Hungry: Young Filmmaker Takes on Euthanasia

What would it be like to starve to death in silence? Can you imagine dying of thirst, but not being able to ask for a glass of water? Student and aspiring filmmaker Adam Hardy, 22, puts his viewers in the shoes of a woman in just that situation.

Based on the true story of Terri Schiavo and others like her, Hungry reminds us of the discrimination that people with disabilities face and the sanctity of all human life. Since Live Action is a youth-led movement dedicated to building a culture of life, we love sharing what other young people are doing to communicate life-affirming messages through media. Check out Adam’s short film:

“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink…as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:35, 40).

In 1999, 10.4% of the severely cognitively impaired residents of the United States were starved and dehydrated to death.

In 2000, 11.0% of the severely cognitively impaired residents of the United States were starved and dehydrated to death.

In 2001, 11.4% of the severely cognitively impaired residents of the United States were starved and dehydrated to death.

I haven't found data yet for other years, but I think it's a fair guess that the killings continue to climb.

This doesn't represent a percentage of patients who died (which would be bad enough). It doesn't mean that 11.4% of the patients who died were starved and dehydrated. It means 11.4% of all the people living in the U.S.A. with severe cognitive impairments were killed this way. And it doesn't include the ones who were killed using other methods, such as denial of antibiotics for simple infections, removal of breathing assistance, etc.

The standard used for determining severe cognitive impairment for the purpose of this study is a score of 5 or less on the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). Patients in a coma or PVS cannot possibly score 1, much less 5. You've probably seen people in the grocery store with a score of 5 or less. So these killings include a wide range of brain damaged people. I wonder how many thousands of people are living with a score of 5 or less. And for every 1,000 people living with a score of 5 or less in the year 2001, 114 of them were starved and dehydrated to death that year.

All I have before me are the percentages. I'd like to see the corresponding numbers. Or would I?

Following is the breakdown by state for 2001. Notice that Rhode Island tops the list, with just over a third of that population exterminated this way. That might have something to do with the fact that RI has appointed the pro-euthanasia group Choice in Dying the official State agency in charge of informing the public about “end-of-life choices.” They supply forms for “living wills” and “assist” the public in filling out those forms. This is what happens when you put the fox in charge of the henhouse.

Believe it or not, Florida and Texas are both below the national average. Every state is on the list. Georgia is at the bottom of the list, exterminating only 1.30% this way.

RI - 33.80%
OR - 32.50%
MI - 28.30%
MT - 28.00%
WI - 27.20%
CA - 23.40%
UT - 23.40%
AZ - 20.90%
PA - 17.40%
MN - 17.20%
AK - 17.10%
CT - 15.40%
WY - 14.90%
MD - 14.60%
NM - 14.20%
SD - 14.10%
WA - 13.20%
OH - 12.90%
ID - 12.30%
IA - 12.10%
MO - 11.90%
National Average - 11.4%
VT - 11.20%
HI - 11.10%
DE - 10.80%
ND - 10.80%
MA - 9.90%
IN - 9.70%
ME - 9.20%
NH - 8.70%
NY - 8.50%
NE - 7.70%
CO - 7.20%
AL - 7.10%
TX - 7.10%
IL - 6.70%
WV - 6.70%
KY - 6.60%
SC - 6.50%
TN - 6.30%
FL - 6.20%
NV - 6.20%
AR - 5.70%
NC - 5.20%
KS - 4.80%
NJ - 4.80%
OK - 4.10%
LA - 3.70%
VA - 3.60%
DC - 3.10%
MS - 3.00%
GA - 1.30%

Facts On Dying ~ This study was funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, who adamantly opposes the rights of vulnerable people to continue living. So if any trolls show up, complaining that the data is skewed in favor of life, check the facts and get back to me.

9 posted on Sat Jun 16 2012 07:56:09 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time) by BykrBayb: “This study was funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, who adamantly opposes the rights of vulnerable people to continue living. So if any trolls show up, complaining that the data is skewed in favor of life, check the facts and get back to me.”

Thank you, BykerBarb.

May God have mercy on our nation. We certainly do not deserve His mercy with facts like this in front of us.

Frankly, the apathy we see in our country toward things like this goes a long way toward explaining what happened in 1930s and 1940s Germany; people can become accustomed to even the most horrific evil if the evil is treated as normal.

The sad thing is we have less excuse than the Germans. The Germans knew bad things were happening to the Jews but most didn't have details, and if they had the details, they would have risked being shot if they had tried to tell others. We have the details and can freely talk about them, but our culture no longer cares about killing elderly and disabled people and many of us don't even want to bother to vote pro-life.

Hitler feared very little but he did fear the power of the church. Let's not forget that the original targets of the Nazi euthanasia program were ethnic Germans who were mentally deficient or had other disabilities. Faced with major protests against euthanasia of ethnic Germans, Hitler turned his killing squads on non-German minority groups. My guess is Hitler was only biding his time until he had the ability to attack the church openly, as many of his subordinates were already doing, but that wasn't a battle Hitler chose to pick when he already had a two-front war going on the literal battlefield.

God is not a liar, He is not mocked, and we are well down the road to becoming vessels of wrath prepared for destruction. It says a great deal that we have less excuse than the Germans for our complicity in mass murder.

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