A Line In the Sand for Life 02-2-2019

Hope for the Caregiver broadcast February 2-2019.  

 

Text from Peter's Blog at www.hopeforthecaregiver.com 

From one geographical extreme to another, American state assemblies strode into the viability and quality of life issue in groundbreaking ways during January. Starting with Hawaii’s new Our Choice Our Care Act launched on January 1, 2019, medically-assisted death marched closer to being considered ‘normal.’  Before January ended, New York legislators applauded the new freedom extended to the state allowing late term abortions via the Reproductive Health Act.

A common thread weaves through the move by both states.  An ambiguity, one could say an arbitrary line in the sand, presents itself through both actions regarding viability.  Hawaii allows patients deemed to die within six months to end their life with medical assistance.

Who sets the date?

Yet why six months? What group decided that six months is the cut off for a life to possess meaning rather than, say, seven months and thirteen days? 

In New York, the health of the mother is a factor. A Virginia legislator already introduced the dialogue of health applying to mental health. New York allows non-physicians to perform abortions.  Will those non-physicians assume responsibility for evaluating the mental health of the mother?

Troubling Questions About Viability

These and other unsettling questions indicate a rush to an agenda rather than to medical reality. If government can designate life as ‘qualified to terminate’ if less than six months remain, when will they adjust that line? If a child is deemed unable to exist outside the womb without care at 8 months and 28 days, can that line be moved to 9 months.  What about ten months?

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