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MEPs try to mobilise public opinion against extension of euthanasia

Rory Watson Brussels

European politicians are being urged to oppose plans to extend the practice of euthanasia in the Netherlands and Belgium. The controversial issue is currently on the parliamentary agenda in both countries.

The Dutch Senate is due to decide on the bill, which already has the support of the parliament’s second chamber (the equivalent of the House of Commons). At stake are proposals to liberalise existing legislation, in particular to allow children aged 12-16 years to ask for euthanasia and for those aged 16-18 to do so without requiring parental consent.

The new bill places euthanasia outside the Dutch penal code when doctors follow a specified administrative procedure. This would be supervised, not as in the past by the public prosecutor, but by a public committee consisting of a doctor, a lawyer, and an ethics expert (BMJ 2000;321:1433).

Shortly after the Netherlands' consideration of its new bill, Belgium will consider legalising euthanasia for the first time. In some areas it is planning to go even further than its Dutch neighbours. Whereas in the Netherlands a second doctor must review any decision, in Belgium he or she would only need to consider the diagnosis that had been made.

Two German MEPs are now trying to mobilise European public opinion against the new legislation. Dr Peter Liese, the chairman of the Christian Democratic working group for bioethics in the European parliament, and his compatriot, Hiltrud Breyer, the Green party’s spokeswoman on the temporary committee for human genetics, are calling for alternative treatment for people at the end of their lives.

They support each patient’s right to reject life prolonging measures such as artificial respiration. But they insist that this is totally different from active euthanasia. "If the state starts to allow medical doctors to give pills or an injection to their patients with the sole aim of killing the patients, the misuse of this method is inevitable," they pointed out.

Instead, they want increased EU and national funds for research into effective pain relief and improved palliative care. They are also looking for political support from the European parliament to put pressure on national authorities to provide more hospices.
 
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BMJ 2000 321: 1433. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]