Further research for my sermon, fast becoming a lecture (beware Bellerive!), follows on the former Dutch Minister for Health and her realization that legalising Euthanasia was a mistake. Now the Dutch Health Ministry has an inquiry into the effects of the legalising of euthanasia in the Netherlands – the country that is often held up as the great example of so-called ‘Dying with Dignity’ – now, sadly, apparently not! Dutch hold inquiry as number of euthanasia cases continues to rise
EUTHANASIA cases in the Netherlands rose 13 per cent last year.
A total of 2636 Dutch people were killed by euthanasia in 2009, with 80 per cent of cases involving people dying at home after their doctors administered a lethal dose of drugs. This compares with 2331 reported deaths in 2008.
In 2003, the year after the Netherlands became the first country since the fall of Nazi Germany to legalise the practice, there were 1815 cases.
Euthanasia is usually carried out by administering a sedative, followed by a drug to cause death.
To qualify, patients must be in unbearable pain and their doctor convinced they are making an informed choice. The opinion of a second doctor is also required.
Dutch doctors have been accused of applying a liberal interpretation of the law and sometimes killing people who cannot properly consent.
Jan Suyver, the chairman of the Dutch government commission that monitors euthanasia, said the number of cases had risen as the ”taboo” once attached to euthanasia began to fade. ”It could also be that doctors are more likely to report it,” he said.
But anti-euthanasia groups said the sharp increase was probably linked to the collapse of the palliative care system in the Netherlands.
Phyllis Bowman, of the British anti-abortion campaign group Right to Life, said: ”I am sure that the increase in numbers of people opting for euthanasia is largely a result of inadequate pain control.”
The increase in cases has prompted the Dutch Health Ministry to open an inquiry into the law.
Dr Els Borst, the former deputy prime minister who guided the law through the Dutch parliament, said in December that she regretted that euthanasia was, in effect, destroying palliative care. [See her comments here, Former Dutch Health Minister Admits Error of Legalizing Euthanasia]
Article by Simon Caldwell June 22, 2010 Dutch hold inquiry as number of euthanasia cases continues to rise
