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Euthanasia Deaths in
Holland Rise 13 Percent Part Three of Four In each year since the Dutch legalized euthanasia in 2003, the number of cases has risen. In 2009, a reported 2,636 people died from legal assisted suicide, up 13 percent from the year before, according to the Daily Mail. The health ministry has announced that it will investigate the causes behind the increase in euthanasia deaths. Jan Suyver, chair of the Dutch government's euthanasia monitoring commission, speculated that the "taboo" against euthanasia may be lessening or that more doctors are actually reporting these deaths, according to the Daily Mail. Others, however, claimed that the legalization of euthanasia has led to a sharp decline in the availability of palliative care to help patients manage their pain. Els Borst, a government official who was instrumental in getting the law passed, told the author of a book on euthanasia that "more should have been done legally to protect people who wanted to die natural deaths," the Daily Mail reported. "In the Netherlands, we first listened to the political and societal demand in favour of euthanasia," Borst told author Anne-Marie The, according to the Daily Mail. "Obviously, this was not in the proper order." Phyllis Bowman of the British pro-life group Right to Life said that there are only two small hospices serving the large city of Amsterdam. "I am sure that the increase in numbers of people opting for euthanasia is largely a result of inadequate pain control," Bowman told the Daily Telegraph. Please send all of your comments to daveandrusko@gmail.com. |