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 ...
The reason suicide should be illegal isn’t to imprison the depressed, or the infirm. It’s mainly meant to accomplish one thing. It’s us telling the weak, sad, and ill, that still society values them beyond what they can do for us.
And does *anyone* see a conflict of interest, when a government pays for the healthcare, and then wants to permit and help the most medically needy, that they can commit suicide??
*Imagine* if a health insurance company took your premiums in the healthy years,, and when you turned 70, said “Hey,, wanna die? We can give you a bunch of sleeping pills! You wont feel a thing!” Imagine the uproar,,, but thats what the government is doing,,,
Obama wants the same thing here,,,
Dear Netherlands: When healthy older people consider suicide a viable alternative to living one more day there...you’ve got a problem.
I couldn’t do that because, if nothing else, I think it would be a major sin. Seems to me like most Christians would be worried about the God factor.
Perfectly stated!
YEP!
Not now, but eventually.
Sounds like “Duty to Die” Dick Lamm is pitching
his evil wares again!
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