There’s a heartbreaking story in London, where a court decided a baby shouldn’t be on life support anymore and so pulled the plug. The baby died soon after. A quote in the BBC article really got to me, “Doctors treating him had said the boy’s life was intolerable and his disability was such that his life had little purpose.”
I added the emphasis because in my experience, living with a hearing loss of mild to severe levels, I have a unique perspective on disabilities. I also have Crohn’s Disease, but I should say instead, that it lives with me. Having both Crohn’s and being hard of hearing, I know from my own experience that is it those things that give purpose to ones life. That the act of living is the purpose of life itself.
The quote above angers me so much because no one should think that anyone with a disability doesn’t deserve the gift of life or that they have no purpose. It’s a complex issue to be sure, but it’s a slippery slope I think to start saying one person’s life has more purpose over another. Doesn’t matter in my opinion whether someone will be disabled or comatose, life itself, is the purpose of life.
© 2009, Reid Bryant Kimball. All rights reserved.