Speak out against the Ashley Treatment
Speak out against the “Ashley Treatment”
ACTION ALERT
Fax/E-mail/Phone Campaign
Feminist Response in Disability Activism (FRIDA), with the support of
Chicago ADAPT, the national ADAPT community and Not Dead Yet,
urges you to speak out about the “Ashley Treatment.”
Our Targets: Seattle Children’s Hospital staff involved in the case of
nine-year-old Ashley’s growth attenuation and sterilization, as well as
Melinda Gates, chair of the Seattle Children’s Hospital fundraising
committee and Susan Macek, Director of Communications for Seattle
Children’s Hospital.
Why: To oppose their permission of what is now known as the “Ashley
Treatment,” and to condemn further permission of such “treatments” for
children with disabilities.
When: Thursday, January 11 & 12, 2007, starting at 9 am in your time zone.
Here’s The Story:
Ashley is a nine-year-old with a severe cognitive disability. In order to
keep her small and more easily cared for by her family, doctors at
Seattle Children’s Hospital are having her undergo hormone “therapy”
to stunt her growth. In addition, they surgically removed her breast
buds, uterus and appendix. The “Ashley Treatment,” as her parents
call it, is a medical “fix” to serious social problems we face in America
today. The first of these problems is a lack of quality home-based
services for people with disabilities. The second is the social attitude
that people with disabilities are less than human and therefore fair
game for experimentation. The third is a lack of understanding of
disability vs. illness: as Joe Hall of South Carolina has stated, “When
I was born my parents knew that I would never walk, but they would
have never thought it would be acceptable to cut my legs off.”
Tell these individuals that you oppose the Ashley Treatment, and that
children with disabilities regardless of cognitive level or ability, should
not be subjected to experiments and mutilation for the convenience of
others.
For your convenience, you may use the sample letter below, or edit it to
make it more personal.
Sample Letter:
Dear__________,
I am opposed to the Ashley Treatment. Despite the rationalization that this
treatment will improve the quality of life, it is nothing more than
experimentation and mutilation for the convenience of others. Children with
disabilities regardless of their cognitive abilities should not be subjected
to this barbaric practice. The Ashley Treatment is immoral, inhumane, and
unethical, and the danger is that the medical community can extend this
practice to all children with disabilities, with or without the consent of
parents. I urge you to end your support of this abhorrent “treatment” and
instead, give your support to more personal care services and supports for
parents of children with disabilities. It is the broken system that fails to
provide adequate community supports for people with disabilities that must
be fixed, not children with disabilities.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Contact Info:
Dr. Douglas Diekema
E-mail: Douglas.diekema@seattlechildrens.org
Phone: 206-987-2380
Dr. Daniel F. Gunther
E-mail: Dan.gunther@seattlechildrens.org
Phone: (206) 987-2380
Melinda Gates
Email: info@gatesfoundation.org
Susan Macek
Director of Communications, Seattle Children’s Hospital
E-mail: susan.macek@seattlechildrens.org
To review Ashley’s parents’ blog, please see:
http://ashleytreatment.spaces.live.com/
To review one of the original articles as reported by the BBC, please see:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/6229799.stm
We need to let the Seattle Children’s Hospital and its fundraising
chairperson know that the Ashley Treatment has not gone unnoticed
by those of us who live with disabilities.
Dr. Douglas Diekema
B-5520 - Emergency Medicine
4800 Sand Point Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105
Fax: (206) 987-3836
Dr. Daniel F. Gunther
M1-3 - Endocrinology
4800 Sand Point Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105
Fax: (206) 987-3836
Melinda Gates
PO Box 23350
Seattle, WA 98102
Phone: (206) 709-3100
Fax: (206) 709-3252
Email: info@gatesfoundation.org
Susan Macek
Director of Communications, Seattle Children’s Hospital
Phone: (206) 987-5201
Pager: (206) 469-6310
E-mail: susan.macek@seattlechildrens.org