A British man has lost his legal fight to say that he has a right to not be starved by doctors when he is rendered unable to speak for himself. Leslie Burke, who has Friedreich’s ataxia—a disease that attacks the body but does not impair mental ability—had appealed all the way to the European Court of Human Rights to have someone simply say that food and water are basic human rights. The courts have ruled that the British doctors—part of the socialized health care system in the country—not the patient, have the right to decide a patient’s treatment—or lack thereof apparently.
“I only hope that if I am lucky enough to be in hospital, that the doctors treating me will not believe at some stage that it will be in my best interests for ANH to be withdrawn.”
He said that “even when death is imminent” the withdrawal of sustenance would be “effectively letting me die of starvation and thirst when I am no longer able to communicate my wishes”.
The European court said that it was satisfied that Britain’s laws sufficiently favored prolonging life “wherever possible.” Tell that to Terri Schiavo. A few years ago—and perhaps even today—plenty of people believe that the United States’ laws sufficiently favor prolonging life for patients not in imminent danger of death.
What we have is courts and doctors taking for themselves and an absolute right over the life and death of innocent people who have committed no crime. It used to be that the right to life was considered inviolable in a free and democratic society. We even have it enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. That right is slipping away, however.
Technorati Tags:England, European Court of Human Rights, euthanasia, lawsuits, Schiavo, starvation
All 3 branches of our Massachusetts government have violated the laws and Constitution (e.g., the SJC blatantly lying that there is no rational basis for defining marriage as between one man and one woman; the Legislature in illegally preventing the Pawlick amendment to be voted on in 2002 and outright ignoring the citizen’s initiative legislation lowering the tax rate to 5%, and Romney claiming that he was required to issue same-sex marriage certificates and that he could do nothing to prevent Catholci Charities of Boston from being forced out of the adoption business. No law will be passed in Massachusetts protecting life unless and until we stand up against our public figures and hold them accountable to the laws of Massachusetts and the US. If we don’t care which by all indications, we don’t, then we will find ourselves in the situation Germans found themselves in. If it is politically incorrect to point out the illegal actions of our public figures, or if we think we can wish their illegal conduct away by ignoring it and hoping that what I am saying is not true, then we will learn the lesson the hard way. It is time to stand up and be counted as to basic right and wrong. Mary Jane is right, we need laws passed. But before that we need to
1. care and for it to matter to us
2. become educated citizens – start with Original Intent by Robert Barton
3. remove public figures who violate the law (i.e., remove judges like Justice Ireland of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts who in the recent decision on the current marriage amendment, claimed that even if the people follow the constitutional procedure that John Adams laid out for us, that the Goodridge case may be “irreversible”—the judge’s words are superior to the Massachusetts Constitution)
4. Vote out pathetic liars like Brian Joyce (State Senator from Milton Canton) who lied to people saying he was pro-life to get elected and turned around almost immediately to become pro-choice and pro-homosexual marriage, etc.—while continuing to attend mass with his five kids and wife at St. Mary of the Hills in Milton – what a hypocrite)
5. Vote in upstanding, decent, Americans who will look out for the common wealth (and Commonwealth), and,
6. And run for office if you are an upstanding, decent, American who will look out for the common wealth (and the Commonwealth).