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AMSTERDAM, Feb 18 (Lifesitenews.com)  As long predicted by the pro-life movement, the practice of so-called controlled euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide in the Netherlands over the past fifteen years has given way to rampant involuntary imposed euthanasia where most cases go unreported. An extensive survey on the practice published in the British Journal of Medical Ethics this week reveals that one in five cases of euthanasia occurred without the patient’s explicit request,  and in 17 per cent of such cases, alternative treatment was available.

In 1995, almost two thirds of cases of euthanasia and physician assisted suicide went unreported in Holland. While legally, “unbearable suffering” is supposed to be the criterion required by law to justify euthanasia, only 3,200 of the 24,000 deaths attributed to voluntary euthanasia had this as the reason given by patients. Jochensen and Keown, the authors of the study conclude,  “The reality is that a clear majority of cases of euthanasia, both with and without request, go unreported and unchecked Dutch claims of effective regulation ring hollow.”