Night_fr8, I think you have missed the point.
I am sure that no crew member is going to refuse to extend the duty day when it is necessary to save life when "circumstances warrant such action".
However, this is pre-meditated. There must surely be enough spare capacity amongst all the operators to fly any such mission within the normal parameters especially given the current downturn in business.
As has been previously stated why should the normal FTLs be conveniently ignored? I would have thought that our own "kith and kin" deserve the protection of all the normal rules and regulations. Why make an exception in this case?