Euthanasia
Belgium – Investigates alleged illegal euthanasia deaths
Belgium officials are investigating around ten euthanasia cases which may not have murder. In an anonymous letter to the public prosecutor, they say: “Our family member passed away two years ago, and we were told that euthanasia was presumed to have been carried out without the doctors informing us or following the necessary procedure. This is a very traumatic experience for us.” Two doctors were named in the letter. Belgium’s chief euthanasia overseer says that not every case of euthanasia gets reported to the committee, as it should, and doctors freely admit that. Potential for abuse was the among the concerns of euthanasia opponents and cases like these prove their concerns were right about the slippery slope. More
South Africa – New legal challenge attempts to legalise euthanasia
A new legal challenge was instituted in the Johannesburg High Court in August 2017 in an attempt to legalise physician assisted suicide (PAS) and active voluntary euthanasia (PAE). Currently, South African law deems these acts are prohibited and are treated either as murder or culpable homicide. The new case is expected to proceed to trial in early 2021 and Cause For Justice (CFJ) will be contributing to the case by legal arguments. CFJ’s main concern is that legalized euthanasia will result in a “cultural shift and slippery slope towards acceptance of death as a solution to human pain and suffering” (which has been the case in countries that have legalized it). See Fatal Flaws Documentary. More, Fatal Flaws.
Netherlands – Doctors can sedate dementia patients before euthanizing them
Doctor no longer have to agree with a patient on the time or manner in which euthanasia will be given, sedation is permissible if a patient is unable to communicate or becomes disturbed, agitated or aggressive in cases of severe dementia. Family members no longer need to be consulted either. This came when a doctor sedated a 74-year-old patient without her knowledge before killing her, was cleared of wrongdoing. Dutch euthanasia doctor Bert Keizer admitted that “those who embark on euthanasia venture down a slippery slope along which you irrevocably slide down to the random killing of defenceless sick people”. More