Today on the news in the UK there has been much discussion of the case of a 14 year old girl who went to court and won the right to be cryonically preserved following her death.
This is a very sad case because it involves death and specifically the death of a child.
The girl was terminally ill with a rare form of cancer. Her parents were separated and there was some disagreement between her mother who supported her wish for preservation and her father who was against it. Since she was under the age of medical consent and there was disagreement between her parents the case had to go to court.
She died soon after winning the case and her body was transferred to the US today in order to be cryonically preserved.
Please read the article as I feel the letter that the girl wrote to the judge is particularly poignant.
She discusses her hopes to live again and be "woken up" in the future but it is also clear that she knows that this does not guarantee that. I was impressed by her reasoning and also found it quite sad to think of how it must have been for her in such a difficult situation.
It is hard enough as an adult to comprehend our own death and mortality. It also raises important questions about autonomy and children's rights.
You can see the original story from the BBC here:
BBC News: Terminally ill teen won historic ruling to preserve body
What do you think? Should children be granted the right to decide what happens to their body after they die? Should it be solely up to their parents?
Have your say in the comments.
Thank you for reading.
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