UK: The quintessential Culture of Death

When the Netherlands, and soon afterwards Belgium, became the first countries in the world, it was all about “freedom”: adult people suffering from incurable diseases, it was argued, should be free to make their own choice when and how to die. Later on, the criterion of “incurability” was given up, so that euthanasia can also be imparted to those suffering from chronic diseases, the elderly, the mentally disabled, or even those with no sickness at all. But it was always maintained that euthanasia should be an act of “self-determination”.

The UK does not even have a law on euthanasia. But never mind – it has now been turned into a country where the public health system, with the support of the judiciary, can forcibly euthanize persons who have never asked for it, and against the will of their legal representatives. For forcible euthanasia to take place, it suffices that – in a procedure that bears strong resemblance to a deth penalty without crime – a judge decides that being killed rather than staying alive would be in a person’s “best interest”, which is determined by the judge on the basis of an opinion of “experts”. In the case of Alfie Evans, this has resulted in a little boy being starved and asphyxiated to death, because artificial nutrition and ventilation were removed from him. The animus to kill the child was so strong that the parents’ plea to have him transferred to another hospital was rejected, as was the offer of another hospital to take care of him free of charge. It was as if the child had somehow become the private property of the doctors treating him, so that they could dispose of him however they wanted.

There is a fatal confusion: artificial nutrition and ventilation are not therapies; much less can they be regarded as “therapeutic excesses”. They are basic care.

The fact that the judge who imposed this is a well-known “gay rights” activist serves to illustrate once again how in the Culture of Death various issues are interconnected.

The result is not only that the little boy, whom his doctors so eagerly wanted dead, has now died – but also that the trust in the UK health system as well as in the judiciary is completely undermined. Parents bringing their sick child to a hospital are now running the risk that doctors, if they don’t find a treatment, will instead decide to kill the child. And the parents have no means to protect it.