Showing posts with label Healthcare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Healthcare. Show all posts

Sunday, August 03, 2025

The notion that there is such a thing as a life not worthy to be lived


 As reported here:


"In a recent video, Kelsi Sheren, a Canadian combat veteran, host of The Kelsi Sheren Perspective, and an outspoken opponent of Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) policies, shared how Canada’s government-controlled healthcare system plans to euthanize an estimated 15 million Canadians between 2027 and 2047, a staggering figure justified under the pretext of cost savings.

While doctor-assisted suicide in the U.S. has not yet reached the alarming extremes observed in Canada, the 'death with dignity' movement is actively attempting to change that. Pending Governor Hochul’s signature on New York’s recently passed bill, 11 states and Washington, D.C., will permit this abhorrent and immoral practice.

Fortunately, dedicated coalitions – including the disability rights community, pro-life organizations, leaders within the Catholic Church, and other advocates – have helped slow its expansion.

Since Oregon first legalized assisted suicide in 1997, nearly 10,000 deaths have occurred under such laws. Nevertheless, with a culture increasingly embracing death as a solution, it’s difficult to predict whether the U.S. will ultimately follow Canada’s troubling example by normalizing assisted death instead of prioritizing compassionate care.

What often goes unnoticed, however, is that existing U.S. healthcare policies are already enabling the quiet killing of vulnerable Americans – not through legalized suicide, but through hospital protocols and policies that deny care, withdraw treatment, or subtly hasten death.


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For the Nazis, "euthanasia" (which is translated as "good death") represented a euphemistic term for a clandestine murder program created for the systematic killing of mentally and physically disabled patients living in institutional settings throughout Germany. The National Socialist's "Euthanasia" program would set the stage for the Holocaust: the mass murder of Jews and others who were deemed either racially inferior or ideologically unsuitable. In the words of Dr. Leo Alexander, Chief U.S. Medical Consultant at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials: 'Whatever proportions these crimes finally assumed, it became evident to all who investigated them that they had started from small beginnings."

Dr. Alexander referred to "a subtle shift in emphasis in the basic attitude of physicians." These physicians came to accept the notion that there is such a thing as a life not worthy to be lived. We are witnessing what appears to be a similar "subtle shift in emphasis" with regard to human life today.

In his Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, Pope John Paul II reminded us that: "Authentic democracy is possible only in a State ruled by law, and on the basis of a correct conception of the human person. It requires that the necessary conditions be present for the advancement both of the individual through education and formation in true ideals, and of the "subjectivity" of society through the creation of structures of participation and shared responsibility. Nowadays there is a tendency to claim that agnosticism and sceptical relativism are the philosophy and the basic attitude which correspond to democratic forms of political life. Those who are convinced that they know the truth and firmly adhere to it are considered unreliable from a democratic point of view, since they do not accept that truth is determined by the majority, or that it is subject to variation according to different political trends. It must be observed in this regard that if there is no ultimate truth to guide and direct political activity, then ideas and convictions can easily be manipulated for reasons of power. As history demonstrates, a democracy without values easily turns into open or thinly disguised totalitarianism."

We ignore this warning at our own peril.


Sunday, February 12, 2017

New Vatican Healthcare Manual opening door to euthanasia

Is the Vatican opening the door to euthanasia?  See here

For the Nazis, "euthanasia" (which is translated as "good death") represented a euphemistic term for a clandestine murder program created for the systematic killing of mentally and physically disabled patients living in institutional settings throughout Germany. The National Socialist's "Euthanasia" program would set the stage for the Holocaust: the mass murder of Jews and others who were deemed either racially inferior or ideologically unsuitable. In the words of Dr. Leo Alexander, Chief U.S. Medical Consultant at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials: 'Whatever proportions these crimes finally assumed, it became evident to all who investigated them that they had started from small beginnings."

Dr. Alexander referred to "a subtle shift in emphasis in the basic attitude of physicians." These physicians came to accept the notion that there is such a thing as a life not worthy to be lived.

We are witnessing what appears to be a similar "subtle shift in emphasis" with regard to human life in our own time. The new Vatican Healthcare Manual is a reason for concern.


In his Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, Pope John Paul II reminded us that:

"Authentic democracy is possible only in a State ruled by law, and on the basis of a correct conception of the human person. It requires that the necessary conditions be present for the advancement both of the individual through education and formation in true ideals, and of the "subjectivity" of society through the creation of structures of participation and shared responsibility. Nowadays there is a tendency to claim that agnosticism and sceptical relativism are the philosophy and the basic attitude which correspond to democratic forms of political life. Those who are convinced that they know the truth and firmly adhere to it are considered unreliable from a democratic point of view, since they do not accept that truth is determined by the majority, or that it is subject to variation according to different political trends. It must be observed in this regard that if there is no ultimate truth to guide and direct political activity, then ideas and convictions can easily be manipulated for reasons of power. As history demonstrates, a democracy without values easily turns into open or thinly disguised totalitarianism."

We ignore this warning at our own peril

Friday, August 20, 2010

The Archdiocese of Boston has a skewed set of priorities

Deal Hudson notes here how the Archdiocese of Boston has blocked access to the Boston Catholic Insider Blog. He writes, "The controversy leading to this action by the Boston Archdiocese was precipitated by the troubling issues surrounding the proposed sale of Caritas Christi Healthcare, owned by the Archdiocese, to Cerebus Capital. Having watched this story develop for quite a while, and having kept abreast of the ongoing narrative, I agree with those blogging at bostoncatholicinsider.com that the sale is rife with conflict of interest issues. This attempt of the Boston Archdiocese to act in loco parentis towards its employees not only looks silly but also demonstrates an ignorance of how the internet works. Whoever made the decision to block the 'offending' web site will have a hard time blocking all the Catholic web sites containing links to information about the sale of Caritas Christi.."

We can tell much about an individual or a group of individuals [including a Catholic diocese] by examining their priorities. Bearing this in mind, let us consider the fact that the Archdiocese of Boston becomes agitated when the laity engage in constructive criticism, and will take great pains to silence such criticism [to the point of blocking access to a Blog which engages in such fraternal correction], but takes no action whatsoever to block access to a Blog written by one of its own dissenting priests.

Father Emile "Mike" Boutin argued at his Blog that priests should not be celibate and ridiculed Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, a Prince of the Church, for his views. And access to his Blog was not blocked. The confused priest admitted knowing of child abuse committed by his "mentor" and of remaining silent and not revealing his name. And access to his Blog was not blocked. He argued against priests wearing the Roman collar, and access to his Blog was not blocked.

One might think that officials of the Boston Archdiocese would be more concerned with Father Boutin's troubling views than with constructive criticism offered by the Boston Catholic Insider Blog. But one would be wrong.

And this reveals much about the Boston Archdiocese and where its heading.

Why aren't officials of the Boston Archdiocese concerned over this?
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