We must accept Latimer's lesson

 

 

Last updated at 9:43 AM on 07/12/07?? We must accept Latimer's lesson?

? The Prince Albert Daily Herald On Wednesday, the Parole Board of Canada declared that Robert Latimer had still not accepted his role and guilt in taking the life of his young daughter. The outcome will certainly rekindle long-standing and highly polarized debate around the issue: some can understand Latimer's reasoning in killing his child to end her pain while others condemn him as an animal for that action. The moral, ethical and legal foundations are complex. Latimer's daughter Tracy was profoundly disabled, and by most accounts suffered greatly - to such a degree that her father felt taking the life of his child was the only viable option available. Some may believe the parole board was overly polarized in stating Latimer had to express guilt for an action he, by all accounts, felt was the only way out of a complex and traumatic situation. Yet the parole board's point of view is equally telling: from it, we infer that Canadian society hasn't learned much from this tragic incident, either. Since Tracy's demise, we as a nation have done little to improve support to families of disabled children - and it is quite likely that with better medical aid, counselling and resources, the Latimer family would have plotted a different course through the fabric of Canadian history. It is difficult, we suggest, for society to condemn Latimer's actions without concurrently accepting that society must play a role in easing the lives of Canadians tasked with raising profoundly disabled family members. The Parole Board suggested Latimer must accept guilt for Tracy's demise. By the same token, perhaps, Canadians should accept society's complacency in ignoring the needs of the Latimer family - and the needs of families raising severely disabled children. 07/12/07??