Silent H writes:
I believe all murders do involve intention to harm, which is obviously not the case here.
Negligent homicide is defined as "a charge brought against people, who by inaction, allow others under their care to die." (
Wikipedia article)
What the parents of this particular child committed was indeed negligent homicide. I don't consider praying to be a form of action.
Silent H writes:
So if you have a child with advanced cancer, and your choice is between letting the child die without the suffering involved with chemo treatments, and doing so with the unguaranteed possibility the cancer might be put into remission, society has the right to force your child to go through the chemo?
This was not a case of simply letting a terminally ill child die. I'm an EMT. I treat people in diabetic comas regularly. I have a number of friends who have juvenile diabetes. Had this child's mother done something other than pray for help, this child would not be dead. What they did is tantamount to me coming on a scene, seeing someone who has just been ejected from a car lying on the pavement, and simply standing there hoping they'll stand up and be ok. There is no excuse for inaction.
For someone who is arguing about the quality of life, you seem to be forgetting that this girl has no quality of life anymore. Had she been treated, even given a damn glucose tab, she would probably not be dead. Instead, her mother decided that she didn't need doctors in order to treat her child, and was grossly wrong. In my book, that is obviously negligent homicide.
If someone has a seizure in front of you, you don't just stand there and pray for their health, you call 911. If someone falls off their roof and can't move, you don't pray that God will make them walk, you call 911. If your mom won't wake up for reason, you don't just stand their willing her to awaken, you call 911.
I have absolutely no sympathy for these parents, and I hope they get jail time. I'm sorry to see that these people have already procreated because it would seem to me that they have relinquished their right to raise a child.
And the Ignorant shall fall to the Squirrels - Chip 2:54
™ Version 4.2
