TORONTO, November 17, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Three experts in their fields addressed the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition symposium in Toronto on Oct. 25. They examined the philosophical underpinning of the euthanasia movement and two notable “no right-to-life” cases—the murder of Tracey Latimer and attempted murder of Terri Schiavo. Internationally famous speaker and writer Wesley Smith, who was not scheduled to talk about Terri Schiavo, addressed the particulars of the case and the issues that surround it. An expert on bioethics, he said that it is morally obscene to make judgements about what lives are worth living because it is “nothing less than bigotry.” He also said that if the courts and society allow Schiavo to be starved to death, it opens the door to full blown euthanasia. He described how one suffers through starvation and dehydration and that the next logical step would be to ask that Terri or others like her be euthanized. He added that while Terri gets all the publicity, there are literally hundreds and thousands of similar cases in Canada and the United States. Professor Ian Dowbiggin, author of “A Merciful End” outlined the connections between the euthanasia and eugenics movements in both Canada and the United States. Both are rooted in philosophy that it is better for society if certain people did not exist. But the connections, the philosophical roots go deeper than that he said, noting that the movements advocating euthanasia, eugenics, sex education, population control, gay rights and abortion all have something in common: they are connected by their “fervent dedication to over-turning centuries-old conceptions of life and death.” That is, they are united in their hatred of Christian moral teaching and their hope to throw it into the trash bin of history. Ruth Enns, author of “A Voice Unheard” about the Tracey Latimer case, gave a disabled person’s perspective on the murder of the 12-year-old Saskatchewan girl 10 years ago by her father Robert. Enns said that the media, the courts and the public generally sympathized with the father because they cannot relate to Tracey’s experiences as a person with disabilities. The tragic result is the diminution of Tracey and the belittling of the crime of murder against her. For a more detailed report of the symposium, read the December Interim newspaper. Subscribe https://www.lifesitenews.com/interim/subscribe.html
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