Why Are They Mad?

Many in England are in an uproar this week because Baroness Mary Helen Warnock told the Church of Scotland's Life and Work magazine that those with dementia have a "duty to die." She said, "If you're demented, you're wasting people's lives -- your family's lives -- and you're wasting the resources of the National Health Service."

The irony here is that most of those who are upset have already decided that not all life is worthy of protection, especially those within the womb. They arrived at that conclusion by claiming that not all human life is actual "personhood." For a life to be a person, they have to demonstrate several qualities, such as communication and awareness. If that argument is followed to its natural conclusion, then those outside of the womb, including senior adults, who no longer meet the criteria of personhood are no longer worthy of legal protection. Add to that the fact that patients with dementia cost taxpayers a lot of money and thus, lower the services provided to the rest of society, and the result is that some patients with forms of dementia have a duty to die.

Baroness Warnock is as wrong as wrong can be. In fact, I will call her thoughts "evil." But let's also admit that she is consistently applying the arguments made by those who have argued for legalized abortion. Once abortion is ok because personhood is redefined, this is where you eventually arrive. And this is why we must defend the right to life of all "persons" both in the womb and out.