I am opposed to the Ashley Treatment.
While it’s been met with great public acclaim, I see it as a blatant reminder of the lack of support for families like Ashley’s.
I can sort of understand the hysterectomy to prevent menstruation - but all the others, no no no.
I understand Ashley’s parents’ wanting to be her only caregivers - but that is unfair on both the parents and Ashley. Ashley deserves to have a full life and be included in the community, and her parents deserve to love Ashley, but not be her vital life support.
A watchdog organisation has found the surgery illegal, and the hospital has acknowledged that they performed the surgery illegally.
In all honesty - I do not condemn the parents. They were misguided by physicians and the ethics committee, which was driven by profit and money. If, instead, they had contacted a centre for independent living, a branch of United Cerebral Palsy, they could have gotten the right support - and not feel so alone, and get assistance for when Ashley would have gotten bigger.
If anything, Ashley’s nickname — “Pillow Angel” — personifies how people with severe disabilities are viewed by society: incapable of making a worthwhile contribution to society, and not worthy of the resources appropriate for inclusion.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that Ashley is destined to become the next Eleanor Roosevelt or anything like that, but her life does have value and if anything, she can contribute the idea that people with severe disabilities have the right to inclusion and can live full lives regardless of abilities - or lack thereof.
