Once the value of human life has been depricated, as in Roe v. Wade and the Baby Doe Case, no one is safe. Once 'quality of life' is substituted for the absolute value of human life itself, we are all endangered. Already respected scientists are calling for a time period following birth (a week or so) to decide if newborns have 'sufficient quality of life' to be allowed to live. Already committees of 'medical professionals' would like to decide whether the 'quality of life' of the elderly or anyone seriously ill is high enough to allow them to go on living.
Over 20 years ago, the renowned pediatric surgeon and Surgeon General of the United States, C. Everett Koop, M.D., joined with one of the leading Christian thinkers of the 20th century, Francis A. Schaeffer (1912 - 1984), to analyze the widespread implications and frightening loss of human rights brought on by the practices of abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia. They viewed their time as a crucial turning point. Choices were being made that undermined human rights at their most basic level. Practices once labeled 'unthinkable' were then considered acceptable. The destruction of human life, young and old, began to be sanctioned on an ever-increasing scale by the medical profession, by the courts, by parents, and by silent citizens.
Refuting the faulty logic of their time (and predicting 21st century thinking as well), these two great minds set a clear base for Christian thought on these subjects.
