The Least of These: The Elderly and Infirm
The Least of These: The Elderly and Infirm.
[This article is in process and thus an unfinished product. Please do not read it right now].
“Enough! You’re here to defend the defenseless, to give justice to the weak and fatherless, to maintain the rights of the oppressed and needy. Your job is to rescue the powerless and stand up for them, to deliver them from all who exploit them!” (Psalm 82:2-4).
Our American Death Wish: In 2024, there were over 50,000 suicides, 25,000 homicides, and 107,000 drug overdoses; there have been over 5,300 assisted suicides in the US, and the number of acts of euthanasia is swiftly climbing since more states are signing “Medical Aid in Dying” into law.
“Rescue those being taken away to death. Keep safe those who are staggering toward slaughter. Don’t hesitate to step in and help. If you say, ‘That’s none of my business,’ will that get you off the hook? If you try to excuse yourself and claim ignorance and say, ‘Oh, we did not know this,’ does not He who weighs and considers the heart perceive it? Will He not repay you and everyone else as their actions deserve? He sees through your excuses and holds you responsible for failing to help those whose lives are threatened.” (Proverbs 24:11).
Euthanasia: Euthanasia is the practice of ending the life of a patient to limit the patient’s suffering. In times past the “patient” in question would typically be terminally ill or experiencing hopeless pain and suffering. But now the person may not be a patient at all, and not suffering from any pain. The word “euthanasia” itself ironically comes from the Greek words “eu” (good) and “thanatos” (death). There are many euphemisms for euthanasia, including the right to die, mercy killing, death with dignity, physician-assisted suicide, and now the more common “Medical Aid in Dying.” The M.A.I.D. system in the Canadian national health care program accounts for 1 of every 5 deaths there. Euthanasia is the 5th leading cause of death in Canada, and the numbers continue to climb. Plans are in the works now for the mentally impaired to be eligible for MAID, and can the physically disabled be that far behind? We have ten states in the U.S. that have legalized M.A.I.D., resulting in 5,300 deaths thus far. One shudders to think if any momentum travels from Canada and then grows in America. We hope that there won’t be the day in the U.S. when the elderly or infirm in our hospitals and nursing homes have to post a friend or relative bedside to keep the medical staff from pulling the plug.
The first law in the doctor’s code, the Hippocratic Oath: Do No Harm.