Physician-Assisted
Suicide in the Netherlands
Research
paper by Sydney Wright. Completed 2-2-98
Suicide is a very sensitive subject in
the United States. In several states, suicide remains a crime.
(although difficult to punish) However, in the European nation of
the Netherlands, a very different approach is taken to the
subject. Physician-assisted suicide is permitted, albeit in a
quasi-legal sort of way. This policy has become an accepted part
of the Netherlands culture. Mankind must examine how the Dutch
deal with the issue, why, and how these bold policies have become
socially acceptable to them.
This small but modern European nation
deals with the matter of assisted suicide with several methods,
some drastic and others less unusual. In the Netherlands,
“active medical intervention to cut short life, at the
express request of the patient” technically remains a crime.
However, under a law enacted in February of 1993, doctors who
commit that crime are granted immunity as long as certain rules
are followed. They must follow 28 official guidelines. The
patient must have asked for death without prompting, must have
been suffering unbearably with no hope of recovery, and the
doctor must have sought a second opinion from a colleague. In
1990 a committee appointed by the Dutch government ordered a
nationwide survey of the practice of euthanasia. According to
this report, more than 25,000 people a year die of euthanasia in
the Netherlands. This includes 13,000 cases of passive
euthanasia, where treatment was withheld, and 12,000 instances of
active euthanasia, where patients were killed by fatal doses of
cardiac drugs. If euthanasia were performed in America with the
same frequency as it is in the Netherlands, it would amount to
400,000 cases a year. Twenty percent of all deaths in Holland are
due to euthanasia of some kind. Shockingly, almost half (45%) of
all the cases of euthanasia were actually performed without the
patient’s consent! This means that the doctor evaluated the
situation alone and made the decision to terminate the
patient’s life. This in-depth investigation shows that the
issue of assisted suicide holds a high priority with the Dutch
people.
The government of the Netherlands has
taken measures in order to address the dilemmas faced by patients
with terminal and excruciatingly painful diseases. The Dutch
government has taken steps to permit assisted suicide with the
support of the majority of their citizens. A recent poll showed
that seventy-eight percent of the Dutch favor permitting assisted
suicide. The Dutch legislature faces the problem of finding
solutions that will be acceptable to all. One of the main reasons
that euthanasia is permitted in the Netherlands is that it is the
most practical choice. If the laws against assisted suicide were
strictly enforced, the results would be counterproductive. Most
doctors would not get caught, as even now many do not report
their procedures. It would only become more difficult for the
suffering patient to find someone to help him end his own life.
Do the Dutch people really want their few, competent doctors
imprisoned for carrying out the wishes of their patients? Is
suicide going to become morally acceptable in society as we enter
the twenty-first century? These are the questions that the Dutch
government seeks to answer.
The toleration of physician-assisted
suicide in their country is an important issue to many citizens
of the Netherlands, and is of interest to Americans as well.
Netherlands is a small and very modern nation, and belongs to the
European Union. Perhaps it is surprising that such a small,
seemingly commonplace nation, is the one to take such bold steps
concerning euthanasia. Dutch citizens seem to be surprisingly
liberal, according to the poll above; but the practice of
euthanasia has attracted sharp criticism both at home and abroad.
Hank Ten Have, a medical ethics professor at Nymejen University,
warned of a “slippery slope” that will make it easier
for doctors to kill without consent. The worst nightmare of all
is the possibility that the situation could be taken to the
extreme. Suicides could be encouraged, and people coerced to
euthanasia. Perhaps a person wouldn’t want to impose on his
family in his old age, or would commit suicide in a moment of
severe depression. The Dutch people trust their physicians to
make the ethical and medically correct choices. They expect that
it be both the patient’s and the doctor’s
responsibility in deciding when a euthanasia should take place.
The Dutch consider euthanasia to be the ultimate act of terminal
care; merely an extension of the acts of healing. Perhaps this is
why the act of assisted suicide has become acceptable to the
Dutch people.
Much is to be learned from the situation
in the Netherlands. Their tolerance of assisted suicide is very
important. The world must learn from the discoveries and mistakes
of these brave people. The technologies of medically sustaining
life (or terminating it) are comparable to other subjects, such
as atomic power. Once this power has been acquired, mankind
cannot absolve itself of responsibility. Society must find the
most ethical and merciful path to take, for the good of the human
race.
“Every time, I lose a friend.
I’m not just a doctor, I’m a humanistic human.
Euthanasia brings you closer to the patient. It is not some crazy
experiment, it is the most close relationship there ever
is.” - Pieter Admiraal, MD
Bibliography:
- 1997 Newsbank Newsfile - Search
terms: assisted suicide AND euthanasia
- Book- “Doctor Assisted Suicide
and the Euthanasia Movement” by Gary E. McCuen
I'm not going to give you suicidal places on the web to visit.
If you are that morbid, FIND THEM YOURSELF!!! However,
this song holds special significance to the topic of this paper.
Go back to Syd's Webpage