"The number of Dutch people killed by medical euthanasia has more than doubled in the 10 years since legislation was changed to permit it, rising 13 per cent last year to 4,188. Voluntary euthanasia or physician assisted suicide, where a doctor is present while a patient kills himself, usually by drinking a strong barbiturate potion, has been legal in the Netherlands since 2002. Requests have risen steadily since 2003 when 1,626 people applied for medically administered euthanasia, in most cases by a lethal injection, or assisted suicide. As previously controversial 'mercy killings' have become socially and medically acceptable, the number of cases, the vast majority of medical euthanasia, have more than doubled over the decade to 2012. One explanation for the steep rise of Dutch cases is the introduction last year of mobile euthanasia units allowing patients to be killed by voluntary lethal injection when family doctors refused. ... Forty two people with dementia and 13 patients suffering severe psychiatric problems were medically killed in cases that are rarer and still generate concern over the competence of individuals to request death." God's law says, "Thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 20:13). Photo: ALAMY ("Number of Dutch Killed by Euthanasia Rises by 13 Percent," The Telegraph, U.K., Sept. 24, 2013) Comments are closed.
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