History of treatment of people with disAbilities
While many children can tell you about the history of African-Americans and of Native-Americans and their treatment, very few can tell you about the history of people with disAbilities because it is not taught in many schools, nor is it part their curriculum. Did you know that in Minnesota, still to this very day in 2011 there are over 13,000 people with disAbilities buried in graves only marked by their "number" from the mental institution?
Even though it may "seem" our society has come a long way with special education, handicapped parking and other rights of the disAbled....the statistics for abortion to the unborn found to have a disAbility is chilling, nearly 90%. We beleive that this alone is evident that as a "civilized" society we really don't value or embrace those with disAbilities at all, not really any more then our society valued them when these photos were taken or at any other time in history. Let us come together so that the our church is a beacon of light to the world! Let us show the world that we value all life by fully embracing our brothers and sisters with disAbilities in our churches, Catholic schools and in every aspect of parish life!
Even though it may "seem" our society has come a long way with special education, handicapped parking and other rights of the disAbled....the statistics for abortion to the unborn found to have a disAbility is chilling, nearly 90%. We beleive that this alone is evident that as a "civilized" society we really don't value or embrace those with disAbilities at all, not really any more then our society valued them when these photos were taken or at any other time in history. Let us come together so that the our church is a beacon of light to the world! Let us show the world that we value all life by fully embracing our brothers and sisters with disAbilities in our churches, Catholic schools and in every aspect of parish life!
Young boy in an institution tied to a bench
Young child in an institute for the mentally retarded tied to a chair
Young child alone in a sparse room
Four men in a dorm room for the mentally retarded
Baby looking through the bars in a room filled with cribs
Men in a dorm room in an institute for the mentally retarded. Some naked, most malnourished.
Women in a dorm room in an institute for the mentally retarded. Some naked, others seemingly wandering.
2 minute-45 second portion of a film documentary on the treatment of the mentally disabled. This video is part of an investigation of Willowbrook Institution in New York by reporter Geraldo Rivera in 1972...Willowbrook did not close it's doors until 1987.
Photos from "Partners in Time" a self-study course on disAbility from the Minnesota Governors Council on Developmental Disabilities http://www.partnersinpolicymaking.com/history/intro_repeats.html
Photos from "Christmas in Purgatory" a photographic essay on mental retardation by Burton Blatt and Fred Kaplan 1966.
Photos from Disability History Museum http://www.disabilitymuseum.org/dhm/index.html
Statistics about unmarked graves from "Remembering with Dignity" http://www.minnesotahelp.info/public/details.aspx?AgencyID=13101319&LinkID=0D86F052-F72F-4DAD-9702-082DAC2B705C
The Gronigen Protocol
Did you know...Lethal injection is permissible in the Netherlands to infants with disAbilities ?!?!?!?!?!?!
Eduard Verhagen, MD, Neonatologist and Clinical Director of Pediatrics in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Groningen, Netherlands, and Pieter J. J. Sauer, MD, Chairman and Professor in the Department of Pediatrics /Beatrix Children's Hospital, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands, in a Mar. 10, 2005 article titled "The Groningen Protocol - Euthanasia in Severely Ill Newborns," published in the the New England Journal of Medicine, offered the background of the Groningen Protocol: "Newborns...however, cannot ask for euthanasia, and such a request by parents, acting as the representatives of their child, is invalid under Dutch law. Does this mean that euthanasia in a newborn is always prohibited? We are convinced that life-ending measures can be acceptable in these cases under very strict conditions: the parents must agree fully, on the basis of a thorough explanation of the condition and prognosis; a team of physicians, including at least one who is not directly involved in the care of the patient, must agree; and the condition and prognosis must be very well defined. After the decision has been made and the child has died, an outside legal body should determine whether the decision was justified and all necessary procedures have been followed... [We] developed a protocol in 2002, in close collaboration with a district attorney. The protocol contains general guidelines and specific requirements related to the decision about euthanasia and its implementation. Five medical requirements must be fulfilled; other criteria are supportive, designed to clarify the decision and facilitate assessment. Following the protocol does not guarantee that the physician will not be prosecuted. Since implementing this protocol, our group has reported four cases in which we performed a deliberate life-ending procedure in a newborn. None have resulted in prosecution.
Dilemmas regarding end-of-life decisions for newborns with a very poor quality of life and presumably unbearable suffering and no hope of improvement are shared by physicians throughout the world. In the Netherlands, obligatory reporting with the aid of a protocol and subsequent assessment of euthanasia in newborns help us to clarify the decision-making process. This approach suits our legal and social culture, but it is unclear to what extent it would be transferable to other countries...
Requirements of the Grorningen Protocol that must be fulfilled:
More information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groningen_Protocol
Eduard Verhagen, MD, Neonatologist and Clinical Director of Pediatrics in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Groningen, Netherlands, and Pieter J. J. Sauer, MD, Chairman and Professor in the Department of Pediatrics /Beatrix Children's Hospital, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands, in a Mar. 10, 2005 article titled "The Groningen Protocol - Euthanasia in Severely Ill Newborns," published in the the New England Journal of Medicine, offered the background of the Groningen Protocol: "Newborns...however, cannot ask for euthanasia, and such a request by parents, acting as the representatives of their child, is invalid under Dutch law. Does this mean that euthanasia in a newborn is always prohibited? We are convinced that life-ending measures can be acceptable in these cases under very strict conditions: the parents must agree fully, on the basis of a thorough explanation of the condition and prognosis; a team of physicians, including at least one who is not directly involved in the care of the patient, must agree; and the condition and prognosis must be very well defined. After the decision has been made and the child has died, an outside legal body should determine whether the decision was justified and all necessary procedures have been followed... [We] developed a protocol in 2002, in close collaboration with a district attorney. The protocol contains general guidelines and specific requirements related to the decision about euthanasia and its implementation. Five medical requirements must be fulfilled; other criteria are supportive, designed to clarify the decision and facilitate assessment. Following the protocol does not guarantee that the physician will not be prosecuted. Since implementing this protocol, our group has reported four cases in which we performed a deliberate life-ending procedure in a newborn. None have resulted in prosecution.
Dilemmas regarding end-of-life decisions for newborns with a very poor quality of life and presumably unbearable suffering and no hope of improvement are shared by physicians throughout the world. In the Netherlands, obligatory reporting with the aid of a protocol and subsequent assessment of euthanasia in newborns help us to clarify the decision-making process. This approach suits our legal and social culture, but it is unclear to what extent it would be transferable to other countries...
Requirements of the Grorningen Protocol that must be fulfilled:
- The diagnosis and prognosis must be certain
- Hopeless and unbearable suffering must be present
- The diagnosis, prognosis, and unbearable suffering must be confirmed by at least one independent doctor
- Both parents must give informed consent
- The procedure must be performed in accordance with the accepted medical standard"
More information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groningen_Protocol
