Hysterectomy

Under pressure from a disabilities rights group, Seattle Children’s hospital administrators admitted Tuesday that they violated the law by failing to consult a judge before removing the uterus of a severely disabled 6-year-old girl known as “Ashley.” But they said they stand by the procedure as appropriate for some children with special needs.

“We believe we acted in Ashley’s best interests,” said Dr. David Fisher, medical director of Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, at a press conference.

Doctors say Ashley, 9, has the mental capacity of a three-month-old. With the blessing of the girl’s family, the hospital performed a hysterectomy, removed her breast buds and gave her hormone therapy — controversial procedures aimed at improving her quality of life by keeping her small and arresting her normal development into a sexually mature adult.

Washington state law forbids involuntary sterilization without court approval. A 38-page report first made public Tuesday by the Washington Protection and Advocacy System, a federally funded advocacy organization for people with disabilities, found that the hospital wrongly relied on the opinion of an attorney who advised Ashley’s family that a judge’s involvement was not necessary. (more. . . )

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Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, is having a hysterectomy.

She’s the wife of my future monarch, and as such I really sincerely wish her all the best. At the same time, I can’t help but wonder why we need to know this — and why it’s getting so much media attention.

Yes, Camilla is a celebrity, and so she’s going to draw attention. But would she be getting so much attention, I wonder, if she was having her appendix out? Is a hysterectomy in and of itself simply more sensationalistic, more newsworthy, more interesting than any other -ectomy? If it were some rare operation, or at least something less common — a splenectomy, for example — I would understand. But according to the CDC, over 30% of all women aged 60+ here in the States have had a hysterectomy.

I know sex sells, but — and if you read this, Camilla, please forgive me — a 60-year old woman not known primarily for her sex appeal having her uterus cut out might technically be sex-related, but one would hardly call it sexy (except to a small and, in my happy experience, purely hypothetical portion of the population, natch).

So why do we care?

(image from Knitty)

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