The terrifying prospect of legalizing physician-assisted suicide for minors without parental consent.

A Canadian hospital has unveiled a plan for assisted suicide for minors that, in many cases, would not require a parent’s permission or even notification.

“Usually, the family is intimately involved in this (end-of-life) decision-making process,” pediatric doctors and staff of Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children wrote in a Sept. 21 paper published in the British Medical Journal. “If, however, a capable patient explicitly indicates that they do not want their family members involved in their decision-making, although health care providers may encourage the patient to reconsider and involve their family, ultimately the wishes of capable patients with respect to confidentiality must be respected.”

It is a terrifying prospect that hearkens images of the worst of eugenics and it is what pro-life conservatives have feared for decades as the slippery slope brought about by the legalization of abortion.

The Christian and conservative argument has been if life is not respected in the womb then at what point does life begin to have value? Among those on the far end of the pro-choice spectrum, there is a belief that abortion on demand should be a right even if it is requested the day before a mother gives birth.

That is, admittedly, a fringe belief but it has gained traction in recent times. And if a baby is not a human the day before it is born the question is what special occurrence happens at the moment of birth that suddenly makes it a human deserving of rights?

It is an argument that will assuredly rage for many decades more, particularly with a conservative Supreme Court in the United States that is positioned to make abortions tougher to obtain if it chooses.

Could the U.S. Ratify Physician-Assisted Suicide for Minors?

And while it is likely the prospect of assisted suicide for kids would shock and anger most Democrats along with Republicans, it is not a taboo north of the border and one wonders how long it would take for it to be considered acceptable in America?

After all, seven states and Washington, D.C. have legalized forms of physician-assisted suicide. Progress never stops. That is the nature of progress. And it is unlikely that progressivism will stop with adults in the United States if and when assisted suicide for kids is legal in Canada.

A 2017 survey found that 46 percent of responding members of the members of the Canadian Pediatric Society favored assisted suicide for minors, The Toronto Sun reported.

Medical Assistance In Dying, MAID, is available for adults in Canada but the new paper proposes allowing that service for “capable minors,” the Toronto Observer reported.

“While MAID is currently available to capable patients in Canada who are 18 years or older … we write our policy with an eye to the near future when capable young people may gain access to MAID,” the paper read.

It is a terrifying prospect and one that should be met with righteous anger.