A new euthanasia organization, Exit International, is promoting “rational suicide,” a concept that any adult has the “right to implement plans for the end of their life so that their death is reliable, peaceful and at a time of their choosing” (“Euthanasia advocates,” Right to Life News, Oct. 18, 2021). The founders are Philip Nitschke and Finoa Stewart. In England, Parliament has wisely rejected legalized euthanasia. “Earlier this year, 70 MPs and Peers signed an open letter in opposition to renewed pushes to introduce assisted suicide, in which they pointed out that in other jurisdictions that have introduced assisted suicide and/or euthanasia, the law may initially have applied to a select group but it slowly expanded to apply to others. The letter argued: ‘There are escalating numbers of deaths over time in every jurisdiction, and in almost all places the categories of those who qualify for assisted suicide or euthanasia has been expanded. In Oregon, which is the campaigners’ declared model for an assisted dying law, cases of assisted suicide have risen fifteen-fold since it was introduced in 1997. In Canada, the legislation itself proposes a review with the possibility of extending euthanasia to mature minors and those with solely mental health conditions.” The right-to-die movement is a product of atheism and rebellion against God. Man did not make himself and does not own himself. God says, “Behold, all souls are mine” (Ezekiel 18:4). He is “the God of the spirits of all flesh” (Numbers 27:16). He forms the spirit of man (Zechariah 12:1). “In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind” (Job 12:10).
(Friday Church News Notes, December 17, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)