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Descartes called it with "Cogito, ergo sum." I don't think this situation is far removed from the Terry Schiavo case of a few years ago.
As I see it, we have a pendulum problem. Not that long ago, babies with almost any deficiency (particularly those with poor families) were often killed, sometimes following lies to the parents about a stillbirth. This was sick and wrong.
But now we face the case that every child, no matter how disabled, retarded, or deformed, must be given every opportunity, no matter how futile the situation. In school after school, I see funding for gifted children falling by the wayside in the name of Special Ed. Had I been born into this century, I suspect I'd be a drugged out loser, long having been abandoned by a system not interested in my "special needs."
It is a daily battle for me to get any help for my daughter, a bright but sometimes emotionally fragile child. Most programs are not through her school, but are privately funded organizations, assuming that I have sufficient finances to get assistance. The truth is, many gifted children who could change the world need help in their own way.
I know we must retain our humanity in the face of harsh circumstances. But what is the line? Do we even ask difficult questions like this any more?
