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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rambi who wrote (213326)	1/17/2007 6:17:43 PM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

The blessing of advanced medical ability is also the curse. It seems to me that it would be easier (less controversial) to approach this particular question in the context of what to do when a baby is born prematurely, looking at it from the baby's probable point of view. It seems to me that you're morally obligated to put the baby on life support if there is a reasonable chance of survival. On the other hand, there is no moral obligation to prolong life when death is inevitable. Middle ground -- very tough question -- what to do if the baby will be hideously disabled? I've represented (more than half a dozen) people who are extremely retarded, deaf, dumb, blind, and incapable of abstract thought. Some able to walk, some not. Some able to feed themselves, some not. The astonishing thing, to me, is that they all relish being alive. I wouldn't expect anybody to believe me unless they saw this for themselves. It sounds like Pollyanna BS, I know, but it's true. Maybe I was just lucky so far? The caretakers all say the same story. But they're professionals, not family, able to leave and go home after their shift is done. You have to be more sentient to suffer melancholy and despair even though you're well taken care of, is my guess. The people I've known who were schizophrenic or delusional or crushingly depressed were all rather bright. We live in a culture where the state is willing to take over the care of these people. So the question in my mind is, even though the mother doesn't want them, if the state is willing to take them, why kill them? It's not like they'd be happier or better off dead.