Question: Is it ever permissible to ration health care in a medical crisis? If so, under what moral circumstances should it be allowed?

Unfortunately, it appears, that despite the best efforts of our elected leaders and the heroic efforts of the medical community, the coronavirus pandemic may very well create a tidal wave of seriously ill patients that will simply overwhelm the capacity of some local hospital facilities to adequately meet the needs of all the critically ill patients who seek treatment.

If and when that happens, what are Christian doctors, nurses, and hospital administrators to do? What does Christian morality allow them to do? Historically, in modern Western civilization when there is such a crisis and there is insufficient life saving care available to treat all patients who are imperiled, a triage system is implemented.

A triage system assigns highest priority to those critically ill patients who most immediately require medical care if they are to have any hope of survival and recovery. The second group in triage are those patients who do not have life threatening illnesses or injuries and thus can wait for medical treatment to become available. This second group is triaged and seen as care becomes available.

The third triage group comprises those patients who are deemed to have sustained mortal injuries or their illnesses have progressed to the state where they have an almost certain probability of dying even if they were given the treatments that are given to group one. The patients in this group are the ones labeled “do not resuscitate” because of their almost certain terminal status and are merely made as comfortable as possible until they expire.

Now, as Americans, of whatever faith, we all pray that it does not come to that in any of our hospitals during the “Great Pandemic of 2020.” But if and when this sad and lamentable state of affairs does eventuate in some of our hospitals, American culture is not at all prepared to react in as Christian way as we would have earlier in our history.

The most crucial question that must be asked when confronting a triage model is “what are the criteria being used to make the decision to relegate some patients to the ‘do not treat’ category as opposed to receiving the urgent care they desperately need immediately?” Any evaluative criteria other than the individual medical condition of each patient must be rejected as prejudice and a denial of the innate dignity of each and every human being. Of course, no racial, ethnic, or gender discrimination must ever be used to disqualify someone from treatment.

Unfortunately, because of the significant inroads of the nefarious and treacherously named “quality of life” ethic in our culture, which argues that some lives aren’t as worth living as others, it would apply categories such as advanced age or mental or physical challenges in patients in any age group. Such thinking is starkly utilitarian, morally repugnant and the antithesis of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which assigns equal and reverential value to each and every human life as made in God’s image (Gen.1:26-27).

SOURCE: Christian Post, Richard Land

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

Hours after he was arrested for holding worship services during the coronavirus pandemic in violation of a “safer-at-home” order Monday, leader of River at Tampa Bay Church in Tampa, Florida, pastor Rodney Howard-Browne, said he’s now getting death threats and shots were fired at the church’s sign.

Howard-Browne made the claims during a Facebook Live broadcast where he said the threats were stirred by “religious bigotry and hatred” in the media which forced him to make his Twitter and Instagram accounts private, and he called police to report the shots fired at the church.

“The media are stirring up every kind of religious bigotry and hatred right now. People firing shots last night at the church sign from the highway. We went this morning there was no bullet holes. We did report it but the police say unless you can show where the bullet landed, but I mean the guys, security were there. They could hear the gun going off and then the death threats, to the ministry and to the staff. It’s beyond the pale. So people have basically, literally lost their ever-loving minds,” Howard-Browne said.

It was not immediately clear which sheriff’s office was called to report the attack on his church but an official at the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, which announced his arrest Monday, told The Christian Post that they have no record of the alleged gunfire incident at River at Tampa Bay Church.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said Howard-Browne was arrested at his home in Hernando County around 1:30 p.m. Monday for intentionally and repeatedly hosting church services with hundreds of members in attendance, despite knowing he was in violation of orders set in place by President Trump, the Gov. of Florida, the CDC and the Hillsborough County Emergency Policy Group.

The specific second degree misdemeanors Howard-Browne was arrested for are unlawful assembly and violation of public health emergency rules.

His actions were a direct violation of Executive Order 20-05, which went into effect on March 20, limiting gatherings, including faith-based gatherings, to less than 10 people. He was also violating the Safer-At-Home Order, which went into effect on March 27, advising Hillsborough County residents to remain in their homes as much as possible to create greater social distancing and reduce the spread of the new coronavirus, the sheriff’s office said.

