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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 10, 1982)
A BooK of HUGS Give your Valentine a hug that lasts . . . Upstairs in the Book Dept. 13th & Kincaid Mon-Fri 8:15-5:30 Sat 10:00-3:00 Textbooks 686-3520 • General Books 686-3510 • Supplies 666-4331 uo BOOKSTORE LOVE TO READ Roses are red, Violets are blue, A special gift book Reads, “I Love You.’’ Valentines that last, Upstairs in the Book Dept. Textbooks 686-3520 • General Books 686-3510 • I 13th & Kincaid \JMon-Fn 8:15-5:30 BOOKSTORE Sar 10:00-3,00 Supplies 686-4331 sally hodgkinson editor's note Kathleen Phillips wishes her son Randy, a 4 Vi-year-old with Down s Syndrome, had never been born And she's suing her doctor for $5 million, holding him responsible for Randy's ‘wrongful birth.” Kathleen, if she had known the child she was carrying would be born severely retarded, would have aborted him “He’s going to suffer for the rest of his life I’m going to suffer for the rest of my life too " Better off dead Wrongful life A life not worth living Ironically, as technology enables doctors to save infants that once would have died and to make handicaps less severe, there are more questions about the ‘ validity’' of those lives Sixteen years ago, my brother Kelly was born two months premature Medics rushed the gasp ing infant from Pendleton to a hospital in Walla Walla, Wash., that had the technology to save him On the way he quit breathing three times; part of his brain died from lack of oxygen In medical terms, he has cerebral palsy In real terms, he can't walk without crutches his legs don't always work well: and his motor control is a little off He has undergone several opera tions, countless hours of therapy and years of "being different ” Before attending public school, Kelly went to Eugene's Easter Seal School for severely handi capped children The school's atmosphere overflowed with life It had to The kids wrestled with painful therapy, bodies that wouldn't work and simple tasks that were frustrating But the kids knew that death can only be overcome by life; tears by laughter: sorrow by joy; and pity by respect So they kept fighting, even against the odds Tracy had spina bifda — and was expected to die by the age of 10 Zach was spastic and commun icated by typewriter — plunk! plunk! one key at a time Kelly says handicapped people are better off alive Rightful lives Lives with meaning "Any life, basically, is worth living,' he says Some don’t agree. Many physicians and scholars have advocated letting severely handi capped newborns die—children who would live with help Several cases have been documented where parents and doctors have let a child die because he was handicapped. Others have sued for "wrongful life'' or “wrongful birth." "When public opinion is prepared for it. no child should be admitted into the society of the living who v/ould be certain to suffer any social handicap," says philosophy and humanities professor Millard Everett, quoted in Whatever Happened to the Human Race, a book authored by theologian Francis Schaeffer and U S Sur geon General C Everett Koop "The discussion of life must be brought back to where it belongs — not to emotional, extreme examples, not to selfish questions of rights, not to expedience, and certainly not to economics," say Schaeffer and Koop "The matter should be discussed in terms of right and wrong " Koop, a pacesetter in pediatric surgery, says to let a child die because he may be severely handicapped is a "discrimination just as deplor able as tnose based on race, creed, color or sex " "One must decide for whose benefit is the decision to withhold treatment from a child with severe birth defects," says John Robertson, a physician at the University of Wisconsin medical school "Is no life better than one of low quality? The person to ask is an individual who has a disabling birth defect " “I don’t think I’m handicapped,’’ Kelly says “Everyone's handicapped Some physically, some mentally, some emotionally and some all three I don't let myself worry anymore " Kelly has faced a lot in 16 years Advice "You could walk if you really tried.” Fear: "You're going to end up in a wheelchair if you don't do your exercises." Bitterness “I hate these stupid crutches " Alienation: "Of course he's lonely Kids don’t want to play with someone who can't run or play like they can." And questions: always questions "What's wrong with your legs7" Kelly says he has felt more accepted as he has gotten older The stares and whispers that used to hurt him, are now shrugged off "It doesn’t bother me I'm going to live with it all my life." he says, adding that there are advan tages to being handicapped “I can't get drafted He looks forward to a career in radio com munications "But without equal opportunity. I'd probably have to stay home and stuff envelopes That's not something I want to do ” He hopes to get married and if he has children, they d prob ably be normal because cerebral palsy isn't her editary But if his wife was pregnant with a child who was handicapped — mentally or physically — would he want the child aborted7 "Of course not I wouldn't kill him just because he's different That's just stupid " EMU Cultural Forum presents Gregg Tripp in an afternoon of Hot Rock-n-Roll staff Ths Oregon Daily Emerald It published Monday through Friday except during Knelt weak and vacations by the Oregon Dally Emerald Publishing Co. Newt 8*6-55(7 Advertising I Business 686-3712 Classifieds 686-4343 Production 686-4381 Editor Sally Hodgkinson Managing Editor Gabriel Boebmer New* Editor Harry Eslere Assistant Naan Editor John Healy Photo editor Bob Baker Graphic* editor MaxDeRungt editorial Page editor Cort FernalO Sportt editor Steve Spate Associate Sport* Editor Jett Dickerson Entertainment Editor Matt Meyer Night Editor Debbie Howlett Aaociatw editor*: ASUO Dane Claussen Community Marian Green Department* end Schoola Debbie Howlett Feature* Caroline Pelrich Higher education Ann Portal Politic* / Environment Ron Hunt Gfwl Stall Ad—tilting Dtreclo Darlene Gore Cteamed Ad—rating Sally Ol/ar Production Hanogor Ann Peterson Controller Jean Ownbey
