"NOW THEY'RE EUTHANIZING ASPERGER'S PATIENTS - THE DEADLY THREAT OF ASSISTED SUICIDE" - by: John Stonestreet and Roberto Rivera, Breakpoint.org, December 14, 2018; http://www.breakpoint.org/2018/12/breakpoint-now-theyre-euthanizing-aspergers-patients/ [AS I SEE IT: As someone who know 3 people who deal with Aspergers and another dealing with autism, the fact that they can somehow be approved for euthanasia is scary. - Stan]
Another week… another example of how physician-assisted suicide targets the vulnerable. This time: Asperger’s patients.
In 2010, 38-year-old Tine Nys was one of approximately 1,000 people euthanized in Belgium. Nys was not suffering from a terminal illness. In fact, she wasn’t sick at all.
As I’ve mentioned before on BreakPoint, despite how it’s sold around the world, inevitable death isn’t a requirement for euthanasia in Belgium. The standard for eligibility is “unbearable and untreatable suffering,” which has come to include psychological suffering. Between 2005 and 2014, 124 people diagnosed with a “mental and/or behavioral disorder” were euthanized in Belgium. These included conditions such as depression and dementia.
But in Nys case, it’s wasn’t even clear she was “suffering” at all, much less in an “unbearable and untreatable” sense. Nys had been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, a mild form of autism. Asperger’s is characterized by, among other things, difficulty in social situations and restricted interests. It’s also characterized by “remarkable focus and persistence,” “attention to detail,” and an aptitude for recognizing patterns.
If that doesn’t sound especially unbearable, you’re correct. And many people agree. Venture capitalist Peter Thiel has called Asperger’s a possible “big advantage” in places like Silicon Valley. In fact, the person who helped me write this commentary will tell you that he displays more than a few Asperger’s characteristics, and he and I both will tell you that those characteristics help him do the amazing job he does.
If all that was “wrong” with Nys was Asperger’s, then even under Belgium’s absurdly lax standards, her request for euthanasia should not have been approved. And so her family filed a criminal complaint against the doctors who approved her request.
Here’s the good news: the head of Belgium’s euthanasia review commission announced he would no longer accept patients referred by Nys’s psychiatrist, Lieve Thienpont, who, by the way, partially justified Nys’s death by referring to her family as “seriously dysfunctional, wounded, (and) traumatized… with very little empathy and respect for others.”
Still, this is too little, too late. As early as 2015, Belgian doctors were aware of “the high number of requests that this psychiatrist fielded and how many of them were approved.” Here’s more good news: in late November, Belgian officials opened a criminal investigation into this psychiatrist, and into two other doctors concerning the circumstances of Nys’s death.
The bad news is this will do nothing to roll back Belgium’s culture of death. After all, Thienpont isn’t the only Belgian doctor approving requests for euthanasia from people whose “unbearable and untreatable” condition is simply psychological or even autism. She’s simply the doctor most associated with a practice the New York Post called “controversial” and “hotly debated.” That’s not the same thing as illegal.
The case of Tine Nys is more evidence that talk about protecting vulnerable people from euthanasia once the cat is out of the bag is just that, talk. Since 2002, more than 10,000 people have been euthanized in Belgium, and before Thienpont, only one other case was referred to prosecutors and that one was eventually dropped.
Once you concede that some lives are not worth living, then the criteria for what “not worth living” means will inevitably expand. Euthanasia isn’t nor has it ever been about alleviating suffering. It’s about personal autonomy, the “right” to live or die as you choose, and the advancement of a culture of death.
After all, it only took Belgium eight short years to go from euthanizing terminal cancer patients to killing people whom, under different circumstances, might be working in Silicon Valley. Or for that matter, writing for BreakPoint.
[italics and colored emphasis mine]
RESOURCES
"Euthanasia and Its Victims From 'Right to Die' to 'Duty to Die' ” - Eric Metaxas | BreakPoint.org | February 15, 2018; http://www.breakpoint.org/2018/02/euthanasia-and-its-victims/
"Always Care, Never Kill: How Physician-Assisted Suicide Endangers the Weak, Corrupts Medicine, Compromises the Family, and Violates Human Dignity and Equality" - Ryan T. Anderson | Heritage.org | March 24, 2015; https://www.heritage.org/health-care-reform/report/always-care-never-kill-how-physician-assisted-suicide-endangers-the-weak
-------------------------------------------
PRAYER MATTERS:
"To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world." - Karl Barth; "Prayer is inviting God into a seemingly impossible situation and trusting/resting in His love and grace to accomplish His perfect will in His perfect time and for His greatest glory. Intercession is the one of the great privileges AND responsibilities for EVERY believer." - Stan
------------------------------------------------------------
Praying Through the Open Doors World Watch List for persecuted believers:o -https://www.opendoorsusa.org/take-action/pray/monthly-prayer-calendar/
As we look ahead to 2019, Open Doors is excited to partner with you to come alongside persecuted believers in a number of countries. We ask you to pray with us about this year’s vision focused on strengthening the Church in the Middle East, Nigeria, India, Colombia and Egypt, among others.
January 5 | EGYPT - An Egyptian court handed down one-year suspended jail sentences to the 15 attackers of a local church, with a fine equivalent to $28 each. This kind of injustice is rampant throughout Egypt. Pray with us for the church in Egypt.
*Names changed to protect identities
In 2010, 38-year-old Tine Nys was one of approximately 1,000 people euthanized in Belgium. Nys was not suffering from a terminal illness. In fact, she wasn’t sick at all.
