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"A CLIMATE OF DEATH - THE COLLATERAL DAMAGE OF LEGAL SUICIDE" - by John Stonestreet and. Shane Morris, Breakpoint.org, June 7, 2019; http://www.breakpoint.org/2019/06/breakpoint-a-climate-of-death/ [ AS I SEE IT: To what is shared in this article, I would add that the pursuit of legalizing suicide - euthanasia - was predicted to happen over 45 years ago when the killing of unborn babies was leaglized in the U.S. and so many other countries. Abortion cheapened the meaning of human life. It shoud not surprise us that ever since the unborn were declared to be not human and therefore "expendable." so has even human life been considered expendable. Mass shootings at every kind of venue and even children (in grade school) killing other children has become more and more common. Young people "cutting themselves" has become more and more common over such things as a breakup with a girlfriend or other such emotinal disappointment. Legalizing killing of any kind cannot help but cheapen all life. Christians truly need to be praying against this culture of death taking any further hold of our society as well as others. May God help us promote instead a culture of Life! - Stan]
This young woman, who had previously been hospitalized for extreme anorexia, underwent evaluations after requesting legal euthanasia. A few days before her death, she posted on Instagram that, “I’ve stopped eating and drinking for a while now, and after many discussions and evaluations, it has been decided to let me go, because my suffering is unbearable.”
Many jumped to the conclusion that she ended her life with a doctor’s help. But it turns out the story is more complicated. The Guardian reports that Pothoven’s request to die by doctors’ help was actually denied because she was too young, and she might benefit from counseling.
Instead, the girl decided to starve herself with her parents and doctors deciding not to intervene.
The whole thing is tragic, from her initial trauma to her eventual decision to die. But just because initial reports were mistaken about a physician being directly involved in her death doesn’t mean that it is unrelated to the Netherlands’ notoriously open euthanasia laws.
Quite the opposite, in fact. A growing body of research indicates that, contrary to expectations, legalizing euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide results in higher rates of suicide, both assisted and unassisted.
A 2015 study by Oxford researchers found that U.S. states where physician-assisted suicide became legal saw a 6.3 percent increase in total suicides. A 2017 study by Dutch researchers published in the Journal of Mental Health came to an even more startling conclusion: “…the option of euthanasia for people with psychiatric conditions does not reduce the number of nonassisted suicides [but] rather contributes to a rise in their numbers.”
And “rise” is almost a euphemism. Suicide rates in the Netherlands are among the fastest growing in the world. In fact, well over a quarter of deaths there are “induced”—a metric which includes suicides, murders, and euthanasia. By comparison, just 2.5 percent of deaths in the U.S. are induced, meaning that the Dutch, with their low murder rates, are simply choosing to die in historic numbers.
So how does legal assisted suicide cause an explosion in overall suicides—especially when so many predicted the opposite? The Dutch researchers venture a guess: “…making [suicide] a legal possibility,” they write, “is a political decision with potential implications for a society’s credibility and resolve to protect life and prevent premature deaths.”
In other words, when suicide is legal, psychiatric patients—particularly those like Pothoven who suffer from PTSD and depression—receive what these authors call a “paradoxical societal signal.” Sure, doctors will make a token effort at trying to talk people out of ending their lives, but if they really want to die, those same doctors will walk them through it.
“Seen more broadly,” the authors conclude, “the option of euthanasia for psychiatric patients may contribute to a societal climate in which death is increasingly seen as a remedy for all forms of severe suffering.”
I don’t think I’ve heard a group of social scientists come so close to summarizing Pope John Paul II’s famous criticism of the “culture of death.” They almost admit, in so many words, that the law is a moral teacher, and that a nation or state which teaches its citizens that death is a cure for suffering will reap more death.
Let me go on record right now as predicting that future research will confirm this link. It will become an established fact that legally endorsing suicide results in a frightening increase in unassisted suicides. How can it not?
When a society tells hurting people that their lives may not be worth living, they’re going to believe it. And people like Noa Pothoven need help living, not help dying. Her sad story should stand as a reminder that bad ideas have victims—especially when those bad ideas become enshrined in law.
[italics and colored emphasis mine]
RESOURCES
"Mystery surrounds the death of Noa Pothoven who tried to be euthanized" - Staff writers | News Corp Australia Network | June 6, 2019; https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/teens/noa-pothoven-of-arnhem-in-the-netherlands-is-legally-euthanised/news-story/10b49ca69733eaa11b66e1b1b8e215a1
"Dutch girl was not 'legally euthanised' and died at home" - Jon Henley | The Guardian | June 5, 2019; https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/05/noa-pothoven-netherlands-girl-not-legally-euthanised-died-at-home
"Does Euthanasia Have a Dampening Effect on Suicide Rates? Recent Experiences from the Netherlands" - Dr. Theo A. Boer | Journal of Ethics in Mental Health, Volume 10 | 2017 - https://jemh.ca/issues/v9/documents/JEMH%20article%20Boer%20final%20proof.pdf
"Assisted Suicide Turned Homicide? Doing in the Dutch" - John Stonestreet | BreakPoint.org | February 5, 2019; http://www.breakpoint.org/2019/02/breakpoint-assisted-suicide-turned-homicide/
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"Teen’s Sad End Suggests New Standard in Accepting ‘Right to Die’" - Rachel del Guidice / @LRacheldG / June 12, 2019; https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/06/12/teens-sad-end-suggests-new-standard-in-accepting-right-to-die
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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 one of the great privileges AND responsibilities for EVERY believer."- Stan
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Praying Through the Open Doors World Watch List for persecuted believers:https://www.opendoorsusa.org/take-action/pray/monthly-prayer-calendar/
In Nigeria (ranked #12 on the 2019 World Watch List), our brothers and sisters face increasing persecution on multiple fronts, including deadly attacks by Islamic extremists and extreme discrimination by Muslim families and communities.This month, we invite you to join us as we stand in prayer for our Nigerian family.
June 15 | INDONESIA - Pray for Diva,* Raisa* and other young Christian women who have converted from Islam and are now attending discipleship classes offered by Open Doors. Pray for strength and determination for these disciple makers.
*Names changed to protect identities
June 15 | INDONESIA - Pray for Diva,* Raisa* and other young Christian women who have converted from Islam and are now attending discipleship classes offered by Open Doors. Pray for strength and determination for these disciple makers.
*Names changed to protect identities
In light of a Dutch girl starving herself after failing to secure a legal euthanasia order, this article argues that legalizing euthanasia will lead to an increase in unassisted suicide. It argues that the laws teach citizens that death is a remedy to problems.
ReplyDeleteI argue that it's a little more complicated. I think there are lots of people who are afraid to commit suicide because of what people will think of them if they do so. If assisted suicide becomes legal, then that fear goes away - it is socially acceptable to end your life. It's not that people didn't want to kill themselves before - they just didn't because of the fear of how they'll be remembered. I think we have to go beyond fighting against legalized euthanasia - we have to give people a reason to live so that they won't even give suicide a thought.
The worst lie that someone in a desperate situation can believe is that no one understands or cares. That is a lie.
You are loved more than you can imagine and you mean the world to someone. You are beautiful and you matter.
-herb