Christian MD: Dutch Docs Want Unrestricted Euthanasia, Power to Play God
by Mary Rettig
March 15, 2005
(AgapePress) - The executive director of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations is concerned about the life-dishonoring trend Dutch doctors are establishing with regards to euthanasia.After admitting to killing more than 20 newborns since 1997, Dutch doctors are asking the government of the Netherlands to expand legalized euthanasia in that country. The physicians claim the babies they killed faced unbearable suffering had they been allowed to live.
Dr. David Stevens of the CMDA finds this news deeply disturbing. He warns, "Once you say that there's such a thing as a life not worthy to be lived, and once you admit that suffering -- which is very difficult to define -- justifies taking the life of an individual, then there's no logical place to draw the line."
If euthanasia is to be allowed in the case of a patient who is expected to live, for instance, only for six months and to suffer for six months, Stevens muses, "then why can't you give it to someone who's going to suffer for six years, or 60 years? Don't they deserve it more?"
The CMDA spokesman believes the doctors in the Netherlands are ultimately seeking that the government drop all regulation on euthanasia so that they may play the role of God with impunity. But he points out that, although people may expect doctors to be moral ideals, always making the right decisions, they are still imperfect human beings.
Also, the U.S. physician adds, although the Dutch doctors are standing behind the cloak of so-called compassion, alleviation of suffering may not be the only concern behind their arguments for more discretion to commit euthanasia. "It's very low cost," he points out, "and that's bearing on this issue as well. When you look at a child that has some disability, the lifelong cost can be in the hundreds of thousands if not a million dollars or more. So what's the cheap option? A lethal injection for $25 or $30."
Stevens says the doctors that are touting these so-called "mercy killings" want absolutely no federally-imposed restrictions on euthanasia. What they are after, he believes, is the power to decide without government regulation or interference when a life is fit -- or cost-effective -- to be lived.
Mary Rettig, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
