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None are so blind as those who refuse to see. A bioethicist named Tony Hope supports Belgium’s new child euthanasia law as if we have no history of how loosely doctor-administered death has actually been applied in that morally collapsing country. While claiming the mantle of empirical analysis, Hope actually engages in a game of “let’s play pretend.” First, he sets forth his moral principles to justify euthanasia. I disagree, but let’s skip that for now.  I want to focus here on how the list of Hope’s supposedly “empirical assumptions”​ about the desirability of child euthanasia aren’t really empirical. From, “Morality, Science, and...

Casey Kasem has died. ABC News confirmed that the radio personality died today in a California hospital. He was 82. Born Kemal Amin Kasem in Detroit, the disc jockey began his career in nearby Flint before becoming an announcer on Armed Forces Radio Korea Network in 1952. Upon his return, he went on to work at radio stations in California, Ohio and New York before launching "American Top 40" in 1970. He hosted that show until 1988, and then a revived version from 1998 until 2004, when Ryan Seacrest took over. From 1988 until 1998, Kasem hosted a show called...

A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge reversed his own ruling, permitting Casey Kasem’s daughter, Kerri Kasem, to remove her father’s food and hydration (via feeding tube), which will result in his death by starvation and dehydration. Kasem’s wife of 33 years, Jean Kasem, is fighting for the life of her husband, with her attorney, Steve Haney, calling the judge’s decision, “the functional equivalent of a death sentence.”Growing up in the 70’s, I was introduced to Casey Kasem’s easy to recognize voice as each week he counted down “American Top 40″ hits for almost four decades on a radio show heard...

The Québec National Assembly voted 94-22 to approve the so-called “dying with dignity” act. Under the provisions of this legislation any patient may request and will be granted euthanasia regardless of medical condition. Véronique Hivon, Minister for Social Services and Youth Protection, enthusiastically boasted that “we have done away with the notion that a person must be terminally ill before a merciful death can be prescribed. Now anyone who wants to end his life can simply order up the procedure.” Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition characterized the legislation as “a dangerous step down the path to...

LONDON, U.K., June 5, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A British aristocrat and legislator has gone to bat for the nation’s disabled, arguing that a proposed law allowing doctor-assisted suicide would target the ill and infirm for euthanasia. Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, a paraplegic athlete who has won 11 gold medals at the Paralympics and is now a member of the House of Lords, co-signed a scathing letter to the UK’s Daily Telegraph newspaper in which she and other disability-rights advocates accused lawmakers of having double standards when it comes to whether a person should be allowed to commit suicide. “Why is it...

The Québec National Assembly voted today on Bill 52 that legalizes euthanasia on demand in the Canadian province. Bill 52 legalizes euthanasia by re-defining it as a form of healthcare under the term “end-of-life care.” The measure passed this afternoon by a 94-22 margin, with no abstentions. Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition stated: “Let’s be clear, Bill 52 gives Québec physicians the right to intentionally and directly cause the death of persons by lethal injection. This represents an act of homicide and not an act of “end of life care.” Bill 52 claims to limit euthanasia...

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 3, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Gallup poll released May 30 showing large majorities of Americans now agree that homosexual relations, contraception, divorce, and fornication are "morally acceptable” highlights the need for strong preaching on moral issues, says the president of Human Life International. “The acceptability of these evils is a direct result of people not being engaged in public debate against those trying to force us to accept these issues,” Father Shenan Boquet told LifeSiteNews. “That’s why it’s so important for faith leaders to speak out and find new ways to help the public understand moral teachings...

The “death with dignity” and bioethics crowds grow increasingly extreme. Now, they are pushing starvation.First, it was removing feeding tubes from the cognitively disabled, slow killing excused as removing medical treatment. Do it to a dog and go to jail. Do it to Terri Schiavo and it’s merely “medical ethics.”Now, euthanasia types push VSED, e.g. voluntary stop eating and drinking. Not only that, they want nursing homes and hospitals to be forced to starve dementia patients to death who willingly eat.I’m on the case in my biweekly column over at First Things. From, “Starvation as the New Death with Dignity:”...

Belgian doctor Wim Distelmans, an advocate of euthanasia, has triggered controversy by planning a study trip to Auschwitz, which he describes as an “inspiring venue” in which to “clarify confusion” about mercy killing. Shimon Samuels of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre called Prof Distelmans’s Auschwitz initiative “a travesty”. “The connection he’s making is perverse. He has to stand down, cancel the trip and make a declaration condemning the so-called ‘mercy euthanasia’ practised by the Nazis,” he said. Mr Samuels added that if the trip was simply a badly thought-out idea, the professor should at least admit he made a mistake. Prof...

Belgium has jumped head first into the darkness that is the culture of death. Euthanasia deaths–the ones recorded, more are done sub rosa–have gone up 27% in one year.From the story: The numbers of euthanasia in Belgium have beaten another record in 2013 with 1,816 cases against 1,432 in 2012, an increase of 26.8%, according to the latest figures released by the newspapers Sudpresse group.“You could say that currently there euthanasia 150 per month in Belgium or, even more telling, euthanasia 5 per day,” the newspaper said. It is here that declared to the Commission control and evaluation of euthanasia....

In the years it has taken to write this piece I think about Rufus every day. His memory still burns strong, with his dog tag firmly attached to my key chain as a daily reminder to be half the moral character that Rufus was. Those two days are with me every time I have to break bad news or perform euthanasia. Now when I say, "I understand," I do.

Moral Issues Making moral choices in our modern world can be confusing and difficult. With so many temptations and influences pulling us in all directions, and the pressures of life driving us toward the seemingly “easy” path, it is comforting to know that Jesus Christ, through His Church, has blessed us with clear moral framework to guide us toward a happy, fulfilling life.It makes perfect sense that our Creator, who made us and designed us to work in a certain way, would know what’s best for us. Fortunately, He gifted the Church with His advice on how to live...

A retired art teacher committed suicide at the Dignitas clinic because she was frustrated at the lack of interaction in modern life, because of our reliance on computers and the Internet. The 89-year-old, who asked only to be identified as Anne before her death, was frustrated with the trappings of modern life, including fast food, consumerism and the amount of time people spend watching television. Anne, a former electrician with the Royal Navy, was not terminally ill or seriously handicapped and traveled to Dignitas in Switzerland last month. Before her death she told the Sunday Times: “People are becoming more...

Cheryl Eckstein, the leader of the Compassionate Healthcare Network sent out an important news story from Russia concerning Belgium extending euthanasia to children. The Voice of Russia reported on March 9, 2014 stated that: Russian officials have come up with a proposal to ban child adoption by citizens of countries where child euthanasia is permissible. The report states: Russian MPs have proposed to put a ban on child adoption by citizens of countries where the euthanasia of underage children is allowed. A lawyer, Larisa Pavlova, the Chairwoman of the board of Directors of the Parents Committee (a public organization) shares...

Abstract Abortion is largely accepted even for reasons that do not have anything to do with the fetus' health. By showing that (1) both fetuses and newborns do not have the same moral status as actual persons, (2) the fact that both are potential persons is morally irrelevant and (3) adoption is not always in the best interest of actual people, the authors argue that what we call ‘after-birth abortion’ (killing a newborn) should be permissible in all the cases where abortion is, including cases where the newborn is not disabled. Previous SectionNext Section Introduction Severe abnormalities of the fetus...

In the English language, the word “Spartan” has come to mean austere. The culture of ancient Sparta was so harsh that mothers would send their sons off to war with the warning, “Return with your shield or on it.” Spartan austerity began at birth. New-born infants were examined and if they were not fit, they were left to die. Infanticide was not unusual in the ancient world. But, in Sparta, it was managed by the state with chilling efficiency. What mattered most was not the individual, but the nation. Weak individuals were not allowed to drain the strength of one...

It's an idea that, in the death-squeamish U.S., is probably too disturbing for the edgiest TV hospital drama, let alone real life and real legislation. Last week, the Belgian Parliament passed a law allowing terminally ill children to request aid in dying. Adults there have been able to do that since 2002, and a few other European countries have similar measures. But last Thursday's action, which is expected to be signed into law by King Philippe, will make Belgium the first to extend the right to minors faced with "constant and unbearable suffering." International headlines ensued, including some rather aggrieved...

During a debate on the Senate floor in 1996, at the time of President Clinton’s veto of a bill to ban partial-birth abortion, there was an incident reported in an article in the Washington Post: Not five feet away, Republican Senator, Rick Santorum turned to face the opposition and in a high, pleading voice cried out, “where do we draw the line? Some people have likened this procedure to an appendectomy. That’s not an appendix,” he shouted, pointing to a drawing of a fetus. “That is not a blob of tissue. It is a baby. It’s a baby.” And...

FULL TITLE: Terminally sick children have been secretly given deadly overdoses by British doctors in illegal mercy killings, claims retired GP British doctors have secretly killed terminally sick children by giving them 'huge' overdoses of painkillers, it was claimed yesterday. Hours after Belgium became the first country in the world to allow the euthanasia of children, a retired GP suggested it was already happening, informally, in Britain. Dr Michael Irwin told an LBC Radio debate: 'It has happened in this country, very quietly. I know of one or two children over the last few years.'

The decision by Belgium's parliament to legalize euthanasia for children of any age has opponents warning the European nation has crossed a dangerous threshold. Pro-life protestors were out in force before the vote, with Marie Schwarz, a mother of four, saying that euthanasia is a "failure." "It is death," she said. "It is not a pain killer." Supporters called Belgium's euthanasia law necessary and compassionate. But critics said it's a dangerous, slippery slope. Under the new law, if both parents agree their child should be killed, three doctors and a psychologist would then have to certify that the child was...