[Kerrigan]

Parents defend decision to keep girl a child - World - Times Online

Her name is Ashley X, and she is the little girl who will never grow up.

Until New Year’s Day, not even her first name was known. Ashley was a faceless case study, cited in a paper by two doctors at Seattle Children’s Hospital as they outlined a treatment so radical that it brought with it allegations of “eugenics”, of creating a 21st-century Frankenstein’s monster, of maiming a child for the sake of convenience.


The reason for the controversy is this: three years ago, when Ashley began to display early signs of puberty, her parents instructed doctors to remove her uterus, appendix and still-forming breasts, then treat her with high doses of oestrogen to stunt her growth.

...

[She was already] Afflicted with a severe brain impairment known as static encephalopathy, she cannot walk, talk, keep her head up in bed or even swallow food.

I understand that she is severely impaired, but surely this is unethical. You can't operate on a human to halt her growth for convenience's sake, you might as well just kill her since it would alleviate all suffering and be much more convenient for the parents.

Maybe this is what pro-life people mean when they talk about slippery slope towards the disregard of human life. On the other hand, the girl does have a severe disorder, so she would never lead a normal life anyways. Argue away.

[smacintush]

George Dvorsky, a director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, countered: “If the concern has something to do with the girl’s dignity being violated, then I have to protest by arguing that the girl lacks the cognitive capacity to experience any sense of indignity.”

I have to say that if she is that if she is that severely impaired mentally then it was selfish of the parents to let her live at all. I've seen first hand parents that just won't let go no matter what is best for the child.

Having been very near to having to choose between death or SEVERE disability for my son I can tell you that my wife and I never even doubted that we wouldn't let him live a life like that even if it meant we had to live without him.

That being said I think that in this case if the girl is to live and be cared for then this is justified. Every reason given in the article seems valid to me.

Even mentioning eugenics is asinine.

[Snow-i]

I guess the question should be which will result in a better quality of life for the child?

And i agree with you, this could be a slippery slope towards disregard for human life.


I believe that as medical science progresses more bizarre and frightening cases like this will surface, and the laws regarding parents' control over their kids will have to be reviewed. This will be a scary step towards government control, but perhaps in this arena a neccesary one.

[lpkmckenna]

Eugenics? Unethical? Selfish? Slippery slope? What rubbish.

The parents and doctors are doing everything they can for this little girl.

[Dakar²]

Just because people have poor or selfish judgement doesn't make it a slippery slope.

[OAW]

I read the blog put up by the parents in which they outlined their reasoning for going forward with these procedures for their daughter. Seemed reasonable to me given the circumstances.

OAW

[Zeeb]

At first I thought that what they did to the girl is reasonable as long as she was an absolute vegetable--but that doesn't seem to be the case. Also this is assuming that there is no hope that she will ever get better or that no new treatment for her will ever be developed during her entire lifespan.

If her parents believed that she was conscious enough to benefit from more frequent field trips than that suggests she is conscious enough to suffer during these procedures and perhaps the after-effects. I haven't read the parent's blog, but this seems clearly wrong to me and definately more motivated by parental convenience than the comfort of the girl.

[King Bob On The Cob]

Is it worse to go through life horny without a chance of getting laid though?

[Zeeb]

Originally Posted by King Bob On The Cob 

Is it worse to go through life horny without a chance of getting laid though?

Her parents can get her a latex "adult novelty"

[OreoCookie]

Originally Posted by Zeeb 

At first I thought that what they did to the girl is reasonable as long as she was an absolute vegetable--but that doesn't seem to be the case. Also this is assuming that there is no hope that she will ever get better or that no new treatment for her will ever be developed during her entire lifespan.

According to what I've read, she has the cognitive abilities of a three-month-old -- not a vegetable, but far from being a person which can consciously interact with its surroundings.

[undotwa]

George Dvorsky, a director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, countered: “If the concern has something to do with the girl’s dignity being violated, then I have to protest by arguing that the girl lacks the cognitive capacity to experience any sense of indignity.”
-----------
This sums up everything that is wrong with the philosophical trends that underlies our modern society. Human dignity is reduced to feelings

[lpkmckenna]

Originally Posted by undotwa 

This sums up everything that is wrong with the philosophical trends that underlies our modern society. Human dignity is reduced to feelings

He said nothing of the sort. You're shoving words in his mouth.

[Hawkeye_a]

Clearly unethical. i'm shocked that the parents requested it, and that the doctors actually carried it out.

Imo, this is clearly a violation of human rights, no matter how severily handicapped she was.

Im sick of this quick-fix/poppin-pills/easy-way-out attitude people have these days.... it's one thing to buy instant coffee(no matter how crap it tastes), but to actually mess with someone's biology for your own convenience.

[lpkmckenna]

Hawkeye, this young girl will never mentally develop beyond her newborn state. They've saved her from pointless discomfort. The parents and doctors have clearly done the right thing.