The Ashley Treatment

[Moreau Catholic High]

I've been reading up on bioethics lately, and I discovered a particularly interesting case involving a little girl who has static encephalopathy.

The story is summarized here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashley_Treatment

Basically, this girl has, and always will have mental function of an infant. Her parents made the decision to give her hormone therapy to stop her growth, and also give her a hysterectomy and remove her breast buds. They justified this by saying that her smaller size would be easier to care for, and her lack of breasts would make her less of a sexual target. The hysterectomy would prevent the discomfort and fear generated by periods. Needless to say, it's quite controversial.

I'm more shocked by it than anything.

What do you guys think? Do you think this is an acceptable course of action? Why?

[Milks Empire]

On one hand, people with such condition cannot ever consent to such treatment. On the other hand, they cannot consent to anything - including sex. If a woman with the condition and hormones left to their own devices winds up being in the care of a man who finds her attractive and has no qualms about doing so, he could wind up taking advantage of her. That would be a bad thing.

Shocking? Absolutely. But I'm frankly at a loss for which way to go on this.

[Molested Sock]

It's unacceptable to not add related text and just post a link.

[Dolbri]

Difficult case. Is this really the best thing for her? Is it what she wants?

Does she actually want anything, does she understand what goes on? If the answer to that is no, her parents need to make decisions in her stead. To circumvent this, let us suppose that Ashley had normal intelligence for one day, and they explained her situation to her, and she could make her own decision, on a well-informed basis. Would she make the same choice her parents did?

I don't know, obviously. But if I were her, on that one bright day, I'd seriously doubt the meaning of my own life. Which wouldn't make the choice any easier.

[South East Europe]

What if they extend such treatment to people with genetic conditions that will be passed on who have normal mental development? When crazy things like this start to happen, many times it gets extended to people who are self thinking individuals.

[Dolbri]

What if they extend such treatment to people with genetic conditions that will be passed on who have normal mental development? When crazy things like this start to happen, many times it gets extended to people who are self thinking individuals.

Well, people who have the ability to make informed decisions are allowed to do so. You can do with your own body whatever you want, no? The actual problem here is that they did it all without the girls consent.

[Bryn Shander]

As far as I'm concerned, without the ability to perceive and react to the outside world, she's not even alive.

[Lunatic Goofballs]

This completely fucks me up.

I'd say that my biggest problem with this is the thought of elective surgeries at the request of someone other than the person having the surgery. I just can't wrap my head around it.

[Scissorblades]

Well, on the whole the idea seems repulsive, but I can understand the parents' angle, but I'm not sure if in this case the desires of the patient and the parents coincide closely enough. In fact, I'm not even sure what her desires might be, since she's more or less unable to express them.

The procedure seems exhaustive, and though I'm sure current medical science can't do much for her condition, this seems to be a case of treating the symptoms and not the cause. The treatment did what it was intended to do, making her easier to care for, but it also negates any possibility of a future cure. Of course, since we're dealing with the brain here, it's pretty unlikely that much progress toward any sort of cure or preventive measures will be made during her or her parents' lifetimes.

Like the first poster, (not OP, the first reply) I'm pretty much lost on this. Issues like this are far too deep for practically anyone to judge simply, and situations like this (thankfully) don't get much coverage when they occur.

As far as I'm concerned, without the ability to perceive and react to the outside world, she's not even alive.

As to this, she is still alive, and she perceives and reacts, but at a much lower level of mental capability. I also think that the issue is too complicated to just brush off like this, especially since this statement would also apply to vegetables, people knocked unconscious, people in comas, and to some extent, people who are asleep.

[Jakra]

It's a shocking idea, but honestly I would do the same thing. But only if there was no hope and no-forseeable hope (ie: no treatments or research being done)

[South East Europe]

What if they extend such treatment to people with genetic conditions that will be passed on who have normal mental development? When crazy things like this start to happen, many times it gets extended to people who are self thinking individuals.

Well, people who have the ability to make informed decisions are allowed to do so. You can do with your own body whatever you want, no? The actual problem here is that they did it all without the girls consent.

In some countries the governments have actually rendered severely physically disabled people who have normal mental capacity infertile. That is what I am speaking of. I personally don't like the idea of being castrated against my will.

[Bryn Shander]

As to this, she is still alive, and she perceives and reacts, but at a much lower level of mental capability. I also think that the issue is too complicated to just brush off like this, especially since this statement would also apply to vegetables, people knocked unconscious, people in comas, and to some extent, people who are asleep.

People sleeping, out cold, or in a coma will usually get better. Vegetables and this girl, on the other hand, will not. Ever.

[South Lorenya]

It's debatable. After all, the last time we had someone who had the mentality of a baby their entire life they were "elected" President of Iran, and we see how well that went. >_>

[Jakra]

In some countries the governments have actually rendered severely physically disabled people who have normal mental capacity infertile. That is what I am speaking of. I personally don't like the idea of being castrated against my will.

Where the hell do they do that, Eugenics crap !?

[Dolbri]

In some countries the governments have actually rendered severely physically disabled people who have normal mental capacity infertile. That is what I am speaking of. I personally don't like the idea of being castrated against my will.

Oh I see. I'd like to see a source for that, but indeed it is a potential problem if you have a bad government. I do believe this is not an issue in civilised nations, though.