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Eva Cahen, CNSNews.com
Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2004 PARIS – The disclosure by a Dutch hospital that it has carried out euthanasia on terminally ill newborn babies has shocked pro-life groups, but the institution claims it is merely trying to bring into the open a practice already happening around the world.
Groningen Academic Hospital is asking the Dutch government to approve guidelines legalizing euthanasia on newborns described as enduring “unbearable suffering” and with “no hope of a future.” The hospital has admitted doing so in the case of three babies last year.
In a statement issued Friday, Groningen pediatrics head Dr. A. Verhagen said that “worldwide, the U.S. included, many deaths among newborns are based on end-of-life decisions, after physicians reached the conclusion that there was no quality of life.”
The hospital said it had the support of the Netherlands’ eight teaching hospitals in asking the government to legalize child euthanasia.
It said studies had shown that pediatricians were in favor of intentionally ending the life of a newborn who is suffering greatly and terminally ill.
The Netherlands three years ago became the first country in the world to legalize euthanasia. Doctors can lawfully end a life only at the patient’s own request.
A health ministry official said the government was working on guidelines for child euthanasia and expected to present a bill to parliament early next year.
“Right now, if a doctor puts an end to the life of a very ill newborn, even at the request of the parents, he can be prosecuted,” said spokesman Richard Lancee.
“It’s another step on the slippery slope of Holland’s euthanasia and abortion programs,” said the group’s chairman, Bert Dorenbos.
In what it calls the Groningen Protocol, the hospital said it was asking for five criteria for making a decision on ending a child’s life.
The child must be suffering severely; there must be no possible cure or relief through medical treatment or surgery; parents must consent; independent doctors must give a second opinion; and the ending of life must be “meticulously carried out.”
“It is in the interest of newborns who have to endure unbearable suffering that we draw up a nationwide protocol that allows each pediatrician to treat this delicate question with due care, knowing that he followed the criteria,” Verhagen said.
Dorenbos said there was little chance of wide public opposition to the proposed guidelines because the hospital was stressing only the question of alleviating pain in suffering babies.
see the rest at:
http://www.cnsnews.com/Culture/Archive/200412/CUL20041213b.html
Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2004 PARIS – The disclosure by a Dutch hospital that it has carried out euthanasia on terminally ill newborn babies has shocked pro-life groups, but the institution claims it is merely trying to bring into the open a practice already happening around the world.
Groningen Academic Hospital is asking the Dutch government to approve guidelines legalizing euthanasia on newborns described as enduring “unbearable suffering” and with “no hope of a future.” The hospital has admitted doing so in the case of three babies last year.
In a statement issued Friday, Groningen pediatrics head Dr. A. Verhagen said that “worldwide, the U.S. included, many deaths among newborns are based on end-of-life decisions, after physicians reached the conclusion that there was no quality of life.”
The hospital said it had the support of the Netherlands’ eight teaching hospitals in asking the government to legalize child euthanasia.
It said studies had shown that pediatricians were in favor of intentionally ending the life of a newborn who is suffering greatly and terminally ill.
The Netherlands three years ago became the first country in the world to legalize euthanasia. Doctors can lawfully end a life only at the patient’s own request.
A health ministry official said the government was working on guidelines for child euthanasia and expected to present a bill to parliament early next year.
“Right now, if a doctor puts an end to the life of a very ill newborn, even at the request of the parents, he can be prosecuted,” said spokesman Richard Lancee.
Code:
**'Slippery Slope'**
Cry for Life, a Dutch pro-life group, is strongly opposed to the move. It says that any attempt to widen the euthanasia law is very dangerous, in that it will give society the right to decide cases in which it can legally kill.In what it calls the Groningen Protocol, the hospital said it was asking for five criteria for making a decision on ending a child’s life.
The child must be suffering severely; there must be no possible cure or relief through medical treatment or surgery; parents must consent; independent doctors must give a second opinion; and the ending of life must be “meticulously carried out.”
“It is in the interest of newborns who have to endure unbearable suffering that we draw up a nationwide protocol that allows each pediatrician to treat this delicate question with due care, knowing that he followed the criteria,” Verhagen said.
Dorenbos said there was little chance of wide public opposition to the proposed guidelines because the hospital was stressing only the question of alleviating pain in suffering babies.
see the rest at:
http://www.cnsnews.com/Culture/Archive/200412/CUL20041213b.html
