The House of Commons in the UK has narrowly voted in favour of "assisted dying" for terminally ill people.
What is there to say about this? The arguments have been well-rehearsed. My friend Angelo Bottone has an excellent article on the inevitable creep of euthanasia laws once they are established. The slippery slope is not only real but demonstrable.
Euthanasia is deeply disturbing. There seems to be a foundational, cross-cultural, cross-ideological consensus that one of the main purposes of society (even its overriding purpose) is keeping people alive. When there is an earthquake or a wildfire or a terrorist situation, expense and effort is no object when it comes to saving lives-- every last life.
Similarly, suicide is universally seen as a bad thing, something to be prevented. We have suicide hotlines, counselling services, suicide watch in prisons, and so forth.
How long will this consensus exist in the shadow of euthanasia? There is only an academic difference between the proposition: "I will help you kill yourself because you want to die", and "I will help you kill yourself because I agree that your life has ceased to have value."
What is the value of life, anyway? Once you start to quantify it, you are in very dangerous territory. It either transcends all such calculations, or it's already on a scale of more and less valuable.
A very dark day. God help us!
Especially given the track record of Canada's program, where the disabled are pressured to suicide and given subpar care, it is hard to believe that anyone can support such a measure in good faith.
ReplyDeleteWell, precisely. There are so many heartbreaking stories of patients being offered euthanasia as a medical option without even mentioning it themselves. We take the continuation of Christian ethics so much for granted in a post-Christian society.
Delete