18 April 1997 - BACK TO EUGENICS We are deeply worried that our government is experimenting with the lives of its citizens in trying out the laws which the rest of the world is afraid to touch. This bill not only promotes active euthanasia but even involuntary active euthanasia and that against the wishes of the family of the patient. This means that the court may order a doctor to actively inject a patient against the patient’s or the family’s wish, with a lethal injection. Mentally ill patients who are terminally ill may also be killed against their wishes by a court order. This is close to the eugenics of Nazi Germany. We would like to draw the attention of the government to the fact that both the American and the British Medical Associations last year voted against active euthanasia ( the former unanimously, with the exception of one vote). The British Medical Association therefore also stated that: “We look upon that prohibition (against active euthanasia) as the cornerstone of law and social relationships. It protects each one of us impartially, embodying the belief that all are equal. We can back the patient’s right to refuse treatment, but that is far removed from the right to request help to die”. DFL is convinced that to distinguish between murder and “mercy killing” is to cross a line which prohibits any intentional killing. This line is essential to preserve, for without it the elderly, lonely, sick or distressed would feel pressurised, whether real or imagined, to request early death. This bill is likely to lead us down the slippery slope to eugenics. Doctors for Life is an organisation of more than 800 doctors, specialists and professors of medicine. For more information contact: Dr. A. van Eeden - Tel. (031) 306-0972. |
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