Dutch Euthanasia “Horrific”

by   Ken Walker                                                                                                                                                 Vol. XI, No. 4, April 1998

The sponsor of new legislation to ban assisted suicide in Michigan said the practice is a nightmare in Holland, where thousands have been put to death involuntarily. "Some senior citizens in the Netherlands have become fearful for their lives," said Sen. William Van Regenmorter. "They carry cards which state, 'I do not wish to undergo any procedure which would result in the termination of my life.' Others carry documents on their person, saying, 'When no chance of my recovery exists, I wish to receive optimal nursing care with no treatment given to me which would end my life.'"

The results of the "Dutch experiment" show the horrors that result from allowing assisted suicide, said the Michigan legislator. He cited an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reporting that the Dutch had gradually moved from voluntary to mandatory euthanasia. It progressed from euthanasia for terminal and physically ill patients to killing the chronically ill and those with psychological distress, he said.

The JAMA article noted, "Virtually every guideline set up by the Dutch -- a voluntary, well-considered, persistent request; intolerable suffering that cannot be relieved; consultation; and reporting of cases -- has failed to protect patients or has been modified or violated."

Van Regenmorter believes society must recognize that crossing the line between allowing death and causing death devalues human life. Thus, the practice opens up a free market for premature death, he said.

A 1991 study by the attorney general to the high council of Netherlands included alarming statistics, the senator said. In just one year:

    -- An average of three people a day (a total of 1,040) died from involuntary euthanasia, meaning doctors killed patients without their knowledge or consent. Seventy-two percent had never indicated they wanted their lives terminated. 8,100 patients died after doctors gave them overdoses of pain medication, primarily to hasten their death.

    -- In 61 percent of those cases (4,941 patients), the intentional overdose was given without the patient's consent.

    -- In cases involving hospitalized patients euthanized without their consent, 45 percent of the families had no knowledge their loved ones' lives were deliberately terminated.

"When I (presented) this information at a meeting, someone criticized it as not accurate," the senator said. "But last June the Journal of the American Medical Association did (another) article on the Dutch experiment and said the report understated the problem."

Many Christians don't understand the dangers posed by assisted suicide, said a consultant on biomedical and life issues for the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. Calling the Netherlands' experiment a "horrific failure," C. Ben Mitchell said one JAMA article featured two frightening accounts of the practice. One involved a nun who didn't want her death expedited. Her doctor refused to obey her wishes, saying he needed her bed for other patients.

The second was about a man who asked not to be put to death because of his religious views. But his physician said he couldn't stand to see him suffer any longer. "These are accounts we need to pay attention to, in addition to the reports," said Mitchell, an assistant professor of Christian ethics at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. "Christians have a role in resisting assisted suicide."

Because of ethical problems with assisted suicide, society needs to encourage better treatment for pain, he said. In addition, the church is in a unique position to respond to the ministry needs of dying patients, according to the ERLC consultant. Being involved in hospice organizations and helping the families of ill patients are two ways believers can relieve the pressure that leads many to seek assisted suicide, he explained.