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UK's "Philosopher Queen," Warnock Says Elderly and Ill have Obligation to Suicide

"I am not ashamed to say some lives are more worth living than others."

LONDON, December 14, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com ) - Anti-euthanasia activists have frequently warned that one danger of legalizing the practice would be to create a social atmosphere in which the elderly and ill would feel obliged to commit suicide. Advocates on the other side have usually dismissed such warnings as a scare tactic. Now, however, a leading proponent of euthanasia and other anti-life policies in the UK, has come right out and said it.

Baroness Warnock, who was called Britain's "Philosopher Queen" by the Sunday Times, said this past weekend, "In other contexts sacrificing oneself for one's family would be considered good. I don't see what is so horrible about the motive of not wanting to be an increasing nuisance." She said: "I am not ashamed to say some lives are more worth living than others."

Baroness Mary Warnock is a member of the House of Lords and is considered one of the UK's most sought-after commentators on bioethics issues. Her other contributions to the Culture of Death have included a report in the 1980's that led to the legal regulation of IVF and embryo experimentation. In her comments she added that parents who want to keep an ill child alive contrary to medical advice should pay for it themselves. "Maybe it has to come down to saying: 'Okay, they can stay alive but the family will have to pay for it.' Otherwise it will be an awful drain on public resources."

Warnock's comments come at a delicate time in the euthanasia situation in Britain. A court allowed the husband of a terminally ill woman to transport her to Switzerland where he had her killed in a euthanasia clinic. The House of Lords is poised to vote on a bill that will legalize euthanasia for ill or elderly people who request it.

Read CNS News.com coverage:
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=%5CCulture%5Carchive%5C200412%5CCUL2...

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