Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Latimer Granted Full Parole After Murdering Disabled Daughter

Another shameful moment for Canada's justice system:
Robert Latimer, the Saskatchewan farmer convicted of second-degree murder for killing his severely disabled daughter, has been granted full parole.

The loosening of Latimer's parole restrictions will take effect Dec. 6, his lawyer told CBC News on Monday.

That's the first day Latimer was eligible to receive full parole, Jason Gratl said in a brief interview.
At the same time - what else could we expect? If the courts refuse to protect the lives of the children in the womb, why should we expect them to enforce legal protection for the children that are no longer in the womb? And, if killing a disabled baby 6 months before birth is considered to be a "choice" - why should we expect the killing of a disabled child some sixty months after birth to be viewed differently? Especially in light of a growing pressure to make euthanasia (e.g direct actions that intentionally cause a person's death) legal...
Advocates for the disabled have argued that the light treatment given to Latimer is a frightening sign that Canadians with disabilities are not equally valued.

Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, told LifeSiteNews Tuesday that his organization has “always held that Robert Latimer should be treated in the same manner as any other person who was convicted of second-degree murder.”

“The tragedy of the Latimer case was that many people, including many media outlets, were willing to describe Tracy Latimer in a dehumanizing manner in order to defend the heinous crime of her father,” he said.
...
“A truly compassionate society will care for its vulnerable members, not kill them,” Schadenberg insisted.
But many in our society would rather be compassionate to baby seals than to baby humans. They'd rather feel sorry for a convicted murderer like Khadr, than for a little girl who, in spite of whatever birth defect she had, still wanted to live.

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