Most are aware of the baby who died in England this week after appeals from parents who fought to keep him alive. The facts are what they were really trying to achieve? While no one wants to see their baby kidnapped, surely one must look to the future to understand the life they would live. There is also the question of who would care for him when the parents are no longer in a position to support him.
In New South Wales there is a strong reaction to the government’s decision to privatize group homes housing people with severe disabilities. This presents the other side of the debate.
Disabled children are often placed in homes designed to care for them. Parents, on average, cannot cope with the demands of such a child, let alone when he or she grows into adulthood.
The weight of a disabled person who cannot move without assistance and cannot even use the bathroom without assistance is impossible for older parents to handle. They rely on vendors who can deal with this. So why are these people allowed to live when death early in life would undoubtedly be a better option?
Religious principles are at stake here if children are allowed to die due to disability. Then there is the measure of disability and the arguments of good and bad would agitate the population even more. One can see that by the level of public support for the parents of the aforementioned child who died just before her first birthday.
This is an issue communities must come to terms with, especially as the cost of long-term care for these individuals is growing disproportionately. The bottom line is what kind of life such a person lives. If there’s no possibility of a life beyond requiring someone to do all the chores for them, it’s too bad for parents to hand them over to their fate.
Keeping children alive on life support and getting caught up in the emotions of the moment is impractical. The question is who decides when life is not worth living? It is surely too big a problem for even a court to solve. He brings this into the realm of mercy killing and the dire consequences of thinking one has made a mistake. This is a test for everyone and only when one knows all the circumstances can such a decision be made.
