Archive for the ‘Euthanasia’ Category
“A recent study reveals that a few physicians may have facilitated the deaths of terminally ill children at their parents’ request.
The study was published in the March edition of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Dr. Joanne Wolfe, a palliative pain specialist at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children’s Hospital, interviewed 141 parents of children who died of cancer.
“They had found out…in that study 19 of the parents had thought about having their child euthanized, 13 had actually talked about it seriously, five spoke to their physician about it, and in three cases, the parents said that the doctor agreed to give their child a lethal overdose and the child died,” reports Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC).
He notes that the practice is illegal in all 50 states because it is euthanasia, and he says the study really points out the need for better pain management, whether it is for an adult or a child.
“The fact is that the answer is not to go out and kill the child,” Schadenberg contends. “The answer is to properly care for these children. If they are to die, that they be properly cared for and die a natural death without having to suffer like that.” …”
More:
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=974864
“Mercy killings have increased in the Netherlands as the number of euthanasia cases rose by 200 for a total of 2,500 last year, but because reporting cases to the government is voluntary, exact figures are not available.
“Even under the self-reporting, it is acknowledged by the Dutch at least that…not everybody’s reporting,” says Rita Marker, head of the International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. “And yet that was their very reason that they gave for legalizing euthanasia because it had been practiced for years. And then when they finally legalized it they said, ‘Well, this way we’ll have a better handle on it. We’ll know what’s happening. It will be more carefully done’ — and in fact, that isn’t what’s happened.”
Marker notes that people have become desensitized and no longer blink an eye at euthanasia, and she feels that is an important point of concern because assisted suicide is now considered to be “medical treatment” in three American states. She is also troubled about the possibility that healthcare reform may lead to assisted suicide.
“Whether they foresee it that way or not, there is the law of unintended consequences, and when something becomes a medical treatment and it is the least expensive medical treatment, it’s just carrying it to its logical conclusion,” Marker explains. “So while someone who votes for the healthcare reform bill may not have that in mind, it is inevitable once you transform assisted suicide into a medical treatment.” …” Read More: http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=855636
“The Supreme Court of Montana vacated a trial judge’s ruling that the Constitution of Montana prohibited assisted suicide for the terminally ill” but construed the state’s living will law as permitting doctors to prescribe lethal overdoses if the patient self administers.
“In conclusion, we find nothing in Montana Supreme Court precedent or Montana statutes indicating that physician aid in dying is against public policy. The ‘against public policy’ exception to consent has been interpreted by this Court as applicable to violent breaches of the public peace.” …” Read More: http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/secondhandsmoke/2009/12/31/no-constitutional-right-to-assisted-suicide-in-montana-but-not-against-current-law/
Prompted by the article sent to me by Doug Yowell, I decided to investigate a little bit more about the history of the Hippocratic Oath, which ruled the day in ethics for over two millennia. This oath has been watered down so much that it bears little resemblance to the original document written four centuries B.C. For the sake of brevity, I have selected certain material relevant to the issue of abortion. Nevertheless, I am including Internet links to help you read more from the original sources. Here is what I have discovered:
“The Hippocratic Oath is an oath traditionally taken by doctors swearing to ethically practice medicine. It is widely believed to have been written by Hippocrates, the father of western medicine, in Ionic Greek (late 5th century BC), or by one of his students, and is usually included in the Hippocratic Corpus.”
The Hippocratic Oath: Classical Version”
I swear by Apollo Physician and Asclepius and Hygieia and Panaceia and all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will fulfill according to my ability and judgment this oath and this covenant: …
I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art. …”
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/doctors/oath_classical.html
The Hippocratic Oath: Modern Version
“I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.”
“The AMA has a code of ethics, but there is, in fact, no version of the Hippocratic Oath that the AMA espouses or promotes.”
“While it is common knowledge among both doctors and the lay public that doctors take an oath that says, “Never do harm,” the fact is that not all medical schools require their graduating doctors take the Hippocratic Oath.”
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/doctors/oath_modern.html
The British Medical Association Version of the Oath
“The British Medical Association, in March 1997, published their first draft of a revised Hippocratic Oath to be considered by the World Medical Association. …
I recognise the special value of human life but I also know that the prolongation of human life is not the only aim of healthcare. Where abortion is permitted, I agree that it should take place only within an ethical and legal framework.
http://www.imagerynet.com/hippo.ama.html
The Watering down of the Oath
“The oath was modified during the 20th century, but its ethical strength remained. The modified version was written by Lasagna, which eventually became known as the Oath of Lasagna. In the 21st century, some medical schools began to adopt other forms of ethical oath, while some other schools abandoned the administration of any ethical oath. …
Thus we see how the Hippocratic Oath has ceased to be a moral force or a guiding ideal for many physicians. Breaking away from the traditional medical covenant of respect for life, new segments of medical professionals have reversed the end for which the science of medicine was founded, which is to heal and save lives. In their hands, the science of medicine has become instrumental for ending lives by abortion, euthanasia, and assisted suicide. Lamentably, these break-away physicians have become instruments of death. As for them, no longer is the ethics of Hippocrates relevant since the abiding motto of Hippocrates had been: First, do no harm. As for these physicians, the Hippocratic medical covenant is as meaningless as the Mosaic covenant: Thou shalt not kill. …”
http://www.acim-asia.com/The_Hippocratic_Oath.htm
“When abortion and euthanasia became legal in many countries, the binding force of the oath ceased. So other forms of oath came to be. Needless to say, it is now impossible to unite the medical professionals under one ethical code of conduct. The medical body is badly split, just the way the Church is split… There are traditionalists, conservatives, and liberals.. But worse, there are total angels of death, like Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who operated his active euthanasia practice while USA still held euthanasia a crime. Then there are the Chinese doctors who inject poison in the skulls of undesired children, or deny them treatment, food and water until they die. …”
I just finished reading again a speech given by C. Everett Koop, former U.S. Surgeon General, entitled “Whither Hippocrates”, given at the Loma Linda University Commencement Ceremonies on May 26, 1991, which was sent to me by Douglas Yowell. I wish I could give you an Internet link to it, but my search for an online version of Koop’s speech failed to yield the wished for results. Nevertheless, if you have access to the April-June, 1991 LLU “Scope” publication, you can find it there.
Dr. Koop emphasized the fact that fairly recently the Hippocratic Oath has been watered down to the point of having little resemblance to the one we have today. The main emphasis of the original oath was “Do no harm.” This has been lost as a result of the modern view of abortion and the growing acceptance of euthanasia. Hippocrates’ rule included the following: “Don’t hasten death, but don’t prolong the act of dying either.”
One of the highlights of Koops speech was: “I remember that when the Hippocratic tradition first emerged, it was a minority movement. But it did succeed. And it dominated medical ethics for more than 2,000 years.” The influence of said oath grew with time and resulted in the following remarkable event: “After Hippocrates, healing and killing parted company.” This is no longer the case!
I will try to expand a little bit on my next posting dealing with the same topic!
The Manhattan Declaration Regarding Human Life. WASHINGTON (BP)–A diverse group of Christian leaders joined together Nov. 20 to declare a commitment to defend the sanctity of human life, biblical marriage and religious liberty without compromise. In a 4,700-word statement named the Manhattan Declaration, about 150 evangelical, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox signers said they were coming together to “embrace our obligation” to speak and act in support of the dignity of all human beings, marriage as the union of a man and a woman, and the freedom to express religious convictions.
“[W]e will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act,” the statement says, “nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family. We will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar’s. But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God’s.” … Read More: http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=31736