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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 14, 2026

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I agree with you philosophically. I have a son the same age who is healthy, but if he were suffering severely in the manner described in the article I would feel compelled to at least seriously consider every lawful option to alleviate that suffering.

However, I think there might be good practical arguments against euthanasia, especially in a system where the government bears the cost of healthcare. There is a strong financial incentive for the government to use euthanasia as cost-saving tool, and this incentive might erode whatever checks are in place, such that people who should not be euthanized are getting euthanized anyway. I'm not sure if I fully believe this argument, but it's the only counterargument that seems at all convincing to me.

I agree that this incentive exists. At present, it's hard to imagine it having effect - the taboo on euthanasia on economic grounds seems too strong. But as previously stated, I wouldn't even call that a problem in itself - at some point you need to make the call on how much a nonviable life is worth to you in cold hard numbers. And when the state provides all health care and euthanasia, then you can hardly expect the state to have to say in it. The problem, I'd say, is that states in general aren't trustworthy or even competent.