Posted on 01/13/2005 7:06:20 AM PST by Houmatt
The Royal Dutch Medical Association has concluded, after a three-year investigation, that Dutch doctors ought to be able to kill patients who are not ill but who are judged to be "suffering through living."
The decision contradicts the Dutch Supreme Court that ruled in 2002 that patients may only request euthanasia if they have a "classifiable physical or mental condition," and not if they are merely "tired of life." The law however, does not require a medical condition, but only that a patient must be "suffering hopelessly and unbearably." Pro-life activists have warned that such ambiguous language is an open door for new interpretations that would make the law a license to kill.
The new report says many Dutch doctors believe some cases of "suffering through living" could be judged "unbearable and hopeless."
Jos Dijkhuis, the emeritus professor of clinical psychology who led the study said, "In more than half of cases we considered, doctors were not confronted with a classifiable disease. In practice the medical domain of doctors is far broader We see a doctor's task is to reduce suffering, therefore we can't exclude these cases in advance. We must now look further to see if we can draw a line and if so where."
Mira de Vries, of the Association for Medical and Therapeutic Self-Determination, a pro-suicide group, pointed out that the law exists only to protect doctors from prosecution for homicide. She commented on the British Medical Journal's forum page, "By claiming that the medical domain of doctors is far broader, and includes the reduction of suffering unrelated to classifiable and measurable somatic illness, physicians are proposing to redefine medicine, and vastly expand its already inflated territory."
Henk Jochemsen, director of the anti-euthanasia Lindeboom Institute for Medical Ethics, said the report gave the message that, "we as a society should say to people who feel their life has lost meaning: right you had better go away."
I hate being proved wrong.
Doctor Mengele laughs
Wow!
Maureen Dowd - run for cover!
It looks like the life in the Netherlands has over last decades become much more stressful than before, judging from the prominence given to euthanasia movement there. Has there previously been an unusually high suicide rate?
This is just wrong, on so many levels.
So this would allow a treatable patient with depression to contract with a physician to kill him (her) when the suicidal intent is merely a symptom of the condition?
Really makes me sad for the future of mankind.
This is insane! I can't even say anything else about it.
Todeskultur ping.
NAZI PIGS
What the HELL do they know about the end of a life? None of them has been through it. It is a mystery.
The relative morality never comes through more falsely and empty than when the conversation turns to euthenasia.
It's good to see other Dutch speak out against it.
bump
And put an end to their sad, meaningless lives.
So if your life isn't peaches and cream and you're stupid enough to say so, they can off you? As others have said, it's a logical extension of abortion, euthanasia, just one more tumble down that slippery slope. There goes the human race.
Hire a doctor instead of a hitman to get rid of someone who's bugging you. How low can the Dutch medical racket go? They make the Nazi doctors look like professionals.
Well when they have a society that apparently has developed a complete amoral view of life, suicide might look good. Just think, if someone is not on the top of the intellectual or societal scale deem acceptable by the ELITE, you will be incouraged to visit the local suicide center.
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