About the whole "she's high functioning and doesn't understand that my kid isn't toilet trained" bit

[conuly]

Well, kinda about that!

Aside from the truly hysterical irony of the whole thread, it reminded me of a conversation I had with my mom the same day I posted that CNN article about euthanasia. You know, the one which involved infants with, in one case, "severe spina bifida".

Me: What I don't get is the spina bifida thing. Isn't spina bifida, like, nonfatal?
Mommy: Yes, but the thing is...
Me: *eager anticipation*
Mommy: Well, it's a lack of proper development, so for instance a lot of them are incontinent...
Me: Um, yeah?
Mommy: ...and so they're in diapers their whole lives...
Me: *thinking about that autistics.org article* Yeah, and?
Mommy: ...and they walk strangely....
Me: ...
Me: You've got to be kidding me.

I'm still not sure if she meant that seriously or was just paraphrasing the ideas of people who worry about their poor crippled children, but I was *very* freaked out.

Comments

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

What about removal of life support? If said infant cannot live off of of medical support, is it the same as euthanasia? Different? How long do you go before you decide? Clearly, the same questions apply for adults.

Me, I have no answers.

[conuly]

Well, I'm refering to a specific article where the infant in question was euthanized. And, as I said when I posted it, I'm not getting into the discussion about assisted suicide of consenting adults, or of removal of life support, because too many people have opinions all over for these things. I'm sticking with my one decision: "termination of life without consent" is murder. Abortion isn't, but that is.

[wakasplat.livejournal.com]

My own basic take on this is that anything used for eugenic purposes (the elimination of a specific group of people, possibly based on the idea that said group of people is not really quite human or cannot have a "good" life as defined by people outside the person, which includes because they're disabled) is wrong. Things can be okay that are not used for eugenic purposes, though. Just as knives can be okay as long as you're not stabbing people with them.

That's oversimplified of course, but it's part of what I believe anyway.

[celticess.livejournal.com]

Umm I've had to decide on the life support thing... actually my daughter partly chose that before she died. She wasn't an infant when she died she was 12 and it was brain cancer (2002).

Basically when you know there is no hope there is a decision that has to be made. Eventually though the body would shut down on it's own but leaving it can prolong suffering in alot of cases. As in no hope I mean they will be brain dead or vegitative. And let me tell you it's a hard thing to see your child in a coma dying and I don't care what age the child is it doesn't make it any easier.

My daughter was nt before cancer but she was a premie. I had seen tiny ones on life support. Some of them ended up ok but some ... I think the parents just couldn't let go and accept because their child is pretty much vegatative and severely impared.