A Bad Medical Idea
The healthcare industry is not always on the patient's side.
Today’s post is part current events and part deeper concerns. It is about the slippery slope our society will slide down if people, in general, do not wake up and begin speaking truth to confusion.
The American Medical Association (AMA) is holding its annual interim meeting of the House of Delegates on November 10-14, 2023. At that meeting they will consider two proposed resolutions dealing with Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS).
Some background: Here is the American Academy of Medical Ethics current position on PAS.
We oppose active intervention with the intent to produce death for the relief of pain, suffering, or economic considerations, or for the convenience of patient, family, or society.
Proponents of physician-assisted suicide argue from the perspective of compassion and radical individual autonomy. There are persuasive counter arguments based on the traditional norms of the medical professions and the adverse consequences of such a public policy.
In order to affirm the dignity of human life, we advocate the development and use of alternatives to relieve pain and suffering, provide human companionship, and give opportunity for spiritual support and counseling.
The AAME opposes physician-assisted suicide in any form.
What else do we know about the AMA membership in general? An AMA Code of Ethical & Judicial Affairs (CEJA) study conducted in 2019 found that 70% of members were not in support of assisted suicide. From that meeting, the AMA made this statement:
Physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer, would be difficult or impossible to control, and would pose serious societal risks.
So, who is pushing for revisiting this issue? AMA students made the first proposed resolution entitled “Reconsideration of Medical Aid in Dying” (MAID). They are asking that the AMA no longer refer to assisted suicide as “physician-assisted suicide” but instead refer to it as “medical aid-in-dying” (MAID) and decriminalize physicians and healthcare professionals who engage in MAID.
To begin with, the AMA has no authority in creating or removing criminal law. They are an important influencer, however. All this aside, this push to change labels and definitions is a typical maneuver intended to soften, weaken, and obscure clear language in order to move people away from established order and common sense to something more nebulous and confusing. It’s a strategy. Yes, it sounds like a move toward liberating the individual, but what MAID will produce will be physicians like those in earlier regimes where there did not seem to be a professional medical problem experimenting on the weak and helpless (see Josef Mengele). Perhaps if history were better taught we would know by now that killing people “for their own good” never works out well. Those societies, therefore, who passively and tacitly agree “in theory” that putting people our of their misery is a nice thing, will find themselves in fear of healthcare in general.
The second proposal was put forward by the AMA resident and fellow section. These are newly graduated physicians STILL IN TRAINING (in other words, lacking in real-world experience). They are asking the AMA to adopt a neutral stance on assisted suicide, moving away from its long-held opposed position.
Please note that both of these proposed resolutions have been put forward by those who have recently graduated from fine institutions where Marxism is more popular on campus than any and all religions. The Marxist belief is that life (yours and mine) have no inherit value. They think we should only be permitted to live as long as we are deemed useful to the collective. When economic conditions shift to where the elderly are a “burden” on society, then they would say that society has the right to remove them.
When we lose the idea of the Divine Spark in the life of each human being regardless their age, gender, nationality, religious orientation, or disabilities, our healthcare-givers can become our life-removers. Get it? There is such a thing as bad medicine. And in my opinion, good medicine must be linked to sound ethics. And sound ethics begins with the humility to respect the miraculous gift of life. This does not mean unreasonable measures to keep someone alive, but it does mean not killing them and then saying that we were jus providing “medical aid.”
P.S. If you are a physician or medical student reading this, the AMA is accepting comments from their members until Sunday, October 29, 2023 at 11:59 PM CT. They especially need to hear from students, residents, and graduate professionals in order to counter those of their same age and station making these proposals.