Hi Everyone,

This was my own response regarding the social implications of the Latimer
case. I have sent it to my cousin, Bianca, but thought you might enjoy
reading it.

Jenn
As a young adult with cerebral palsy, I remember being extremely shocked
when I heard via the media that Robert Latimer had murdered his young
daughter, Tracey. She was said to have severe cerebral palsy, and was
unable to walk, speak, or move without assistance. The view of the media
at the time was that this was a "mercy killing", and that any sentence
given to Robert Latimer should be lenient. This outraged me at the time,
and it still does. I do not believe that the killing of Tracey Latimer was
merciful. Due to the fact that she could not speak, she could not choose
to be killed, as did people such as Sue Rodrigez, who had ALS. Her father
murdered her with carbon dioxide. If Robert Latimer had killed one of his
able bodied children, he  most likely would  have received life in prison.
Susan Smith, a mother in the United States who murdered her three young
children by sending her still idling car into a lake, did. The punishment
should have been no less for Robert Latimer, and Tracey's life should not
have been seen as any less valuable than that of an able-bodied child.
Robert Latimer's sentance made me wonder why society thought my life less
valuable than those of my able-bodied peers.

It was said that Tracey Latimer was suffering. As a person with cerebral
palsy who suffers from chronic pain, and has endured several of the same
medical procedures as did Tracey Latimer (including the hip operation
which Tracey's parents did not allow her to undergo, called a femoral
derotation osteotomy), I can attest to suffering. I also know how much
having both orthopedic and neurosurgery can improve an individual's life,
rather than increasing suffering, as Robert Latimer seemed to think. I
also know many people with cerebral palsy who are thriving while being
given daily tube feedings, yet another pricedure that the Latimers would
not allow physicians to perform for their daughter. Tube feedings have
allowed many people I know to put on weight, thrive for the first time,
vocalize for the first time in their lives. It makes giving much needed
nourishment and medication to people with severe diusabilities much
easier, and many families that I know are NOW ABLE TO ENJOY MEALTIME,
RATHER THAN STRUGGLE THROUGH IT, because their child with a disability has
a feeding tube.

Though surgeries bring short term suffering, they often allow people to
make longterm gains that would have been impossible had they not undergone
the procedure.

I realize that the Latimers lived in a rural area, and thus did not have
as much access as they needed to things such as Respite Care, the
Victorian Order of Nurses, or Extend A Family (an organization that
screens volunteer families and trains them to look after the needs of
children with multiple disabilities), so that families can be given a much
needed break several times a month.

However, if the family was near its breaking point, things such as
involving the Children's Aid Society should have been followed through.
This way, Tracey Latimer would have become a ward of the state, and would
have received the medical care she desperately needed. Her family could
have had access to visit her at any time, and would not have had the
burden of caring for her.

What Robert Latimer did was murder his daughter, and not allow her choice
or quaity of life. The social implications of the case are wide. I often
wonder if my life will be as valued as my able-bodied contemporaries,
should anything ever hapen to me. It is hard enough for people with
disabilities to prove themselves worthy, whether this be in school, in
locating a place to live, or holding down a job. We need to be on an even
playing field with our peers and fellow Canadians. Yet the Latimer case
proves that, even in the age of inclusion, we are not. For Tracey's life,
smile, laugh and dancing eyes were not valued by the courts, or the
majority of Canadians. As a person with cerebral palsy, I worry about the
long term implications of this. If the lives of citizens with disabilities
are not valued by society, will services such as nursing care, therapy, or
 funding for equipment also be cut? Society needs to value life as
something sacred, whether one is rich or poor, disabled or not. Everyone
is a human being and should be treated as such.