Ashley Treatment Essay

544 Words3 Pages
This unique and very controversial article, “Pillow Angel Ethics”, written by Nancy Gibbs, is about a girl with brain damage who is being treated with estrogen to stunt her growth and keep her the size of a 6 year old. Her parents claim that this procedure is mainly for their child Ashley’s advantage and contentment in life, and is not in any way for their own convenience as guardians. The author gives many examples of what can be possible benefits for Ashley, but what they fail to prove is if altering her body and interfering with nature is really safe and necessary. Aside from preventing her from growing bigger by stopping her growth plates, Gibbs explains that the doctors are also removing her uterus to prevent her from painful menstrual cramps and taking out her breast tissues due a history of cancer in the family. The author assumes that this surgery will correct future complications that Ashley might possibly encounter. However, she did not point out the fact that proceeding with surgery on a child who is already disabled might trigger worse case scenarios since this procedure has never been tested. Gibbs describes how anyone who takes estrogen is at risk for a blood clot and quotes Ashley’s doctor, “’There were very few reports of thrombosis amount the teenage patients, he says, ‘So I suspect the risk is fairly low...’”(742). It is stated that he “suspects”, meaning he’s only “guessing” that the chances of something dangerous happening is unlikely to occur. Gibbs gives an example of the doctor comparing a child to a teenager concluding that if a teenager’s risk of thrombosis is low then a child risk will be even lower. In my opinion, this is a weak hypothesis, with little factual evidence, for a case that can be very life-threatening. The author remains confident in her decision that it is right to provide estrogen to a mentally disabled child. Gibbs

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