As I’ve mentioned before on BreakPoint, despite how it’s sold around the world, inevitable death isn’t a requirement for euthanasia in Belgium. The standard for eligibility is “unbearable and untreatable suffering,” which has come to include psychological suffering. Between 2005 and 2014, 124 people diagnosed with a “mental and/or behavioral disorder” were euthanized in Belgium. These included conditions such as depression and dementia.
But in Nys case, it’s wasn’t even clear she was “suffering” at all, much less in an “unbearable and untreatable” sense. Nys had been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, a mild form of autism. Asperger’s is characterized by, among other things, difficulty in social situations and restricted interests. It’s also characterized by “remarkable focus and persistence,” “attention to detail,” and an aptitude for recognizing patterns.
If that doesn’t sound especially unbearable, you’re correct. And many people agree. Venture capitalist Peter Thiel has called Asperger’s a possible “big advantage” in places like Silicon Valley. In fact, the person who helped me write this commentary will tell you that he displays more than a few Asperger’s characteristics, and he and I both will tell you that those characteristics help him do the amazing job he does.
If all that was “wrong” with Nys was Asperger’s, then even under Belgium’s absurdly lax standards, her request for euthanasia should not have been approved. And so her family filed a criminal complaint against the doctors who approved her request.
Here’s the good news: the head of Belgium’s euthanasia review commission announced he would no longer accept patients referred by Nys’s psychiatrist, Lieve Thienpont, who, by the way, partially justified Nys’s death by referring to her family as “seriously dysfunctional, wounded, (and) traumatized… with very little empathy and respect for others.”
Still, this is too little, too late. As early as 2015, Belgian doctors were aware of “the high number of requests that this psychiatrist fielded and how many of them were approved.” Here’s more good news: in late November, Belgian officials opened a criminal investigation into this psychiatrist, and into two other doctors concerning the circumstances of Nys’s death.
The bad news is this will do nothing to roll back Belgium’s culture of death. After all, Thienpont isn’t the only Belgian doctor approving requests for euthanasia from people whose “unbearable and untreatable” condition is simply psychological or even autism. She’s simply the doctor most associated with a practice the New York Post called “controversial” and “hotly debated.” That’s not the same thing as illegal.
The case of Tine Nys is more evidence that talk about protecting vulnerable people from euthanasia once the cat is out of the bag is just that, talk. Since 2002, more than 10,000 people have been euthanized in Belgium, and before Thienpont, only one other case was referred to prosecutors and that one was eventually dropped.
Once you concede that some lives are not worth living, then the criteria for what “not worth living” means will inevitably expand. Euthanasia isn’t nor has it ever been about alleviating suffering. It’s about personal autonomy, the “right” to live or die as you choose, and the advancement of a culture of death.
After all, it only took Belgium eight short years to go from euthanizing terminal cancer patients to killing people whom, under different circumstances, might be working in Silicon Valley. Or for that matter, writing for BreakPoint.
[italics and colored emphasis mine]
RESOURCES
"Euthanasia and Its Victims From 'Right to Die' to 'Duty to Die' ” - Eric Metaxas | BreakPoint.org | February 15, 2018; http://www.breakpoint.org/2018/02/euthanasia-and-its-victims/
"Always Care, Never Kill: How Physician-Assisted Suicide Endangers the Weak, Corrupts Medicine, Compromises the Family, and Violates Human Dignity and Equality" - Ryan T. Anderson | Heritage.org | March 24, 2015; https://www.heritage.org/health-care-reform/report/always-care-never-kill-how-physician-assisted-suicide-endangers-the-weak
-------------------------------------------
|
PRAYER MATTERS:
"To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world." - Karl Barth; "Prayer is inviting God into a seemingly impossible situation and trusting/resting in His love and grace to accomplish His perfect will in His perfect time and for His greatest glory. Intercession is the one of the great privileges AND responsibilities for EVERY believer." - Stan
------------------------------------------------------------
Praying Through the Open Doors World Watch List for persecuted believers:o -https://www.opendoorsusa.org/take-action/pray/monthly-prayer-calendar/
As we look ahead to 2019, Open Doors is excited to partner with you to come alongside persecuted believers in a number of countries. We ask you to pray with us about this year’s vision focused on strengthening the Church in the Middle East, Nigeria, India, Colombia and Egypt, among others.
January 5 | EGYPT - An Egyptian court handed down one-year suspended jail sentences to the 15 attackers of a local church, with a fine equivalent to $28 each. This kind of injustice is rampant throughout Egypt. Pray with us for the church in Egypt.
*Names changed to protect identities |
If you're reading this and if you're wondering if maybe it would be better to not keep on living... you're not alone. I know what it's like to be absolutely terrified of seeing the next day. I know what it's like to be incapacitated with sorrow and anxiety to the point of feeling crushed. I don't know what you're going through, but my heart goes out to you. I want you to know that there is hope.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many stories of people who were so close to ending their life and yet chose not to; they later lived to be thankful that they chose life. Please don't give up! You are not alone. You are precious. You are loved.
If you're in a crisis, see this site: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org
Or call the national suicide hotline, available 24/7: 1-800-273-8255
Or if you just need a friend to talk to, contact Stan, the manager of this blog. He's my friend and he cares... A LOT. His email: yonashiro@bellsouth.net
Or contact me: jomawon@yahoo.com
Let us all not pass by someone without caring. We all are hurting inside in some way, even if people can't see it.
-herb