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Number of Netherlands Euthanasia Cases Increase, Not All Deaths Included
Life News ^ | 4/30/08 | Steven Ertelt

Posted on 04/30/2008 4:10:03 PM PDT by wagglebee

Amsterdam, Netherlands (LifeNews.com) -- The official number of euthanasia cases in the Netherlands is on the rise, but not all cases of killing patients are included. The official report mentions only three cases involving physicians who didn't follow the proper protocols when killing the patient.

The ANP news service indicated the number of euthanasia cases rose to 2,120 last year from 1,923 in 2006.

In three instances, the regional committees responsible for ensuring the criteria for legal euthanasia are followed indicated doctors had not adhered to the law.

The report indicated the committees forwarded information about the cases to the justice department and health inspectors.

Though the numbers show more patients losing their lives, noted American bioethics author and attorney Wesley Smith says the voluntary euthanasia figures don't include all cases of euthanasia or assisted suicide.

He said these "legalized murders do not include the about 900 'termination without request or consent' non-voluntary euthanasia deaths that Dutch studies have reported doctors commit each year."

Smith said those involuntary euthanasia deaths have "nary a significant legal or professional consequence to the death doctors" and "are not counted as official cases of euthanasia in Dutch death bean counting."

Smith also said the figures likely don't include the approximately 500 assisted suicides that occur in the Netherlands every year and don't make their way into the official figures.

"And they also don't include intentional overdosing with pain control with the intent to kill--rather than palliate," he said.

Smith pointed to the Dutch Government's "Remmelink Report" which purportedly showed more than 4,000 such cases in 1990.

The new Dutch euthanasia numbers also don't include the increasing numbers of terminal sedations.

A new study of the use of euthanasia in the Netherlands finds the number of patients killed via deep sedation is on the rise. Deep sedation involves using drugs to make terminally ill patients unconscious until death and the study finds doctors and patients are substituting it for euthanasia.

Researchers at the Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam found 1,800 people -- or 7.1 percent of all deaths in the Netherlands in 2005 -- involved deep sedation.

The new Dutch euthanasia numbers also likely don't include eugenic infanticides, which number about 90 per year according to two reports in The Lancet.

"And while we are on the subject, it doesn't by definition include the cases not reported, which studies have indicated total about 40 percent or more each year, meaning that there were probably another 1000 [voluntary euthanasias] or so that the authorities don't know about," Smith added.

"But other than that, I am sure it is an accurate statistic," he concluded.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: euthanasia; moralabsolutes; netherlands; prolife
Though the numbers show more patients losing their lives, noted American bioethics author and attorney Wesley Smith says the voluntary euthanasia figures don't include all cases of euthanasia or assisted suicide.

The culture of death doesn't want people knowing the extent of their carnage.

1 posted on 04/30/2008 4:10:04 PM PDT by wagglebee
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To: cgk; Coleus; cpforlife.org; narses; 8mmMauser

Pro-Life Ping


2 posted on 04/30/2008 4:11:16 PM PDT by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: 230FMJ; 50mm; 69ConvertibleFirebird; Aleighanne; Alexander Rubin; An American In Dairyland; ...
Moral Absolutes Ping!

Freepmail wagglebee to subscribe or unsubscribe from the moral absolutes ping list.

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3 posted on 04/30/2008 4:11:52 PM PDT by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: wagglebee

Shhhhhhhhhhhh, how else will we afford Hillary care and save SocSec? Don’t go and let the cat out of the bag.


4 posted on 04/30/2008 4:17:00 PM PDT by NonValueAdded (Who Would Montgomery Brewster Choose?)
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To: wagglebee
these "legalized murders do not include the about 900 'termination without request or consent' non-voluntary euthanasia deaths that Dutch studies have reported doctors commit each year."

For anyone who doesn't recognize the light of day, this is the "slippery slope" in action.

Coming soon to an American State near you.

5 posted on 04/30/2008 4:34:17 PM PDT by hinckley buzzard
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To: NonValueAdded
Don’t go and let the cat out of the bag.

The cat is dead, too. But don't tell Schroedinger.

But, seriously, folks, is anyone surprised about anything in this article? Six people per day being killed willingly, three people per day being killed unwillingly (don't we call that murder?), and a bunch more being killed but not reported, in the small country of The Netherlands. And increasing each year.

No God, no values beyond selfishness.

6 posted on 04/30/2008 4:37:04 PM PDT by Rocky
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To: wagglebee

“involuntary euthanasia”

Would that be anything like murder?


7 posted on 04/30/2008 4:38:38 PM PDT by Stevenc131
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To: wagglebee

Perhaps I’m confused, but all these numbers have to be added together to get the total. Because the numbers he suggested were in addition to the 2,120. So:

2,120 + 900 + 500 + 4,000 + 1,800 + 90 + 1,000 = 10,410

I hope I did this right.

I posted this on another forum:

This is one of the reasons I’m so adamantly opposed to assisted suicide (besides it being immoral). It leads to euthanasia. We need to protect life from conception to natural death. Unfortunately, the pro-death crowd is lobbying for it like they lobby for abortion. The Netherlands is a liberal cesspool. Liberals openly admit it is a great country, and they want to continue to socialize America in the same style. This is disturbing, and I fear the day when the secular humanists get enough control to allow this in America. Look out if the government nationalizes health care. There will soon be a right and duty to die to save the government money. End the lives of those who are determined not worth living and are costing too much. One other sad part is the article mentioned 90 babies were euthanized. How can one look their child in the eyes and allow him/her to be euthanized? How can one euthanize anyone, let alone a child? Of course, they kill them in the womb so why not out? Morally its the same thing. There are some cruel, evil people in this world.


8 posted on 04/30/2008 4:58:06 PM PDT by Pinkbell
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To: Pinkbell
This is one of the reasons I’m so adamantly opposed to assisted suicide (besides it being immoral). It leads to euthanasia.

"Assisted suicide" IS euthanasia, it is just another example of the culture of death changing words to make it easier to sell their evil agenda.

9 posted on 04/30/2008 5:00:28 PM PDT by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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