Proponents Now Want "Suicide Pill".(Netherlands)(Brief Article)

As of April 1, it is now officially legal in the Netherlands for physicians to kill their patients beginning at age 12. And if proponents have their way, the slide down the slippery slope will become even faster and even more widespread.

The Dutch law, passed by the country's lower house of parliament in November 2000 and Senate in April 2001, allows a patient facing "unremitting and unbearable suffering" -- even if not a terminal illness -- to ask a physician for "the termination of life in a medically appropriate fashion." Moreover, euthanizing patients having psychological problems is now considered acceptable.

The physician is supposed to ensure that the patient's request is voluntary, conclude that no "reasonable alternative solution" can be found, and consult with another doctor who has examined the patient, according to Reuters. But as Herbert Handlin, executive director of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention has written, "The Netherlands has moved from assisted suicide to euthanasia, from euthanasia for the terminally ill to euthanasia for the chronically ill, from euthanasia for physical illness to euthanasia for psychological distress, and from voluntary euthanasia to involuntary euthanasia (called `termination of the patient without explicit request')."

Reuters reported that last July a UN Human Rights Committee of independent experts found serious problems with the law, concluding it "could lead to routine and insensitive mercy killing." The UN committee was also not persuaded that the Dutch system would be able to detect, let alone prevent cases, where patients come under pressure.

According to Reuters, the committee also "expressed concern children aged 12 to 16 were eligible for euthanasia with parental backing and that checks were conducted only after patients died."

Dr. Bert P. Dorenbos, president of the Dutch pro-life group Cry for Life, said in a statement, "It is very clear that the discussion about euthanasia is not about unbearable suffering and no prospect for the patient life, but about the legal right for everybody to be killed at his request, at the time of his choice, executed by a doctor." Dr. Dorenbos added, "It is the denial of the right of protection of life. When life is no longer protected by objective rules, everyone's life is in danger."

While the legislation makes the Netherlands the first country to enshrine euthanasia in statutory law, doctors have been practicing it for years with the official sanction of authorities. Since 1973, Dutch courts have either acquitted or given a slap on the wrist to doctors charged with euthanizing their patients. The government issued guidelines in 1997 that referred euthanasia cases to review boards rather than prosecutors, according to Reuters.