Challenging the Death Peddlars: Charlie Gard and Jahi McMath

Jahi McMath still alive after being declared
dead  by a California coroner in 2013

The death peddlars may have won a round in the U.K. with their soon-to-be elimination of little Charlie Gard. His death will be a victory for the law of self-fulfilling prophecies. Charlie's case was hopeless they said and they went about making sure their medical opinion was verified by his death. Had Charlie received the experimental treatment his parents wanted in JANUARY, the little boy might be improving and doing well today like so many other miracle babies. 

Well, there's a new round coming up with the case of Jahi McMath who was declared dead by a California coroner in 2013, but continues to live today. (Jahi McMath’s family wins backing for argument that she’s alive.) Jahi requires a ventilator to help her breathe, but she is very much alive. Can a dead body begin menstruating? Jahi did. Can a dead body grow and require hair cuts and nail clipping? Jahi does. Can a dead body respond to commands to move? Jahi moves and responds to commands by family members. 

No machine can "keep a corpse alive." As Dr. Paul Byrne has explained repeatedly, a ventilator is a tool that can only push air into the lungs. It takes functioning lungs to process the oxygen and carry on the function of respiration to carry oxygen to all the cells in the body. If a person is truly dying the ventilator won't keep the person alive. The organs begin to break down and eventually the person stops breathing and his heart stops beating. He turns blue and cold because blood is no longer pumping through the body. That is death. Brain death is a sham developed so major organs could be harvested from living bodies. The heart is always the last organ removed because that's when the organ farm dies.

Jahi is severely brain damaged. The hospital that caused her injury had a stake in her death since California law limits liability for wrongful DEATH. Not so if she is ALIVE. If found culpable, the hospital could face millions in penalties since damages are not capped for medical malpractice. 

There are many people alive today who, in the opinions of death peddlers, have lives that aren't worth living. They prefer to see these "useless" individuals dead. They see no value in suffering or in the sacrificial love of a caregiver who tends to a severely ill or handicapped person. But it is our response to the weak and the vulnerable that demonstrate our capacity to love. Unconditional love occurs when a person wills and works for the good of another who can give absolutely NOTHING in return. And yet, how many people, describe how much more they received when they engage in sacrificial service. That is the closest one can come to understanding God's love for us. He doesn't need us. We can add nothing to Him by obeying Him. But He loves us and desires our love in return. "He made us; we belong to Him."

Let us pray and work for the vulnerable among us who are more and more in danger from those who usurp God's authority. And let us pray for the death peddlers who threaten them because, in the end, they are in the most danger of all. Hell is forever.