EUROPE'S ETHOS is heading towards totalitarianism. Again. This is one of the most disturbing developments in recent times:

Ruth Winston-Jones, whose 10-month-old baby, Luke, died on Friday after a court battle over his right to life, told yesterday how she begged doctors on bended knee to save her son.

The High Court ruled two weeks ago that medical staff at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool could withhold life-saving treatment from her terminally ill son, a decision Mrs Winston-Jones contested.

Yesterday, as she grieved over Luke's death, Mrs Winston-Jones told of her desperation during his final moments. She described how, when doctors refused her pleas for Luke to be given an adrenaline injection and handed him to her so that he could die in her arms , she ransacked medical cabinets in Luke's cubicle to find oxygen.

Doctors also refused to administer this, she said.Though her son had stopped breathing, she gave him oxygen in a final bid to save him. "But it was no use, my precious little boy died in my arms," Mrs Winston-Jones said last night. "I was begging and pleading with them to save my boy, but they said no. In my view, they withheld basic humane treatment. This was not what the court meant by withholding life-saving treatment."

It's the State deciding who has and who has not a right to live, against the parent's will; there are so many slippery slopes in this (warning: pdf file) that it literally sends shivers down one's spine. I'm a non-believer, and therefore not saying this from a religious perspective, but if this is were we're heading to, I'm outta here. Don't want anything to do with a climate that allows things like these. Hey, brother, can you spare a green card?