Many people don’t follow the euthanasia controversy closely. (I don’t know why: It’s not as if there is nothing else going on in the world.) But even though the issue isn’t currently on the public policy front burner, I think it is important to understand that once a society accepts killing as a legitimate response to human suffering, the idea of following the law fades in importance, even the requirement that mercy killing remain strictly voluntary.
That has certainly been the pattern in the Netherlands . And now, in Flanders, Belgium, studies show that almost as many patients are killed by doctors who have not asked to die, as who have . For those interested in more details, check out these posts at Secondhand Smoke :
– Belgium Euthanasia: Going Up and Under Reported:
– Nearly as Many Life Terminations Without Consent as Voluntary Euthanasia Deaths in Flanders
– Legalizing Euthanasia in Belgium Unleashes Nurses to Do Doctor-Ordered Non Voluntary Killing
The worst part is that once a culture catches the euthanasia virus, abuses that would have once caused an uproar are shrugged of as of little consequence.
