Thursday, October 29, 2009

Where Does It End?

A report out today states that in the UK, a premature baby was left to die after doctors refused to resuscitate a child born at 21 weeks. UK guidelines state that only after 22 weeks does a child's life warrant the expensive measures required to save him/her.

I have said for some time that if life is not sacred from beginning to end, then the question must then follow, "When does a human life become worthy of protection?" The groundwork has been laid in England that a life is worthy only if it will not pose too much of a burden upon the rest of society.

Eventually, this reasoning will be taken to its logical conclusion. If a child born at 21 weeks should not receive medical care because the costs (along with the possibility of disability) will be great, then what about the four year old child with cerebral palsy? Why should government spend money that could go to entitlements on someone who will never be able to "give back?" Next, we must ask, just how disabled do you have to be before we decide that you are not doing your part and should be eliminated at worst, or denied medical treatments at best?

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