Should she live or die?

[MarrickG]

A Tianjin couple's decision to stop medical treatment for their newborn baby, who suffers life-threatening birth defects, has triggered a huge controversy.

The newborn girl suffers from a congenital imperforate anus and other problems. She has been sent to a local hospice by her family without any medical treatment, with only water to keep her alive, said Zhang Wen, director of Child Welfare League of China (CWLC), a Beijing-based charity group.

The baby, who has not yet been named, was born on Jan 15 and received a series of medical treatments in hospital for an imperforate anus, hydronephrosis, and heart disease, Zhang said on Friday.

But her family finally gave up 13 days later after they realized the baby's condition was "hopeless" and could not be cured, and that the process was extremely painful for the baby, according to Zhang.

The family members were very fatigued and looked wan.

"My wife is very weak now so I told a lie to her that the baby already died as a result of the congenital malformation," the baby's father said.

"I can't bring myself to see the baby continue to struggle along on the verge of life painfully. Passing away quietly would be the best for her," the father reportedly said.

However, the decision angered the public after the case was reported on an online forum. More than 10 netizens even visited the hospice to protest the family's decision and urged for action to cure the baby.

"How does the father know that the baby is not willing to live? He has no right to sentence her to death. It is murder," said a netizen on the forum.

"It was the ninth day for the baby in the hospice. Her crying is getting quieter," Zhang said in her blog.

The family has not refused to treat the baby because of the money. They can afford hospital fees on their own and have shown a cold response to people offering assistance, Zhang said.

"We tried to persuade the parents to give up custody of the baby so that CWLC can have the right to help her with further medical treatment. However, they do not agree and insisted that the baby should not suffer so much pain in her life," Tong Yi, a CWLC volunteer, said.

Obviously, not having custody of the baby is stopping the charity group from providing assistance, Zhu Lieyu, a lawyer, was quoted as saying by Guangzhou Daily.

According to the country's law on the protection of minors, the court may disqualify the parents or guardians when they maltreat the child.

However, since the family is paying the fee for her to live in the hospice, where the staff is taking care of her, it is hard to say that they are not fulfilling their responsibility of guardianship. Therefore, disqualifying the guardians is not possible, Zhu said.

Qiu Renzong, an expert in bioethics from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said such a case is representative of a long-time dispute among bioethics experts.

"In my own point of view, unless the baby is incurable, the family has the responsibility to offer effective medical treatments continually," Qiu said.

 

[Highfalutin]

What kind of life can the baby look forward to should it be decided that attempts to reverse her medical conditions continue? This tussle of opinion is no different from the Abortion issue. About the right to live. It will never end.

 

[littlefish]

This is a very difficult question.

In this particular case, my view is that the parents should do everything possible to ensure their child live as long as possible. When a baby is born, it is totally helpless and dependent on the parents/others to sustain its life. It is not up to the parents to make the decision if prolonging her life will cause her more suffering. It is their duty to ensure that they try their best to let her live as normal a life as possible. To decide that the baby would be better off dead is like playing God. Withholding medical treatment is the same as killing the child.

If it is up to the parents to determine whether the child will suffer, then almost all babies should be killed when they are born since most of them are likely to suffer sometime during their lifetime. When the baby becomes an adult and decides to end her life because it is too painful to bear, that is her prerogative but it is not up to the parents to decide for her at any point of her life except in situations like brain death.

Although I sympathise with the parents but from a logical (as opposed to emotional) perspective, it cannot be up to the parents to decide whether their daughter should die. Not even if they feel strongly that their daughter will be better off dead. Simple reason is that no one should have the right to decide for others whether they should live. This is also the premise for those advocating the abolition of the death penalty.

 

[BuiKia]

How can the PRC parents be so cruel to their own flesh and blood by letting the baby die on its own in the hospice?

If they can do that I doubt there is nothing that they wouldn't do to benefit themselves.

 

[commoner]

the right to live and the right to life, the right to choose,,,

difficult choices.... inability to provide the best medical care in terms of costs for the baby,,, the inability to look after one that requires attention..,,, inability to alleviate/lessen pain of one's child,,,,,, thats sad,,,,,,

whatever decisions that are made or not made, they will follow the parents for the rest of their lives,,,,,,,,

for those critical of the parents action, how about someone to adopt the kid, and someone to sponsor the medical treatment?

 

[littlefish]

for those critical of the parents action, how about someone to adopt the kid, and someone to sponsor the medical treatment?

The post stated that the family refused offers of assistance and would not consider allowing others to adopt the baby.

 

[commoner]

ok,,,,, the parents are weird, murderers perhaps,,,, can the authorities charged them for attempt of murder?