There is a move afoot to consider the ethics of allowing children born with serious disabilities to die immediately after delivery. I'm not going to get into this too deeply. There are people's religious beliefs involved. The sanctity of life must be highly regarded. What I do remember is that when I was young, one did not see so many people with - forgive me if this is the ' wrong word' - disabilities as are about today. The story told was that such infants were not resuscitated or given care but allowed to breath their last in the peace and quiet of the delivery room. At the time, I reasoned just what time and attention was required and how the lives of the parents developed. I was especially aware of the effect upon siblings. Just what love and time and attention they were deprived of. They were entitled to this just as much as the child that lived on.
Modern times means that much more can be done for kids with disability. At some time, the parents will be unable to care and will die. What then? The stories one reads about children who are different are uplifting but often reveal a life that one may consider as sad. For my money, if there really is a 'better place', then it must be reasonable to allow them to progress to that 'better place' rather than have to exist in this cruel world on earth.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete