Posted on 09/06/2004 12:53:14 PM PDT by wagglebee
ROME -- Catholic doctors warned that the new practice in Holland to euthanize children is another step towards a society in which life is not respected.
The World Federation of the Catholic Medical Associations published a statement in response to the decision to allow Groningen University Hospital to euthanize children under 12 when their suffering is intolerable, or if they have an incurable illness.
The document states that this initiative "is another violent laceration of the very fundamentals of our social coexistence."
"Officially aimed at putting an end to 'unbearable suffering,' in fact it permits the killing of human beings without their consent," the statement continues, signed by Dr. Gian Luigi Gigli, president of the federation.
"This happens in a society, as the Dutch one, in which euthanasia on adults has been legally performed even on depressed persons and where, as documented by official studies, there is already an illegal but tolerated euthanasia performed by physicians" on patients who have not given their consent, the statement adds.
The "decision proposes a death solution in situations which could be addressed by modern palliative care," the Catholic doctors stress.
Moreover, "the decision raises the suspicion of a financial interest of the public authorities, since it decreases the 'burden' of prolonged and expensive care in clinical conditions for which any extension of life duration is considered meaningless," the statement continues.
Worse yet, "it opens the door on a national scale to the 'mercy killing' of other mentally incompetent persons, to be eliminated without their consent for reasons based on an external appreciation of their quality of life," said the federation.
This move is also in line with the Aug. 26 decision of the Kentucky Supreme Court, which granted legal authority to the state to end the life of one of its citizens, the statement adds.
"The case involved a mildly retarded black male, Matthew Woods, who was placed on a ventilator after suffering cardiac arrest at the age of 54. The state requested permission to remove his life support, contrary to the wishes of Woods' guardian ad litem," the statement explains.
The statement appeals to "medical doctors still committed to the Hippocratic Oath, to feel the moral imperative to contrast the slippery slope that, step by step, is permitting the public authorities to take decisions on which lives are worthy to be lived."
"The next steps will be the mental capacity bill under scrutiny by the British Parliament, and the attempt by local authorities to change the ethical code of Belgian doctors," the statement stresses.
"The risks of such an attitude, in terms of violence and discrimination, should be evident for physicians and call them to resist and fight," the statement concludes.
Ping
Most Dutch euthanasia occur on Friday mornings, so as not to disturb the socialized medicine doctors' weekend with those annoying sick patient calls back to the hospital.
Socialized medicine leads to euthanasia.
Euthanasia leads to genocide.
Please notify me via FReepmail if you would like to be added to or taken off the Catholic Discussion Ping List.
Pro-life bump.
Who does the Terri Schiavo threads?
We could ping them too.
This is so very different than the decision to remove life-support after a catastrophic injury or an illness where only a machine is hastening death.
This is sick. Whomever came up with this idea needs to be taken out to the barn and witch-slapped silly. One day, the Dutch ultra-permissiveness will come and bite them in the butt big time.
I just don't know what to say.
Hitler had a policy of killing groups of people that he viewed as "impure". That is so very different from a parent deciding to allow a doctor to kill their child.
Another example of why the Nazis were leftists.
First victim of Nazi 'mercy killings' revealed.
In August 1939, the Nazi government of Germany began a program of enforced euthanasia on a range of people they deemed "unworthy of living" (codenamed T4); over 275,000 were killed, including the disabled and those suffering from mental illness. By 1940 there were six specialist hospitals in Germany dealing with the victims, by 1945 296 medical centres were being used across occupied Europe. A project by the modern German government to record and remember the names of these dead has revealed the identity of the original catalyst: a five month old boy. Unlike the rest of T4's victims, the parents of this severely disabled child had written to Hitler asking for a mercy killing; after an examination by the Fuhrer's own doctor, the child was killed, providing the final trigger for a plan Hitler had thought about for a decade. The boy was called Gerhard Kretschmar.
There are exceptions to almost everything.
Link?
"You've got it exactly right. In Germany, there was the designation "useless eater" which might have preceded Hitler, but was certainly used in his time. Socialism is very big on identifying the people who are "unecessary" for the good of "society". Start with the retarded, mentally ill, or terminally sick. From there, it is quite easy to shift focus to the Jews, or the Blacks, or the Eskimos. Just a matter of degree."
"Another example of why the Nazis were leftists."
I read that Hitler got his ideas on eugenics and euthanasia from our own Margaret Sanger who was a major proponent for the sterilization and abortion of undesirables (our african-american brothers and sisters, especially). I believe he even wrote letters to her and glowing reviews of her works in the thirties.
You got it. "He who pays the piper gets to call the tune." If you want the government to "take care" of you, be prepared to let the government make your decisions for you.
Would seem they could spend that time and effort on finding drugs to ease the child's pain. Why the rush to kill?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.