New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-11-27
Jesuit Denies Right
to Let Defective Die

In The current issue of America" the
Catholic weekly published by the
Jesuits. the Rev. j. Harding Fisher.
s. j., declares there is only one right
answer 70 the whole question-namely,
every legitimate means at the disposal
of the medical profession should be
used to preserve the lives Of detectives.
The contradictory judgment, he argues,
proceeds from n false view Of the
nature and destiny of human beings
and paves the way 10 the commission
of incalculable wrongs both 10 society
in general ard TO its individual mem
bers.
at was inevitable that the preaching
of evolution both in medical schools
and to the people at large should
eventuate such errors" he writes.
"Superiuous kittens we drown without
a second thought. Why not babies also.
if they are only a superior kind Of
brute? The surgeon in Chicago is log
ical. at least, but his basic position is
wholly wrong. Man has a spiritual soul
and holds his life in trust for the ser
vice of God. To destroy 1t, either actu-
ally or equivalently, is 10 usurp pre-
rogative that belongs to God alone.
This is the first wrong the surgeon did:
he violated Gods right over human life.
"He also violated the child's right TO
the use of life, and this he did under
the influence of the pagan notion OF the
state. Plato declared that children are
disposal of the state and are to be pre-
served or sacrificed as state interests
demand. The neglect of the defective
child in Chicago Is simply repetition
Of what was done in old pagan Greece
and Rome, and of what obtains to-day
in China and other pagan states.
"To this view of society the Chris
tian idea IL irreconcilably opposed. Man
is not a chattel of the state; he does
not exist primarily for the state. The
contrary is true. Catholics do not and
cannot admit that the state forms q
moral person. which is an end TO itself,
and which has for its ultimate good
its own preservation and continual evo-
luton into something more perfect
defective babies are human beings,
and they have not forfeited their rght
to life by any voluntary criminal act
They cannot, therefore. lawfully be eX-
posed to death by being denied such
medical or surgical aid as they may
stand in need Of. And this is true even
where they give no present hope OF
ever ceasing to be detectives. To deny
them such aid merely because they are
likely or certain TO be burden to the
state is too brutal a proposal to de-
serve consideration.
Moreover, once the right of the de-
fective baby to live be questioned
where will the discussion end? The
transition from defective babies to de-
fective adults loathsomely afflicted is
easy; so. too. is the step TO defective
adults in prime health. Furthermore,
where Is the line 20 be drawn, and who
is to draw it, between the revolving
defective and the moron? The vagaries
of so many of our professional alienists
make it clear that they would find no
trouble in convicting most of us Of de-
fectiveness in some degree. Grant the
principle Of the Chicago surgeon, and
euthanasia is not far off. Then will
come the determination Of those whom
an unfeeling world considers useless,
and the upshot will be that another
great step will have been taken toward
the elimination Of the Fifth Command
ment from the Decalogue."