Terminal Non Judgmentalism in Action: Kill the Sick--Do Not Go to Jail
Courts continue to support euthanasia by not meaningfully punishing people who murder their loved ones who are sick or disabled. The latest example of this terminal non judgmementalism comes out of the UK, in which a husband was not put in jail despite murdering his wife, who begged "No, No," as she was being killed. From the story:
An Alzheimer's sufferer was smothered with two plastic bags by her husband who feared after he would no longer be able to look after her. Eric Norton, 86, blew a kiss to the public gallery at the Old Bailey after hearing he was being spared jail for killing his wife.Oh Wesley, you are so mean. He's 86 and clearly loved his wife! The guy deserves a break.
Other patients at Lewisham Hospital heard 84-year-old Betty Norton whimper "no, no" as she struggled for several minutes as her husband tried to kill her. The retired civil servant was handed a nine-month suspended sentence after admitting smothering his ailing wife after her declining health culminated in her being admitted to hospital with severe stomach pains.
But the murder not only killed Betty, it was a stab in the heart of the intrinsic importance of each human life. Moreover, the court's leniency praised the act with faint damnation, sending a powerful message that Betty's life--and those of people like her--don't matter all that much. This, even though she was clearly not asking to be killed--the usual excuse for countenancing mercy murders.
So, this crime was greater than the sum of its parts. The more we wink at these murders, the greater the threat to vulnerable people like Betty, and the increased respectability accorded to the view that such people have lives less worthy of being lived.
Labels: Terminal Non Judgmentalism. Mercy Killing. Human Exceptioanlism.
posted by Wesley J. Smith @ 10:40 AM
9 Comments
9 Comments:
Contrast that story with this one:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-practice29-2008sep29,0,24275.story?page=1
How a Doctor learned the value of the life of the elderly.
Wait a minute: Her fellow patients heard this happening?? Over a period of time? Why didn't anybody do anything? Why wasn't he stopped?
The judge: "I am totally convinced you are a thoughtful, kind and honest man and had been a devoted husband."
I am going to be ill.
That gives new meaning to the word "devoted." He did this for his own benefit-he couldn't care for her. This reminds me of the testimony of Doctor Death Cranfield's testimony at the Wendlend trial. He said in so many words that the Wendlend case was not about Mr. Wendlend, but about the harm to his family if he continued. The family should not have to live in limbo. They should be able to let him die and grieve for him. They should be allowed to live their lives. That's euthanasia and a duty to die for others. (I think that testimony was in Culture of Death, pp.76f.)
Don: I was in the courtroom when the late Dr. Cranford gave that testimony. It was a truly chilling experience. He not only basically said that Robert should be put down for the sake of Rose and the kids, but he described dehydration in such a sterile and chillingly dispassionate manner that I think it won the case for Florence his mother.
The Wendland case was a great, if partial victory, against the Culture of Death. It was all too rare.
Salt racer, that is an amazing article.
They keep telling us they're going to keep extending life expectancies. If so, then doctors need to be prepared to care for older patients and not consider their survival to be a tragedy. My hat is off to the doctor in that article for having a change of heart and writing about it.
Wesley, I profoundly condemn what this man did. I am in the same situation taking care of my mother full-time. Ministrokes have ravaged her brain and she recently went from being semiautonomous to requiring 24-hour supervision. Being the sole caregiver isn't easy. My only sibling (brother), living in another state, probably will not be able to help.
And that brings me to the real problem here. Caregivers in his situation and mine get little or no help from programs unless they meet certain narrowly defined criteria, and even then in most states the aid seems to be given grudgingly.
I left work two years ago to care for Mom and my late stepdad at a time when in my 40s I should be building a career and trying to plan for retirement, and I have had no income since. Let me make it clear that I didn't mind taking care of them.
However, since my stepdad's death, Mom's income from Social Security and military widow's benefit is just enough to put her over Medicaid cutoffs. After she spent two weeks in the hospital, I was explicitly told she was still ineligible for skilled nursing care (i.e., nursing home care, though I wasn't interested in placing her in one anyway), and I could receive home help only by paying for it with funds we don't have. And because of her needs, I cannot go back to work, despite a need for extra money to cover bills. Programs to relieve, let alone pay, caregivers are few and far between.
Mom now has severe dementia and is a fall risk. In addition, she is now on medication to encourage her to sleep at night because she would otherwise keep me up constantly as has been the case since she returned home.
Now imagine what the man in this story, who is aged himself, has to have been going through. He, too, was probably told he and his wife qualified for little or no help. I'm in the same boat. What's going to happen when I break or burn out? (Since leaving work, I have no medical insurance, but do have my own health issues.) And I'm in my 40s, not considerably older as was this man.
It seems almost as if the system is designed to encourage frustration, harm, and neglect against the disabled. If the state, federal, etc., government is too cheap to give meaningful assistance to those who care for disabled family members at home, then that sends a strong message about the view of that disable person's life to society. So how can anyone really complain if someone such as this man takes the cue and kills his afflicted wife? This is an unpleasant analysis, but with my firsthand experience it's the only conclusion I can reach. Culture of death indeed...
K-man: Care givers are the most under appreciated and under supported people in our society. But it is also the most important. If we can't love each other sacrificially, we are in very big trouble.
I close both Forced Exit and Culture of Death with the story of my friend Tom Lorentzen,who gave up a promising career in govt. to care for his dying mother.
He spent years in the wilderness after that, so to speak, and is now a major Medicare administrator.
But for all the troubles he experienced, he has told me he has not one iota of regret.
K-Man you are truly one of the Last American Heroes. I thank God that you put the life of your parents ahead of everything else. This is rare quality indeed.
May your tribe increase!
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