Euthanasia squads offer death by delivery

[micah719]

posted in full from:
Euthanasia squads offer death by delivery - Health News, Health - Independent.ie

Euthanasia squads offer death by delivery

By Tony Paterson

Monday March 05 2012

A HIGHLY controversial mobile euthanasia programme launched in the Netherlands last week, sending six specialised roving medical teams door-to-door to help patients end their lives free of charge in their own homes.

The project, which has provoked sharp criticism from doctors, is the brainchild of the Dutch largely donor-funded Right to Die NL.

It follows the government's 2002 decision to legalise euthanasia, making the Netherlands the first country in the world to do so. Walburg de Jong, a spokeswoman for the organisation said that since the ruling some 3,100 assisted suicides had been carried out annually.

The mobile euthanasia teams, she said, operated free of charge and were designed to make it easier for patients enduring interminable suffering to end their lives.

"Many doctors continue to be afraid of performing euthanasia. They claim that it is against their religion or they simply don't know the law regarding the issue," she said. "Our teams will carry out euthanasia at patients' homes should their normal doctor be unable or refuse to help them.

" Right to Die said it had received 70 phone calls from potential assisted suicide patients since the scheme was announced in early February. It said that the teams expected to receive around 1,000 requests each year.

The organisation stressed that its mobile units were comprised of doctors and nurses specially trained in performing assisted suicide at its clinic. It said the procedure involved injecting the patient first with a sleep-inducing drug and then with barbiturates to stop heart and lung function.

However, the concept met with criticism from the Royal Dutch Society of Doctors, which represents 53,000 physicians and medical students. It said it seriously doubted whether the euthanasia teams' mobile doctors could form a close enough relationship with the patients to decide whether assisted suicide should be carried out.

"Euthanasia is a complicated process. It comes from the long-term treatment of a patient based on a relationship of trust," a society spokesman said. "We have serious doubts whether this can be done by a doctor who is only focused on performing euthanasia."

But Edith Schippers, the Dutch Health Minister, insisted that mobile euthanasia was in line with the government's 2002 decision to legalise assisted suicide and that she was confident that the new programme would comply fully with the strict guidelines.

Under Dutch law patients must be fully mentally alert when requesting assisted suicide. Two doctors must agree that there is no cure available and that the patient faces "unbearable and interminable suffering".

The right to die: Where it's legal

Belgium legalised euthanasia a month after the Netherlands in 2002. Switzerland, meanwhile, had allowed assisted suicide at home since the 1940s, but in 2005 a hospital allowed ill patients to be assisted to die on its premises. In the US, assisted suicide has been allowed in Oregan since 1997. Australia's outback Northern Territory became the first place in the world to legalise voluntary euthanasia in 1996, however the federal government vetoed the law in 1997.

- Tony Paterson

[readytogo]

And I have trouble getting a pizza delivered over here!

[Meg]

This is truly disturbing. They have 1000 voluntarily asking, yet over 3000 killed??? I can just guess how the murderers "persuade" people to "just get out of the way"... Of course over here, they don't give "inconvenient" patients a choice. They just drug them up then neglect them to death -- literally, in the "nursing" homes... Once the patient is dead, they are a non-issue.

[SonSeeker]

I fear "Soylent Green" is just around the corner.

[micah719]

I've heard that old folks are frightened to go to hospital in the Netherlands for fear of having someone decide euthansia was the ideal treatment.

There was a survey published in the local paper here (northern Bavaria, about mid-2010) that indicated something between a quarter to half the doctors were not seriously opposed to such things here.

Right now there is a kerfuffle with the socialistic compulsory health "insurance" industry having large surpluses refusing to reduce premiums or refund money, yet treatments are just as difficult or impossible to receive and also the government raids the fund for their discretionary spending.

Give it a few more years, a couple more financial "crises", a little more moral relativism and situational ethics, and we'll have the retirement pill; to be compulsory for folks once they reach the border of diminishing returns.

The latest development was the personhood theory from Melbourne Uni, allowing non-persons to be executed without remorse. In that scenario, some animals have more personhood than newborns, the aged, or the "non-productive". Simply put, it is the old nazi life-unworthy-of-life doctrine. Let's see how it pans out with carbon credits and environmental impact, and ideological stubborness...meaning, how soon before intolerant fundies get the exit label hung on them.

