Good post. Nice to see some acknowledgement on this blog that parenting isn’t all about sacrifices and misery and is actually, done well, a noble, beautiful and rewarding thing – even or especially when setbacks and difficulties mean it doesn’t always run smoothly. This may be stating the obvious, but some recent comments have tried to make the case for abortion by presenting children as some kind of brutal prison sentence no one can humanely be expected to bear.

Hill should have exercised her reproductive rights sooner…er, have I got that right?

Thank you for bringing this into the arena for debate. I was a parent of a little boy who suffered profound quadriplegic cerebral palsy, – unfortunately he passed away four years ago after a series of brainstem strokes left him initially in a coma and ultimately led to his untimely demise.

This story makes my blood boil. If she was mentally unstable and unable to cope then where were social services in all this? Surely they would have been monitoring the situation and Naomi placed on the ‘at risk’ register?

Like you, from what I have read, I feel that this ‘woman’ knew exactly what she was doing. How anyone can hurt a child is beyond my comprehension, but to harm a child like Naomi, who more than other children needed her mother’s protection, love and advocacy, is particularly cold and cruel.

I would give anything to have my little boy back with me. Yes, he had complex needs and the severity of his condition could cause alarm on occasion. Yes, he didn’t quite look like everyone else in the street and no, he didn’t quite ‘fit in’ with society’s stereotype of what a child should be, but he was a beautiful, marvellous individual with a wonderful personality, an impish sense of humour and an intelligence, which despite his overwhelming physical handicaps, shone like a beacon. He inspired me to greater things than I ever would have imagined possible as you can see from my website and blog.

Shame on this woman. May beautiful little Naomi rest in peace.

Thank you all very much for your comments, though cjcjc has confused me a little.

Andrew Brereton- I am very, very sorry for your loss. I have no doubt at all that your son, just like my friend, was a beautiful and extremely intelligent person. It is parents like you who make it impossible for me to understand Hill’s actions.

I have seen your website and wish you all the best with Snowdrop. What a wonderful tribute.

Maybe you should, err, wait until the jury have decided the facts of the case, rather than passing judgement on Ms Hill based on a fucking newspaper article?

I was only pointing out that the editorial line of this blog appears to be that abortions should be permitted right up to the very moment of birth .
Personally I see little difference between killing at day -1 and killing at day +1200.

Oh. Yes. Same here.

“Maybe you should, err, wait until the jury have decided the facts of the case, rather than passing judgement on Ms Hill based on a fucking newspaper article?”

Now, now, take it easy!

The facts of the case? The KNOWN facts so far are as follows.

(1). Little girl with cerebral palsy, dead by drowning

(2). Mother involved in child’s death.

(3). An element of conscious pre-planning.

The jury may decide that she was ‘operating’ under ‘diminished responsibility,’ but there appears to be no doubt that she was ‘operating!’

cjcjc,

What about at day minus 112, which is around and about where this blog finally settled? Or 24 weeks as a general rule.

Don’t agree with this trial by newspaper stuff, right enough. Andrew Brereton and Sarah have already decided, which they are no more competent to do than the newspapers they read. Leave it to a jury.

Did this blog settle there?

Not according to Sunny or Laurie!

cjcjc,

This thread is about life and living. What are you adding to it?

There’s no overall editorial policy on abortion. Laurie, Jess and I have our respective positions. We laid out the reasons for 24 weeks, that is what we campaigned about earlier. I’m not saying every writer on LC has the same view. This bit should be a bit obvious by now cjcjc, but then I see you haven’t moved on from your pot-shots….

She’s been found guilty! I’n off to celebrate: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7631734.stm