Dutch Euthanasia: General Practioners Do Most of the Killing

Sunday, November 14, 2010
Wesley J. Smith

Bioedge linked to a story about how Dutch euthanasia statistics are going up–fast. Not surprising, but those statistics aren’t very useful in the end because doctors follow the law or don’t, report euthanasia or don’t: It doesn’t matter much since nothing meaningful is ever done when the laws are broken. As one study (Henk Jochemsen and John Keown, Journal of Medical Ethics, 1999; 25: 16-21) put it so aptly, Dutch euthanasia is “beyond effective control.” Everything else is just PR in the end. the rest

This is the sickening truth about Dutch euthanasia. It isn’t a last resort. It may be done even without the best forms of medicine being made available to the patient, or perhaps even discussed with him. Those countries that have not yet swallowed the hemlock ignore the reality of the Dutch experience at their own peril.