Show i 0 ULD YOU SAY LIFE OR DEATH I i ii i Whole Nation Pondered the Problem of Baby Julian Tafel Born Borni l i 1 With Malformation 1 Which Might Cause Life of Suffering By WILLIAM C. C UTLEY HAT would you ou do If your baby bab was born with a malformation WHAT tion of his little insides which would doom him to possible lifelong ng invalidism if an operation saved his life what would y you ou tell the doctor To operate Or to let the baby die a merciful I death That is the mortal dilemma that faced year old Julian J R. R R Tafel of Chicago and his pretty young wife o. o L n His gis span of life l e here on this earth was was only five days But in those five days daj's Baby Julian received more attention than most people ever do doIn doin doin In an entire lifetime He was born September 17 in the Vanish Danish Danish American American hospital in Chi Chi- cago He seemed normal enough at first fast Indeed he was a beautiful baby His mother said Have you seen my baby Isn't he lovely But it was not long until it was known that tiny Julian JuHan was not the perfect child he appeared Part of his colon the last stage of the in in- intestinal intestinal intestinal tract was missing With With- Without Without Without out this channel for elimination he was bound to die Mother and Father Disagree Dr Lewis K Eastman proprietor of the hospital wanted to operate on the baby to form an artificial opening He said there was a 50 50 fiO chance of recovery It was probable that the child would have to have several more operations later Mrs Eva Tafel the mother said I am the mother of the baby and I want him to live He must not Dot be allowed to die That would not Dot be right Medical science is progressing yearly and in time my boy could be made completely nor nor- mal Im I'm sure of that Julian Tafel Sr said I am the father of the baby and andI I think it would be unfair to let him live He would be a hopeless Invalid and some day he would hate us his mother and father for giving him that horrible chance Dr Eastman said F I III am the doctor in charge of the case and I think an operation should be performed That is my personal fas as well as professional feeling The Haby kaby may die anyway but the off chance must not be overlooked Old Age-Old Problem Here was a problem as old as the Biblical story of King Solomon and the two women each of whom claimed to be the mother of the same child Dr Isaac Abt noted child specialist admitted that it would take a Solomon to decide the Tafel case justly He said Whether Baby Tafel should live or die is not forme for e to say It is isa a question that would require the wisdom of Solomon to answer The parents seem to be the only ores who can give the answer since under the law they must agree to the operation before it is per per- formed That was one of the problems facing lacing Dr Eastman Counsel at att first told him that the operation could not be made without the conr con- con P r I Rr burr burr- i Baby Tafel Whose Life Medical Science lYe e.- e. i sent tent of both parents For some time this delayed him Then he found it could be done with the consent of only one parent Meanwhile every minute counted Because of the colon circumstance l the baby could not eliminate body r waste His system was becoming Poisoned 1 uremia poisoned uremia they called caned it And because they could give him jo no food he was slowly starving to death Nation Gives Advice The operation would provide the ther r outlet cutlet needed An incision in m the side tide would be made to the large lar e 1 L intestine Destine and a drain would be installed in- in stalled Mailed which which would protrude over the hip Meanwhile medical and sociological soc ical leal experts throughout the country f were sought for advise Their com corn comments ments were eagerly awaited and andare are e still food for thought For instance there was Anton J. J Carlson Carlson a noted physiologist of the university of Chicago He said I society should change its at- at ati attitude i ude toward the incurable If he faces ces ees a life me of suffering he should l Ve the privilege of disposing of k nr JosePh B. B De Lee chief con- con conof conIn X ant of the Lying-in Lying Chicago t. t In l att 4 ty hosP hospital tal had hod a Tto to make tnt Legal moral and religious issues but primarily the thc question of rne medical l i l Profession ethics interests Die me me c- c cA A doctors doctor's life duty is to save It is our rule our job A doctor must invariably recommend that lives he saved Lawyers must decide the legal question ministers and sociologists the religious and moral ones I recommend that there should be a committee to decide such matters as this Dr Dafoe's Philosophy Dr Allan Roy Dafoe the kindly little Canadian who miraculously brought the Dionne quintuplets into healthy life had been known to say not long ago I dont don't think any doctor has the right to destroy life We can never sure we cant can't get a life back and often o 0 f ten t e n we can make male life easier Dr Noble Sprout Heaney chief obstetrician at another large large hos hos- hospital hospital hospital pital agreed The child ought to be given a chance to live A competent sur sur- surgeon surgeon surgeon geon should proceed to operate with the benefits of our present knowl knowl- knowledge edge edgeIn edgeIn In surgery no one knows what progress will be made in our knowl knowl- knowledge knowledge knowledge edge within a very few years And the mother in this case is right when she says that everything that can be done now should be done There may be things remediable in in the future that this child can benefit by if his life is saved now Dr John E. E Jennings chairman