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:
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.
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