In countries like Australia, where politicians and others advocate legalising euthanasia, the campaigners always talk about the “safeguards” built into such laws to “protect” vulnerable patients.

Should we believe them?

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In Belgium, the law has allowed euthanasia — with safeguards — since 2002.

The latest edition of Canadian Medical Association Journal contains a survey of one region of Belgium. Over 30 percent of reported euthanasia cases had been done without the consent of the patient!

These people mostly had diseases other than cancer, with “unpredictable end-of-life trajectories”, i.e. death not being an inevitable result.

Belgian law theoretically requires that for a person to be subjected to euthanasia, the patient’s written consent is required — plus the opinion of a third physician in cases where an illness is not terminal –plus a one-month waiting period for patients suffering depression.

This is not happening.

Did anyone ever really think it would happen?

So much for “safeguards” in the real world.

* * *

Another medical journal, “Transplantation”, in 2008 published a letter reporting a case of legal euthanasia where the patient had agreed to be killed — and also to have her organs “harvested” for transplantation.

All this apparently being done with the blessing of the local “ethics committee”.

Sick and disabled people risk being increasingly considered, not only as burdens to themselves, families, and society — but also as handy sources of organs for the transplantation industry.

* * *

FOOTNOTE: A simple alternative to the euthanasia mentality has been around for some time, but little reported.

Canadian specialist, Dr Harvey Chochinov, has pioneered “Dignity Therapy”, which involves encouraging terminal patients to re-live and record important memories and to say anything they want their friends and families to know.

The process is recorded and transcribed to be given to a family member or friend.

Of 100 terminal patients undergoing the therapy, 91 said that the technique had helped them – with statistically significant reported benefits in:

* reduced depressive symptoms

* increased sense of purpose

* lessened sense of suffering

* and increased will to live.

(Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol 23, No 24: August 2005)