Euthanasia

Hartheim Euthanasia Centre (Alkoven Schloss Hartheim) where 30,000 people deemed unfit by the state were put to death at direction of the Third Reich’s Committee for the Scientific Registration of Serious and Congenitally Based Illnesses, Author Dralon, (CC BY-SA 2.5 Generic) [1]. 

In total, some 200,000 mentally and physically handicapped individuals were killed by the Nazis [2A].

The Dutch are at the forefront of a growing trend in favor of euthanasia.  They have made it legal for physicians to end the lives of any of the following, prematurely:

• competent, consenting, terminally ill or disabled patients;
• incompetent patients like those with Alzheimer’s Disease, unable to consent;
• otherwise healthy patients with depression who are “rationally” suicidal (whatever that means); and
• children under the age of 12 terminally ill or suffering intolerably in the opinion of a physician (without respect to available pain management) [3A].

Disabled Infants

Disabled infants in the Netherlands (even those not dependent on intensive care for survival) have long been euthanized [4A].  Approximately 21% of such infant deaths occurs without the request or consent of parents [3B].

In 1992 the Dutch Royal Society of Medicine actually published guidelines on when to kill an infant [4B].  These include whether the child would ever be able to live independently; experience “self realization”, i.e. hear, read, write, or engage in profitable work; and have meaningful interpersonal relations [4C].

One cannot help but be reminded of Nazi atrocities against the disabled [2B][14A].

By these standards, the evangelist Nicholas Vijicic (born without limbs) would never have survived [5].  Nor would the famous author, lecturer, and disability rights advocate Helen Keller (both deaf and blind) [6].  It bears mention that Keller was among the founders of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Belgium has gone so far as to lift the age restriction on euthanasia entirely, thus, making it legal for children who are not yet allowed to drink, smoke, or drive to seek their own deaths [7].

An Infant’s Cry

But the United States is not far behind.  Medical aid in dying is already allowed in Washington, Oregon, California, New Mexico, Colorado, Montana, Maine, Vermont, New Jersey, and Washington DC [8].

The New York Times in an article titled “A Crusade Born of a Suffering Infant’s Cry” went so far as to laud Dr. Edward Verhagen, a leader of the Dutch euthanasia movement [9].

Meanwhile, Princeton University’s Peter Singer actively urges infanticide — whether an infant is in some way disabled or not — if killing the child would in any way benefit his or her family [10A].  Newborns in his view are not “persons” at all [10B].  It is only superstition which prevents us from killing them at our convenience.

This is moral relativism taken to the extreme, and murder characterized as mercy.  That the infant’s cry is first and foremost a cry for life has been forgotten.

The Value of Life

“Men are not prisoners of fate, but prisoners of their own minds.”

–Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, who led the nation during the Great Depression and WWII though paralyzed by polio at age 39

And so we reach the heart of the matter.  Life in the eyes of many today no longer has value, if it involves mental or physical pain or is “unproductive”, as the state arbitrarily defines that term.

Laws intended to protect the vulnerable are now seen as interfering with freedom of choice.

“My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn’t prevent you doing well, and don’t regret the things it interferes with.  Don’t be disabled in spirit as well as physically.”

–Renowned astrophysicist, Stephen Hawking, diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) at age 21 [11]

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, disabled persons constitute fully 15% of the world’s population [12A][13].  That figure rises dramatically during armed conflicts [12B][14B].

In God’s eyes, however, each life is precious (Matt. 10: 31).  Each life — whatever its limitations — is a gift.  Scripture tells us He made us in His image (Gen. 1: 26-27).  He knitted us together in our mother’s womb (Ps. 139: 13; Jer. 1: 5).

The Purpose of Suffering

“Try to exclude the possibility of suffering which the order of nature and the existence of free wills involve, and you find that you have excluded life itself.”

–CS Lewis, The Problem of Pain

Suffering is not pointless.  For believers, it produces endurance, character, and ultimately hope, rather than the opposite (Rom. 5: 3-5; James 1: 2-4).  Indeed, if we suffer with Christ we will be glorified by Him (Rom. 8: 17-18; 2 Cor. 4: 17).

Toward those unable to care for themselves, we have the opportunity to extend genuine mercy in the form of loving support.  That is rarely easy, but is what God asks of us (Lev. 19: 14; Deut. 27: 18).

“But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.   And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14: 13-14).

—

[1]  Wikipedia, “Hartheim killing centre”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartheim_killing_centre.

[2A and 2B]  Holocaust Encyclopedia, “The Murder of People with Disabilities“, https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-murder-of-people-with-disabilities.

[3A and 3B]  Washington Examiner, “Now They Want to Euthanize Children” by Wesley Smith, 9/12/04, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/now-they-want-to-euthanize-children.

[4A, 4B, and 4C]  National Review, “Pushing Infanticide” by Wesley Smith, 3/22/05, https://www.nationalreview.com/2005/03/pushing-infanticide-wesley-j-smith/.

[5]  Wikipedia, “Nick Vijicic”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Vujicic.

[6]  Wikipedia, “Helen Keller”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Keller.

[7]  O’Neill Institute, “Child Euthanasia in Belgium” by Rebecca Reingold and Leticia Mora, 2/10/20, https://oneill.law.georgetown.edu/child-euthanasia-in-belgium/.

[8]  Compassion and Choices, “States Where Medical Aid to Dying Is Authorized”, https://www.compassionandchoices.org/resource/states-or-territories-where-medical-aid-in-dying-is-authorized.

[9]  New York Times, “A Crusade Born of a Suffering Infant’s Cry” by Gregory Crouch, 3/19/05, https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/19/world/europe/a-crusade-born-of-a-suffering.

[10A and 10B]  Independent Living Institute, “Fact Sheet on Peter Singer” by Stephen Drake and Diane Coleman, 1999, https://www.independentliving.org/docs5/singer.html.

[11]  BBC News, “Hawking:  Did he change views on disability?” by James Gallagher, 3/14/18, https://www.bbc.com/news/health-43399921.

[12A and 12B] International Review of the Red Cross (IRRC), No. 922, “Persons with disabilities in armed conflict”, https://international-review.icrc.org/.

[13]  Wikipedia, “Special Needs”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_needs.

[14A and 14B]  International Review of the Red Cross (IRRC), No. 922, “Addressing the accountability void in armed conflict:  War crimes against persons with disabilities” by William Pons, Janet Lord, and Michael Stein, November 2022, https://international-review.icrc.org/articles/addressing-the-accountability-void-war-crimes-against-persons-with-disabilities-922.

READERS CAN FIND MY VIEWS ON ABUSE AND ABUSE-RELATED ISSUES AT ANNA WALDHERR A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse 
https://www.avoicereclaimed.com