December 2, 2004
    
Yesterday the news was released that a hospital in the Netherlands has begun to decide which babies ought to be euthanized, and that at least four babies had been killed under the "Groningen Protocol."

A group of academics and doctors have asked the government to establish an "independent board" to lay out the rules for killing others such as people in comas or the severely retarded who cannot make such decisions for themselves under the Netherlands very liberal euthanasia and assisted suicide laws.

This chilling, horrific development is as appalling a story as occurs but also not surprising.

So complete is the devaluing of life and the idea of soul that we have come in 60 swift years back to the gates of Auschwitz.

Once begun, independent committees have only their own judgment to rely upon.

The Groningen Protocol is a phrase that deserves to live in infamy but I fear it is one that will not be a source of shame but of open debate and acceptance in too many places around the globe. 

I'm Hugh Hewitt.

Beyond The News Commentaries, produced daily by Salem Communications, bring concise and penetrating insight to everything from the current headlines to challenges facing the church, from our culture wars to the Middle East conflict and from Hollywood to Washington, D.C. These daily features cover politics, culture, religion and science with perspective from the sharpest minds in the Christian and conservative world today: David Aikman, Terry Eastland, Hugh Hewitt, Michael Medved, Albert Mohler, Dennis Prager and Janet Parshall.