First, I am not a supporter of euthanasia. Please remember this as I make the following statement considering the referenced article.
- At one point there is a statement that 50 years ago people would have been aghast at the idea of killing disabled adults. Frankly this is not true. Up until the time of John F Kennedy being in office this country put hundreds if not thousands of disabled children to death every year. They were warehoused like animals in “State Institutions” where it was common for them to be left naked, unfed, abused and neglected. It was also common for local fire departments to come along in the winter and hose down the insider of their “rooms” and leave the windows open so “nature would take it’s course.” They died from hypothermia, infections, exposure, abuse, hunger and other forms of mistreatment or lack of care every day.
My point is, the “culture of death” is not new. It is as old as the human race. Almost every culture out there has put the ill, defected or disabled to death out of a sense that survival was dependent on it. Primitive and barbaric, but sadly true. We have simply continued the notion with modern terms and thinking. One would think we would know better but we don’t seem to. Our society promotes being first, the strongest, wisest, healthiest over the sick.
- I do believe that very ill children can grow to understand that they are going to die due to their illness, and that they can eventually ask doctors and parents to stop treatment. I don’t believe they should ever be allowed to ask to be killed just for the sake of getting out of life. Letting someone die due to a terminal illness is a whole different thing that giving up or making a choice to live or die because of despair, giving up on live etc.
I think we are on slippery ground and always have been. It has just become more political and obvious due to today’s technology and communications.