Once Euthanasia is Legal, Expansion Inevitable

By Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition 

The Politico published a pro-euthanasia article by Claudia Chiappa and Lucia Mackenzie on December 29, 2024. Chiappa and Mackenzie are suggesting that the legalization of euthanasia is inevitable but when they interview Theo Boer, [pictured right] a former member of a Netherlands euthanasia review committee he actually tells them that the expansion of euthanasia, once legal is inevitable. Boer states:

I have seen no jurisdiction in which the practice has not expanded, not one single jurisdiction,

By imposing really strict criteria we can slow down the expansion … but they will not prevent the expansion.

Chiappa and Mackenzie publish some of the Netherlands euthanasia statistics:

In several of the countries that have legalized assisted dying, the number of people using it to end their lives is increasing. In 2023, 9,068 people died from assisted dying in the Netherlands — 5.4 percent of deaths that year. This is up 4 percent compared with 2022 and up 87 percent from 2013.

Netherlands Grapples With Complex Debate on Broadening Euthanasia Law

https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/focus/20240608-netherlands-grapples-with-complex-debate-on-broadening-euthanasia-law

By:Alix LE BOURDON|Fernande VAN TETS

The Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalize euthanasia back in 2001. More than 20 years later, the practice is almost universally accepted in Dutch society to end the lives of those who are physically suffering. But its use remains more restricted for psychiatric cases who say they, too, meet the legal requirement of unbearable suffering. Today, some would like to see the law evolve to include the possibility to end one's life even without a medical need to do so. Our correspondents Fernande van Tets and Alix Le Bourdon report.

Follow up by Mark Komrad MD (pictured below)

Colleagues,

[Theo Boer, Professor of Health Care Ethics in the Netherlands] spoke last Friday. Many asked that I send the link to the lecture when available. Here it is: https://doctorssayno.net/webinars/

[Professor Boer] spoke about the decades of experience with euthanasia in that country and how it has affected and changed some fundamental cultural values there regarding life, death, and disability.  He document[ed] how it grew vastly beyond the initial parameters. 

This was a very worthwhile talk by Dr. Boer who was  involved in the early days of  the medical euthanasia's roll out in the Netherlands. He was initially supportive, but saw it get quite out of hand. So he became an opponent, and a Cassandra, warning other countries to not go down that path. 

Webinar Regarding Forty Years of the Dutch Euthanasia Experience (May 24/25 2024)

Featured Speaker Professor Theo Boer, pictured below.

Introductory comments by Mark Komrad, MD, below.

Please click HERE to join: Password: 089934, check your time zones listed below.

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Dr. Komrad:

The international DOCTORS SAY NO organization is opposed to considering assisted suicide and euthanasia as medical procedures. I'm on the board and we sponsor a series of zoom lectures from physicians in several countries. Now, on May 24 [2024] we will be hearing from celebrated Dutch ethicist Theo Boer. 

Jurisdictions That Legalize Euthanasia or Assisted Suicide Will Regret it. Just Look at Canada.

By Alex Schadenberg 

Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

I am just returning from a speaking tour which included meetings with elected representatives in Scotland and the Isle of Man. Both jurisdictions are debating the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide. While in Scotland, a news story was published concerning Keir Starmer, the leader of the UK Labour party, who promised that if elected he would bring forth a bill to legalize assisted dying.

At the same time the French President, Emmanuel Macron, announced that an "assisted dying" bill would be introduced on May 27. As horrific as Canada's experience with euthanasia has been, the terrible euthanasia stories out of Canada is creating a hesitancy in other countries when they debate legalizing poisoning by doctors.

The Doctor Ordered Her Own Family to Physically Hold her Down

https://www.dailywire.com/news/34014/netherlands-elderly-woman-forcibly-euthanized-paul-bois

By Paul Bois, August 3, 2018

One inherent consequence that so-called "Death with Dignity" advocates seem to ignore is the possibility that doctors and family members will pressure people into euthanasia or assisted suicide for convenience.

A case in the Netherlands takes that one step further, as an elderly woman was euthanized against her will by family members eager to move on with their lives.

When Euthanasia Becomes Murder

In the Netherlands an elderly woman suffering from dementia was held down against her protests as a lethal injection was administered by a doctor. In the days before her “euthanasia” she repeatedly said “I don’t want to die.” The doctor was cleared of wrongdoing.

http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/when-euthanasia-becomes-murder

By Barry Brownstein

In the Netherlands an elderly woman suffering from dementia was held down against her protests as a lethal injection was administered by a doctor. In the days before her “euthanasia” she repeatedly said “I don’t want to die.” The doctor was cleared of wrongdoing.

Another elderly woman in the Netherlands was euthanized due to her supposed “unhappiness” about living in a nursing home. This despite testimony from the staff that she was often “content and friendly.”