Post by Vorchia on Apr 30, 2005 13:36:41 GMT -5
Dear readers,
I feel I have to set something straight here.
Two nights ago the national news here in the Netherlands had an item concerning how the United States newsmedia have been portraying the phenomena of euthanasia on infants in the Netherlands. Apparently several newsstation in the United states have been making statements along the lines of "In the Netherlands handicapped babies are being murdered" and "In the Netherlands if you have a baby with only four fingers they will be like 'oh this not a perfect baby lets get rid of it'. In general they made the assumption that any handicapped baby in the Netherlands can be euthanised just because its handicapped no matter how light the handicap!!!!!
It made mee feel rather sick as thats just plain a lie. I know the US don't like euthanasia being legal and lawfully regulated in the Netherlands (or anywhere) but lets at least get the facts straight. (I don't want ANYONE thinking I am from a country of child murderers)
Yes euthanasia is legal here, if the patient is terminally ill with no hope fo recovery and life is unbearable. Like if the body is that far gone there is no further remedy and the patient can´t get enopugh painkillers without it reaching a dangerous dose and thus has to either suffer unbearable pain for an unknown time or die quickler and less painful through euthaniasia. The patient can request euthanasia, which has to be approved by three qualified doctors and the family. If the patient can't make the decision because he or she is for instance in coma, the decision is up to the doctors and the family, any proof of the patients feelings on the matter from the past count strongly too.
Now for babies its different of course as they can´t make decisions. In that case the doctor and the parents will decide. But such a thing never happens if there is ANY way of treating the child, any hope for recovery whatsoever and the child will simply not be able to live. I´m talking about defects that can´t be repaired, like severe cases of an open back or large parts of the brain or other vital organs being missing or being badly deformed. Such a child would not live long and there is no means to fix the problem so the life would be short and painful, then euthanasia can be considered as to not to let the child suffer when we already know it will die soon anyway.
(Vital organs of course don´t include limbs, legs earshells nose etc as those are handicaps one can still live a relatively normal life with.)
Is everything clear now?
I feel I have to set something straight here.
Two nights ago the national news here in the Netherlands had an item concerning how the United States newsmedia have been portraying the phenomena of euthanasia on infants in the Netherlands. Apparently several newsstation in the United states have been making statements along the lines of "In the Netherlands handicapped babies are being murdered" and "In the Netherlands if you have a baby with only four fingers they will be like 'oh this not a perfect baby lets get rid of it'. In general they made the assumption that any handicapped baby in the Netherlands can be euthanised just because its handicapped no matter how light the handicap!!!!!
It made mee feel rather sick as thats just plain a lie. I know the US don't like euthanasia being legal and lawfully regulated in the Netherlands (or anywhere) but lets at least get the facts straight. (I don't want ANYONE thinking I am from a country of child murderers)
Yes euthanasia is legal here, if the patient is terminally ill with no hope fo recovery and life is unbearable. Like if the body is that far gone there is no further remedy and the patient can´t get enopugh painkillers without it reaching a dangerous dose and thus has to either suffer unbearable pain for an unknown time or die quickler and less painful through euthaniasia. The patient can request euthanasia, which has to be approved by three qualified doctors and the family. If the patient can't make the decision because he or she is for instance in coma, the decision is up to the doctors and the family, any proof of the patients feelings on the matter from the past count strongly too.
Now for babies its different of course as they can´t make decisions. In that case the doctor and the parents will decide. But such a thing never happens if there is ANY way of treating the child, any hope for recovery whatsoever and the child will simply not be able to live. I´m talking about defects that can´t be repaired, like severe cases of an open back or large parts of the brain or other vital organs being missing or being badly deformed. Such a child would not live long and there is no means to fix the problem so the life would be short and painful, then euthanasia can be considered as to not to let the child suffer when we already know it will die soon anyway.
(Vital organs of course don´t include limbs, legs earshells nose etc as those are handicaps one can still live a relatively normal life with.)
Is everything clear now?
