On the sterilization of disabled children, and other thoughts...

I have not intended to jog down my thoughts on a subject like this, but such is the case after I read the Sydney Morning Herald article on the controversy over parents' request to have their disabled children sterilized.

No doubt, the topic is controversial enough, with the horrific legacy of eugenics.  The idea of wholesale cleansing of human gene pool is repulsive to me, to say it mildly.  No one should be allowed to play god like that.

And then, there is the question of loving parents' wishes, to have their disabled children sterilized, the intention of which cannot be further from eugenics practiced in other times like the Nazi era and the Holocaust.  These parents would request sterilization on their disabled children, out of noble, loving and very practical concerns.  As the article rightly notes the comment from one of such parents, who wonder out loud, of what would have become of the caring baby, if the disabled parent(s) cannot even care for themselves?  Most likely, the burden of the caring, of not only the baby but the disabled  parents, would fall on the grandparents and the society at large.

For those who voice opposition to these parents' wishes, out of humanity concerns, that these disabled children should enjoy basic human rights and enjoy sexual relationship much like anyone else, I'm sure they are not the ones who would bear the burden of the caring, should accidental pregnancy happen.  It's so much easier to cast the first stone, to be arm-chair quarterback and second-guess someone else's decisions and intentions.

I would not have wished ills to anyone, though at heart, I'm just simply pragmatic.  Forget about eugenics, forget about human rights.  Not that I'm saying the minority like the mentally retarded are incapable of being loving human beings; I only think of a future situation from a very practical perspective.  As it is, very able-bodied people around the world have had a hard time surviving the increasingly harsh competition in society, to strive and thrive.  The chances for those less equipped (like the economically deprived) are much reduced, let alone the ones who might not physically and mentally up to even just simple tasks.

My litmus test has always been that, I would imagine myself in someone else's shoe, and fathom how I would handle the situation.

I've asked myself, if I were the parent, would I have done the same to my disabled child and request sterilization on the child? Almost without a doubt, my reflex as well as decision after much thoughts are still the same, which is that, I would not much hesitate to ensure my disabled children are sterilized, in order to prevent them from being burdened by "accidents."  It's almost a no brainer to me.

On the other side of the coin, I've been wondering if I would feel that kind of resolute determination, should I be the disabled children.  I don't doubt that disabled children would have their own sexual needs, though I doubt if they realize what it means to be a parent.  Sterilization would perhaps provide the best solution to the sometimes impossible situation.

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I have perhaps particularly stronger feelings towards such topic.  In a building near I live, there's a day facility for disabled adults.  The disability ranges from mild retardation to severely disabled physically.  I'm unsure if the facility is run privately or not, but there are quite a high ratio of staffing.  Sometimes when I'm in the building, I can hear the disabled folks singing songs.  Whenever I see them in the corridor or out and about in the elevator, they are always happy and cheery (both the disabled folks and the staff).

To be sure, I'm quite happy to learn of such facility that provides excellent care to the disabled.  On the other hand, I have no doubt in my mind that none of these disabled folks would have been able to handle a baby and to see through the baby to adulthood. Afterall, each of them need at least one staff to assist them in normal routine (like walking down the stairs).  From a very practical perspective, do I subscribe to those human rights activist's notion, that these disabled folks should have their rights to bear babies, just so that they can do what everyone else does?  No, I honestly don't.  I don't want to pretend that they should have what everybody else has because, let's be candid, they are special in their right, requiring very special care.  From my vantage point, I see it as cruelty, for subjecting them to menstruation or pregnancy or childbirth and childrearing.  I really do.

To me, all it comes down to, is commonsense.  As simple as that.