Killing babies morally OK medical ethesist says

[RevLogos]

Those of us who argue against abortion know this was coming. It starts with the moral argument that a fetus is not a human being. Then its the unborn child. Sooner or later, it becomes the infant that has no right to live either.

The article, published in the Journal of Medical Ethics, says newborn babies are not “actual persons” and do not have a “moral right to life”. The academics also argue that parents should be able to have their baby killed if it turns out to be disabled when it is born.

The article, entitled “After-birth abortion: Why should the baby live?”, was written by two of Prof Savulescu’s former associates, Alberto Giubilini and Francesca Minerva.

They argued: “The moral status of an infant is equivalent to that of a fetus in the sense that both lack those properties that justify the attribution of a right to life to an individual.”

Rather than being “actual persons”, newborns were “potential persons”.

And of course to dampen the morally objectionable idea, we need new euphemisms

They preferred to use the phrase “after-birth abortion” rather than “infanticide” to “emphasize that the moral status of the individual killed is comparable with that of a fetus”.

Apparently the idea that human beings have intrinsic value is no longer a widely accepted premise:

While accepting that many people would disagree with their arguments, he wrote: “The goal of the Journal of Medical Ethics is not to present the Truth or promote some one moral view. It is to present well reasoned argument based on widely accepted premises.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/he...perts-say.html

It isn't a leap to see that next, euthanasia for old people will be accepted because they become a drain on society.

And after that, any other group or person that is "widely accepted" to be undesirable, will find themselves on the kill list.

[sedux]

My heart goes out to all those babies who were never given a chance....

[Reynolds357]

In my opinion if it is legal to murder and unborn baby, might as well make it legal to murder an infant. If it is OK to murder an infant, might as well make it Legal to murder anybody.

[Dani H]

It is the sworn duty of the medical profession to respect human life. That entire article about "personhood" is built on a false premise that has nothing to do with anything.

[Dravenhawk]

It is a sad state of affairs when such evil in society will argue that the lives of murdreers, rapists, and child molesters be preserved while the very innocent are condemned to death. What kind of people are such that see innocent human life as so disposable as mere rubbish? - - - -Dravenhawk

[RevLogos]

It is a sad state of affairs when such evil in society will argue that the lives of murdreers, rapists, and child molesters be preserved while the very innocent are condemned to death. What kind of people are such that see innocent human life as so disposable as mere rubbish? - - - -Dravenhawk

Probably the same kind of people who see the need for human rights, including the "right to life" be extended to some animals.

A coalition of scientists, philosophers and animal welfare groups have come up with a declaration of dolphin rights which they hope will one day be enshrined in law….

The bill of rights states that every individual member of the cetacean order – whales, dolphins and porpoises – has a right to life.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...cientists.html

I bet dolphins don't abort their babies.

[RevLogos]

In the original article I see this paragraph explaining one of the reasons why killing your child is moral:

Nonetheless, to bring up such children might be an unbearable burden on the family and on society as a whole, when the state economically provides for their care. On these grounds, the fact that a fetus has the potential to become a person who will have an (at least) acceptable life is no reason for prohibiting abortion. Therefore, we argue that, when circumstances occur after birth such that they would have justified abortion, what we call after-birth abortion should be permissible.

Note how it becomes the State's interest when the State pays for your health care. This is probably my main concern with state controlled health care. If the state pays for your health, the state has a financial interest in your behavior and your value becomes your economic value to the state. The main health care concern becomes not the health of the patient, but the cost to the state, which it perceives as a zero-sum game. If you have a child that will need life-long health care, it is best for the state to simply pay to kill the child. If you are old and have expensive medical problems, it is much better for the State to pay for your euthanasia.

In my opinion the idea that there is intrinsic value in human life comes from the idea that we are all spiritual beings created by God. The materialist sees life as just a collection of chemical and electrical processes, ultimately deterministic. Reject God and we all become children of goo, not children of God.

[RR van Wyk]

It is difficult for me to understand how criminals that plunder and murder have a very long list of human rights. How the humans have standards and morals only when it fits him. So many things that is wrong and taboo, but then they go and kill babies...

This world is so sick and dis-functional,that it is quite obvious who the world belongs to....

[jesse]

Uggghhh.... I think we all knew this day would come. "Morally Irrelevant".... good grief... we could kill off most of the top "thinkers" of our day on that idea.

[Dravenhawk]

I remember reading about a society where the State had drafted a master plan to kill off all the 'inferior' elements that did not fit in with the idealogy of the State. These persons on the kill list included the deaf, dumb, blind, infirm and the disabled...Also the gypsy and the Jew. Only those of pure airian blood were permitted to live. Yes I am talking about Nazi Germany of the mid 1920's. When liberty is surrendered to the State there can only be death to both. - - - - Dravenhawk

[bdh]

In my opinion if it is legal to murder and unborn baby, might as well make it legal to murder an infant. If it is OK to murder an infant, might as well make it Legal to murder anybody.

My thoughts exactly.

"Only those who are already born support abortion"

[TonySodza]

We will meet them in Heaven.

[tango]

In my opinion if it is legal to murder and unborn baby, might as well make it legal to murder an infant. If it is OK to murder an infant, might as well make it Legal to murder anybody.

... and if we're allowed to terminate a newborn baby because they are disabled, what of an adult who becomes disabled following an accident?

The idea that the State could determine whether someone lives or dies based on little more than their projected economic value to the State is truly terrifying.

[RevLogos]

Here's another example of the Obama administration looking at human life only in terms of an economic cost-benefit.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told a House panel Thursday that a reduction in the number of human beings born in the United States will compensate employers and insurers for the cost of complying with the new HHS mandate that will require all health-care plans to cover sterilizations and all FDA-approved contraceptives, including those that cause abortions.

“The reduction in the number of pregnancies compensates for the cost of contraception,” Sebelius said. She went on to say the estimated cost is “down not up.”

Sebelius took questions from the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health about President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2013 budget proposal.

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/sebe...eption-mandate

We are just bodies to be managed. This is a cult of death.

[Revmitchell]

This issue is related to a larger world view to include population control, the environmental movement, and animal rights. As unrelated as they may seem they all feed one single world view.