LIFEalerts – Euthanasia

Euthanasia

Spain – Signs death sentence for the weakest

Euthanasia or Physician-assisted suicide is already legal in Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland, several US states, and Western Australia and Spanish lawmakers are joining them. During the recent parliamentary debate in Madrid, some members saw this move as a step forward in civil rights bringing more liberty to citizens. On the other hand, it was said how euthanasia amounted to “signing death sentences for the weakest.” The law says that patients must be given full information about their condition, including palliative care & any other alternative options available. The request to commit suicide via a doctor must also be given in writing and then repeated 15-days later. Doctors are also permitted to refuse providing Euthanasia.

A poll showed the majority of Spaniards supported the right of someone to choose such a death, if only they knew what is taking place in countries that have gone ahead of them, the feeling would be different. In Belgium nurses admitted to euthanizing patients without their consent. A mother in Argentina wanted to kill her son who has cerebral palsy because she’s exhausted and fed up with caring for him. In the Netherlands, a woman seeking help, and not death, with post-traumatic stress disorder was told she met the criteria to be euthanized on her first appointment. In Canada, a wife lost a lawsuit to prevent her husband’s death by euthanasia, another incident described a psychiatrist in Oregon who determined that an elderly woman with dementia was mentally unable to consent to assisted suicide, and believed her daughter was pushing for it, but it happened anyway. In USA, Texas a disabled, 46-year old African American man named Michael Hickson, was euthanized without his consent or that of his wife. The doctor said it was better to euthanize Michael because he is paralyzed and not like “walking and talking people.” Studies on why the elderly is seeking Euthanasia reveal how fear of being a burden to the family, and depending on others, loss of quality of life are motivations for euthanasia. Another tragic incident where a Canadian elderly woman was euthanized because she feared the loneliness that comes with lockdown! If Spaniards knew the underreported and ignored cases like these, they would see that Euthanasia is not about helping people, it’s about pressuring them to die when their quality of life would get in the way of society

More:

Argentine mother seeks to euthanize son who has cerebral palsy

Wife Loses Lawsuit to Prevent Husband’s Euthanasia

COVID-19 patient was black and paralyzed, so doctors decided his life wasn’t worth saving

Dutch mental health patient angry at euthanasia offer

Warning to Britain as almost half of Belgium’s euthanasia nurses admit to killing without consent

Elderly Canadian woman euthanized because she feared loneliness during lockdown

Assisted dying round-up

Spanish Lawmakers Pass Bill Allowing Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

Switzerland – Let’s vulnerable, healthy 87-year-old man die

Those who end up committing suicide are generally people who are clinically depressed, a biochemical dysfunction that can be treated. Suicide among people with serious handicaps are almost non-existent. Patients usually tell others their wish to die but whether they continue to feel this way and request or commit suicide is heavily influenced by the type of response they receive. Kees Kentie, an 87-year-old man, with the help of a new euthanasia organisation, died by euthanasia. He was not terminally ill, just frail, tired of life and feared increased decline of his health and sought to stay in control until the end. What if Kees waited? perhaps he would have met a group of encouraging friends who would not only help him if things got difficult but who would make him feel that life is indeed worth living for? What was it that made Kees so tired of life that he wanted to die hopeless? More

Netherlands – Factors that influence rates of euthanasia requests

An analysis of health insurance claims data, published online in the journal British Medical Journal Supportive & Palliative Care shows a 7-fold unexplained variation in rates of euthanasia across The Netherlands. Euthanasia has doubled and is on a continuous rise since the country legalized it fully in 2002. 85% of all euthanasia cases were carried out by family doctors. Age, church attendance, political orientation, income, subjectively assessed health, and availability of community volunteers all emerged as potentially influential factors. Euthanasia was at its lowest in regions with churchgoers and also in regions with high percentage of community volunteers. Progressive political views and higher household income and good self-reported mental and physical health were associated with higher rates of euthanasia, researchers suggest that the healthy may be more inclined to ask for assistance in dying when they do suffer. Article, Study.