Baby Joseph, who was at the center of an international right to life debate back in March and April of 2011 died peacefully at his home in the arms of his parents. Baby Joseph was a 14 month old infant, who lived in London, Ontario, Canada, who suffered from an incurable neurological disease. This disease everyone knew, would result in his eventual death. Baby Joseph's parents understood that he had no chance of recovery, but, they requested that the baby have a tracheostomy, which is a permanent tracheotomy, so that they could bring him home to die. His sister died from the same neurological disease 8 yrs. earlier. But in her case, physicians performed this tracheostomy, and the family was able to take her home to die.
The hospital in Canada originally planned to remove life support from the baby, over the objection of his parents. The hospital asked the Office of the Public Guardian to assume decision making power over his parents. This caused the case to become a highly publicized international debate over parents rights and the euthanasia issue. The debate culminated in Father Pavone, the Euthanasia Coalition and the Terri Schaivo Life and Hope Network, came to the support of the parents. This led to Baby Joseph being brought to the Cardinal Glennon's Children's Medical Center in St. Louis, Missouri, where the value of his little life was recognized and the tracheostomy was performed.
The debate centered around two issues. (1.) No hospital should be able to impose an end of life sustaining treatment, based on financial concerns, or a subjective quality of life. (2.) Was the issue of the tracheostomy, which was the procedure the family wanted in order to take their baby home to die. The hospital said, that would impose a burden on the parents, and in their best medical judgement, they refused. The question was, "what was the burden"? If it was the baby; then the treatment was being withheld because it was the baby that was the burden.
Keep in mind, that Gabriella Gifford, the Arizona Congresswoman who was shot in the head, received a tracheotomy almost immediately. Tracheotomys are routinely performed for many reasons, but for long-term ventilatory support, they are done for comfort. This is standard procedure in hospitals. It is not extraordinary care.
The parents won their battle to take their little boy home with them to die, and on Tuesday, September 27th, little Baby Joseph died in the loving arms of his mommy and daddy, rather than simply having his plug pulled in a cold clinical environment. He was called home by God, not sent to his death by human elitist ideologies, which devalue human life to their utopian idea of what "quality of life" means. This utopian idea of "quality of life" trumps the "sanctity of life"; and those who consider themselves better qualified, which in Baby Joseph's case was the hospital medical staff, want to call the shots.
Now, we can all ask ourselves the question, "who was Baby Joseph and why should we celebrate his life?" The simple answer is that Baby Joseph is all of us. Remember, Canada has national health care, and this is what we will have in the United States, if the Affordable Patient Health Care Act is not repealed in total.
Paul O'Donnell, OFM, a close family friend said yesterday, "Today at about 11:00am, our dear Baby Joseph was laid to rest at a small private funeral service in Windsor, Canada. Perhaps in the near future, another gathering will be planned, to celebrate Baby Joseph's life. Please pray for the Maraachli family at this time of great loss." Baby Joseph died with his family exactly as they wanted.
Source: Lake County Right to Life
