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Belgium – physically healthy 23 yr old woman suffering PTSD is euthanised

By | Recent News

Yet another tragic story that highlights the dangers of liberal euthanasia laws (aka “assisted suicide”).

A Belgian woman, aged 23, was recently euthanised after being ‘traumatised’ by the 2016 ISIS attack on Brussels Airport. She was physically healthy but was euthanised due to ongoing mental health issues.

Shanti De Corte developed depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after being caught up in ISIS attack on Brussels Airport, which killed 32 people. She survived the March 2016 terrorist attack, but ongoing depression and PTSD led to her request to die being approved by psychiatrists. She was then euthanised on May 7 this year.

Read full story here.

Renowned Belgian neurologist, Paul Deltenre argued that euthanasia should not have been authorised because some therapeutic options had not been made available to the Ms De Corte to treat post-traumatic stress wounds.

This highlights how easily euthanasia laws can be loosened over time to include those with mental health problems. Under Belgian law, euthanasia is allowed to a person in ‘a medically futile condition of constant and unbearable physical or mental pain that cannot be alleviated’. There is no lower age limit.

Andrea Williams of Christian Concern said:

“It is truly shocking that an otherwise healthy, but traumatised 23-year-old was euthanised rather than cared for. With proper help, she could have lived a long, fulfilling life. This case shows how slippery the slope is once you allow euthanasia in law.”

According to our own Ministry of Health “Assisted dying involves a person who is experiencing unbearable suffering from a terminal illness taking or being given medication to end their life. There are strict eligibility criteria to have an assisted death.”

But how long before our euthanasia laws are loosened to include cases such as Shanti De Corte?

As this case in Belgium proves, pressure intensifies over time to include more people and more conditions. The laws are inevitably loosened and broadened.

Medical care and expert psychological therapies should be the preferred treatment, not euthanasia.

**The post was written by Family First staff writers.

dead by euthanasia

mcblog euthanasia wrong

When euthanasia gets it wrong

By | Recent News


One of the major concerns around the assisted suicide / euthanasia law is that the law relies on a diagnosis that a person suffers from a terminal illness which is “likely” to end his or her life within six months. But there’s a problem with that. A major problem. We are not God (even though some people would like to think they are.) There are many examples of individuals who have outlived their prognoses – sometimes by months, even years.

‘Disturbing’: Experts troubled by Canada’s euthanasia laws

By | Recent News

This is why we opposed legalising assisted suicide. Vulnerable people can live without it. But when it’s an option on the table (as it now is), coercion, depression and a feeling of having a ‘duty to die’ make the law harmful and deadly.

“lan Nichols had a history of depression and other medical issues, but none were life-threatening. When the 61-year-old Canadian was hospitalized in June 2019 over fears he might be suicidal, he asked his brother to “bust him out” as soon as possible. Within a month, Nichols submitted a request to be euthanized and he was killed, despite concerns raised by his family and a nurse practitioner. His application for euthanasia listed only one health condition as the reason for his request to die: hearing loss.”

“Alan was basically put to death,” his brother Gary Nichols said.

Canada is set to expand euthanasia access next year, but human rights advocates say the system warrants further scrutiny now.

Euthanasia “cannot be a default for Canada’s failure to fulfill its human rights obligations,” said Marie-Claude Landry, the head of its Human Rights Commission.

Read full story here:

https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-toronto-7c631558a457188d2bd2b5cfd360a867

 

McBLOG: The slippery slope of assisted suicide

By | Recent News


The first official report on the assisted suicide law in NZ has been released. It only covers the first five months of the law, so it’s difficult to determine any trends. But what has been interesting is the comments made by euthanasia supporters about the law already needing to be expanded to allow for even non-terminal patients to access it. And the media only seems to want to tell us the ‘good’ stories about assisted suicide – but they ignore the ‘not-so-happy’ ones.

Government of ‘kindness’ is neglecting Palliative Care

By | Recent News

Why is it that Euthanasia is fully-funded by the Government, yet Palliative Care is only partially funded and now in serious threat of dying from government neglect? Too many New Zealanders are unable to access acceptable end-of-life care, and thus tragically die in pain and suffering. The situation is dire, and projected to get much worse.

Nobody should suffer unnecessarily towards end of life. Our hospices are an essential service, providing palliative care that prevents and relieves suffering, right through to end of life. Yet, hospices are simply not able to fundraise enough money to survive. Also some hospitals have no specialist palliative care services at all. 

Many of us have had family members who needed palliative care, or at least known of someone in palliative care. And the demand for this specialist medical care will only increase significantly in the near future. Our population is ageing, and therefore the number of people requiring palliative care is forecast to increase by approx. 25% over the next 15 years, and will be more than double that by 2061. (Source:  Health Workforce NZ)

The Government has made little effort to address this growing problem, and to increase funding for this essential service. Euthanasia is instead given priority and full Government funding. It begs the question – “Is this really a Government of kindness?”

Please read this excellent article by Danielle van Dalen, senior researcher at the Maxim Institute: Palliative care is in danger of dying from government neglect

Danielle is also the author of: The urgent case for palliative care

*This post was written by Family First staff writers.