Which is precisely what has been proposed under Obamacare.
Posted on 06/27/2011 4:19:29 PM PDT by wagglebee
June 27, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Euthanasia is on the rise in the Netherlands, and it is taking an even uglier turn than many would have expected.
Cases of euthanasia have risen from 2,500 in 2009 to 2,700 in 2010; but even more shocking, last year 21 persons suffering from the early stages of dementia, but who were otherwise in good health, were euthanized. All of these 21 “mercy killings” were subsequently approved by the official euthanasia follow-up commission.
This 2010 annual report on euthanasia has yet to be published, but key figures were released by the official news channel, NOS, last Saturday.
The program on NOS told the story of 63-year-old Guusje de Koning, one of the “beneficiaries” of euthanasia last year. In a video shot by de Koning’s husband four days before the 63-year-old woman’s death, and aired on the television station, she explains her choice to be killed to her two children.
De Koning, a sympathetic, healthy and humorous woman with a loving husband and grown-up children, explains that she didn’t want to go on living after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. She says she had witnessed her own father’s slow decline and death due to the illness.
“I don’t want that,” explaine de Koning to her children. “I don’t want to suffer.”
De Koning was “euthanized” in July last year. Her image is now being used to support the notion that killing of people in the first phase of dementia is a good way to avoid both suffering and the excessive cost of healthcare for elderly Netherlanders.
Euthanasia in the Netherlands is only legal when the patient is sound of mind and capable of consistently expressing the death wish. Once dementia has set in, it’s too late: even a living will made prior to the decline cannot be taken into account. The “solution” that is being proposed, therefore, is to step out of life before the disease runs its course.
For months now public meetings have been held in provincial community centers and hotels to encourage the elderly to learn about their “right” to die, even if they are in good health, but afraid of what diagnosed dementia may do to them in the near future.
However, although 95 % of the Dutch favor legal euthanasia, according to opinion polls, currently only 33 % of physicians are at this point in time prepared to euthanize a patient with incipient dementia.
Something not usually mentioned is that there is a cultural quirk about the Dutch which gives them abnormally high suicide rates.
“The Netherlands, with a population of only 16.8 million, have an estimated 100,000 suicide attempts every year, resulting in “only” 1600 deaths, because successful suicides are often registered by the government as traffic or industrial accidents.”
Importantly, neither euthanasia nor assisted suicide are counted in these statistics. If they were, the number of suicide deaths would be over 5,000. Yet even this is an under count, as many additional medical euthanasia and assisted suicide deaths are not counted in their own statistics.
Is anyone surprised? All who oppose euthanasia warned about this at the start.
*snort*
They deserve to be taken over by the Muslims.
Lesson: When it comes to medical care for sick, elderly people, never go Dutch.
It takes, I am sure, a lot of keen minds and lots of resources to find and develop a cure for diseases like Alzheimer's.
It is my guess, though, that there are probably few people working to find a cure for Alzheimer's. And I would likewise guess that the Dutch spend much money looking for a cure for Alzheimer's.
It is so much easier (and less expensive) to give people the "choice" of killing themselves (along with some encouraging words about "not wanting to be a burden") when they receive a diagnosis of Alzheimer's.
It seems to me it's been an active area of research, as I periodically see reports of new findings in the newspaper. I know my mom had medication which seemed to us to have helped a lot in stabilizing her condition.
Did you know that John James Audubon ( i.e. THE Audubon, ) succumbed to Alzheimer's in his early sixties? A very sad end to an amazing life.
People should not try to play God. I think He might frown on that.........
Reminds me of Dr. Kevorkian, mercy be upon his soul, for that matter. Living Wills may not suddenly end all suffering but they would make it illegal for guys like Kevorkian to take matters into his own hands.
Whoah, what’s even more scary is how many of these top nations in rate per 100,000 are in Europe. The time of these stats varies from 2005 to 2010 but it is scary how much of the top nations are European nations, but then again, you have to wonder what the problem is there as well.
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