Salutory and sad reading. Sad because of lives ended and salutory because of the growing haste to end life by our own hand.<\/p>\n
Can nobody see the abuse of the young, dementing, the struggling, people with disabilities, the elderly, the everybody!?<\/p>\n
Article from The Daily Telegraph, London via The Age 14 January 2013:<\/p>\n
Identical twins have been killed by Belgian doctors in a unique case under\u00a0 the country’s euthanasia laws.<\/strong><\/p>\n The 45-year-old brothers from the Antwerp region were born deaf and sought\u00a0 euthanasia after finding that they would also soon go blind.<\/p>\n They were very happy. It was a relief to see the end of their\u00a0 suffering.<\/p>\n They told doctors that they were unable to bear the thought of not being able\u00a0 to see each other again.<\/p>\n The twins, who have not been named but have been pictured on Belgian\u00a0 television, had spent their entire lives together, sharing a flat and working as\u00a0 cobblers.<\/p>\n Under Belgian law, euthanasia is allowed if those wishing to end their lives\u00a0 are able to make their wishes clear and a doctor judges that they are suffering\u00a0 unbearable pain.<\/p>\n David Dufour, the doctor who presided over the euthanasia, said the twins had\u00a0 died together and had taken the decision in “full conscience”.<\/p>\n “They were very happy. It was a relief to see the end of their suffering,” he\u00a0 said. “They had a cup of coffee in the hall, it went well and a rich\u00a0 conversation. Then the separation from their parents and brother was very serene\u00a0 and beautiful. At the last there was a little wave of their hands and then they\u00a0 were gone.”<\/p>\n The case is unusual because neither of the men was terminally ill or\u00a0 suffering extreme physical pain.<\/p>\n Just days after the twins were killed by doctors, Belgium’s ruling Socialists\u00a0 tabled a legal amendment that will allow the euthanasia of children and\u00a0 Alzheimer’s sufferers.<\/strong> The controversial change will allow minors and people\u00a0 suffering from dementia to seek permission to die. “The idea is to update the\u00a0 law to take better account of dramatic situations and extremely harrowing\u00a0 cases,” said Thierry Giet, the Socialist leader.<\/p>\n If passed later this year, the law will allow euthanasia to be “extended to\u00a0 minors if they are capable of discernment or affected by an incurable illness or\u00a0 suffering that we cannot alleviate<\/strong>“.<\/p>\n In 2002, Belgium was the second country in the world after Holland to\u00a0 legalise euthanasia, but the law now applies only to people over 18. Some 1133\u00a0 cases of euthanasia – mostly for terminal cancer – were recorded in 2011,\u00a0 according to the last official figures.<\/p>\n Last December, the Belgium-based European Institute of Bioethics published a\u00a0 report raising concerns about “the absence of any effective control” over\u00a0 euthanasia and “ever-widening interpretation” of the law. It noted that in 10\u00a0 years and 5500 euthanasia cases, not one had been referred to police for\u00a0 investigation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Article: ‘They were very happy’: Belgian twin brothers choose euthanasia rather than\u00a0 blindness<\/a><\/p>\n Also, Euthanasia Law a blunt instrument<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Salutory and sad reading. Sad because of lives ended and salutory because of the growing haste to end life by our own hand. Can nobody see the abuse of the young, dementing, the struggling, people with disabilities, the elderly, the … Continue reading