Hamilton Spectator (Editorial / Opinion)
January 29, 2001

Re: 'Latimer's Choice is the Death of Hope' (Jan.23).

I respectfully but strongly disagree with this letter writer. I have a son who is disabled and no one fights like I do for him every day.
Tracy Latimer suffered from chronic pain. She underwent repeated surgery, faced even more operations, but doctors couldn't offer any hope of pain relief. Can anyone possibly imagine the pain she endured and the pain of her parents watching her suffer? I don't think any parent could bear it.
This letter writer cited options such as group homes and respite services. But putting Tracy in an institution, closing the door and walking away would not have ended her pain. Our support systems focus on relief for the family, not what can they do for the children in need. If Tracy had been a burden to her family, they would have put her in a group home or institution long ago. The Latimers put Tracy in a group home for a four-month period when Mrs. Latimer was pregnant, then brought her back home. She was not an inconvenience to her family; they truly loved her and wanted her home.
Don't misunderstand me; I endorse the available support services -- some families truly need them. I also believe in fighting for the rights of the disabled, and I believe we need better school systems.
But Robert Latimer wasn't trying to save himself or any other member of his family. He simply couldn't bear to see his little girl in such pain. What he did was not right, but he knew that no support service in the world could take away the pain. I believe that Latimer loved his daughter very much. He once said: "I could lie in a dirty old jail cell easier than she could lie on the floor suffering like she was." For society to think that he took her life because she was an inconvenience to him is sad. Grouping him with Paul Bernardo and other cold-blooded murderers is appalling.
What has taken place is tragic. I do not have the right to judge, but I do have the right to grieve -- not just for Tracy, but for the Latimer family.
Latimer should be given clemency. Keeping him in jail won't undo all the wrong. He has three other children who love him, need him and want him home. Taking their father away makes his other children suffer. Is this what society wants? Enough people have suffered already. Keeping Latimer in jail may be a political message for some, but, as time goes by and people go about their lives, this story will be forgotten by all but the Latimer family. So where is the true justice here?

Debbie Griffin
Stoney Creek, Ontario