Abbie Dorn had lived a normal fulfilling life and always wanted children. In June 2006, her wish came true when she gave birth to a set of healthy triplets. However, that is where things took a turn for the worse. Dorn suffered severe brain injury when she nearly bled to death during labor. Because her brain was deprived of oxygen during the incident, she quickly fell into a vegetative state. When it seemed things could not have gone worse, Abbie’s parents found themselves trapped in a legal battle with the triplet’s father to fight for the mother’s right to visit her three children. Daniel Dorn, Abbie’s former husband, claims that his children should not see their mother yet because they are supposedly too young to understand the unfortunate situation. He states that he has evidence from neurologists that Abbie will forever remain in an absolute mindless state and has no chance of any form of recovery what so ever. On the other hand, Susan and Paul Cohen, Abbie’s parents, argue in support of Abbie’s potential for some signs of recovery. The battle for parental rights will inevitably spark several court appeals that might forever change the rights of mentally incapacitated parents.
This mother’s tragic story reveals the fundamental flaw of the overused phrase “all men are created equal.” It does not take long to realize the countless exceptions to the basic rule that America was created upon. Although Abbie’s parents report that she can now respond “yes” or “no” to questions and make small movements to her arms and legs, she still needs to endure many court decisions before she can gain visitation rights to her own children. America claims to be influenced by John Locke’s principle that everyone had natural rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Unfortunately, the children’s father exercised his right to challenge Abbie’s basic rights merely because of her mental condition. If the court eventually rules in favor of the father, the decision would ultimately be a terrible blow to the mentally disabled.
I truly believe that the father is ridiculously selfish to say the least. Making such an effort to prevent his children from visiting the mother merely because of a tragic mental condition, Daniel Dorn fails to recognize the fundamental definition of humans and their inalienable rights. Abbie has not intentionally harmed anybody in any way and should never be deprived with her basic rights, even when she is not capable of actively pursuing those rights herself.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/04/22/california.triplets.visitation.lawsuits/index.html?hpt=C2
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