X-Message-Number: 15043 From: <> Date: Tue, 28 Nov 2000 20:07:27 +0100 (CET) Subject: Dutch Approve Law on euthanasia http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/nm/20001128/ts/dutch_euthanasia_dc_3.html Tuesday November 28 11:49 AM ET Dutch Approve Law on Mercy Killings, Protests Start By Eric Onstad THE HAGUE (Reuters) - The Netherlands, which has turned a blind eye to so-called mercy killings for decades, took a decisive step on Tuesday toward being the first country in the world to legalize euthanasia. The lower chamber of parliament voted 104 to 40 to approve a bill allowing doctors to help patients die under strict conditions. The law is expected to be put to a vote in the upper chamber next year. Approval there is seen as a formality. Australia's Northern Territory legalized medically assisted suicide for terminally ill patients in 1996, but repealed the law the following year. Supporters of the Dutch bill, including many doctors, say it champions patients' rights and brings a long-standing practice into the open. But the vote in parliament touched off a storm of protest. ``Again, we are faced with a law of the state which opposes the natural law of human conscience,'' Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls told Reuters. Opponents in the Netherlands, including small Calvinist opposition parties, say they fear the proposed law could be abused. Some drew parallels with Nazi Germany. ``The same line of reasoning is being used as in Germany in 1935...In the Netherlands, your life is no longer safe,'' said Bert Dorenbos of the Scream for Life group. ``If doctors are not hesitating to kill people then they will not hesitate to withdraw medical treatment from people they do not like,'' he added. Leeway, But No Law A series of court rulings and government guidelines since the 1970s has given more leeway to Dutch doctors to help a patient die, but the criminal code was never amended. That gray area left open the possibility of doctors being prosecuted for murder. The new law sets out strict guidelines, demanding that adult patients must make a voluntary, well-considered and lasting request to die and face a future of continuous and unbearable suffering. The doctor must have informed patients about their prospects and reached the firm conclusion there was no reasonable alternative. A second physician must be consulted. Sensitive to the controversy surrounding the law, the justice ministry warned that any doctors who did not follow the rules would be subject to prosecution. The Dutch Roman Catholic Church said the law would make it too easy for people to give up. ``People who are ill but consider themselves a burden to their family, that's the problem,'' said Peter van Zoest, spokesman for the Bishops Conference. The main opposition Christian Democrats (CDA) and smaller Calvinist parties also opposed the law. A doctor at the German hospice foundation said the Dutch plan was ``appalling.'' ``...The Netherlands is the first country to legalize euthanasia since the Nazis,'' Monika Schweihoff said in a statement. ``Euthanasia is not the only option -- qualified hospice staff can also help terminally ill patients slip away painlessly.'' Some Applaud The Bill A leading proponent, the Liberal D66 party, applauded the vote as an important step forward. ``This is for people who are in great pain and have no prospect for recovery. These people want to die in a humane way, in a respectful way,'' parliamentary leader Thom DeGraaf told Reuters Television. The Royal Dutch Medical Association also supported the bill, saying it formalized in law mercy killing procedures used by doctors for 20 years. The lawyer for Jack Kevorkian, jailed by U.S. authorities last year for assisting a terminally ill person to die, said he was happy about the Dutch action. ``He's very pleased that the law has been enacted in the Netherlands for assisted suicide and feels that such a law, of course, is humane and that it's appropriate under the proper guidelines,'' Mayer Morganroth told Reuters. He said Kevorkian, now 72, believes that within the next three to five years assisted suicide will start to be allowed under laws in the United States. The most recent figures from euthanasia organizations show Dutch doctors helped 2,216 patients to die in 1999 through euthanasia or assisted suicide -- in which the physician supplies the drugs but does not administer them. About 90 percent of the cases were cancer victims. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher since about 60 percent of cases are not reported. A highly controversial clause allowing children as young as 12 to choose to die, even if their parents disagreed, was dropped earlier this year. Children aged 12 to 16 can only ask for help to die with parental consent. A 1998 poll commissioned by the Dutch Voluntary Euthanasia Society indicated that 92 percent of Dutch people supported mercy killing, although some 10 percent of general practitioners were opposed. (additional reporting by Karen Iley, Heleen van Geest, Berlin and New York bureaux) Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=15043