Netherlands may be first to legalise euthanasia

Ulhas Joglekar ulhasj at bom4.vsnl.net.in
Wed Apr 5 05:20:48 PDT 2000


Wednesday 5 April 2000

Netherlands may be first to legalise euthanasia AMSTERDAM: Campaigners are predicting that euthanasia and assisted suicide will soon become legal in the Netherlands -- for anyone aged 12 and upwards. If a bill now before Parliament is passed, it will make The Netherlands the first country to legalise mercy killing. "I think during the course of this year, and even possibly before the summer, the second chamber (Lower House) will address the issue and vote in favour," Jacob Kohnstamm, new chairman of the Dutch Voluntary Euthanasia Society (DVES), told foreign journalists on Monday. The Dutch have tolerated mercy killings for years, but with the possibility of doctors being prosecuted for murder under the penal code, the bill aims to remove a legal grey area. However, the clause to allow euthanasia for children without parental consent has proved highly controversial. The DVES argues that a 1995 bill giving girls aged 12 to 15 the same right to an abortion as adults, without parental consent, met similar opposition before passing. "If you think of a child who has cancer, who has gone through medical treatment, when they're 14 or 15 years old they tend to be more mature than most of the people I meet in one day," said Kohnstamm, a lawyer and member of the Upper House. "All doctors concerned say it is very rare for parents and kids not to want the same thing." But the Royal College of Physicians in Netherlands says this means the clause is unnecessary, and the Dutch organisation for parents of children with cancer agrees. (Reuters) For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service
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