Officials explained that on Friday, and again on Sunday, personnel and legal staff from the Sherriff’s Office spoke with attorneys representing the church in an attempt to educate them on the orders in place and the dangerous environment they were creating for their members and the community, but Howard-Browne and his church leaders chose not to comply.

“His reckless disregard for human life put hundreds of people in his congregation at risk and thousands of residents who may interact with them this week in danger,” said Sheriff Chad Chronister. “The River at Tampa Bay has an advantage over most places of worship, because they have access to technology that allows them to live stream their services over the internet and broadcast television for the more than 4,000 members to watch from the safety of their homes.”

Howard-Browne, who is now being represented by Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family, said his decision to keep his church open is in defense of the First Amendment.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Leonardo Blair

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

A student group has sued the Georgia Institute of Technology, claiming that they discriminated against them when they requested and were denied funding for an event featuring pro-life activist Alveda King.

The Students for Life at Georgia Tech filed the lawsuit on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division.

The suit names as defendants various Georgia Tech officials, the school’s Student Government Association, and the Regents of the University System of Georgia.

At issue was the SGA’s refusal last year to provide funding for an event featuring King, with the suit claiming that the funding was denied because of the speaker’s religious and pro-life views.

The suit also argues that speaker requests from other student groups “are routinely ‘fast tracked’ without any discussion” by SGA members.

“It is discriminatory and unconstitutional to withhold funding from student activity fees that students have already paid into simply because a group holds a pro-life, conservative, or religious belief,” states the complaint.

“The Supreme Court made it clear twenty years ago that if public universities wish to force students to pay student activity fees, then those universities have an affirmative duty to ensure that the funds are distributed in a viewpoint neutral manner—not by a simple majority vote.”

SOURCE: Christian Post, Michael Gryboski

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

As some Americans including pockets of practicing Christians raise skepticism about how much of a threat the new coronavirus poses to their lives, a doctor leading the Samaritan’s Purse coronavirus response at a field hospital in Central Park warned Thursday that “it’s serious,” as residents welcomed the evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organization.

While urging people not to be hysterical or dismissive of the disease, Dr. K. Elliott Tenpenny said Americans need to treat the coronavirus as “a serious disease.”

“This is not something to think this is the end of the world, but it is not something that’s also to dismiss,” Tenpenny told The Christian Post at the site of the field hospital Thursday. “It’s serious. It’s a serious disease. It’s not the end of the world. We’re going to make it through this, but it is serious and anyone that says differently I don’t believe they’re speaking truthfully.”

Tenpenny’s warning comes as White House Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx urged every state to begin practicing recommended social distancing guidelines after highlighting that data on the spread of the virus indicates not everyone is treating the virus with the seriousness it deserves.

“We’re only as strong as every community, every county, every state, every American following the guidelines to a T,” Birx said Thursday. “And I can tell by the curve (of infections) and as it is today that not every American is following it.”

Many Americans, like Brooklyn resident David Self, who traveled to Manhattan to observe the Samaritan’s Purse 68-bed field hospital that opened Wednesday adjacent to Mount Sinai Hospital in Central Park’s East Meadow, count themselves among the skeptics.

“I came from Brooklyn. I was here yesterday to just to check it out because the media is saying the hospitals are overwhelmed but I’m just not seeing that personally. I’ve been to three different hospitals: Lenox, Brooklyn, this one. It’s very quiet. Came by here yesterday, there’s no patients,” Self said. “I think this is being hyped beyond what it actually is.”

He said he was happy that the Franklin Graham-led Samaritan’s Purse had come to assist with the coronavirus crisis but added, “I don’t see what the problem is … there doesn’t seem to be anything to help out for.”

At least 245,573 Americans have been infected by the coronavirus and all states but Wyoming have reported deaths. New York is reporting more than 83,000 positive cases of the coronavirus and more than 45,000 of those have been reported in New York City alone. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday that at least 2,468 people have died from the virus statewide and that hospitals will run out of ventilators in about six days.

“It’s like watching a slow-moving hurricane across the country, where you know the path that it’s taking,” Cuomo said.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Leonardo Blair

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

… Read More

Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

قالب وردپرس

Amid recent reports of which countries are the safest, and least safe to be in vis a vis the coronavirus outbreak, Israel ranked first among the safest countries. This is partly due to strict measures and a high level of testing that came into effect relatively early. Today, Israel “only” has several thousand infected, and just crossed the threshold of 30 deaths. Tens of thousands of Israelis are under quarantine having been exposed to, or nearby, someone who has tested positive. While medically, Israelis find themselves in relatively good shape, there are other grave needs that impact Israeli society uniquely.

The ability to track this has been aided by Israel’s secret service using a technology meant mostly to combat terror, and a new app released by the Health Ministry that uses a similar technology to check if someone has been in proximity with someone who is infected. (I have downloaded the app and, thankfully, since the beginning of February, have not been near anyone with the coronavirus.)

Nevertheless, as a small country of 9 million, the economic havoc has been great and will have a negative trickledown for some time. Among other sectors of the economy, the tourism industry has all but been shut down following record years of increased tourism. Before the current crisis, Israel had a remarkably low level of unemployment, around 4%. Since then, more than 1 million Israelis have filed for unemployment, just shy of 25% of the workforce. This is unprecedented in Israeli history, even during periods that Israel suffered from record inflation, economic stringencies and rationing in the early years of independence.

As a result, today, the weakest sectors of the population have been among the hardest hit. In response, to help the most needy with immediate needs, the Genesis 123 Foundation has launched an emergency appeal for needy, poor families in Jerusalem in advance of the upcoming Festival of Passover and Easter, and has called upon Christians and Jews, and anyone who loves and supports Israel, to join in this season.

In response to an urgent request from the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, the Genesis 123 Foundation responded instantly. She appealed to the Genesis 123 Foundation as an organization with a wide reach, building bridges among Jews and Christians, noting how immediate help was needed due to the impact of the coronavirus crisis.

Most know of Jerusalem as the sacred ancient and modern capital of Israel, and Israel’s largest city. However, most are unaware that it is also Israel’s poorest city per capita, with large Arab and ultra-Orthodox communities each having relatively high rates of poverty in normal times. The Genesis 123 Foundation campaign will help people from all sectors of Jerusalem’s diverse population.

Deputy Mayor Hassan-Nahoum explained, “Israel took the correct but unprecedented measure of closing down schools and classes including those for at-risk and special needs children. This is causing incredible hardship for some 6,000 families in Jerusalem who have children in these schools, and whose families normally have the respite of a structured educational framework. Adding to the challenges of taking care of special needs children all day with no outside support, about a third of these families, 2,000 households, suffer from severe economic hardship.”

SOURCE: Charisma News

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

Several national Christian groups, led by the AND Campaign, today announced an initiative to help small churches throughout the U.S. that are at-risk of closing as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The effort, which also includes former NFL player Benjamin Watson, is called the Churches Helping Churches Initiative, and it’s targeted to assist congregations in low-income communities in urban areas that have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 economic shutdown.

According to a recent Barna Group survey, thousands of pastors (7%) are unsure or not confident that their church will survive the coronavirus pandemic and nearly a quarter of American churches (22%) have already reduced staff hours, reduced compensation or laid off employees. Another recent Axios-Ipsos poll found that low-income Americans are now far more likely to be at risk of coronavirus infection or job loss.

This Churches Helping Churches Initiative urges larger, more stable churches to assist at-risk churches in their own community. On its website, ChurchRelief.org, the Initiative has provided guidance and best practices for how large churches can pursue this type of outreach.

In addition, to help encourage generosity by stable churches, this Initiative creates a Coronavirus At-Risk Church Relief Fund that provides $3,000 grants to small churches who are at risk of closing within the next three months due to a steep loss in financial giving. The initial goal of the fund is to raise at least $500,000 during the month of April from Christian donors, foundations and large churches. Already, the Initiative has secured the commitment of $100,000 toward the fund. The grants will be administered by the National Christian Foundation and 100% of the proceeds will go directly to at-risk churches.

SOURCE: Charisma News, D. J. Jordan

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

… Read More

Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

قالب وردپرس