Ashley is a bedridden, 9-year-old girl whose profound birth defects have left her severely handicapped, both mentally and physically. Her parents, who have not revealed their names or where they live, recently persuaded doctors at a Seattle area hospital to perform surgery and administer drugs that will stunt Ashley’s growth, thereby keeping her at a “more manageable and more portable size.”
Tony BeamThe parents have convinced themselves this drastic action is in Ashley’s best interest. They say the removal of her uterus and breast tissue will prevent her from entering puberty and the mega doses of hormones will prevent her from growing past her current height of 4 feet, 5 inches.
Her parents justify the action by saying that “Ashley’s smaller and lighter size makes it more possible to include her in the typical family life and activities that provide her with needed comfort, closeness, security and love: meal time, car trips, touch, snuggles, etc.”
They go on to say, “If she is smaller and lighter, we will be able to do that for a longer period of time.”
In 1973 when Roe v. Wade became the law of the land, many Christians warned that eventually a mentality of convenience would overtake our culture, leading to this very action. The court found an elusive and nebulous “right to privacy” in the Constitution which gave women an opportunity to end an inconvenient pregnancy.
It has taken a mere 33 years for the idea of inconvenience to migrate from the womb to the mentally and physically handicapped.
I am not sure which aspect of this story I find to be the most shocking. Is it the fact that these parents could conceive of such a plan for their handicapped daughter, or the fact someone in the medical community would actually agree?
The Christian worldview looks at life through the lens of the inestimable value of each individual human being. Reflecting on the wonder and sovereignty of God’s creative power, David wrote, “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me when as yet there was not one of them” (Psalm 139:16).
The value of a human life should never be calculated based on physical appearance, mental ability, or on “manageability and portability.” Christians must cry out against a culture of convenience that calls for discarding human life in the womb and now the physical manipulation of the severely handicapped.