and for those who hold the responsibility of caring for her? It's not as though she would ever have understood her breasts or her menstrual blood, so what moral value could possibly be served by insisting on her right to experience them?

And besides, even if after all of this has played out, society does decide that this type of thing is inconsistent with where we want to be ethically and morally, then maybe this case can bring attention to the necessity of finding new ways, new support systems, to help make life more manageable for severely disabled children and their caregivers in the future. Sometimes somebody does have to do the "wrong" thing in order to help bring attention to areas where society still needs to improve and change.

And, for that matter, while I don't claim any great spiritual insight, there is the school of thought that our souls specifically choose the paths of our lives before we're even born. So some people would almost certainly suggest that maybe Ashley specifically chose to experience a life that would call attention to the need for this sort of discussion. I can't presume to know the answer to that either way, but I'm certainly able to see it as possible.

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

I'm a pretty faithful listner to As It Happens (here in Minnesota it's carried on the local NPR/MPR radio station), so I heard about this a couple of days ago. From what I heard I think the parents did the right thing, especially since it seemed that one of their main reasons was so that they'd be able to keep giving her home care longer, which would be better for Ashley. (I'm rather suprised that no one has mentioned this in their comments.)