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Dutch Say Child Euthanasia Happening Around the World

GRONINGEN, December 14, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A hospital in the Netherlands, after admitting that it has already euthanized three babies last year, and is now asking the Dutch government to create guidelines for the practice,has further shocked by claiming that the practice is common all over the world.

Groningen Academic Hospital, has asked for the legalization of euthanasia for newborns who endure, "unbearable suffering" with "no hope of a future." Groningen pediatrics head Dr. A. Verhagen said in a statement, "Worldwide, the U.S. included, many deaths among newborns are based on end-of-life decisions, after physicians reached the conclusion that there was no quality of life."

The hospital statement said it has the support of all eight of the Netherlands' teaching hospitals for its proposed change to euthanasia legislation. The rationale being presented for infants, matches exactly that used to legalize euthanasia for adults three years ago. The practice was already widespread and accepted but technically illegal. It was argued that the law therefore had to be brought more into line with what was happening and accepted. "Right now, if a doctor puts an end to the life of a very ill newborn, even at the request of the parents, he can be prosecuted," said spokesman Richard Lancee.

Canadian columnist, David Warren, writing in the Western Standard, said that the decision is "something so far beyond the pale of reason and decency that anyone in his right mind would be alarmed and revolted." Warren noted however, that three in four Canadians polled by the Globe and Mail clicked, "yes" when asked, "In your opinion is the Netherlands on the right track in allowing medical teams and parents to jointly decide to end the lives of terminally ill newborns?"

"The public morals of the Dutch have now shot off the 'slippery slope,' and into free fall," Warren wrote. "I would place Canadians just behind them, approximately on the chute itself, with nothing left to stop us but the earth below."

Related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/nov/04113005.html
Read CNS News coverage:
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=\Culture\archive...

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