Dehydrating the Cognitively Disabled To Death–The Never Ending Road

Saturday, July 30, 2011
Wesley J. Smith

We dehydrate profound cognitively disabled people to death in the USA–a death that comes slowly over about a two week period, often resultin in tissue cracking and even bleeding. We dress it up in nice clothes by claiming we are merely withdrawing unwanted medical treatment. But when the treatment is basic sustenance, not only are we intentionally causing death, but symbolically, we are saying that the dehydrated person’s life is so unworthy of being lived, we won’t even give them proper food or water.

This approach to severe cognitive disability started with people diagnosed as persistently unconscious, known officially by the pejoratively worded, persistent vegetative state. (No human being is a carrot.) At first, we were assured that such dehydration deaths would be limited to people who are completely unaware, the idea being that there would be no suffering caused. But even if the advocates for dehydration believed their own arguments, it would never stay that way. Humans are logical: Once we agree that medical treatment can be withdrawn–which I support–and that tube-supplied food and water is just another medical treatment like any other–which I don’t support, it should be in its own category–then at some point, it was only a matter of time for actual lack of awareness to have nothing to do with it. the rest

All of this is softening us up for the time we will just lethally inject them.