We should keep in mind what has happened in Holland with euthanasia which has indeed proven to be a very slippery slope.

Exactly how long would it be before it turned out that Tories or other undesirables were being hastened to their deaths because some good lefties need a new liver.

Still Halacha allows for the removal of organs for transplants if certain conditions are met. Life supersedes nearly all other consideratoins.

I’m not arguing that the state should have the right to force people to donate their organs, just trying to present an accurate view of Halacha.

For more see here especial starting at page 391 for some discussion of the issues involved.

The government doesn’t do a lot of things “deliberately”, but that does not remove the fact that they did euthanize such folks and are responsible for such. Giving them water would have prolonged their misery, not giving them water when they needed it and when the state was responsible for giving it to them, can either be called voluntary manslaughter, murder, or euthanasia. Take your pick.

Here’s another story - an elderly relative of mine in France suffered a heart attack on a Friday before a long weekend. The ambulance drivers apparently had already left on vacation, because it took 9 hours to find an ambulance to take her to the hospital. Another success story for the dream castle of socialized medicine that Michael Moore missed.

I think neglect and incompetence are not the same as deliberate euthanasia. Yours is a startling quote - made me think! - but I think perhaps too glib.

My usual concern is that as people come to rely more and more on the government to take care of them, that they become less and less capable of taking care of themselves. A severe heat wave is a dangerous situation. I have to wonder how many people died or suffered there due to passivity of waiting for government rather than banding together, finding a way to survive the situation themselves. (Similar to the Katrina debacle in NewOrleans in our own country.)

Next step, watch for it, in a few years the ability to opt out will be constrained. That’s how it gets done, one small step at a time. They never stop.

In the United States about 50% of the money spent on health care is for people in the last 3 years of their life. I would imagine a similar state of affairs exists in the UK. Let’s see, you’re expensive, our system is failing, we need organs… common good don’t you know.