Some years back when our handicapped son was still alive and well, my wife encountered a highly placed bureaucrat (at the Department of Education) with similar perspective. He did not stand out as uncommon, but one in a crowd of similar ilk. To my wife he coldly explained his position as if it were the only possible way to reason. My wife responded with equal coldness that she could bring our son there and see which of these bureaucratic intellectuals would be willing to carry out their brilliant reasoning and dispatch our son, themselves.
They were, well, shocked!
Hooray for your wife! It takes guts to face down evil. The world needs more with her courage.