We had a debate in the class during my erstwhile aged-care course....I made myself unpopular by diverging from the politically correct position. They didn't like being exposed as murderers, and the irony was they were pussycats compared to pre-salvation micah. Go figure...

[Duncanmc]

I'm 51 and as my generation passes into their 60s and 70s their isn't going to be enough resources to care for the sick and infirm. I have faith that God will provide a way but that doesn't mean many will not experience misery due to financial circumstances. I believe that clinical depression is real and leads to suicide in many cases. Having easy access to painless, socially acceptable suicide will only drive those numbers up. Secular pragmatists will see it as a good thing to lessen the burden on society. I don't believe it is the unforgivable sin but it surely is a horribly hurtful thing to those who are left behind.

[micah719]

their isn't going to be enough resources to care for the sick and infirm

This gets repeated a lot, but I doubt it is true, nor is it the real reason.

For instance, there are pets. People spend huge amounts of money feeding animals; some spend inordinate amounts actually spoiling and pampering them. Now I love animals, but if it is a choice between Ginger the Cat, Gumpy the Goldfish or George the Parrot vs. Granny? C'mon.

Further....there are other vain entertainments. Let's kill Granny but go play golf. Or, let's gamble on football (anything from the advertising billions, to the sponsorships, to the dirty backroom deals, to the income of bars selling drinks to "sporters"). Grandpa can die, but don't take my flatscreen, or my luxury car, my boat, my weekly movies, my cigarettes and beer, my fishing rods, my label clothes.

There is no reason for anyone to reach for the switch because we cannot afford to look after our sick. In a healthy society, we'd reach for the switch for anyone that murdered the infirm...murder is murder, and capital punishment is the divinely ordained punishment for murder. And yes, it is a deterrent.

We as a society have broken the fifth commandment, no wonder it does not go well with us:

Deu 5:16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

Let alone the next one....and all the others.

[WKUHilltopper]

And I have trouble getting a pizza delivered over here!

Ha! I was thinking along the same lines! Next time I order a delivery and get a knock on the door, I may be packing a .45 just in case...

[brethorn56]

I cannot begin to understand the kind of decisions terminal patients have to make. I am sure it is a scary situation made even more so if I didn’t have a loving God, Savior and Holy Spirit.

We now have countries (governments), the US included, that have taken on the role of exterminating live, beating hearts. In the case of abortion, I believe the US number alone is 35 million. Now, 3100/yr in the Netherlands for what is being called euthanasia or government run murder.

Our world has gone crazy!!!

[micah719]

I cannot begin to understand the kind of decisions terminal patients have to make. I am sure it is a scary situation made even more so if I didn’t have a loving God, Savior and Holy Spirit.

Neither can I. Here is a photo progression of my Dad. A Belgian by birth, he surely would be disgusted by what has become of his country now. Mind you, he had good cause to be disgusted with them while he was alive.

Sometime in the early forties....the Germans were guests in Belgium at the time. Little Pierre and his two elder brothers made them feel most welcome.



Sometime in the mid 50's. Before going on occupation duty in.....Germany. Life can be funny sometimes, hard, but funny. This is not an accident, I suspect. Someone else is laughing too.....


Early 70's. The little boy on the right, Ilan, my brother. The furry creature in Dad's arms, Jacko the Dog. The impudent scoundrel on the left, pre-furry micah.


Late 70's. Another pic from the beach on Bribie Island. That is a wobbegong shark he caught, he let it go again. Poor woebegone thing. In the background, micah. If he'd known what was coming, he'd have stayed closer to Dad, the better to appreciate him more.


Late 80's. Already carrying the cancer that killed him. This man was a fighter, he never gave up. Never. No mention of euthanasia, it wasn't in his vocabulary. And there are precious few if any that would have dared mention such a thing with approval in his presence, though there are always some fools about...


17th January 1990. The last day I saw my Dad alive. About 18 months since the last pic. This is what was left after "radiotherapy". Don't let the shell deceive you...the old lion is still inside, though he doesn't like parting with his youngest cub. Or cur, depending on your experience of micah. Sorry Dad, I screwed up. A lot.


25th Feb 1990. The End. I'm told he repented unto Salvation. Have to trust The Lord on this one. The world lost a good man that day, but I hope heaven gained another ex-sinner. The world wasn't worthy of him anyway. Neither am I.


