Bethel McGrew: Holland’s culture of death

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Today is Wednesday, February 14th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Lindsay Mast.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Up next: children and euthanasia. WORLD Opinions commentator Bethel McGrew says a new law in the Netherlands promotes a culture of death.

BETHEL MCGREW: Look to Holland. That’s what conservatives have learned to do as they trace the progress of European euthanasia law over the decades. The country first made euthanasia legal for adults in 2002. It would go on to expand this so-called “service” to minor teens and terminally ill newborns. As of February 2024, it has now removed even that restriction, including all ages from 1 to 12. No child left behind, as it were.

Of course, the law emphasizes that children should only be euthanized on the recommendation of two doctors, and only if they’re experiencing “unbearable and endless suffering.” A Christian Dutch-language magazine estimates only 5-10 children per year will qualify. But the Dutch pro-life organization Care for Life is skeptical that the number will remain that low. The law contains no “due diligence requirements,” following a common pattern of leaving this sort of thing up to individual doctors’ discretion as cases arise.

And, of course, the question will inevitably be asked, “What about physically suffering children who aren’t terminally ill?” Playing devil’s advocate, one could argue that their situation is more dire, since there is no end in sight. And down the slippery slope we roll.

Reporting on the news, the BBC featured a clip from a documentary about elder euthanasia in Belgium, which has been racing Holland to the bottom. The documentary’s hero is a compassionate doctor, and his victims are fragile seniors. Their ability to rationalize their choices makes compelling propaganda. We can hope that such a film might unsettle more people if the victims were small children.

Yet, there is a straight line from killing the senior to killing the toddler. The chain of logic begins with the axiom that to die is better than to suffer, and it concludes that such a death should be enshrined as a basic human right. It is treated as a mercy that the healthy owe to the sick, the same way we owe it to our animals. If we wouldn’t withhold that tender mercy from a sick adult, why should we withhold it from a child? Indeed, the younger the sufferer, the more guilty we should be made to feel for our hesitation. True, the child may not understand what is happening, but then neither does the old family dog, and we lovingly kill him anyway. And so we see that what began as an argument for “free choice” ends in choice devouring itself.

This is how the culture of death works its slow poison. This is how voices of death are elevated as kind and compassionate, while voices of life are drowned out as inhumane and fanatical. The pro-suicide organization Death with Dignity recently posted a screed against its Christian opponents in New Mexico and California—doctors and dentists fighting to make sure there are strong conscience protections for those who refuse to “assist” people in dying. Death with Dignity warns that “the real goal is to make sure all of us fall in line with the morals and values of the Church and the Christian Medical and Dental Associations.” 

Oh no! They’re on to us!

Of course, Christians don’t anticipate that organizations like Death with Dignity will fall in line with our values any time soon. Until then, we look to Holland and vow that we won’t join them, as long as Christians have something to say about it.

I’m Bethel McGrew.

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