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Belgium Passes Controversial Euthanasia Law
BRUSSELS,
May 17 (IslamOnline& News Agencies) - By adopting a law Thursday,
May 16, that partially legalizes euthanasia, Belgium has become the
second country in the world after the Netherlands to allow the
so-called “mercy killings” under specific circumstances.
The
bill was adopted by 86 votes to 51 with 10 abstentions after two days
of heated debate in the lower house of the Belgian parliament,
and the law is expected to come into force within three months, Agence
France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Under
the law, a doctor who carries out euthanasia will not be guilty of
committing a crime if the patient is terminally ill and has made the
decision themselves, and if certain other legal procedures have been
followed.
According
to BBC’s online news service, the result was widely expected
following the Belgian Senate's approval of the law last October.
The
vote is the last stage in a three-year legal procedure to see
euthanasia legalized in Belgium, a nation of 10 million with a
Dutch-speaking majority and large francophone minority.
Roman
Catholic bishops in Belgium, where 75 percent of the population
identify themselves as Catholics, denounced the legislation, AFP
reported.
"It
is based on the idea that the value and dignity of a human being is no
longer linked to the fact of his existence but rather to his so-called
'quality of life'," they said. Adding that as a result of the
legislation, seriously ill people might come under pressure from
relatives and health-care staff to accept euthanasia.
While
liberal Senator Philippe Monfils, one of the prime movers behind the
bill, described the vote as "a victory for liberty and the
respect of patients' dignity", conservative opposition parties
voted against the bill, and vowed to oppose it in the courts, AFP
said.
"We
will fight this law to the European Court of Human Rights" in
Strasbourg, Tony Van Parys, leader of the Flemish Christian Democrats,
told parliament.
The
conditions laid out in the new legislation in particular specify that
the doctor must be absolutely sure that the patient is "of age
and conscious". The request to die must also be made of the
patient's own free will, properly thought through and consistent, and
not the result of external pressure.
To
avoid prosecution, a doctor must also be sure that the patient
"is in a terminal medical situation" and enduring
"constant and unbearable physical or psychological pain"
resulting from an accident or incurable illness.
However,
it gives each patient the right to receive ongoing treatment with pain
killers to ensure that poor or isolated patients do not ask to die
because they do not have money for treatment.
Federal
and regional authorities will be responsible for providing such care,
while doctors asked to carry out a mercy killing will be obliged to
inform patients that such care is available.
By
legalizing euthanasia, Belgium, as well as the Netherlands, has become
isolated in Europe.
Following
the death of Diane Petty, a terminally-ill British woman who lost a
landmark legal battle in the European Court of Human Rights for the
right to commit suicide, a cross-party group of British members of
parliament met Tuesday, May 14, to discuss whether to press for
legislation to decriminalize doctor-assisted suicide, as in Britain,
assisted suicide is illegal.
In
France, while euthanasia is illegal, the penal code distinguishes
between "passive practice", where a person can abstain from
medical treatment, and "active practice", where an action to
bring about death is similar to a homicide.
The
laws are similar in Denmark which allows for a patient suffering from
an incurable illness to sign an agreement to stop all forms of
treatment.
In
Germany, the administration of a deadly drug is outlawed while
euthanasia is strictly forbidden in Italy, Greece, Norway and Turkey.
The
only other place outside the Netherlands and Belgium where assisted
suicide is legal is the U.S. state of Oregon, which has had a
"Death With Dignity" law on the books since 1997.
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