Monday, February 14, 2011

Child With Missing Brain Shows Power of Human Spirit, Baffles Experts

A three-year-old boy has baffled doctors after he has started learning to walk, despite missing a key part of his brain. Chase Britton was born prematurely and an MRI scan at the age of one revealed he was completely missing his cerebellum – the part which controls motor skills, balance and emotions. The little boy, who is legally blind, also has no pons – part of the brain stem that regulates basic functions including breathing and sleeping.

The V-word should never be applied to any human, but that point aside, think very carefully about this story. Throughout bioethics, we have been told that anencephalic babies–that is, children without (generally different) parts of their brains (and parts of their skulls) are not “persons,” should be considered not human, should be considered as splendid sources for organ harvesting, etc. There was even an experiment in using such babies in that instrumental way. But because the principle that sick babies could be used instrumentally sunk into the heads of doctors, it had to be canceled because doctors were sending babies with other conditions to be organ suppliers. Secondhand Smoke

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