The following is an article that appeared in lifeandhope, the
publication of the Terri Schiavo Life and Hope Network, Volume 6 / 2nd Edition
/ www.lifeandhope.com, pgs. 4 -
5. It is posted free of charge here to help further the kingdom of
GOD!!!
forgetting how to
LOVE
Are the profoundly disabled and frail
elderly living too long?
"
... bioethicist Daniel Callahan - who saw the feeding tube as a serious hurdle
- boldly stated that changing its classification from 'basic care' to 'medical
treatment' would be 'the only effective way to make certain that a large number
of biologically tenacious patients actually die.'"
BY BOBBY SCHINDLER
/ LIFENEWS.COM
Originally appeared as Yes,
We have a Culture of Death
According
to research reviewed by board certified medical geneticist and Co-Director of
the Down Syndrome Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Skotko, it is
estimated that 92 percent of all women who receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down
syndrome abort their baby.
World famous atheist proselytizer and Oxford professor, Richard Dawkins, made
headlines when he called it "immoral" not to abort Down babies
"and try again."
Belgium has legalized euthanasia (with no age limits) for children who have
been diagnosed as terminal and with death expected to occur "within a
brief period." If this criteria is met, then the parents - and
child! - may ask in writing for a lethal injection.
The
head of Canada's largest doctors' group has called child euthanasia an
"appropriate" choice under certain circumstances.
Northern Ireland Minister of Justice, David Ford, is considering a change in
the law so that it is legal to kill pre-born babies suspected of being
disabled.
Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, Peter Singer, believes we
should be permitted to lethally inject Alzheimer's "non-persons,"
even if they never asked to be killed.
Currently, there is a strong push advocating the removal of spoon feeding from
Alzheimer's patients if they so requested in an advance directive.
In 2012, a prominent doctor in the UK made the chilling claim that the (NHS) -
the publicly funded healthcare systems in the UK (and what most likely
Obamacare will look like for us here in the US) - "kills off 130,000
elderly patients every year."
In a
March 2008, New York Times article titled, "Terminal Options for
the Irreversibly Ill", Judith Schwartz, a registered nurse and clinical
coordinator for Compassion and Choices of New York (formerly known as the
Hemlock Society) openly stated that over one million people die each year in
American hospitals as a "a consequence of someone's decision to withhold
or withdraw life-sustaining treatment."
In the same article, Dr. Sidney Wanzer and Dr. Joseph Glenmullen of Harvard
University Health Services noted that in situations where a person is going to
stop receiving food and water, "refusal of hydration is faster and less
distressing than starvation in hastening death."
Sadly, these are just a few more recent examples of the life-threatening
prejudices plaguing the disability community and countless others who are
medically vulnerable. Indeed, this terrible toll does not arise in a
cultural vacuum, but reflects attitudes that assume dead is better than
disabled. And, there is no doubt, that included in the number of patients
dying in this sobering New York Times article, regardless of its title
are those with cognitive disabilities who, every single day, are being starved
and hydrated to death - persons who are not dying, but who are simply living
with their disability, and only need basic care (food and water, via a feeding
tube) to live.
It was not long ago that feeding tubes were considered basic and ordinary care
and therefore it was illegal, an act of euthanasia, to stop feeding and
hydrating a person in need of a feeding tube. Today, however, feeding
tubes have been redefined as "artificial nutrition and hydration" -
and therefore a form of "medical treatment." Consequently, the
removal of food and water from the cognitively disabled patients, and countless
other medically vulnerable people, is now legal and routine in fifty states.
In his book, Culture of Death: The Assault on Medical Ethics in America,
author and bioethicist Wesley J. Smith writes that, "defining 'artificial
nutrition' as treatment instead of human care was a crucial step in the
development of the culture of death." According to Smith, as far
back as the early 80s, bioethicists began to debate out loud whether or not
"the profoundly disabled and frail were living too long." In
particular, bioethicist Daniel Callahan - who saw the feeding tube as a serious
hurdle - boldly stated that changing its classification from "basic
care" to "medical treatment" would be "the only effective
way to make certain that a large number of biologically tenacious patients
actually die."
Eventually, more bioethicists agreed with Callahan's view, as well as health
care professionals, politicians, judges, and others, ultimately accomplishing
their goal of redefining the administration of food and hydration via a
feeding tube.
Today, either the general public is unaware of this change, or they just don't
care. But if you think dehydrating to death our medically vulnerable
isn't happening, then you are not paying attention.
Whatever the reason, the mainstream media does very little to properly clear up
any confusion that may exist, as they continue to report that persons who
receive food and water via feeding tubes are receiving "artificial life
support," giving the perception that these people are aided by machines.
Tragically, too many of us today have become disconnected and desensitized to our
own dignity and intrinsic worth. It seems we no longer know how to love,
and we place more significance and value on what a person can or cannot do, instead of
understanding the value and dignity of the human person simply because they are
human.
As a consequence, every single day decisions are being made for our medically
defenseless to be barbarically starved and dehydrated to death. Not to
mention the offensive claim that to slowly dehydrate persons to death over a
period of weeks is "an act of compassion;" that they are somehow
experiencing death in a dignified way. This is not compassion. This
is not love. This is intentionally killing, and in the most undignified
way.
Recently,
Germany made the decision to inaugurate a memorial for the people with physical
and mental disabilities who, because of their disabilities, were killed by the
Nazis after their lives were deemed "worthless." Estimates are
that over 200,000 were killed.
Perhaps we should consider erecting one here in the United States.
Bobby
Schindler is Executive Director of The Terri Schiavo Life and Hope Network.
The
preceding is an article that appeared in lifeandhope, the publication of the
Terri Schiavo Life and Hope Network, Volume 6 / 2nd Edition /
www.lifeandhope.com, pgs. 4 - 5. Please visit www.lifeandhope.com.
'Sadly, these are just a few more recent
examples of the life-threatening prejudices plaguing the disability community
and countless others who are medically vulnerable. Indeed, this terrible
toll does not arise in a cultural vacuum, but reflects attitudes that assume
dead is better than disabled.'
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