Those Creepy Dutch Pro-Death Doctors . . .

This is the beginning of a long address by a Dutch doctor about how peachy everything is in the Netherlands regarding assisted suicide and euthanasia. It’s persuasive enough that if you didn’t know the truth of what’s happening in the Netherlands, this guy sounds perfectly reasonable. Creepy, just creepy.

The Dutch Way. The solution in the Netherlands.

Mister Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen.

To start with:

“Euthanasia, if allowed by the law, should never become an answer to failing care or fear of loneliness”!

Gerrit Kimsma told me once that to him the real value of euthanasia comes not from the act itself, but from the ability for the doctor and the patient to speak openly about it.

I am very honoured to be asked to contribute to this meeting of the French National Ethical Committee. more

Why Are The Dutch Surprised That Legalized Euthanasia Is On The Rise?

Ahead of the official release of last year’s euthanasia stats in the Netherlands, the Dutch press is reporting that euthanasia is on the increase over previous years.

What surprises me is that the Dutch authorities continue to be surprised by the increase.

Let’s see:

Take the social taboo of euthanasia, allow it to happen undercover, then tut-tut that instead of happening behind closed doors, it should be regulated and ‘transparent.” This doltish idea was meant to ensure that undercover euthanasia was stopped and only happened under very rare and highly controlled circumstances.

It hasn’t turned out that way, as some of us predicted years ago.

Here’s the slippery slope:

First, euthanasia was meant for only those adults who were terminally ill and in unbearable and uncontrollable physical pain.

Then, euthanasia was allowed for those with unbearable physical pain, even if it could be controlled, and even f they were not terminally ill.

Then euthanasia was allowed for those who were not only not terminally ill, but for people in no physical pain whatsoever – psychological pain, controllable or not, was enough.

Then the age limit was extended to adolescents.

So, from DutchNews.nl:

The number of reported deaths by euthanasia rose 13% last year to 2,636, following an increase of 10% in 2008, the NRC reports, quoting figures due to be published at the beginning of July.

The 2008 increase led the health ministry to set up an investigation into the increase. That investigation is due to start this month.

This is not the whole macabre picture, either: These stats reflect ONLY patients who requested to be killed.

It does not include hundreds, and perhaps thousands, who are euthanized even though they never requested it.

It does not include the hundreds of newborns with disabilities that are murdered under the so-called Groningen Protocol.

It does not include legalized assisted suicides.

Here’s the truth: Euthanasia is now increasingly accepted as just another medical procedure. The social constraints have collapsed.

Need any more proof?

A recent survey in the Netherlands showed that there was strong public sentiment for making euthanasia available for anyone over 70 even if the only reason to die was because they were “tired” of living.

One final point: No, we’re not at the bottom of the slippery slope. It will get worse.

Italy Slaps Down The Dutch Penchant For Killing

Good for Italy. A Dutch husband and his wife, who is in a persistently nonresponsive state, live in Italy. He’s trying to kill her under Dutch law, but, commendably, the Italians aren’t biting.

Dutch euthanasia directive doesn’t travel

What is the validity of a written "euthanasia directive" that details a Dutch citizen's wish to die for authorities in another European country? Answer: it has no validity, at least not in Italy. De Volkskrant recounts the story of a Dutch-Italian Anne Busato (age 63), who has remained in a vegetative state following a stroke in 2009. Twenty years ago Ms Busato went to the trouble of writing a request that she be removed from life support in the event of a persistent vegetative state or irreversible coma. However, her husband has not been able to obtain permission to carry out her wishes. The euthanasia law that applies in the Netherlands, does not apply for Dutch citizens living abroad. “The Italians believe that euthanasia is murder. They say that in the Netherlands, we kill all kinds of sick people, sometimes even babies,” explains her husband to Volkskrant. To bring his wife back to the Netherlands, he has taken a case to the Hague to be recognised as her legal guardian, but Italy refuses to acknowledge the court ruling. more

Spinning The Data For Euthanasia On Demand

A new report from the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research is trumpeting that over the last several years requests for euthanasia have been stable (Think of that, there are actually places in the world were you can legally ask doctors to kill you). Well, SPIN ALERT: The requests may have been stable, but the number of actual euthanasias has increased dramatically. That is, more people who ask for euthanasia are being killed. This august report also makes the case for making euthanasia more widely available by including it in medical school curricula and that medical facilities should develop policies and procedures for carrying our euthanasia. Yes, folks, the medical community wants training for doctors in how to make you kick the bucket. Nice.

No increase in euthanasia since legalisation

The number of requests for euthanasia in the Netherlands has not risen since an act to decriminalise it came into force in 2002. The finding comes in a study by NIVEL, the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, published in the British Journal of General Practice. more

Pesky Foreigners, Wanting the Dutch to Kill Them Off!

I guess the hesitation by the Dutch authorities to allow euthanasia of a foreigner is the hang-up here. Note the sympathetic spin from Radio Netherlands Worldwide:

Dutch man fights for Italian wife’s euthanasia

A Dutch man has been attempting in vain to arrange euthanasia for his Italian wife for months. Martien van der Burgt's wife Anna Busato suffered a brain haemorrhage in November and has been in a coma in hospital in Italy since. more

The Dutch Want Euthanasia for Healthy People? I'm Shocked, I Tell You...

Really? Why what's next, euthanasia for everyone? Well, yes, actually. That's been the plan from the beginning - start by campaigning for euthanasia for people who are suffering extreme physical pain and who are terminally ill. Then expand it to those suffering psychologically, but not terminally ill, and so on. Now a campaign to make euthanasia freely available to EVERYONE over 70. Heck, why keep up the pretense? Just go ahead and let anybody kill anybody else for whatever reason. From AP:

Dutch group endorses right to suicide for elderly

AMSTERDAM - A campaign to give elderly people in the Netherlands the right to assisted suicide says it has gathered more than 100,000 signatures, hoping to push the boundaries another notch in the country that first legalized euthanasia. more