Critical_Response_to_Life_Choices

Lisa Hornung Response Paper #1 August 29, 2011 If your child was born without parts of their brain to sustain normal life what decisions would you be prepared to make' Would you want to help another child if you had the opportunity' If you answered yes to these questions then you may also believe that harvesting organs in a “brain dead” baby should be the choice of the parents. To be able to help another that could live a long, regular life with a donated organ would be the ultimate gift you could give to someone. In the case of baby Theresa, she was born without parts of her brain, cerebrum and cerebellum, that could allow her to have a normal life. Her state would be vegetative at most, along with other complications as well. If the prognosis for sustaining life was grim at birth then I believe, when left up to the parent’s discretion, that they should have been able to donate her organs while they were still healthy enough to be useful to another. The parents had decided to allow baby Theresa’s organs to benefit other children who, with donated organs, could live normal lives. The doctor’s agreed to perform the procedure as well. However, the state of Florida did not permit that. It was illegal to donate organs of a living human being. I believe that, under the circumstances, it should not be a state law. The decision has nothing to do with politics, and should ultimately be left up to the person, or in this case the parents. When it comes to making life and death decisions the political aspect should not be involved. Others may refute that taking the life of someone to give life to another is not just. Don’t you think that should be baby Theresa’s parents decision' The prognosis for baby Theresa was not good. Miracles do happen, but what are the chances of someone without a brain being able to miraculously function' Don’t you think that you should then give that chance to another baby' If baby Theresa had been born with all parts of her brain, but they were just not functioning then my thoughts would be with another choice. Also, people may say that the law is there for specific reasons. The law is proper, set, and should be followed. If the same situation happened to you, would you want the courts making the final decision for you' I don’t think that in a case like baby Theresa that allowing the harvest of her organs while still alive would set off others to feel they can make the same choices. Every situation is different in some way. I do believe that in a case of allowing someone else to live if you don’t have the opportunity that you should be able to make that decision yourself. It should not be determined by a court, a doctor or a law-it’s your decision.