When I woke up this morning I saw a Fox News Alert on my iPhone. Baby Joseph had passed away. I vaguely remembered hearing about this baby boy. I clicked the news story and read up on how he was terminally ill, he was hospital ridden in Canada, and his parents had asked for a tracheotomy so he could be taken off the ventilator. The goal of this surgery would be for his parents to be able to take him home and allow him to pass away in their arms. For some reason or another this was denied in Canada so, according to the Fox News story (link not available because it was on the iPhone, but I am sure you can google it and find the story in full detail), Father Frank Pavone, who I am familiar with because I am very adamantly pro life, helped to get the child to the United States where the surgery was performed. Because of the surgery baby Joseph was able to be with his family in his home when he passed away.
Apparently the Canadian court had denied this child’s parents request for a surgery to take him off ventilation and was, instead, going to allow the hospital to pull the plug on the child and allow him to perish in the hospital against the parents’ wishes. For some people this may be a no brainer. They may feel that the child had no chance to live so why not let him die right away. They may believe that he was so disabled that no money or care should be spent on him. Still, some extremists may see him as dispensable and not even or barely human.
All-in-all, this story is sad, disturbing, but really full of hope. The sad part comes with the loss of the child. Anyone with children will understand that losing a child is indeed a very sad, depressing event. You carry a child for 9 months, go through labor and sometimes dangers for that child to live. To have a child pass away, especially at this young age is unthinkable, cruel, and just sad. However, there is a disturbing element that I felt I had to comment on as well.
This story reminded me of Terri Schiavo. She supposedly had a somewhat abusive husband who had control over her hospital care. On the flip side she perhaps had an eating disorder that could have lead to her condition when the debate about whether or not they were going to pull the plug occurred. There is a real story full of truth out there that only Terri and her husband (ex I should say) ever really knew. Regardless, her right to life was severely diminished when that feeding tube was taken away from her, which really worsened her condition. In the case of baby Joseph, he was in a similar situation where the hospital wanted to take him off of life support, but his legal guardians, his parents, his caregivers were staunchly against that action. They took their case to the Canadian court who told them they were not going to beat the hospital’s right to take their son’s life against their wishes.
That is disturbing. God bless America! We are not perfect, but at least we have the right as parents to determine our child’s right to live. There is no court in the United States right now (correct me if I am wrong) that can tell the parents of a terminally ill child that all hope is lost and they need to just let their child die right then and now in the hospital. For all those who are considering the move to Canada, perhaps you should reconsider and stay where you are!
This article, so far, seems very doom and gloom. But, there is a huge light at the end that completely erases all the sick, black, tar-like illness that I felt when I read the news report. Baby Joseph’s life was worth something to me. That child, of course, meant something to his parents, but that child meant something to me as well. He was allowed to be born, he was allowed to live, he was allowed care, and he was vulnerable. And when he was under attack and had no control, people loved him. They loved him enough to fight for him to live and continue to receive care. When they knew there was no hope they fought for him to die in a dignified manner and they won! That is true humanity, God’s love, and compassion. This story is what we all should strive for. I think that we ask too much and expect too much in a short amount of time. We no longer want to be still and see what God has to say to us. We want to be in charge and focus on what we want and how to get it. I admire Joseph’s parents and hope that they find solace in that their son meant something to me regardless of who saw him as invaluable, destitute, without meaning. I pray they are comforted at this time and understand what a special family they are!