The Groningen Protocol

By now everyone has heard about what is happening in the Netherlands. When I was much younger, my girlfriend at the time worked at a state facility for the severely retarded up on the Canadian border. I made one visit to her workplace and it was heart wrenching. My respect for her and the others who worked there is unbounded.

That said, the inmates were also undeniably people - some fun to be with, some to be avoided whenever possible. And the families, while they had determined that they could not provide care for the son/daughter/sibling at home, still came and sat, or pushed a wheelchair.

I sometimes say to myself, "Thank God I don't have that particular cross to bear" (I am the father of 3 healthy children), but I like to think that given the challenge, I would grumble "It's not fair!" and then try to do my best, because that is all we can do.

We don't kill them.