Dangers
Profound respect for the sanctity and dignity
of every human life has always been the
core ethical principle of medicine, but that
is changing. We hope the resources and
information provided here help you stay alert!
Signs of Elder Abuse or Neglect – Warning signs of Abuse or Neglect in Healthcare Settings
Medical Futility Decisions
Some medical decisions to stop treatment are actually decisions to commit euthanasia by omission. These decisions are often disguised by calling them “medical futility” or “futile care” decisions. For example, the Texas statute known as “the 10-day law” (Section 166.046 of the Texas Health and Safety Code) is an anti-life “medical futility” law. This law permits a hospital committee to decide to withdraw treatment, for any reason, including the subjective assessment of a patient’s quality of life. The hospital can remove treatment, even life-sustaining treatment (ventilator, dialysis, oxygen, antibiotics, etc.) against a patient’s/family’s wishes and they are not allowed to appeal the decision.
For more information about this unconscionable law, please see Texas Right to Life’s virtual conference where Emily Cook, General Counsel for Texas Right to Life, discusses the ramifications of this law and describes specific cases in which she and others have intervened to save lives.
VIDEO: Emily Cook, General Counsel for Texas Right to Life, at minute 20, touchingly describes several 10-Day Rule (medical futility) cases in Texas.
Today’s Health Care And The Hypocritical Oath
By Bobby Schindler
Covid-19 exposed how an individual’s medical rights to determine treatment has transferred into the hands of outsiders. Indeed, the pandemic brought with it an alarming number of examples of medical cruelty that are being perpetrated on patients and their families.
For many years, there have been warnings that this was happening, but these warnings were met with indifference. As a result, an increasing number of our medically vulnerable are at the mercy of state laws, and hospital policies, driven by an increasingly godless worldview which governs health care focused more on profit and less on a patient’s intrinsic value. Read more…
A Real And Present Danger: Medical Discrimination
June 2020
Nichole Charpentier is a 39-year-old woman who uses a wheelchair. She identifies as having cerebral palsy and asthma. In March 2020, she was feeling very sick and having a hard time breathing. Her doctor recommended that she go to the hospital because she was experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. When she got to the hospital with her personal care worker, the physician argued with her regarding her disabilities and whether she should get any accommodations or access to needed medical services. This same physician also recommended that her personal care worker maintain a six-foot distance regardless of her care needs. She is worried that, if she ever needs medical care again, she will have to fight for care and her rights to accommodation and to be free from discrimination.
Source: Letter from Disability Rights Oregon, an organization that works for non-discriminatory access to life-saving medical care for all.
The COVID-19 Response: A Pathway For Discrimination And The Culture Of Death
By Mariah Buzza – December 2020
If the year 2020 has revealed anything, it is that suffering is an inevitable part of life. While Christians believe Christ has redeemed suffering, it is an experience that all will endure. The COVID-19 Pandemic has single handedly reminded us of this reality. From economic depression to the looming fear of the virus, anxiety abounds. However, the key to the Christian life lies in how we respond to suffering. While the virus is indeed a threat to human life, has society at large responded in a way that is counter-productive and creative of even greater suffering? Have we paved a way for the culture of death? Read more…
Once judged incompetent and placed under
a conservatorship [or guardianship],
a citizen becomes a nonperson,
with fewer rights than a
convicted felon in a penitentiary.
— Robert Case, Editor, Bloomberg Wealth Manager1
Risks Of Guardianship Abuse
By William Beckman – December 5, 2017
Over the years that I served as executive director at Illinois Right to Life, I received a number of calls from concerned relatives about threats to the wellbeing, or even the life, of loved ones who were placed under the care of public guardians. In all of these cases the situation leading to the appointment of a public guardian was initiated either by a relative or a social worker who disagreed with the care being provided by the caretaking relative. Based on my interaction with these concerned caretaking relatives, I learned that they lost most or all of their rights to make decisions about the care of their relative once the public guardian was appointed. Often these guardians were making medical decisions based on quality of life criteria, which in some cases led to hastened death for wards under their care, while concerned relatives could only watch helplessly in horror. I concluded, and from then on recommended, that family members need to avoid involvement of public guardians, if at all possible, to prevent heartache in providing for the wellbeing of their beloved relatives. Read more…