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Ashley X

Ashley X鈥檚 parents put up a web site on New Year鈥檚 Day explaining their actions. You can read it here.

This is a polarising story and some texts are in already:

Text from Simon, Italy.
Whilst my heart goes out to the parents of severely handicapped children, I feel they have made the correct decision. Its all very well to talk of rights but at the end of the day this child will have a life whose price emotionally and financially for her parents will be almost unimaginable.

We鈥檙e also joined tonight by Dr. Al Naher is the London-based representative of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki's Islamic Dawa Party. He鈥檒l be taking your questions on the hangings in Iraq . . . first we鈥檙e starting with Baby Ashley.

An e-Mail is in:

I salute the parents of that child, few have their courage. Quality of life means nothing to those who know nothing but suffering.
Kangal, Washington DC

We鈥檙e joined by Professor Gary Butler, a specialist paediatric endocrinologist: 鈥淭here are a number of issues. Firstly we need to support her parents as much as possible. However, when you may be changing the outcome of a child there are a number of considerations. What happened to Ashley was at the extreme end of interventions. It鈥檚 not something we routinely do in the UK.鈥�

Flash is mobility impaired: 鈥淚 was appalled by this. It is wrong for parents to sculpt a child. I think it鈥檚 pretty sick to be honest.鈥�

Professor Butler: 鈥淭he issue is how far do you take it? Going as far as almost violating the child鈥檚 person by taking away the womb and breasts is difficult to understand. Was it necessary?鈥�

Ros: 鈥淧rofessor, does Ashley experience emotions?鈥�

Butler: 鈥淚鈥檓 sure she does.鈥�

Hamilton: 鈥淔or me I believe the parents took the decision for the welfare of their daughter. Look at George Washington, he had a learning disability. Woodrow Wilson had dyslexia . . . 鈥�

Some more texts:

Ken in Cleveland
I don't view the case of Ashley X any differently than the separation of conjoined twins. There is no reason why she should have to suffer discomfort as she grows older.

Suman from Utah, US
Let the parent do what they need to do. At least they are willing and want to take care of their child, instead of turning the child over to the State.

Hamilton has faith in science: 鈥淎 miracle could happen. It鈥檚 not a good decision.鈥�

Marilyn: 鈥淚 agree with the parents. I have a disabled child and I鈥檓 looking at her having a hysterectomy. Going to womanhood causes so many complications for them.鈥�

Paul in the UK is a father of an 8 and 11-year-old: 鈥淚 find that the parents and doctors have gone too far. How did they get it past the ethics committee? I consider it barbaric.鈥�

Some mails coming in:

I don't view the case of Ashley X any differently than the separation of conjoined twins or reconstructive surgery for small children. Ashley for all intents and purposes is a baby and will always be one. There is no reason why she should have to suffer discomfort as she grows older.
Ken in Cleveland
I agree with the parents. At least parents are willing and want to take care of their child, instead of turning the child over to the State. Let the parent do what they need to do.

Suman from Utah, US

Professor Butler: 鈥淵ou can control a child with reversible hormone treatment so if the child changes later on you can act.鈥�

Steve is in New York: 鈥淲e in the US aren鈥檛 reporting this. The news in the US is poor. It is carefully controlled to get people interested. As for Ashley: we鈥檙e not stopping to take a look at the moral implications.鈥�

Some more texts:

Edward in USA agrees -
At some point she would need 2 people to move her and that means she would have to be institutionalised.

Shirley
Nobody has a right to alter anybody's growing pattern.

If she's allowed to grow fully, then she may have a chance in a group home. She's not going to be 3 mentally forever.
John in Cleveland, Ohio USA

Laura from Tennessee
"I have no problem with what the parents did. It's very obvious that they love their daughter and do all they can to take care of her."

Some more e-Mails to worldhaveyoursay@bbc.co.uk:

These parents should be prosecuted. This is for their convenience, not Ashley's. The parents won't live forever, however, Ashley will outlive the parents and would probably be institutionalized in a nursing home rather than a group home if they continue to abuse her. If she's allowed to grow fully, then she may have a chance in a group home. She's not going to be 3 mentally forever. That too will progress, not by much, but enough to be a functional adult.

John in Cleveland, Ohio USA

She will never walk, maybe the parents should have the feet cut off, it would stop them from dangling, maybe they should cut off the arms, she can not feed herself.

Jacques from Boston

We鈥檙e breaking for the news . . back in a mo鈥�

An e-Mail from Washington DC:

As a parent of a child with special needs, I can completely feel for Ashley's parents. It is really difficult for anyone not going through the 24/7/365 issues to easily criticize. Every choice you make as a parent of a child like this is some sort of tradeoff. Our daughter, for example, gets growth hormones so that she will grow to become a "normal" height. There's good reason for this: she is cognitively fine and we hope will function in the typical world and have a job in the future. That's our choice about her "quality of life." this is, however, in conflict with her physical disabilities. Sarah's orthopedic surgeon and physical therapist would prefer her to be smaller; it's much easier on her body. In
fact, Sarah is going to need a major hip surgery due to her growth.
Did we make the right choice? Who knows? We just do the best that we can.

