Fourth Trimester Abortion

Fourth trimester abortion is my term for what is generally called the Groningen Protocol (after the Groningen Academic Hospital) and it's practiced in the Netherlands, the first nation to permit euthanasia. Encompassing the systematic mercy killing of newborns (thereby, fourth trimester), the Groningen Protocol is a set of guidelines for performing the administration of lethal doses of sedatives.

Opponents have argued that euthanasia devalues human life and, in doing so, it's a short step from euthanasia to systematic, even ritualized, killing. Supporters have responded by saying that legalized euthanasia doesn't devalue human life and it's not logical to assume that the practice would be extended to where life or death was determined by a bureaucrat. However, that's precisely what the Nazis did. Hitler's Third Reich claimed that, by euthanizing the deformed, the autistic, and the severely retarded, misery and pain were being minimized. Consequently, the public became inured into believing that euthanasia wasn't actually killing people as much as alleviating pain.

Three years ago, the Dutch Parliament made it legal for a doctor, upon request, to inject lethal doses of sedatives into adults suffering great pain with no hope of relief. The Groningen Protocol takes it one step further.

Under the Groningen protocol, if doctors at the hospital think a child is suffering unbearably from a terminal condition, they have the authority to end the child's life. The protocol is likely to be used primarily for newborns, but it covers any child up to age 12. [Emphasis added]

And, get this.

A parent's role is limited under the protocol. While experts and critics familiar with the policy said a parent's wishes to let a child live or die naturally most likely would be considered, they note that the decision must be professional, so rests with doctors.

Therefore, the decision to kill a child will "most likely" consider the parents wishes, but the final determination will be "professional."

Along with being ominous, this whole issue is disgusting to think about. And, as odd as it may seem, my recollection is that the Netherlands abolished the death penalty because the Dutch don't believe that the state should have the ability to kill people.

Bloggers need to get this story widely distributed. Hat tip to Wizbang.

Also blogging:

Powerpundit,
Brain Shavings,
David Limbaugh,
Sue Bob's Diary,
Sidesspot,
Cake or Death,
The Fourth Rail,
Hugh Hewitt.