No one has the right to say this
There are a lot of outrageous things going on in the name of health care across the world. We learn to tolerate (if barely) the spreading of ideologies and the morphing of language while we work to change laws and hearts and minds to recognize the dignity of human beings.
This story at first sounds like one more of these cases. But it somehow goes further…
The nine-month-old, known as “Baby OT”, had a rare metabolic disorder and had brain damage and respiratory failure.
His parents had appealed against a ruling at London’s High Court that it was in the boy’s best interests to withdraw “life-sustaining treatment”.
The British Medical Association (BMA) supported the doctors’ actions, as did some Christian groups.
Baby OT was unable to breathe by himself and died at 1008 GMT after doctors withdrew his treatment.
A medical decision, but arrived at with this thinking:
Doctors treating him had said the boy’s life was intolerable and his disability was such that his life had little purpose.
No one has the right to say a person’s life has little purpose. No matter what.
Purpose is not a medical diagnosis. Medical specialists are charged with making medical decisions about the body’s condition and options for treatment. They are not qualified, entitled or morally permitted to render judgment about the purpose of the human being inhabiting the body.
Out of this tragedy came the triumph of unyielding love.
His parents said they were “deeply distressed” by the decision and said the life of their “beautiful boy” was worth preserving.
What a message for the culture that considers impaired human beings to be burdens, those who see suffering as an evil to avoid, at all cost.Â
The couple said through their solicitor after the death was announced: “During his short time with us, OT became the focus of our lives. We were present during his last moments, together with [his] extended family.
“He died peacefully. We will miss him greatly and wish to say that we are proud to have known our beautiful son for his brief life.”
The statement of saints comes to mind: Love is stronger than death.
And the purpose of every human life is more transcendent than any doctor can define, and more than some can grasp.
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Britain is falling deeper into the abyss: Prime-minister Brown authorized the genetic crossing of humans and animals, there is no sense of national identity, there are few Christians remaining, emergency crews refuse to aid people because the house is a mess, words (having Christian context) are pulled from dictionaries as no longer relevant. We must pray for Britain.
I was just thinking this afternoon as I was wasting time watching an hour of TV that I hope no one ever is able to decide who should live and who should die based upon whether his or her life “has purpose.” And now you write this. Thanks again Sheila.
Sheila, I’m confused (and perhaps very naive). The parents wanted this child to live but the court and doctors were able to rule against the parents? How can this possibly be? Thank you in advance! God bless you and all you do, Dolores Holmen
Sheila, I just wanted to say I love your blog and your bits on Relevant, my only gripe is that I wish you had a ‘sharing’ feature so I could link your blog posts directly to facebook and share with all my facebook friends! Speaking of facebook, you should be over there, you could reach a lot of folks. God bless and keep up the awesome work!
Dolores-The British Medical Association’s explanation (excuse) was: “Cases like this are very distressing and we have every empathy with the parents, but when the parents and the clinical team don’t agree on the treatment for the child in question, the only way forward is to go to the courts and for the courts to decide on what is in the best interests of the child, which is paramount.”
They considered it to be ‘in the best interest of this child’ to end his life. And they had the power to do so. Which is why it’s so critical for citizens to be well-informed of the laws and bills to make new laws, and to be engaged in the process of working to make sure they are moral and ethical.