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.'
Please check out the effort to recall
abortion @ www.recallabortion.com.
How about black genocide going on
throughout the world today? Please see www.blackgenocide.org.
Does having an abortion increase your risk of getting breast cancer? Please see www.abortionbreastcancer.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment