Posted on 03/10/2010 12:31:31 PM PST by bruinbirdman
Healthy elderly people who are simply "tired of living" could be allowed to end their lives with a lethal injection under new euthanasia laws being debated by the Dutch parliament.
The country's MPs will discuss the "right to die" proposals after a campaign forced a debate by collecting over 100,000 signatures in support.
The influential Dutch "Right to Die" campaign, active since 1973, has launched new "vrijwillig levenseinde", or "of free will", demands to extend euthanasia beyond assisted suicide for terminally ill people.
The group has proposed training non-medical staff to administer a lethal injection to healthy people over the age of 70 who "consider their lives complete" and want to die.
Under the plans, the suicide assistants would be certified and would be required to make sure that patients were not temporarily depressed and had a "heartfelt and enduring desire" to die.
Marie-Jose Grotenhuis, the campaign's spokeswoman, said: "We've been overwhelmed by the amount of reactions, especially because people took it so seriously and reactions were mostly positive."
Euthanasia was legalised in Holland in 2002 and the new proposals have been backed by the majority of people in Dutch opinion polls.
The Royal Dutch Medical Association is divided over calls to extend euthanasia beyond those suffering from painful terminal illnesses and has set up a committee to examine the proposals.
Sander Hofman, the association's spokesman, said: "For instance, a doctor probably has a role in easing the suffering of a person who is refusing to eat or drink."
Several European countries, including neighbouring Belgium, allow euthanasia for terminally ill people who wish to die. Britain and France allow terminally ill people to refuse medical treatment but stop short of allowing active assisted suicide.
The Dutch legalisation for euthanasia for the terminally ill was preceded by decades of negotiations that
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
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The group has proposed training non-medical staff to administer a lethal injection to healthy people. . .
yitbos
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Horrible. How bad is it going to get? Mandatory is just around the corner.
Oops - you already got it! I’m having a problem - when I copy the Moral Abosolutes message thingie, it has part of it twice. I don’t think I’m doing it, it just seems to be happening.
Sorry I’m a techtard.
Sorry I don’t think people will be forced to kill themselves.
The involuntary euthanasia of minors?
No parental consent?
What you "think" isn't at all important, I talking about what has historically happened.
You have freepmail.
wow. Sorry to respond with what I think.
I’m not being harsh, I’m simply saying that your opinion is irrelevant on this subject. Involuntary euthanasia is going on every day all over the world and the fact that you don’t “think” it is doesn’t change anything.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could end involuntary “euthanasia” by just thinking it away?
Right to Die, very quickly becomes Duty to Die.
Nope,,,not forced. What will happen will be more subtle, but just as sickening. You are 83 and need some help sometimes,,or maybe have a medical condition. Your doctor will helpfully inform you that you have suicide as an option. You will be made aware that by debate,,that people like you are greedy for soaking up scarce medical resources. Some will slowly start to notice resented by people who want their inheritance, or want to be relieved of the burden.
And then, almost imperceptably, the presumption will have changed. The elderly will then feel an invisible, but a very real pressure. They will think they should justify why they choose to live.
They have government health care, right? Saves the system money don’t you know.
fine.
You may not think it but you sound rather snotty.
You don't seem to understand, what we "think" is irrelevant:
And once the public is duped into accepting this, the culture of death will acknowledge what has ALWAYS been their agenda:
![](http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm9/wagglebee/euthanasia.jpg?t=1221694000%22";)
We won't need that option once 0bamao's healthscare Death Panels get cranked up.
Ever notice that propaganda poster always either shuts them up or gets them riled? So I wonder, is it a thread killer this time, or are they about to pile on?
Either way, you know it got their attention.
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