of the press reference bureau Kings County N. N Y Medical so so- society society society declared de d e cIa c 1 a red r e d No one is isable isable isable able to decide the value of an hours hour's life to any human being What a Cardinal Thought Dr Hugh S. S Cummings surgeon- surgeon general of the United Un U n i t e d States public health service said Human subject to error may make J b beings mistakes in diagnosis or judgment which death would make ble Such a power would give an advantage to the unscrupulous who wished to do away with an indi indi- individual individual individual vidual for their own gain The Roman Catholic attitude to Tafel such a case as that of Baby had been outlined by William Car Car- Cardinal Cardinal Cardinal dinal OConnell O'Connell archbishop of Bos oos- Boston Boston ton during an on earlier discussion the sick sick- sickroom sickroom sickroom The doctor is called into room to restore health and not take takeaway takeaway takeaway away life Under no no circumstances should he do other than attempt to bring health back to his patient God is the creator of life He gives life and He alone has the power to take it Suffering is the discipline of humanity The Tafel case recalled a state state- statement statement statement ment of Lord famed Brit Brit- British British British ish surgeon He is leader of the Voluntary Euthanasia society This was formed to legalize euthanasia which is voluntary death at a pa pa- patients patient's patients patient's patients patient's tient's own behest He said Cripples Get More Attention well our It is our moral as as ethical duty to keep every Pa patient p And alive so long as ever we can humane person must t natural natural- naturally every a that it is a bounden suppose ly obligation upon us to relieve suffer suffer- suffering suffering wherever we can But if we ing cannot cure disease then we want to manifestations Our ob- ob object object relieve its voluntary is to bring about euthanasia There is nothing com- com compulsory compulsory compulsory about our proposal be able to We want a patient to say to a competent legal author author- authority authority authority ity that he desires release We propose that there should be several interests working in con con- concord concord concord cord namely the patient the law lawand lawand lawand and the doctors It is a curious trait in human nature that if a child is a cripple an invalid or deformed that child receives far more devotion and at at- attention attention attention than a normal child We would not desire to interfere in such cases But if the child is born an idiot and there is not the slightest chance of recovery then the ques ques- question question question tion might be considered Dr Louis Moorhead dean of the I Loyola university Chicago medi medi- medical medical medical I cal school opposes euthanasia and declares No individual has the right to end his own life since he has no I jurisdiction over it It is the gen gen- generally generally generally accepted practice of the med mcd- I I 1 i i I L t l ru b. b kI 4 44 4 7 Julian Tafel and His Ilis Wife Wire Console Each Other After the Loss of Their Child I ical profession to preserve life as long as possible Mrs Tafel had no difficulty in making up her mind mindI I want him she said I have had one o 0 n e normal baby I could have others That doesn't make any difference This baby's here He should be helped He lIe Would Curse Curc Us But the baby's fatter father didn't think so zoo It was the first disagreement on a major issue between the couple since they were married in 1933 He would curse us for letting him live under this handicap said Julian Tafel Sr But the mother argued Who knows what science will be able to do in another five years if we only can keep the baby alive now In this Dr Eastman backed her herup herup up saying Surgeons know v more now than they did five years ago If we operate on the baby now and he lives we may be able to do more for him later and the world will be better off for this ence Mrs Tafel was upheld by another mother moth crt Mrs Harold Lefler twenty twenty- eight of Congress Park Ill Her year old son Dickie survived an operation similar to that eventually eventually ally any performed upon Baby Julian He has had five operations in all and others may have to follow From infancy until this spring he carried an incision in his side But Buthis Buthis his mother said Id rather have Dickie than a million normal children His father and I have been well recompensed for whatever anxiety he has caused us Hundreds of Successful Operations Another mother Mrs Pilar Ab- Ab of Chicago told a similar story The condition of the baby born to me she said was just like that of Mrs Tafel's baby It had no rectal opening The doctor per per- performed performed performed formed a successful operation to correct the condition My boy would have been normal if he hadn't died later Inter of a heart at at- tack t Hundreds of ot operations on babies having malformations similar to that of the Tafel baby have been successful said Dr Morris Fish- Fish Fishbein Fishbein bein editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association One out of babies is so malformed he said The first case on rei rd occurred in the Sev Sev- Seventh Seventh Seventh century and an operation per per- performed performed formed by Paulus was successful Whether the operation succeeds or fails rails depends largely upon the extent of the surgery If the in intestines in- in intestines intestines arc are near the point where the incision is made the operation is easy if they are a foot away vay the operation is more dangerous e Western New pair r Union lIn |