What do you think about the "pillow angel" surgeries...compassionate... or not?

Question

http://www.cnn.com/2007/health/05/08/ash...

after working with developmentally disabled people, one woman in particular comes to mind. Her family might have been able to take care of her for longer if she had had this surgery. now, she lives in a "home" far away from her parents and leads a very sad life. I agree with the parents on this one.

the reason I'm asking this here is because I want to know what religious folk think about this

try this one
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1574851,00.html

Answer 1

My opinion comes from working in the medical field 30 plus years. I am also a religious person I am also an open minded person and very logical.
I agree with the parents 100 percent. My opinion, I think the government sticks their nose in where they have no idea what is going on in real life. Very blunt and to the point. lol Real life need logical thinking. And I really think that Guy upstairs would agree--He gave us a brain to use if we would use it logically.

Answer 2

Your link doesn't work. Try these:

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1574851,00.html
http://cnn.ch/2007/HEALTH/05/08/ashley.ruling/index.html

At the outset it sounds barbaric. From a religious/spiritual standpoint, the surgeries prelude miracles or future cures. From a practical standpoint, why limit her growth potential to 4'5". Why not make it 5', or 5'2"? That way, at least she'd achieve a woman's size, albeit short, and if a cure can come, she'd have the size to live a closer-to-normal adult life.

I can understand the desire to prevent pregnancy in case of rape. However, one of the links above said that the sterilization procedure violated Washington state law. Indeed, there was widespread abuse of sterilization back in the 1930s, with institutions sterilizing perfectly healthy people who were deemed mentally ill (and some weren't)!

That said, I can't all by myself decide all the ethics in this case, especially when I've just heard about this. This is only an initial reaction from one person.

Answer 3

It says page not found.

I'd really like to know what you're talking about. Sounds interesting.


EDIT: I found it, gimme some time to read it.


http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/05/08/ashley.ruling/index.html

Ok. I'm atheist and I think it's pretty messed up. The child should be able to grow as a human being. Not kept as a small child forever.

Answer 4

Thank you for the updated URL.

I'm an atheist. I think that this is a morally difficult situation. Her doctors took a hard, long look at the costs and benefits. This young lady is brain damaged, but if a way was ever found to help her heal, she will have massive problems coping.

I don't find myself in agreement with her doctors final decision, though I feel they made many, many good points in their cost-benefit analysis. But I feel too much was removed, and far too actively.

You'd be surprised the things some people with critical brain damage manage to overcome to lead productive lives in defiance of all expectations. If this young lady should be one of these people somewhere down the road, she will be trapped in a body barely female and barely of age.

No, this was not acceptable.... but I understand it all the same and won't condemn anyone involved -- hard choices sometimes require a great deal of humility.

Answer 5

I might not be the kind of person you are eliciting an answer from, as I am not religious.

These surgeries make me uncomfortable, as I am split thinking with my heart (where it feels like an abomination to destroy and sterilize a human being for the family comfort), and my head, where I recognize that it is performed for the best of the child, whou would otherwise find him/herself in situations as you mention.
I've never dealt personally with such a child. I think if I did, my head would win very fast, and my heart join in. It is probably the most compassionate and kind thing to do.

Answer 6

If her body continues to grow and she is unable to walk or move they will need to surgically expand her hip sockets. I don't know enough medical terminology to answer this question properly. I think the family was doing the right thing. I worked with a man he was explaining the surgery his daughter needed to accommodate her growing body she was born to a drug addicted mother and was born with a myriad of health problems including the inability to walk. When he explained the surgery it sounded barbaric. When you deal with bone operations you are risking major infections. I am sure their are doctors out there that could explain the pros and cons

Answer 7

I'm not sure how I feel about this.
My cousin who was severely disabled after a reaction to the DTP immunization in the 80's would have been able to have been cared for by her parents much longer had this option been available. As it is, she had to be institutionalized when she became to big for my aunt and uncle to care for.