Politics

Belgian Senate votes to allow the murder of children through euthanasia

A disabled child kisses a German ShepherdMost of the world has laws allowing the murder of unborn children, but at least one nation is now seeking to expand their laws to allow euthanasia for children. The Belgian Senate recently voted in a landslide decision, 50 – 17, to allow minors to request their own deaths by doctors.

If the law is passed it would make Belgium the first nation in the world to legalize the murder of children. The only requirement needed for a child to ask that their life be terminated is that they “possess the capacity of discernment,” which is a very subjective criterion and could become a recipe for abuse.

The law is geared towards allowing children with “constant and unbearable physical suffering” to seek an end to their lives. Euthanasia has been legal in Belgium since 2002, however, since the law has been in place only those aged 18 or older have been able to make the decision to end their lives. It’s reported that 1,432 Belgians requested euthanasia in 2012, which was a 25 percent increase over 2011.

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NaturalNews.com reports that, “Major religious and human rights groups opposed to the measure have already made their voices heard, with representatives of the Catholic, Protestant, Christian Orthodox and Muslim faiths publishing a joint declaration opposing it. Germany’s Deutsche Welle (DW) reports that many are decrying the proposed law as morally and ethically reprehensible and are calling for its ultimate rejection.”

Steve Forbes, former two-time GOP presidential candidate had this to say about the law, “it is akin to the practices of eugenics in Nazi Germany.” In an article titled “HitlerCare” for his magazine Forbes said allowing doctors to kill children with parental consent, “will be a slippery slope to other forms of unjustified killing, such as cost-saving calculations and determinations about the relative value of human life.”

Forbes added, “we are on the malignantly slippery slope to becoming a society like that envisioned by Nazi Germany, one in which ‘undesirables’ are disposed of like used tissue. While the Nazis carried this ideology of death to its ghastly logical conclusion, the belief that it would be good for the human race to improve itself — as breeders do with horses, dogs, cows and other animals and plants — was also widespread in numerous other countries before WWII, including the U.S”

Under the banner of eugenics the Nazis killed hundreds of thousand of people who were deemed mentally handicapped. They also forcibly sterilized many to prevent them from breeding further undesirables into the community. Before WWII the Nazis killed roughly 8,000 children who were judged “mentally deficient or incurably ill.”

It’s reported in countries that allow euthanasia the numbers of adults murdered has soared. In Holland for example it has been claimed that doctors have been suspected of killing patients in order to free up hospital beds. That’s where the potential for abuse is at and should have many concerned it could happen to them. It could become a formula for determining who gets expensive treatment or not.

Now Belgium stands on the precipice of murdering children in the name of compassion. It doesn’t matter the type of disability, life is supposed to be valued. A law that allows the murder of children is totally unacceptable. Doctors are already allowed to kill people who are just depressed or tired of life. Regardless of the stringent rules put into place some people who have become a burden to society will undoubtedly be murdered.

LifeNews.com reports, “there is enormous concern about abuses under the expanded euthanasia law. Research conducted by the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) in 2010 found that 32 percent of euthanasia deaths in the Flanders region of Belgium occurred without an explicit request.”

Recent studies say that 47 percent of all assisted deaths are not being reported. Many have been killed without a request and nurses have been known to kill their patients even though the law only allows doctors to perform euthanasia.

When a small compromise is made on the issues of morality many injustices will no doubt be allowed. If euthanasia is allowed on an emotional and or moral claim of what’s best for an individual what’s to keep government from stepping in and deciding who should be terminated?

The definition of euthanasia could be expanded to include killing those who suffer from chronic depression or just tired of living or even those who are not considered productive in society. If we open this door that allows killing people for the above mentioned reasons can it ever be closed again?

Joseph is the Dothan Christianity Examiner and Dothan Marine Corps Examiner, you can check out his articles for each column by clicking on the titles above and or by clicking on the following links:

 

 

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