Scottish Catholic Observer

IN MY worst nightmares I am taken to a time in the future when only the most physically and mentally

unimpaired of us will be accorded full human rights.

HG Wells glimpsed something of this in 1895 in his great work The Time Machine when he imagined that in the distant future the world would belong to a race of physically perfect, but intellectually and emotionally inert race of humans. Each week they would sacrifice one amongst them to appease a wretched and savage sub human species called Morlocks.

In my dystopian world of the future those among us born with physical or mental difficulties or who go on to develop such will be quietly dispatched or put into exile in ‘special’ colonies where a form of human existence can be lived but without anything that might constitute a drain on the NHS. The First Minister of Scotland of the day will declare these colonies to be ‘enlightened facilities, which underline Scotland’s commitment to ensuring that we care about those we can’t afford to keep.’

All but the most basic of policing would operate in these colonies and families would be encouraged by the state to give up any children afflicted by long-term disease or conditions that the state deemed to be ‘abnormal.’ This would be our ‘duty’ to preserve the purity and economic integrity of the state.

These latter-day leper colonies will be justified by the government because of continuing cuts to the NHS and the austerity measures of the Lab/Con coalition Government. But the foundations of their existence really began when the political, judicial and academic elite in Scotland and the UK decided to erode significantly the dignity of human life.

They did this by smashing all opposition to the infanticide of mass abortion; by permitting euthanasia and by allowing the process by which embryos from three different parents could be used to make children. This, of course, led to a thriving free market economy where only the richest were eventually able to afford the process. All flaws and abnormalities, of course, were screened out. Meanwhile all manner of elderly and infirm people were being ‘assisted’ to choose death as a means of alleviating the burden on their poor families, you understand.

Events of the last few months in Scotland and in the UK have made me think that we are already living in the early stages of this new super-society. I’m not saying that we will all soon be compelled to go for the Big Sleep at the age of 30 or anything like that; just that if you have a condition or ailment that causes the state some economic inconvenience then the climate has just got a bit chillier.

The huge majority at Westminster in favour of permitting the combining of the DNA of three people into one IVF embryo was, of course, hailed by leading medical experts as a mighty scientific ‘breakthrough,’ which immediately put the UK at the ‘forefront’ of genetics and generally made it great to be alive.

We were asked to accept that the leading scientists asked for comment were all completely neutral about the ethics of the process because somehow, if you’re a scientist, then you must only ever be motivated by concern for humankind.

There are other scientists too though, who are similarly concerned not just about humankind, but by what society deems to be ‘viable’ humankind. Curiously though, very few of these types of scientists are given room to make their case. Presumably too, they won’t be at the front of the queue when large research grants are being handed out.

Bishop John Sherrington, of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, eloquently stated the Church’s concerns, declaring that it was ‘opposed in principle to these procedures where the destruction of human embryos is part of the process.’ Meanwhile, Christian Medical Comment highlighted the questions that ought to have been discussed in parliament, but which weren’t: Is it necessary? Is it safe? Will it work? Is it ethical? Is the debate being handled responsibly?

That so many MPs and scientists experienced no qualms about the deliberate destruction of viable human embryos to assist in the process signals that another shift downwards is occurring in society in what we consider to be the concept of human dignity.

If human life at the outset can be used to maintain a spare parts industry then it won’t be long before we view more developed forms of human life in such a cavalier and cynical fashion.

The Assisted Suicide Bill currently going through the Scottish Parliament is another proposal where, if it passes on to our statute books, will mean that human life is diminished again. I debated aspects of this with the MSP Patrick Harvie on BBC’s Scotland 2015 programme and I cannot doubt Mr Harvie’s sincerity in seeking to end the suffering of some people who feel that their life is no longer worth living. But who does the government decide is a sufficiently fit and proper person to decide which person’s suffering should be permitted to end in suicide and which is not? Will it take account of the psychological pressure experienced by some who are afflicted to end it all and put everyone else out of their misery?

Does it similarly take account of the fact that many facing long-term and debilitating illness are prone to depression and that, in such a state, they require love and  affirmation of their continuing value?

Meanwhile, in Scotland, the basic human rights of medical professionals whose faith does not permit them to participate in the killing of unborn babies have been trampled underfoot.

The Supreme Court, in ruling against the two Scottish midwives who sought leave not to assist at any stage of an abortion, basically said that Christians need not apply for some posts in the NHS. Anti-Christian discrimination has now been  ratified by the highest court in the land.

But what are we prepared to do about it? When was the last time you heard a Christian leader speak about this from the pulpit and state, unequivocally, that these are grave injustices and undermine the law of God, which is also the law of nature?

During my life I have marched to show my support for Britain’s coal-miners whose human rights were under attack by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative  Government. I have demonstrated against weapons of mass human destruction on our soil. I’d be prepared to march again to show my opposition to this sinister programme of dehumanisation that is occurring in our midst. How many would be prepared to march with me?

— Kevin McKenna is a columnist for the London-based Sunday Observer