The Evolution of Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide Essay

The Evolution of Euthanasia      Ã‚   This essay will investigate the evolution of the practice of euthanasia in the one country that has promoted it steadfastly for some years. The surprising result of my studies for this essay is the revelation that the Netherlands' practice of euthanasia has become so liberalized that it is no longer recognizable as the same program that was originally legislated.    Euthanasia in the Netherlands has gone from requiring terminal illness to no physical illness at all, from physical suffering to depression only, from conscious patients to unconscious, from those who can consent to those who cannot, and from being a measure of last resort to one of early intervention. Although respect for patient autonomy is the main ethical argument in favor of euthanasia, power has passed almost exclusively into doctors' hands. Patient autonomy has been subverted by the unprecedented rights given by the courts to doctors to decide the fate of patients.    The public era of euthanasia in the Netherlands began in 1973, [1] when two significant events occurred. A government commission reported that the ban on active euthanasia should remain, and a doctor, after admitting killing her sick mother who wanted to die, was found guilty, and given a suspended sentence. Evidence was tendered that she had only done what was already commonly, though unofficially, done by many doctors. The court announced several conditions which, in its view, would justify the active killing of a patient. In 1981 and 1983, two courts reached similar conclusions.    A State Commission on Euthanasia decided in 1982, [2] that 'a doctor who terminates the life of a patient at the latter's expressed and serious desir... ...t of The Remmelink Report and the van der Maas Study in Euthanasia, in Euthanasia, Clinical Practice and the Law. Ed Gormally L. The Linacre Centre 1994. p 219-240. 12. Id. p 230. 13. Pijnenborg L, van der Maas PJ, van Delden JJM, Looman CWN. Life terminating acts without explicit request of patient. Lancet 1993; 341: 1196-1199. 14. Van Delden JJM, Pijnenborg L, van der Maas PJ. The Remmelink Report; Two Years Later. Hastings Cent Rep 1993; Nov/Dec 24-27. 15. Fenigsen R. The Netherlands; New Regulations Concerning Euthanasia. Issues Law Med 1993; 9: 167-171. 16. Id. p 170. 17. van der Wal G, van der Maas PJ, Bosma JM, Onwuteaka-Philipsen BD, Willems DL et al. Evaluation of the Notification Procedure for Physician-Assisted Death in the Netherlands. New Eng J Med. 1996; 335: 1706-1711. 18. Mark Ludlow. Canberra Times. 17 November 1996.