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DUTCH NURSE GETS LIFE IN PRISON FOR KILLING PATIENTS

AMSTERDAM, March 25, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a case that has caused some in the Netherlands to rethink the country's law permitting euthanasia, Lucy de Berk, 41, was sentenced to life in prison Monday for the murder of three young children and an elderly woman. De Berk, a nurse, was charged with killing 13 patients in her care but was only convicted of the four murders.

Like the doctors which commit legal euthanasia in the country, De Berk administered lethal drug doses to her victims. "The victims were sick and defenseless babies, children and elderly people who were entrusted to the accused's nursing care and who depended on her entirely for their life and welfare," said presiding judge Jeanne Kalk.

De Berk's diary entries read in court indicated that she believed she was helping people by euthanizing them - an argument popular with pro-euthanasia groups. "I gave in to my compulsions ... I don't even know why I am doing it ... Still I hope I am helping people by this!," she wrote.

See the Reuters coverage:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030324/wl_nm/dutch_nurse_dc_...

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