Posted on 07/15/2005 12:01:21 PM PDT by Rutles4Ever
Dutch paediatricians have voted unanimously to adopt as national guidelines the so called Groningen protocol that covers the mercy killing of newborn babies who are incurably sick and are suffering severely. The Dutch Paediatric Society accepted that "in exceptional circumstances and under strict conditions... deliberate ending of life" of such newborns "can be an acceptable option."
The protocol gives exact details of the requirements doctors must follow and includes the mandatory reporting of all cases. The local protocol drawn up at Groningen University Hospital last autumn caused an international outcry. Its clinical director of paediatrics, Eduard Verhagen, told the BMJ at the time, "It is time to be honest; all over the world doctors end lives discreetly, out of compassion" ( BMJ 2005;330: 560[Free Full Text]).
The protocol, which the Groningen doctors agreed with the public prosecution service, enables doctors to report their actions without being prosecuted.
Its requirements include a clear diagnosis and prognosis; that the newborn baby must be suffering hopelessly and unbearably with no prospect for future treatment; that both parents must give their informed consent; that the decision must be confirmed by a second independent doctor; and that the death and treatment must be reported to the local coroner.
After the recent decision, Dr Verhagen, who chairs the society's ethics and law committee, said, "The society has agreed a clear and uniform approach to the decisions regarding deliberate life ending procedures in sick newborns." The "confirmation of the acceptability" of this practice was an important step for parents and doctors.
It "underlines accountability," Dr Verhagen said. "Dutch paediatricians have indicated their choice for a control mechanism based on self reporting and public review. They fully realise they themselves are the ones who need to report."
The society now stresses the urgent need for a system of reporting, in the first instance to a national committee of doctors, lawyers, and ethicists rather than to the public prosecutor. Such a system already exists under the euthanasia law but the system excludes newborns as a request for euthanasia from the patient is required.
It believes that a system of reporting to a national committee rather than to the public prosecutor would encourage doctors to report their actions and thus ensure legal and societal control. It estimates that currently 15 cases occur each year in the Netherlands and that on average only three are reported. The cases are thought to be babies born with severe spina bifida, involving brain damage, and babies who suffer severe hypoxia at birth.
The society points out that last year the government promised proposals to improve the reporting of life ending decisions for newborns, while calling on the medical profession to take initiatives too. "That is what the society has now done. The ball is now with the politicians," said Dr Verhagen.
Dutch opposition Labour MP and former health academic Godelieve van Heteren has now asked justice minister Piet Hein Donner in parliament if he supports the protocol. A health ministry spokeswoman said that she expects proposals for a national assessment committee to be drawn up by the Ministry of Justice after the summer.
Fourth Trimester Abortions?
...mercy killing of newborns
That chilling statement says it all.
Now the "progressive" lifting of restrictions can ensue, step by step. Soon elective infanticide will be considered a basic woman's right.
Aruba -- where an American teen was murdered and her body dumped.
Aruba -- where her killers are going free. A territory of Holland.
Holland -- where they have decided to murder inconvenient babies.
More than coincidence? I think not.
I suppose they must now be honored to hold the title of Doctor/Executioner.
I don't think the babies are the ones who are 'SICK' here. Hitler would be so proud.......
How long before whiny, disobedient toddlers whose noses run constantly and who are much more difficult to deal with than their mothers ever thought they were are considered hopeless and incurable?
Sorry but with the high rate of doctor misdiagnosis and simple stupidity, there is no way I'd allow anyone doctor or not, to make such a decision... and if such a decision were made against my wishes, my babies life expectancy would be mere seconds shorter than the doctor who performed such a heinous act.
Mike
It's official. This might be the world's first bureaucracy whose mission statement is to kill.
I read this as euthanasia in severe cases of birth defects, not as abortion as permitted in the US. Am I reading this correctly?
That's really a stretch.
do the most of you even know that here in holland these things are not on the news or in the paper.
i look at todays newspaper:nothing about this.
the news: "our economy is worse then expected"
you people are mentioning it, but otherwise it didn't know these things.
My biology professor in college was diagnosed with severe spina bifida before he was born. They were wrong.
I'm sure the next step is killing Down's children for fear they will suffer the trauma of social isolation. I mean, they do it pre-natal for reasons they feel are justified - why are they less "justified" outside the womb?
Correct. It's post-natal.
Carolyn
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