The thing different about being a parent of a child with physical disabilities is that it is a constant never-ending pressure. I can almost guarantee that Ashley's parent's have back issues. As they've stated on their blog, they can't find caregivers who can physically handle her. It is way too easy to condemn parents without understanding what they have to live through. I've heard statistics that the divorce rates in the U.S. among parents of children with disabilities is around 80%.
Larry

James is in Doncaster in the UK: 鈥淚t will help her lead a better way of life.鈥�

Professor Butler: 鈥淵ou cannot practice medicine without ethics. We take it seriously. Some decisions are more straightforward than others. Here we have a number of straightforward decisions: like do we intervene with puberty. Whether you actually go as far as violating the individual by removing the femininity is of dubious value. It鈥檚 taken us [the medical profession in the UK] a bit aback. Manipulating growth is controversial.鈥�

Excuse me but how did Mary Cheney become pregnant? Was someone playing god there as well?
GB, Oyster Bay

Iraq: Your questions to Dr. Zuhair Al Naher

Iraq always gets the e-Mails flowing:

If you step on a cockroach , okay, or shoot a rat....but you don't have to make a big fuss about it. Once again, those people have managed to snatch defeat out the gaping jaws of victory. Will base Idiocy never end, or at least diminish.....???
Banks, Amsterdam

I鈥檓 not sure that Saddam was well hung. It may have been botched but since we have collectively spent a large fortune for it we should have gotten a better job for the money? They can't even hang someone honourably. Wasn't the whole point to show them the true path? The hanging is probably a good indication of how things will go after we give Iraqi's back their country.
Do we know if there is some plan to give them back their sandpit without including the oil? Leave it to Tony Snow to explain things for us. Maybe the Iraqi's should have thought about these types of things before they attacked the WTC.

Greg
Oyster Bay, NY

Akeel is in Toronto: 鈥淲hy is the Iraqi media not showing Saddam鈥檚 crimes?鈥�

Dr. Al Naher is the London-based representative of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki's Islamic Dawa Party: 鈥淭he Iraqi media has shown a lot of footage about the executions that Saddam carried out. There has not been enough informnation about the crimes Saddam carried out. Arab media such as Al Jazeera have an agenda to cause sectarian strife in the region and to discredit the achievements of the Iraqi government. I agree the Iraqi media needs to do a lot more.鈥�

Soran: 鈥淲hy didn鈥檛 we collect the evidence for the Kurdish killings? I do not understand how you rush into the hanging without completing the trial鈥�

Dr Zuhair: 鈥淚t is true the crimes were huge in number and volume. Dujail was the tip of the iceberg.鈥�

Soran: 鈥淚t was politically timed. The way he was hanged showed him as innocent. The new Iraq should be based on justice and democracy.鈥�

Some questions have come in via text:
What does Dr. Zuhir think was the motive for the illegal filming at Saddam's execution? Seth, Accra Ghana

May the Iraqi official tell me how does he plan to lead his country into the community of enlightened nations in the face of what has been going on there. It seems that the country鈥檚 crises r deepening, on human-values- index at least. Do u consider ur government more humane than that of Taliban? MUSHTAQ

Ismail has called: 鈥淗ow can the country convince people it is not a stooge? Why no sound on the video?鈥�

Dr Zuhair: 鈥淵es, it was not the Iraqis who invited the Americans in but most Iraqis think it was vital to get rid of the regime.鈥�

An e-Mail from Detroit:
I would be interested in hearing your guest's views on allegations by some that the United States pushed for a speedy execution in order to avoid further trials with Saddam that would likely have shed light on United States involvement in or at least turning a blind eye to certain atrocities.
Cheers. N, Detroit

Dr Zuhair: 鈥淥n the contrary the US wanted to delay the execution. It was the Iraqi gov who pushed for the speedy execution.鈥�

Another e-Mail from Greg:

Can you ask your Iraqi guest if he will be returning to that hellhole or to his new estate in the English countryside? I also think Saddam's half brother in law should be executed by pummelling with shrink wrapped US hundred dollar bills. That would b most appropriate. I normally would not talk this way but times have changed so drastically that it looks like we are all in a free for all. Isn't it odd that Tony would be in Florida while all this took place?
GB
Oyster Bay, NY

Brian has called in: 鈥淲ould replacing the coalition forces with Saudi forces bring about a change?鈥�

Dr Zuahir: 鈥淣o. The important thing is that the Iraqis forces have to stand on their own two feet.鈥�

Ros: 鈥淚s it fair to say the Iraqi government did not have control over this execution? What hope is there the government can control the country?鈥�

Dr. Zuhair: It鈥檚 not like the labour government in the UK. The incident must be taen in perspective. The government is trying hard to cure and treat the problems.鈥�

Patricia has called in: 鈥淗ow can we have respect following this execution?鈥�

Dr Zuhair: 鈥淥ne of the ways of tackling the insurgents is to execute Saddam. We must also train the Iraqi forces. The Shia militias did react but we must deal with them in a constructive way.鈥�

That鈥檚 all folks. A great two-parter tonight. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Good night and sleep tight!