Live and let die in limbo

"I have come to a clear view; I do not believe any further aggressive treatment to prolong her life is in her best interests," Chief Justice Hedley told London's High Court.

The case concerned the life of 11-month-old Charlotte Wyatt whose parents appealed against the medical decision to allow the baby to die "peacefully in her parents' arms if that is the natural course and she should be supplied with all palliative care".

The Wyatts argued that Charlotte had a chance of survival and said that the doctors should do all they can to keep her alive. Charlotte was born by Caesarean section at 26 weeks with a birth weight of 458 grams and now, nearly a year later, weighs a mere 0.6kg. She needed ventilation for most of the first three months. Her breathing had stopped three times as a result of heart and lung conditions and she is being fed through a tube.

Doctors say Charlotte has a terrible quality of life with "no feelings other than continuing pain" and add that she will not survive infancy and may never leave hospital.

Yet, with all that, the Wyatts still think that somehow Charlotte has a chance of making it and that the doctors of both medicine and the law have not got the right to override natural parental law. With the same logic one can also conclude the opposite which would be that the Wyatts and parents like them would have the natural right to terminate against the advice or conclusion of those same doctors of medicine and law!

While all logic concludes that the doctors are right and no more interventions should be made, our emotions scream out at the enormity of trying to persuade two grieving parents to practically "put down" their child. No parent should ever bury his or her child; however, in this brutal and cruel world of ours this happens all the time. In the Third World, babies are left to the mercy of the elements and not only babies that may be maimed but also normal healthy babies whose parents cannot afford to feed them.

Life is indeed ironical.

Parents like the Wyatts made a cause celebre case of whether or not to terminate a life of an infant when around the world thousands die every minute. The West has been put in a moral dilemma. Can any court of law override the wishes of a child's parents? Poor Charlotte; without any say in the matter. Has there ever been a human being who did not resist death? Even Jesus on the Cross tried to avoid it. As a human being, does Charlotte herself actually fight for life? Who knows?

While all this is going on, the Pope, it appears, has had second thoughts about Limbo. Apparently, after we have been told that there is no such place and that whether baptised or not all babies will eventually make it to the Pearly Gates, John Paul II has asked the world's theologians to reconsider its non-existence! The theologians were asked to think about it harder and come up with "a more coherent and enlightened way" of describing the fate of such innocents. It seems that some sort of logic indicates that baptism would be superfluous should these babies go to the same place as those who were baptised.

I had, as a pre-Vatican 2 child, always imagined Limbo to be some sort of dimly lit giant nursery full of bawling babies and frankly was one of those who welcomed its consignment to the Limbo of our consciousness. Some things are a bit too absurd for words. I therefore cannot help but feel disconcerted at its possible revival!

I therefore cannot think of any conclusion that is either more coherent or enlightened other than that as God is Love personified he would never punish the innocent, no matter how lightly, just for the sake of some mumbo jumbo that the baby wouldn't understand anyway and some water and salt! That is what the theologians should tell the Pope and put his mind at rest.

I do hope poor Charlotte has been baptised for, if any baby deserves Heaven, then surely this baby does!

The case brought back memories of Jodie and Mary, our own Gozitan Siamese twins a couple of years ago. Again the attention of the media focusing on a moral dilemma of such magnitude is surely out of synch with a world wherein life, whether infantile or not, is considered to be so cheap. Why are we so different?

Our own expectations of afterlife cannot be the same as those of an unformed infantile mind; ergo could it be that this Limbo place is a measure of the commensurate intelligence of an infant as compared to the Heaven of a formed mind? That is rather Fascist is it not? What we would be saying here is that the more intelligent, cultivated and civilised one is, the greater the enjoyment of the afterlife. That goes against every grain of Christianity that I have been taught.

If anyone deserves a place in Heaven, then it is surely the parents of these children who suffer so horribly and must eventually reach a tragic and inevitable decision that can only be made after an agonising process.

The issue pales into insignificance when one really believes in the fundamental precepts of Christianity. We all have to die. No exception. If so why do we make such a song and dance about the preservation of life? If we truly believe in an Eternal Life we should be overwhelmed with joy to attain it and yet our human nature screams and howls in protest to make that giant step into the great void that is the unknown. Our Faith must be extremely strong so as to be able to make this transition without tears.

Trying to explain why a baby has to die before its parents is bad enough but, as one can conclude, is a debatable subject that can vary enormously according to which part of the world civilisation you belong to. Faith, as I have long repeated, is indisputable. It either is or it isn't. This is why what is happening at present within the Catholic Church, which is nothing but a gradual but determined and concerted withdrawal from the precepts of Vatican 2, is very disconcerting and does not augur well for the future of the Church or its members. Should Limbo be revived it would not only be the unbaptised babies born to Christian families who would be consigned there but also all people of whatever age and station who follow other religions but who have lived good exemplary lives. Can anyone imagine Mahatma Gandhi in Limbo? On the same premise as the reconsideration Heaven will be the sole prerogative of us Catholics! Here we go again. The great elect! This is the kind of stuff that foments unrest, intolerance, hatred and despair and should not even be considered. Paul VI and John XXXIII where are you?

kzt@onvol.net