Euthanasia

The Belgians are “surprised” that much–not enough, but still much–of the world is revulsed by the country legalizing child euthanasia. From the Reuters story: Bart Sturtewagen, chief editor of De Standaard, one of the country’s largest daily newspapers, said that after 12 years of legal euthanasia in the country, Belgians had grown used to it as an option for the final stages of their lives. “I’m annoyed at hearing ‘you’ll kill children’ in the foreign media. We don’t use that kind of language anymore. It’s a very different debate on a different level,” he said.. As they say, the truth […]

Well, they went and did it: Belgium has legalized child euthanasia. There is no age limitation.  Here is how it is supposed to work from the Washington Post story: The child must have a terminal and incurable illness, with death expected to occur “within a brief period.” The child must also be experiencing “constant and unbearable physical suffering.” Like for adults desiring euthanasia, that diagnosis and prognosis must be agreed upon by the treating physician and an outsider brought in to give a second opinion. The child is to be interviewed by a pediatric psychiatrist or psychologist, who must determine that the […]

The Belgian Chamber of Deputies approved the extension of euthanasia to children by a vote of 86 to 44 today. This bill was approved without first addressing the abuse of the Belgian euthanasia law. Let's be clear, abuse of the euthanasia law results in the death of a person. The concept of approving lethal injections for children with disabilities or terminal conditions, even after studies have proven that many assisted deaths in Belgium are done without explicit request and after it is proven that a massive number of assisted deaths in Belgium are not being reported suggests that the Belgian government […]

I have long ago given up on the media fairly — or even accurately — reporting on the assisted suicide movement. Most stories exhibit some or all of the following bias methods: Adopt the advocacy lexicon of the assisted suicide/euthanasia movement. Center the narrative around a man who “just wants to die,” rather than an event, e.g. actual news. Word engineering by redefining terms and blurring moral distinctions to make reasoned ethical analysis more difficult. Only present the perspective of pro-assisted suicide activists. If an opponent of assisted suicide is quoted, make it a Catholic priest–or better yet, a bishop–to imply […]

What can I do to stop Quebec's euthanasia Bill 52? You can sign the online petition: Quebec's euthanasia Bill 52 is lethal. You can email Quebec politicians to urge them to stop Bill 52:  Bertrand St-Arnaud, Quebec's Minister of Justice and Attorney General: [email protected]. Dr Réjean Hébert, Quebec’s Minister of Health and Social Services: [email protected]. You can contact the Hon. Peter MacKay, Justice Minister of Canada, and urge him, that if Bill 52 passes: to equally protect every Canadian from euthanasia by challenging Bill 52 in the court as unconstitutional and to bring an injunction against Bill 52. Bill 52 is unconstitutional because it […]

Editor’s note: Sign a petition to stop the Belgian child euthanasia bill here. The Belgian media is reporting that the bill to extend euthanasia to children in Belgium will likely be voted on Thursday, February 13. The Belgian government announced today that the debate on the child euthanasia bill, in the Chamber of Deputies, will occur on February 12 and the vote will likely happen the next day, but possibly on the same day of the debate. Earlier reports suggested that the child euthanasia bill would be voted on in May.  Why is the Belgium government fast tracking the child euthanasia bill? Similar […]

Euthanasia and the Culture of Death are like the man-eating plant in Little Shop of Horrors: No matter how much you feed it, the beast always wants more! The Netherlands has been expanding the categories of the killable caste for decades. Back in 1991, a psychiatrist named Boudewijn Chabot assisted the suicide of a woman whose two children had died to fulfill her obsession to be buried between them. The Dutch Supreme Court ruled logically that was just fine because suffering is suffering, and it doesn’t matter whether it is physical or emotional. Now clinics are assisting the suicides of depressed patients whose own doctors […]