The Toronto Star, May 26, reported that an Edmonton doctor, name not given, had “practiced euthanasia with compassion”. He had ordered a lethal dose of morphine to put a baby out of its agony – 16 hours after its birth. According to the report, the doctor’s license has been suspended and he has left the country. Crown prosecutors are investigating to determine if criminal charges should be laid.

If hospital records show that the baby was given an overdose on doctor’s orders, and if the doctor admits that he did this deliberately – because he ‘could not stand seeing the baby suffer”- one wonders how much more investigating there has to be before he is charged.

Almost every morning we hear on the news that somebody shot someone else during the night and they have been charged with manslaughter or murder. Perhaps we are now going to be informed that a baby does not become a human being until it is a day old – or a week old, or one year old – and so killing it is not either murder or manslaughter.

If the law of the land is adhered to, a warrant should be issued for the doctor’s arrest, extradition proceedings should be entered into, and he should be tried for either murder or manslaughter.

If this is not done, it is time the public began asking questions for its own safety. Compassion is an admirable virtue. But when it is not tempered by moral principles, it is extremely dangerous.