Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Robert Latimer refused parole....not funny

I am appalled at the Canadian "justice" system. In 1993 Robert Latimer killed his severely disabled daughter using CO. His daughter had severe cerebral palsy, had the mental capacity of an infant, was in constant pain and had a bleak future ahead of her.
Having worked in a nursing home and seen the suffering that people go through in order to keep their families happy, I am a strong proponent of euthanasia. I'm not saying that as soon as grandpa gets a diagnosis of cancer he should be offed. I'm saying that quality of life is far more important than quantity of life. In other words, I'm saying he did the right thing.
What would keeping his daughter alive have accomplished? His family would be stressed to the breaking point looking after her 24 hours a day 7 days a week. She would have continued to experience unrelenting pain. She never would walk, talk, feed herself, have a boyfriend (not that that's necessarily a bad thing) have a family, get a job, go to school etc etc etc. All the things that everyone takes for granted, she would NEVER be able to do. I think that what Robert Latimer did was an act of compassion and he saved her from a miserable existence.
Now, I know you're thinking "but there are lots of people with CP (cerebral palsy) and people in wheelchairs who are perfectly happy. I've had two boyfriend's with CP, one was in a wheelchair (he experienced a lot of pain, a lot of the time, BUT he still had his mental faculties) Yes, there are many people in wheelchairs are are happy, but was she happy? Who knows, for all intents and purposes (and this sounds incredibly cruel but it's the truth so I'm saying it anyway) she was nothing more than a piece of furniture. A piece of furniture no less who cost a fortune, financially and emotionally to maintain.
How can you have dignity when you need someone to feed you, clothe you, wipe your bottom, bathe you etc etc? That alone, in my opinion would be enough to justify helping her die, add to that the fact that she was in chronic pain and keeping her alive is far more monstrous than helping her die. Ask yourself this, would YOU want her life?
A lot of people say that "life is precious" and every life is "a gift" and we don't have the right to take a life away. I say to those people....well, this is a family blog so I won't say it but it's not very nice. Try walking a mile in her shoes, in her family's shoes and tell me how precious her life is. The ironic thing is these are the same people who say that now she's "with Jesus" and she's "whole again." So if she's better off in "heaven" then why are you bemoaning the fact that she's there now?

I couldn't help but laugh reading a statement by Kelly-Ann Speck (any relation to Richard Speck I wonder?) representative of the parole board. She said "We were left with a feeling that you have not developed the kind of sufficient insight and understanding of your actions." What planet does she live on? Lack of insight? Kelly-Ann, that man had more insight in his little finger than you will EVER have. I've always said the penal system is run by morons and she is living proof of that.

Robert Latimer, I wish you all the luck in the world, thank you for standing up for your daughter's right to die with as much dignity as possible.

As for Canada's "justice" system....what can you say about a system that lets Karla Homolka run free but locks up a loving father.

No comments: