On the Graves of Soylent Green.

• Author: Singleton, Marilyn M.
• Position: WORDS IMAGES

IN AN EFFORT to cut carbon emissions from burials and cremations, Washington, led by staunch environmentalist Gov. Jay Inslee, has become the first U.S. state to legalize human composting. To think, people can be criminally prosecuted for disrespecting a human corpse, a symbol of a once-living person, but the religion of Mother Earth now supersedes all cultural decency.

We already have cemented the contempt for life at the front end. I thought we had evolved since the ancient Greek elders determined that only strong newborns survived and the weak were left to die. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam made it clear that infants once again are throw-aways. In explaining the procedure of an "abortion" of a child who was born alive, he said, "The infant would be resuscitated if that's what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother."

Now we must be acutely aware of what is occurring at the other end of life's spectrum. In the U.S., elders all too often are considered expendable by society at large and, sadly, by their own families. Such disregard in some 10,000,000 cases escalates to abuse in many forms. Government-certified entities make a significant contribution to this contemptible crime.

In many states court-appointed guardians cravenly plunder their wards' assets with no repercussions. A Government Accountability Office report identified hundreds of allegations of abuse, neglect, and exploitation by guardians in 45 states and the District of Columbia between 1990-2010. An investigation of a small sampling of the allegations found that court-appointed guardians had stolen or otherwise improperly obtained $5,400,000 from 158 incapacitated victims, mostly older adults. Moreover, such crimes frequently were overlooked by judges.

Soon after coming into office, Pres. Donald Trump signed into law the Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act, which provides for 90 prosecutors and "elder justice coordinators" nationally to prosecute those committing elder abuse, including guardianship cases. Currently, a sleepy little bill in the wings, the Stamp Out Elder Abuse Act, will direct the proceeds of a new postage stamp to enforcing laws against elder abuse.

However, these new laws may be for naught with the advent of more physician-assisted suicide laws. New Jersey is the latest, complete with a cute acronym: MAID (Medical Aid in Dying). All the calls...