Tag: euthanasia

Health Min. wants to expand euthanasia access to terminally ill children under 12 | NL Times

NL Times – June 28, 2022

Minister Ernst Kuipers of Public Health wants to make euthanasia possible for terminally ill children aged 1 to 12 who suffer unbearably and without hope. He is working on a regulation to allow this, with a series of due care criteria like is the case for euthanasia in adults and infants younger than 1, he said in a letter to parliament, the Volkskrant reports.

The Netherlands currently has nothing formally in place to relieve critically- and terminally ill children aged 1 to 12 from unbearable suffering. While a study in 2019 showed a great need for an option to end the life of kids in this age group who suffer “without hope and unbearably.” In the study, parents described how they could do nothing while their children screamed in pain for hours on end or had almost continuous seizures. One mother told how a brain tumor had her child screaming for three days, banging his head, and shouting for help.

Kuipers stressed that this concerns “a small group of terminally ill children who suffer hopelessly and unbearably and for whom all options of palliative care are insufficient to alleviate their suffering.” He opts for regulation instead of a legislative amendment at the request of pediatricians. They worry that a change in the law will spark another polarizing debate while they are looking for a practical solution for a very small group of children who need urgent help.

The Euthanasia Act already allows adults and children over 12 to end their lives if they are suffering unbearably and without hope. The law considers them capable of understanding their situation and the gravity of their decision. Euthanasia presupposes self-determination and competence, considered lacking by children under age 12 by the law.

For infants under the age of 1, the 2005 Groningen protocol applies. It contains guidelines for the termination of the life of infants who suffer unbearably and without hope. Bot parents must give informed permission, and the decision is checked afterward. Kuipers plans to build on this protocol for kids aged 1 to 12.

https://nltimes.nl

New Zealand Euthanasia Law Goes Into Effect, Pro-Life Advocates Fight to Save Vulnerable People

Right to Life UK – Nov 10, 2021

As New Zealand’s euthanasia legislation comes into effect, anti-euthanasia campaigners have launched an initiative to begin the path towards repealing the legislation and protecting the vulnerable.

After becoming the first country in the world to introduce assisted suicide and euthanasia by popular vote in a binding referendum, New Zealand’s End of Life Choice Act (EOLCA) came into effect last Sunday. In response, DefendNZ has launched a new campaign to “protect” the vulnerable from the new law, and to “expose and improve” the law as it is written.

Their spokesperson, Henoch Kloosterboer, said: “Some may have wrongly assumed that this debate was over now that the EOLCA has come into force, when what this actually means is that our advocacy for the vulnerable put at risk by this law is more critical than ever before”.

He described the introduction of assisted suicide and euthanasia into New Zealand as “one of the most seismic shifts in law, healthcare and medical ethics in its entire history. As of this moment, some New Zealanders now wield the state-sanctioned legal power to deliberately end the lives of others, or to assist in their suicides”.

“To think that there will be no harms that will come from this is to be unaware of the many problems unfolding overseas in the limited number of places that have also legalised these practices – and this includes the harm of wrongful killings”.

https://www.lifenews.com

Another Australian State Legalizes Voluntary Euthanasia

Newsmax – September 16, 2021

Voluntary euthanasia became legal in a fifth Australian state on Thursday, more than 20 years after the country repealed the world’s first mercy killing law for the terminally ill.

Queensland’s Parliament passed the law with 61 of the state’s 93 lawmakers voting in favor.

New South Wales, the nation’s most populous state, is now the only state that doesn’t allow assisted suicide.

The Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory do not have the same rights as states and the Federal Parliament has barred them from making such laws.

Queensland’s law, which takes effect in January 2023, allows people suffering from a disease or medical condition that is advanced, progressive, and terminal to have access to so-called voluntary assisted dying.

Their condition must be expected to cause death within a year, they must have decision-making capacity, and proceed without coercion.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said the law would ease pain and suffering.

“It has been a very considered debate and … it’s been a very difficult debate,” Miles told Parliament.

Opponents argued that due to a funding shortfall for palliative care, the law would put pressure on some patients to end their lives.

https://www.newsmax.com

Spain legalises euthanasia

Evangelical Focus – December 18, 2020

The Spanish Parliament has approved the first euthanasia law in the country on 17 December.

The rule, promoted by the Social Democrat government party, PSOE, received 198 votes in favour, 138 against and 2 abstentions. Spain becomes the fourth country in Europe and the sixth worldwide to legalise euthanasia, after the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada and New Zealand.

The law was approvedafter several attempts in which the Parliament voted against it. The government coalition of PSOE and leftist party Unidas Podemos, along with the deputies of liberal party Ciudadanos, leftist party Más País, Catalonian parties ERC, CUP and Junts per Catalunya, Basque parties PNV and EH Bildu, and Galician party BNG, all voted in favour.

The conservative parties PP and UPN and far-right Vox voted against it. Vox has announced that they will file an appeal of unconstitutionality against the text.

The law, which has yet to be approved by the Senate, although it is expected to do so, could come into force in the first months of 2021.

During the vote, dozens of people gathered outside the Parliament building to protest against the measure with posters that read: “Government of death”.

Defending the law presented by the government, the PSOE parlamentarian María Luisa Carcedo, pointed out that the text “absolutely guarantees the patient rights” and that it is “the patient who decides in a situation of extreme suffering”.

PP deputy José Ignacio Echániz responded that “without universal access to palliative care there is no choice, no freedom because the only option offered to patients is euthanasia”. “The level of civilisation and maturity of a country is measured by how it treats the most vulnerable”, he added.

https://evangelicalfocus.com

NZ referendum legalises euthanasia and assisted suicide

Christian Institute – November 9, 2020

New Zealand has voted to legalise euthanasia and assisted suicide, following a public referendum.

The End of Life Choice Act was passed in the country’s parliament last year by 69 votes to 51, allowing doctors to administer or supply lethal doses of drugs to patients. However, it still required official public support before it could become law.

New Zealand will join a tiny group of countries that allow the practices, including the Netherlands and Canada.

From 6 November 2021, citizens over 18 years old will be permitted to kill themselves with a doctor’s assistance.

Criteria include having a terminal condition that is ‘likely’ to end life within six months, a ‘significant decline’ in physical capability, and having the ability to make an ‘informed’ decision.

The law also states that two doctors must approve before administering any life-ending dosage.

Pro-life group Euthanasia-Free NZ said following the referendum that the public had voted for a “flawed” law, which did not contain proper safeguards.

Renée Joubert, Executive Officer of Euthanasia-Free NZ, said: “The New Zealand Parliament voted down 111 out of 114 amendments that could have made this law safer. Many amendments were rejected without even being debated.”

The group said there was “widespread confusion” as to what the law would actually entail, with polls showing that 80 per cent of voters believed the End of Life Act would legalise turning off life-support for patients, which is already legal in the country.

There has been vocal opposition to the legislation throughout the process.

When the Bill was voted on by MPs last year, protesters outside held signs reading “assist us to live not die” and “euthanasia is not the solution”.

The vote has also raised concerns that those facing chronic conditions may feel pressured to die so as to not be a ‘burden’ on their families, as has been the case in Canada.

https://www.christian.org.uk

New Zealand legalizes euthanasia, joining small club of nations allowing terminally ill to end their lives

REUTERS/Vincent West – October 30, 2020

New Zealand has become one of a handful of countries to legalize euthanasia after voters approved a referendum to allow assisted dying for those suffering from a terminal illness.

The law, which comes into effect in November 2021, will make it legal for patients with less than six months to live to request a medically-assisted death. The patient will need the approval of two doctors before undergoing the life-ending procedure.

New Zealanders voted on the issue during the October 17 general election. Preliminary results announced on Friday by the country’s electoral commission showed 65.2 percent signing off on the initiative, while 33.8 percent rejected it. Full results will be released on November 6, as officials are still tabulating nearly half-a-million special ballots – most of them from overseas. However, the current margin of support for the referendum means that the remaining uncounted ballots will not change the outcome.

The referendum’s success makes New Zealand the seventh country to allow euthanasia, according to reports, joining nations such as Canada and Belgium. Several other countries and US states have legalized varying forms of physician-assisted suicide.

One prominent campaigner for the referendum described the result as a “victory for compassion and kindness.” 

Opponents expressed concern that legalizing euthanasia would contradict suicide prevention campaigns and would pressure terminally ill people to choose assisted dying in order to be less of a burden to family.

Although considered taboo in most parts of the world, campaigners to legalize euthanasia have scored a number of victories in recent years. Earlier this month, the Dutch government said it would allow doctors to euthanize terminally ill children as young as one year old, making the Netherlands only the second country in the world to permit the practice.

https://www.rt.com

Netherlands contemplates expanding assisted suicide for people over 75 ‘tired of living’

Jeanne Smits – July 27, 2020

(LifeSiteNews) – A draft law proposing the legalization of assisted suicide for people over 75 who are “tired of living” has been presented in the Second Chamber of the Dutch parliament by Pia Dijkstra, of the D66 progressive “social-liberal” party. While there is a relatively small chance that the proposed law will be able to cross all legislative hurdles – this usually takes at least nine months – before the present cabinet steps down, Dijkstra made clear that her main objective is to push the theme to the fore in order to be extensively discussed.

The idea of allowing people to choose to leave this life for personal reasons has been around for some time in the Netherlands. Since euthanasia became legal in 2001, pressure groups have been working to extend the scope of “chosen death” in the name of personal autonomy. People who consider their life to be “complete” should be allowed to put an end to it even when they do not comply with the legal conditions: “unbearable suffering,” either physical or psychological, due to a serious or terminal medical condition, absence of available treatment, no perspective of improvement of their condition.

The principle of assisted death for people who are “done with life” is gaining traction in the Netherlands. Four years ago, in 2016, it was the ruling Dutch cabinet that promoted a new provision in the euthanasia law, via a letter signed by Health Minister Edith Schippers and Justice Minister Ard van der Steur. The proposition never came to Parliament because of the general elections that were to take place one year later, and liberal as the Netherlands are, it shocked public opinion.

But lobbying has continued, in particular on the part of the National Association for a Chosen End of Life (NVVE) that had applauded the cabinet’s initiative.

Over the last years, the Dutch government has decided to consult the population before a similar proposition is examined. Commission Wijngaarden, as it is known, was created in 2017 to consult “senior citizens” to find out how many are actually “tired of living.” It appeared as a way of avoiding inevitable confrontations between Christian and Christian Democrat parties with more liberal parties in a country where forming a government is impossible without political alliances.

Second Chamber member Pia Dijkstra decided to accelerate the process, promising last September that she would “soon” present a draft law.

https://www.lifesitenews.com

Dutch Supreme Court rules doctors can euthanize dementia patients

Christine Rousselle – April 22, 2020

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 22, 2020 / 01:30 pm MT (CNA).- The Supreme Court of the Netherlands ruled on Tuesday, April 21, that it is lawful for doctors to euthanize patients with severe dementia, provided that the patient had expressed a desire to be euthanized while still legally capable of doing so.

Lower courts had previously ruled that a doctor had not acted improperly when he euthanized a 74-year-old woman with advanced dementia, even though the woman had to be repeatedly sedated and physically restrained during the procedure. The case was sent to the Supreme Court for further clarification of the country’s euthanasia law, which permits doctors to kill patients considered to be in “unbearable suffering.”

Per Dutch law, euthanasia is only legal for those with dementia if they had written or discussed an advanced directive with their doctor.

“For some people, the prospect of ever suffering from dementia may be sufficient reason to make an advance directive (living will). This can either be drawn up independently or discussed first with the family doctor. A physician can perform euthanasia on a patient with dementia only if such a directive exists, if statutory care is taken and if, in his opinion, the patient is experiencing unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement,” says the Dutch government’s website.

The woman who resisted her euthanization had written an advanced directive four years prior, requesting the procedure in lieu of being put in a nursing home. In the directive, she had said she wished to “be able to decide while still in my senses and when I think the time is right.”

Prosecutors argued that her attempt to fight off the doctor indicated that she could have changed her mind, but was unable to verbally communicate.

Dr. Charles Camosy, a professor at Fordham University and bioethicist, told CNA that the supreme court decision is part of a legal “slippery slope” in the Netherlands on euthanasia. Camosy said that patients with conditions including mental deterioration will be at the heart of future debate.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com