Do we have the right?

This morning during that quite peaceful moment I have before all the children wake, I was doing my usual thing of checking e-mail and facebook, reading the headlines for the day, and planning out my daily activities. One particular facebook entry struck me. It was a news article titled "Dad fights to keep baby on life support." I was so shocked and concerned that I had to in turn write about it as well. The article tells of a one year old in Britain with Congenital myasthenic syndrome, CMS. According to the article, CMS is the result of a rare gene abnormality that affects the link between the nerve and muscle, destroying the "signal" between the two when the nerve wants the muscle to contract. You can read more about CMS here. The child is on life support to help him breath. The doctors and the mom wish for him to be taken off life support, stating that his quality of life is so low that it isn't in the boys interest to save him. The father is fighting this move. So now the high court in Britain will decide the child's fate.

Once again I want to say, "what the H E double hockey sticks!!!" The child has brain function, knows whats going on around him. Who do we think we are to determine about the quality of his life. Are we in that brain, do we know? And where does it stop. If the courts determine that even though he has brain function, his quality of life isn't enough to continue treatment, even against the wishes of one of the parents, whats to keep them from making more decisions against the will of us the parents. What about the child born with some other disease that in someway lessens their quality of life. Are we to stop treatment for them as well? And when it is the case of a child, who can not make medical decisions for themselves yet, are we ready to tell our government, go ahead make those decisions for us. It is the doctors that are seeking this court order to begin with. Government run health care at its best people. And don't think for a moment that because it isn't happening in your neighborhood, that someday you won't be effected. The decisions that the courts make now, in any country, effect us all down the road.

Finally I will leave you with this. I found this to be priceless.