The Problem with the Phrase “Incompatible with Life”

Abortion, , ,

According to conservative commentator Ann Coulter, the pro-life movement “has gone from compassion for the child to cruelty to the mother (and child). Trisomy 18 is not a condition that is compatible with life.” She was referring to a Texas Supreme Court decision rejecting a woman’s request for an abortion on the basis of a health exception. Trisomy 18 is a genetic disorder of which 50% of babies die within their first week of life and 90-95% don’t survive after one year.  

But this shows why phrases like “incompatible with life” are so problematic. Former presidential candidate Rick Santorum responded to Coulter with a photo of his daughter Bella, who has Trisomy 18, and is now 15 years old.  

Trisomy 18 does not risk the life of the mom. And Trisomy 18 does not make a baby less human, and therefore no less valuable. But adopting language like “incompatible with life” will make doing the right thing far less likely.

Copyright 2023 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission.

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Guest Column: In Canada, ‘Right’ to Die Becomes Recommendation to Die

Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, , , ,

Last year, the Canadian government sanctioned the killing of 13,241 people by the euphemistically named Medical Assistance in Dying. MAiD accounted for 4.1% of all deaths in Canada in 2022 and is the fifth leading cause of death in that country. 

The slide down this slippery slope began by first legalizing doctor-assisted suicide for people facing “imminent death” and then expanding it step by step until it was available to virtually anyone who asks for it. 

In fact, now Canadians don’t even need to ask. Doctors and nurse practitioners there have been told they have a professional obligation to bring up the option of MAiD to any patients considered “eligible.” That kind of suggestion can sound an awful lot like a recommendation to someone struggling with whether or not to live. 

These numbers are just going up, and they will until enough Canadians refuse to participate in Canada’s culture of death. 

Copyright 2023 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission.

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