Robert Latimer, perhaps because of public pressure, is being granted day parole in Canada. He murdered his daughter Tracy because she had cerebral palsy and became something of a folk hero in the process, seen as a loving father for killing his daughter.
I have heard already from one Canadian woman with cerebral palsy who is devastated by this decision because of what it tells her about the perceived value of her life. But we will leave that for now.
I have written here at SHS several times about the “loving” father, and more extensively in Forced Exit. So, rather than rattle on again, I will let my good pal Mark Pickup express my disdain from his blog Human Life Matters:
Seven years into his second-degree murder conviction, child-killer and
Canadian folk-hero, Robert Latimer won day parole today. In Canada, second
degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no chance of
parole for at least ten years. (They recommended he only serve one year.)
Happily the sentence was mandatory, but he still gets out three years earlier
than minimum requirements. Hey, who’s counting?
Actually Canada’s disability community, their advocates and allies were counting. You see, Canadian courts tend to be easy on killers of the disabled. Seven out of ten Canadians support Robert Latimer. Seventy percent of Canadians agree with assisted suicide for the chronically ill and disabled. Canadians citizens with disabilities and incurable illnesses needed re-assurance that we are seen as deserving equal legal protections as able-bodied Canadians. We didn’t get it.
Mark has progressive MS and understands the kind of pain my correspondent with cerebral palsy experiences when mercy killing is applauded or praised with faint damnation. He is an adamant opponent of euthanasia and assisted suicide, and in fact, we became best friends after we both spoke at an anti-euthanasia conference hosted by the Compassionate Healthcare Network and Cheryl Eckstein about ten years ago. I dedicated Consumer’s Guide to a Brave New World to Mark.
Mark’s voice on these matters is clarion and he has a longer post here that describes the truth about Robert Latimer and Tracy’s murder. Everyone interested in this case should read it.
It’s late and this news is disheartening. So I will close with a question: Why is it that the most supposedly progressive countries seem to be moving the fastest toward reviving eugenics thinking?
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