Belgian Doctors Forced to be Complicit in Euthanasia
Belgium's legalization of euthanasia doesn't get enough attention. But little escapes Alex Schadenberg, head of the Canadian-based Euthanasia Prevention Coalition. In this blog entry, based on a translation of Belgian policy, he notes that doctors in that country must either participate in, or if opposed ethically, personally obtain a death doctor for patients who want euthanasia. From the policy:
That approach has been tried in this country too, so far without success. Physicians all over the world should begin to put plaques up in their offices announcing to patients that they are in a "euthanasia free zone."Doctors must also tell patients that euthanasia is available as an overall discussion of "palliative care" and the policy seeks to prevent "Each physician has the right to deem euthanasia or another end-of-life decision as being in contravention of his or her personal beliefs. This physician is then obliged to inform his or her patient of this clearly and in good time and to organise a smooth referral
posted by Wesley J. Smith @ 3:25 PM
8 Comments
8 Comments:
Wow.
I mean, wow.
If you haven't, btw, Wesley, ever read a strange book called _A Canticle For Leibowitz_, I recommend it. It's really three short novellas, and the final one gets into the issue of euthanasia--he's agin' it. Very Catholic novel, and I'm not Catholic, and I think you're not, but I think you might like it. Surprisingly and tragically, the author, Walter Miller, committed suicide.
"Each physician has the right to deem euthanasia or another end-of-life decision as being in contravention of his or her personal beliefs."
The key phrase here being "or another end-of-life decision." Assuming these other non-euthanasia options are legal, this conversation had better occur before the therapeutic relationship is formed. And there must be readily available & medically sound transfer options.
If these things are in place, I'm not sure why this would present a problem, whether in Oregon or anywhere else. In fact, this is already standing policy in a large number of hospitals.
Because active killing is a horse of a totally different color than medical treatment. The policy forces physicians to either kill, or find a killer--to put it bluntly.
Was referring to your inclusion of this country, presumably referring to Oregon(?) Doctors who honor DWD requests are not "killers," nor are their patients suicidal; they're already dying.
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Ok: I wasn't referring to Oregon at all in this post. I was referring to Belgian euthanasia, in which doctors do actively kill rather than help facilitate suicide. There is not a similar referral requirement in Oregon in any event.
With regrard to the USA, my admittedly oblique reference was to failed legislation to legalize assisted suicide that would have required referrals to compliant doctors or, as in CA in a now defunct bill, required health care facilities other than acute care hosptials to permit assisted suicides to take place on premisis.
thanks for clarifying.
Maybe the Doctors could set about a series of clues that would be indicative of how they intend to support their patients until "Death do us Part." The ones that would tip me off would be the folks that hang the Hippocratic somewhat below their commitment to His support for Belgian "End of Life" double speak. I would look for the Doctor that only has the "Hippocratic Oath" on his walls. Silly me! When I want to see someone that could end my life , I will hire a hit man and not a doctor.
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