This man would go through shellfire for a friend, and come back through it again for a neighbour. Perhaps because there are none left like this in Belgium, they dare kill the infirm and call it good. I don't wish to make little of the suffering of the terminally ill, but I post this example to show that one can die a hard death and go down fighting. Don't let the cowards and thieves talk anyone out of that.

[IamPJ]

Can I ask Micah, what kind of cancer did he have? I hope my dad is that tough.

[SonSeeker]

Great post, Micah. It's obvious you're very proud of your dad, and rightly so.

[billym]

Micah, thanks for sharing, I can see how much you loved your Dad.

[Duncanmc]

This gets repeated a lot, but I doubt it is true, nor is it the real reason.

For instance, there are pets. People spend huge amounts of money feeding animals; some spend inordinate amounts actually spoiling and pampering them. Now I love animals, but if it is a choice between Ginger the Cat, Gumpy the Goldfish or George the Parrot vs. Granny? C'mon.

Further....there are other vain entertainments. Let's kill Granny but go play golf. Or, let's gamble on football (anything from the advertising billions, to the sponsorships, to the dirty backroom deals, to the income of bars selling drinks to "sporters"). Grandpa can die, but don't take my flatscreen, or my luxury car, my boat, my weekly movies, my cigarettes and beer, my fishing rods, my label clothes.

There is no reason for anyone to reach for the switch because we cannot afford to look after our sick. In a healthy society, we'd reach for the switch for anyone that murdered the infirm...murder is murder, and capital punishment is the divinely ordained punishment for murder. And yes, it is a deterrent.

We as a society have broken the fifth commandment, no wonder it does not go well with us:

Deu 5:16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

Let alone the next one....and all the others.

You certainly make valid points Micah. And IF the youngest generation had been raised up with different priorities I think you'd be correct. As it is we have built a system in the US and much of the West where it will be the obligation of governments to care for our elderly. And the numbers of those elderly will soon start increasing rapidly. Without the will to make hard choices soon then these most vulnerable among us will be the losers.

[WKUHilltopper]

That's very touching, Micah.

[brethorn56]

Micah,

I appreciate your heartfelt story showing a small part of you and your family that I am sure to this day is very painful. What a beautiful set of pictures and what a history your family has. Very impressive.

I too have a sad story Micah. My Mom, God bless her, died of cancer in 1996. I am 6’-0” tall; my Mom was 5’-0” tall. She was a petite, proud and educated woman from Webb City, MO and who lived and worked in Tulsa, OK. My Mom had cancer and never took one single drug. Nothing for pain or anything. She was a Christian woman who accepted her fate, told little white lies to her kids so that they wouldn’t worry, and quietly died in her home. I would call her and she would tell me that the chemo was really working and she was doing much better, but, we all know the story. The worst part about all this was I never really got to tell her how much I loved her and how much I appreciated her. I will leave it at that.

Our world is THE craziest I (55 years old) can ever remember. You can smell war in the air and it is not a regional war. Surely we are close to seeing our Lord and Savior in the sky.

[twerpv]

There doesn't seem to be any good "worldly" answers to this or many other tough things we face in this life. Maybe part of living in a fallen world?

Micah, thank you for sharing. It offers us a practical inspiration.
One of my best friends lost his 36 yr. old wife to breast cancer a couple years ago. She left behind a loving husband and two boys (4 and 6 at the time). Her funeral was absolutely packed (probably some 500 people) of all ages. Now she had went through a double mastectomy and treatment years prior and was in remission. Then it came back hard. She knew she had about 6 weeks left (almost to the day btw).
Her funeral was the most inspiring "event" I have ever attended. Sound odd? She had written a letter to those 'left behind' that was read by a friend of hers. It talked about her being mad at God and then God hugging her all the way through. She ended the letter challenging those in attendance to find salvation because Jesus Christ was her Savior and their's too. If they chose to accept His gift.
Simply amazing and like Micah's father, an inspiration to those of us facing life's difficult times. Live and die with God's honor, we WILL be lifted up.

[YeuEmMaiMai]

God has given is acceptable guidelines when it comes to the killing of other people and being old and sick isn't one of those guidelines.......

[OliveOilMom]

They should hire John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson to do it. They played the hitmen in Pulp Fiction. Maybe they could get Al Pacino too. It sounds like all they are is government paid hitmen.