Disturbing
I don't really know how I'm still shocked by these sort of news, but it seems that we have taken yet another cruel step down the slippery slope to barbarism: euthanasia for children under 12 has been legalized in the Netherlands. Do not fool yourself, this is serious stuff. It means a further decline of the intrinsic value of human life in our society's eyes. It means we have given ourselves new powers to decided who is human enough to live.In the words of Bioethicist Fr. Gonzalo Miranda:
When discussion on euthanasia began in the Netherlands and in other countries, many pointed out the danger of sliding toward the worst, and the defenders of the measure said that it would not happen. Instead, many took off in 1993 with the legalization of euthanasia, and then the law came out that extended [it] to children 12 and over.
Despite the opposition of public opinion, just two years after that law, we are already facing its application to all the born, without any kind of informed consent by the interested party.
I would like to stress that it is the voluntary murder of a human being who cannot speak for himself -- the voluntary murder of a human being who cannot express what he is thinking.
If it sounds to you like this is something to be worried about, then I urge you, please, read the rest of the interview.
I don't have much to add to what he says there, except that I can easily see how a person's suffering will be interpreted in the near future in the same way that "health of the mother" concerns are used in the US to justify abortion. Many people don't seem to understand that health exceptions for abortion as defined by US law mean that any sort of health concerns (physical, psychological, emotional, etc.) of any degree can be used as justification to terminate the life of an unborn child. Of course, what that has meant in practice is that anyone who wishes to have an abortion for whatever reason, can have one.
Every time that I hear of something like this I cannot help but think of Aldous Huxley; I insist that Brave New World may very well prove dramatically more prophetic than Orwell's 1984.
posted by ertandberni @ 11:47 AM
<< Home