WiccanLiberal
04-10-2015, 02:13 PM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/08/alzheimers-consent-to-sex_n_7019376.html?cps=gravity_2377_72705677682795 01892
"When is someone who is suffering from dementia no longer able to consent to sex? That is the big question (http://www.dps.state.ia.us/commis/pib/Releases/2014/Rayhons_Complaint_&_Affidavit.pdf) that is drawing the attention of Alzheimer's disease experts and elder law scholars to an Iowa courtroom this week.
Henry Rayhons, a 78-year-old former Republican state legislator, was accused last summer of sexually abusing his wife (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/18/henry-rayhons-sex-abuse-rape-wife_n_5689079.html) after he had sex with her in the nursing home where she lived as a dementia patient."
Interesting point both scientifically and ethically. Frankly, the impression I get is that the children of the woman's first marriage had issues with the second husband. A few other things come to mind. Sex in the context of the elderly generally makes a lot of us squeamish. Yet the desire for sex and intimacy is something that persists throughout a lifetime. How specifically do we determine capacity to consent? Realize also that reminding a dementia patient, physically, of who their partner is may be comforting and helpful to them. I will be very curious to see how this case plays out.
"When is someone who is suffering from dementia no longer able to consent to sex? That is the big question (http://www.dps.state.ia.us/commis/pib/Releases/2014/Rayhons_Complaint_&_Affidavit.pdf) that is drawing the attention of Alzheimer's disease experts and elder law scholars to an Iowa courtroom this week.
Henry Rayhons, a 78-year-old former Republican state legislator, was accused last summer of sexually abusing his wife (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/18/henry-rayhons-sex-abuse-rape-wife_n_5689079.html) after he had sex with her in the nursing home where she lived as a dementia patient."
Interesting point both scientifically and ethically. Frankly, the impression I get is that the children of the woman's first marriage had issues with the second husband. A few other things come to mind. Sex in the context of the elderly generally makes a lot of us squeamish. Yet the desire for sex and intimacy is something that persists throughout a lifetime. How specifically do we determine capacity to consent? Realize also that reminding a dementia patient, physically, of who their partner is may be comforting and helpful to them. I will be very curious to see how this case plays out.