Euthanasia: A slippery slope?

Nazi Poster (circa 1938)

George V of England was a heavy smoker who suffered from long-term respiratory problems.  On January 15, 1936 he complained of a cold.  Five days later, his doctors issued this bulletin:   The King's life is moving peacefully towards its close.                                                      

Turns out that they knew this for a fact.  Their medical leader, Lord Dawson of Penn, "had ended the King's life by giving him a lethal injection of cocaine and morphine." This esteemed President of the Royal College of Physicians noted that he did so in order "to preserve the King's dignity, to prevent strain on the family and so that the King's death at 11:55 pm" could make the morning edition of The Times (rather than be relegated to the "less appropriate" evening journals).

Wikipedia also reports on the Nazi so-called euthanasia campaign.  This campaign was dubbed "T4" (for Tiergartenstrasse 4, the main address of its euphemistically-named Charitable Foundation for Curative and Institutional Care).  Records show that "at least 200,000 physically or mentally handicapped people" were "killed by medication, starvation, or in the gas chambers between 1939 and 1945."

One Nazi campaign poster featured a smug-looking clinician (white coat and all) with his hand patronizingly resting upon the shoulder of a disabled-looking individual.  The poster caption reads:  60,000 Reichsmarks is what this person suffering from a hereditary defect costs the People's community during his lifetime.  Fellow citizen, that is your money too.      

Them's "slippery slope" words – especially within a recession that militates against the meek inheriting anything, let alone the right to life itself.

Resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_V_of_the_United_Kingdom

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_T4

Copyright October 11, 2012 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved