By Dave Andrusko
Yesterday National Right to Life President and Pro-Life Perspective Host Carol Tobias began to discuss the changes in public attitudes about euthanasia. She points out that the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision not only unleashed the killing machine against unborn babies, as a result “the value of the dignity of human life has changed and no one’s life is valued as it once was.”
Mrs. Tobias notes that subsequently there have been dangerous changes in health care and care of the terminally ill. “These concerns are heightened by some natural worries that people have about their care,” she explains.
Much of the remainder of Part II helps the listener appreciate several central truths. For example, what you and I mean by “extraordinary treatment” may be completely different than what a hospital system means.
Mrs. Tobias explains
Most people, for example, assume that provision of food and fluids is virtually always considered ordinary care. However, if your illness makes it difficult for you to feed yourself in the ordinary way, and you require a feeding tube, your provision of food and fluids suddenly becomes “extraordinary care” under legal policies governing hospital regulations with living wills in place. The average American would never expect food and fluids to be considered “extraordinary.”
The other key feature of Part Two is explaining how the descriptor “terminal” is misused in the euthanasia context. We think of it as meaning that a person is immanently dying, having exhausted all options for medical intervention. However, she explains, this concept
has been broadened to include “irreversible conditions.” This is a euphemism for anything that can be considered a “permanent disability.” A paraplegic in a wheelchair, a blind person requiring special lenses, a diabetic on insulin—these are only examples of the many individuals who fall under the category of having irreversible conditions. Indeed, strictly speaking, we are all in a terminal condition; because we know that we will all eventually die.
There is much more for you to learn today at www.prolifeperspective.com, particularly the dangers of a living will. And as you listen to all four parts of this series, remember it is essential that you fill out a pro-life “Will to Live,” found at www.nrlc.org/MedEthics/WilltoLiveProject.html.
Be sure to listen to all four broadcasts and pass the link along through your social networks.
Tomorrow, the role of the Courts in undermining our constitutional right to life.
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