UK Mother wants hysterectomy for disabled daughter

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - A British mother's desire for her teenage daughter, who has severe cerebral palsy, to have a hysterectomy is being opposed by a leading disability organization which says it is unethical.

Alison Thorpe, from Essex in southern England, wants her 15-year-old daughter Katie to have the operation to prevent her suffering the long-term discomfort of periods.

She told television's Sky News that her daughter should have the operation to protect her from the "pain, discomfort and indignity" of periods.

"It's not a decision we took lightly," she said.

Katie cannot walk or talk and understands little of what is said to her, making it difficult for her to give consent to the operation.

But Scope, an organization that supports people who have cerebral palsy, caused by damage to the motor control centers of the young developing brain, said the operation was not necessary and would be traumatic.

Executive Director Andy Rickell said he recognized the difficulty for parents.

But he added: "It is very difficult to see how this kind of invasive surgery, which is not medically necessary and which will be very painful and traumatic, can be in Katie's best interests.

"This case raises fundamental ethical issues about the way our society treats disabled people and the respect we have for disabled people's human and reproductive rights.