Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 10, 1993 TAG: 9302100107
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
MERCY KILLINGS APPROVED IN NETHERLANDS; RULES SET
The Netherlands adopted a euthanasia law Tuesday, establishing one of the world's most liberal guidelines for mercy killings in a move that legally acknowledges a widespread practice that has been quietly accepted for years.The 91-45 vote in the lower house of Parliament promised immunity to physicians who follow official euthanasia guidelines but stopped short of the full legalization that liberals had advocated. The law is to take effect early next year.
"This law brings the practice out of the dark and into the open," said Vincent van de Burg, a member of the country's largest party, the Christian Democrats.
The Hague government has determined that 2,300 people die by euthanasia each year, and that 400 more commit suicide with the help of their physicians. A 1991 government report found that euthanasia accounts for one in every 50 deaths in the Netherlands.
Around 80 percent of the Dutch people approve of euthanasia for the terminally ill, according to a recent opinion poll.
The statistics alarm conservative religious groups who argue that tacit government approval of the practice devalues human life.
"Man does not have the right to take life," said Hert Schutte, a deputy from the tiny Christian Reformed Political Party.
"This is a terrible law, and I fear that we'll become an international model for euthanasia," Schutte said in a telephone interview. "The controls are not strong enough. It's all up to the doctor. There's no independent review.
"It's one thing to trust your doctor, but trust is different than control."
While experts said that euthanasia is not legal in any country in the world, Tuesday's parliamentary vote reaffirms the Dutch policy as among the most liberal in Europe and around the globe.
Last November, California voters rejected Proposition 161 - the "Death with Dignity Act" - which would have made the Golden State the first in the United States to legalize doctor-assisted suicide. The measure would have let doctors in California give lethal injections to terminally ill patients who had less than six months to live and who had requested to die.
The 28-step Dutch guidelines require that physicians report all cases of euthanasia, which is normally performed by lethal injection. Among the requirements are that patients must:
Make the request repeatedly and "entirely of [their] own free will." The doctor must talk to the patient alone to assure the patient is not under duress.
Be well-informed about their condition and advised of alternatives.
Have a "lasting longing for death. Requests made on impulse or based on temporary depression cannot be considered."
"Experience his or her suffering as perpetual, unbearable and hopeless. . . . "
The guidelines also say that a second physician must be consulted to confirm that all requirements are met. Doctors must submit a fully documented report on each case to the district coroner after carrying out euthanasia.
If an administrative review finds that all the requirements were satisfied and no malpractice was evident, the prosecutor would consider the case closed.
But physicians who fail to satisfy the guidelines could still face criminal charges and be sentenced to up to 12 years in prison.