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...a committee set out to establish practical means by which such "mercy deaths" could be granted to other children who had no prospect for meaningful life. The hospital at Eglfing-Haar, under the direction of Hermann Pfannmuller, M.D., slowly starved many of the disabled children in its care until they died of "natural causes." Other institutions followed suit, some depriving its small patients of heat rather than food. Medical personnel who were uncomfortable with what they were asked to do were told this was not killing: they were simply withholding treatment and "letting nature take its course." Over time Pfannmuller set up Hungerhauser (starvation houses) for the elderly. By the end of 1941, euthanasia was simply "normal hospital routine." In the meantime, no law had been passed permitting euthanasia. Rather, at the end of 1939, Hitler signed this letter:
Brandt, testifying at his trial in Nuremburg after the war, insisted:
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I lost the boundary between the idea of myself and the world around me and gained immeasurably. Subject and object merged, and in some way I experienced the essence of each thing my consciousness touched. I felt the joy of grass as it grew and sense the genetic code by which it manifested into physical reality. In ecstasy I became the solemn grace and beauty of a tree and new the freedom of the passing clouds. I dont speak metaphorically. (50) When I perceived and felt someone so completely, I often could hear her thoughts and knew what she was going to say before she said it. It was as if the individual before me was transparent and I could see the persons form, yet look through it at the same time. (51) |
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After she departed it seemed evident to me that the case, given my recently acquired fascination with death and dying, was a blessing rather than a coincidence. (61) Mrs. Browning, do you want to die? Do you want to die?I near shouted as I continued to peer into her pools of strikingly beautiful but incognizant blue. It was so eerie. Her eyes were wide open and crystal clear, but instead of the warmth of lucidity, they burned with the ice of expressionlessness. (63) As I continued to stay beside Mrs. Browning at her nursing home bed, I felt my mind relax and my weight sink into the ground. I began to feel light-headed as I became more reposed. Although feeling like I could drift into sleep, I also experienced a sense of heightened awareness. As Mrs. Browning lay motionless before my gaze, I suddenly heard a loud, deep moan and scream and wondered if the nursing home personnel heard it and would respond to the unfortunate resident. In the next moment, as this cry of pain and torment continued, I realized it was Mrs. Browning. I felt the mid-section of my body open and noticed a strange quality to the light in the room. I sensed her soul in agony. As she screamed I heard her say, in confusion, Why am I still here why am I here? My soul touched hers and in some way I communicated that she was still locked in her body. I promised I would do everything in my power to gain the release her soul cried for. With that the screaming immediately stopped. I felt like I was back in my head again, the room resumed its normal appearance, and Mrs. Browning, as she had throughout this experience, lay silent. I knew without a doubt what had transpired was real and dispelled the thought as intellects attempt to assert its own version of reality. (73) |
Moreover, I have spent a good portion of my career as a civil litigator and I do not believe that our judicial system is some giant conspiracy of malevolent men. I have carefully reviewed the decisions of Judge Greer in Schindler v. Schiavo(as have numerous appellate and reviewing courts) and believe that while you can disagree with the result he reaches on a priori grounds (as you obviously do), one cannot reasonably contend that the trial was unfair or biased. Moreover, his decision clearly and beyond all doubt accords with applicable law.
To see a good judge attacked as a "Nazi" for trying to do a very, very, difficult job (and then to be similarly attacked myself for merely defending the reasonableness and correctness of his decision) demeans FR and you more than it demeans him.