St. Timothy Lutheran Church

I read an article from www.thewiredword.com, June 1, 2008 which intrigued me.  According to Stanford economists at their School of Business, they have arrived at a benchmark of 129,000 as what should be paid for the cost of kidney dialysis by Medicare. This is an adjustment up from the previous $50,000 used by most private and government-run health insurance plans. According to the article it says, “that means that if Medicare paid an additional $129,000 to treat a group of patients, on average, group member would get one more quality-adjusted life year.”  The researchers define one “quality of life” year as two years on dialysis.  While most industrial nations use cost-effective analysis and the $50,000 threshold for deciding what procedures to pay for, Medicare, the US government health plan for seniors, decides to pay based on whether a treatment is “medically necessary and appropriate.” 

These discussions have huge ramifications when we look at the value and quality of Life. God’s Word teaches us that life has intrinsic value because we are created in the image of God with a purpose and value for every life.  Read Psalm 139: 13-16.  My biggest concern is that we are trying to place a monetary value on a person’s life.  Who set the new benchmark at $129,000?  Why not more…or less?  Who decides whether I am worth the cost?  The doctor? The insurance company? The government?

The issue is vital because increasingly the decisions regarding continued medical care for individuals is being taken out of the hands of the family, and placed in the hands of Health Maintenance Organizations, the government, and insurance companies, as well as doctors. While it is painful to admit, the fact that doctors are no longer stalwart protectors of life is easily proven. In the 1960s, the California Medical Journal put forth a plan that called for abortion to be a first step in limiting the care that would be provided to the population of the state. The underlying theme was that should they be successful in declaring a baby in the womb a non-person, and be able to kill the defenseless baby, then the next step, euthanasia, would be easier. This is a slippery slope that reflects that declining influence of Christianity and it’s values in America today.

The following article deals with a new test that will accurately identify children with Downs Syndrome.

Princeton University's Center for Human Values recently employed Dr. Peter Singer as a professor of Bioethics. Dr. Singer states "Killing a disabled infant is not morally equivalent to killing a person. Very often it is not wrong at all." "Why should I sacrifice extra time or resources to support these semi-humans, many of whom are better off dead?"

In the context of Dr. Kevorkian’s well publicized assertion that many “people with disabilities are better off dead”, it is horrifying that the prestige of Princeton University is now supporting a man who advocates killing babies with disabilities. This message will go out through the media to pollute the thinking of every person, every family member, every government official, every medical person, every educator, and every potential employer, who will make decisions impacting the lives of people with disabilities.

The problem with this test is the result -- in fact, only one of every ten children with the gene markers for Downs Syndrome actually develops the syndrome. Nine of them would live normal, productive lives. In reality, even those with Downs Syndrome are loving, gifts of God to their parents. But, the fear of Downs Syndrome is such that virtually 90 percent of the babies identified with the gene are aborted in the United States. This is such an added tragedy, because the four families I have known with Down ’s syndrome or other disabilities consider their children to be a “wonderful gift of God” who has enriched their lives in unspeakably positive ways!

    It is, I believe, the responsibility of each Christian to speak out on the issue of life and death decisions. The purveyors of death are far from subtle and are increasingly aggressive. We saw the results of Margeret Sanger and eugenics in the deaths of millions during the Second World War. We see today that Sanger's organization, Planned Parenthood, is at work today, making millions from the abortions they perform. We see an increasing number of professors, calling themselves ethicists, making the following kinds of judgments:

 "Why should I sacrifice extra time or resources to support these semi-humans, many of whom are better off dead?"

It's a topic that we need to address with more frequency, and to provide others outside our community with an appreciation that these purveyors of death are not only sinful, but often wrong:

I close with a letter written by a man named Justin Dar about his granddaughter.

My granddaughter, Dana Washington, was born with a seemingly hopeless medical situation. The doctors said, "She can not live. If she does live, she will not be fully human - let her go." Her parents insisted on Hail Mary procedures. Now she is an A student in high school, a cheerleader, a journalist, a ballerina, and a civil rights leader.

It is impossible to predict the miracles of science. It is impossible to justify any kind of science and utilitarianism that is not dedicated totally to the sacred value of the continuum of human life: individual, family, society, universe - starting always with the individual.

I respectfully implore the Trustees of the Center for Human Values to utilize its enormous prestige for the value of human life.

Justin Dart

Life is precious! Silence in this matter is a sin on our part as Christians.  It is important that we be voices and advocates for life at every stage. I appreciate your comments.