Compass Piece Not Published by ADN

By: Karen L. Lewis, Educational Director, Alaska Right to Life

In a recent NY Times Sunday Magazine section, Professor Peter Singer of Princeton University, openly admits his extreme ideological beliefs; stating that the life of an elderly American is not worth the life of a young American. Wow.

In 2007, Mr. Singer stated, “Human babies are not born self-aware or capable of grasping their lives over time. They are not persons. Hence, their lives would seem to be no more worthy of protection than the life of a fetus.”

In case you’re wondering, Mr. Singer is also a vigorous animal rights activist, and believes that animals should be viewed as legal persons with legal protections;protections that he believes should be denied to unborn and young children.

This extremist, humanistic view is more pervasive than you may care to know.

Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, health advisor to the President, and brother to White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, has been appointed as a member of the Federal Council of Comparative Effectiveness, and is an influential architect of the Congressional health care plan. Dr. Emanuel believes that true reform must include redefining doctors’ ethical obligations. Huh?

Emanuel complained that doctors take the Hippocratic Oath too seriously, “As an imperative to do everything for the patient regardless of the cost of effect of others.”

In the Lancet, January 31^st, 2009, Dr. Emanuel co-authored a ‘complete lives system’

which produced a priority curve on which individuals aged roughly 15-40, get the most substantial chance; conversely, the youngest and oldest people get chances that are attenuated.

Take a closer look into government-run health care in the United Kingdom.

Sarah Capewell, a young British woman, began premature labor at 21 weeks and four days. She was told that she was not allowed injections to try to stop labor, or a steroid injection to help strengthen her baby’s lungs, because she was 2 days short of 22 weeks gestation. The medical guidelines for Health Service hospitals state that babies should not be given intensive care if they are born at less than 22 weeks. The doctors refused to even see her son, Jayden. Sarah pleaded with one pediatrician, “You have got to help.” His heartless reply was, “No we don’t.” Sarah kept asking for the doctors, but the midwife said, “They won’t come and help, sweetie. Make the best of the time you have with him.“ Sarah held her baby and tried to comfort him as he gasped for breath for almost two hours. After his death, she had to fight for his birth and death certificates, as the authorities wanted to label this ordeal a miscarriage. What made Sarah feel even worse, was finding that there was a baby girl born in the USA before 22 weeks, that survived and is thriving.

Sarah’s hospital likely weighed cost vs. benefit. Should money ever outweigh life?

Apparently so, in the eyes of some policy makers.

The protocols in place under Britain’s ‘care pathway’ requires that when a patient is deemed near death, life sustaining fluids and medicines are withdrawn and the patient is placed under heavy sedation; in some cases causing death, known as terminal sedation. In 2007, about 95,000 citizens were killed in this manner! For this same year, statistics show that 16.5% of deaths in Britain came about after continuous deep sedation. That’s twice as many as the Netherlands, a country infamous for high euthanasia deaths.

There is a major incentive to usher out the elderly and the disabled; their medical costs. New laws under government health care, will likely make victims of patients that are the most expensive to care for. The Baby Boomers, who are an enormous group, are entering into their final phase of life. With the new laws in place, the government has a financial motive to hasten their deaths, and will also have a legal means to do so. When we surrender our health care approaches to bureaucratic panels who make decisions based upon cost, age, and quality of life, the weakest and most vulnerable among us will be sacrificed. Can you say ‘death panels’?