Euthanasia Revisited

July 16, 2005 on 2:46 pm | In General |

From bmj.com,

Dutch doctors adopt guidelines on mercy killing of newborns
Tony Sheldon

Dutch paediatricians have voted unanimously to adopt as national guidelines the so called Groningen protocol that covers the mercy killing of newborn babies who are incurably sick and are suffering severely. The Dutch Paediatric Society accepted that “in exceptional circumstances and under strict conditions… deliberate ending of life” of such newborns “can be an acceptable option.”… cont…

Mercy killing or murder. The term as controversial as the act itself. It is a debate that will go on for centuries. Perhaps, the rationale for the “deliberate ending of life” is acceptable when babies are born with defects incompatible with a good quality of life.

Its clinical director of paediatrics, Eduard Verhagen, told the BMJ at the time, “It is time to be honest; all over the world doctors end lives discreetly, out of compassion”

Perhaps he is right. How about the times treatment has been witheld when the situation has been deemed “palliative”? Does that equate mercy killing?

When one has seen great sufferings, mercy killings may not be that far fetched or sinful. However, a fine line exists between euthanasia and murder. You could intepret it either way.

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