Is the "Ashley Treatment" okay?

[TimOliv]

I was reading about the brain damaged girl whose parents have opted to stunt her growth to be able to care for her longer.

thebostonchannel.com/health/10672759/detail.html?rss=bos&psp=health

What I have not found, however, was anything from Rome, the USCCB or even a single Catholic priest offering where the Church stands on an issue such as this (though I can imagine since the Church is not directly involved, stepping in when not invited would cause quite a stir).

While I doubt there is anything in Church teachings that support this treatment, is there anything that would forbid it? And if so, would that reasoning still apply given the specifics of this situation? Thank you.

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

While it is possible to feel sympathy for parents who apparently believed that what they were doing would enable their daughter to have a better quality of life, their choice to remove their daughter’s uterus and breast buds, and otherwise keep her pre-pubescent, is not morally licit. These actions constitute direct sterilization and deliberate mutilation, both of which are forbidden by the Church:

The regulation of births represents one of the aspects of responsible fatherhood and motherhood. Legitimate intentions on the part of the spouses do not justify recourse to morally unacceptable means (for example, direct sterilization or contraception)
CCC 2399].

Kidnapping and hostage taking bring on a reign of terror; by means of threats they subject their victims to intolerable pressures. They are morally wrong. Terrorism threatens, wounds, and kills indiscriminately; it is gravely against justice and charity. Torture which uses physical or moral violence to extract confessions, punish the guilty, frighten opponents, or satisfy hatred is contrary to respect for the person and for human dignity. *Except when performed for strictly therapeutic medical reasons, directly intended amputations, mutilations, and sterilizations performed on innocent persons are against the moral law *(CCC 2297, emphasis added).

In this case, the procedures performed on this child were not done to treat damaged organs or illnesses she suffered but were done for her parents’ convenience in caring for her, which means that the procedures were not therapeutic in nature and should not have been performed.

Recommended reading:

Ashley’s Treatment was a Travesty by Dr. Edward Peters