Liam Treatment
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The Liam Treatment refers to a radical surgical approach to the care of children with severe disabilities. It is a conceptual extension of the controversial Ashley Treatment whereby a young girl was permanently infantilized by her parents.
The Liam Treatment references the son of Marc Bissonnette, a supporter of the Ashley Treatment and leader of the Army of Angels. Bissonnette is considering a similar surgery with respect to his own son Liam.
In defending the right of Ashley's parents to take the extreme measures involved in the Ashley Treatment, Bissonnette claimed that no parental behaviour is too extreme, citing by way of example that he would gladly enhance his child's life at any cost, even if it meant shooting an innocent party in cold blood and splattering their brains against a wall.
Bissonnette's views are opposed by most other parents of children with severe disabilities, including notable professionals at Temple University who have expressed outrage at the procedure.
The Liam Treatment may never move beyond its status as a concept. There are no known Canadian precedents for such an infantilization surgery, and the Canadian Charter of Rights would likely make the Liam Treatment a criminal act, as was the case for Robert Latimer who was convicted despite credible evidence that he was acting with loving intent.
