{"id":241050,"date":"2021-03-03T13:44:02","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T19:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=241050"},"modified":"2023-11-14T20:22:47","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T02:22:47","slug":"belgium-euthanasia-broken-academic-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/belgium-euthanasia-broken-academic-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Belgium euthanasia law broken, says academic study"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

(Right to Life UK<\/a>) A recently published article<\/a> in an academic journal has found a \u201cwidening\u201d scope and failing safeguards in the provision of euthanasia in Belgium.<\/p>\n

The article, \u201cEuthanasia in Belgium: Shortcomings of the Law and Its Application and of the Monitoring of Practice\u201d, which was published in The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy<\/a> this month, has found that the law has been ammended to cover far more cases than the original 2002 Euthanasia Law permitted, and made observations of a \u201ctrend\u201d which \u201cexists toward a broader use of euthanasia for an ever wider variety of indications\u201d.<\/p>\n

The article also found<\/a> that \u201cseveral legal requirements of the euthanasia law that are intended to operate as safeguards and procedural guarantees in reality often fail to operate as such\u201d.<\/p>\n

The authors, Kasper Raus, Sigrid Sterckx and Bert Vanderhaegen are all associated<\/a> with Ghent University, and neither Raus nor Sterckx are opposed<\/a> to euthanasia as a matter of principle. To that point, they emphasise that areas they find to be \u201cethically and legally problematic [\u2026] should be of concern to everyone, regardless of their stance on the ethical justifiability of euthanasia in general\u201d.<\/p>\n

They continue<\/a>: \u201cthe scope of the Euthanasia Law has been stretched from being used for serious and incurable illnesses to being used to cover tiredness of life\u201d.<\/p>\n

Euthanasia in Belgium for \u2018tiredness of life\u2019 is not permitted. However, doctors are able to circumvent the law by diagnosing \u201cpolypathology\u201d defined<\/a> by the relevant regulatory body as: \u201cthe co-occurrence of multiple chronic or acute diseases and medical conditions within one person\u201d. The article found that the conditions that give rise to \u201cpolypathology\u201d are understood so broadly that they \u201caffect most elderly patients to at least some degree\u201d. As such \u201ca significant number of elderly patients would in fact qualify for euthanasia based on \u2018polypathology\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n

The authors say<\/a>: \u201cIn 2019, polypathology represented 17.4 percent of all reported euthanasia cases and a staggering 47 percent of all reported nonterminal euthanasia cases\u201d.<\/p>\n

Secondly, the authors of the paper say<\/a> that \u201cthe obligatory consultation of one or two independent physicians may fail to provide a real safeguard. Their tasks are quite limited, and, more importantly, their advice is not binding anyway. The final authority to perform euthanasia lies with the attending physician who can perform it even against the (negative) advice of the consulted physicians\u201d.<\/p>\n

READ: Report: Belgium euthanized record number in 2019 \u2014 including one child<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The paper points out<\/a> that if euthanasia is requested for a psychiatric condition, the requirement that a psychiatrist be consulted can be circumvented by finding another condition from which the patient is suffering. The patient can then be said to be suffering from \u201cpolypathology\u201d and the patient\u2019s GP can approve euthanasia \u201cwithout any involvement of a psychiatrist\u201d. Given the age and\/or poor health of many patients who might request euthanasia, finding some additional condition is not usually difficult.<\/p>\n

Finally the paper argues<\/a> that the Federal Control and Evaluation Commission for Euthanasia (FCECE) \u201cis unable to check the fulfilment of various legal criteria, and it has substantial authority to (re) interpret the Euthanasia Law as it sees fit\u201d.<\/p>\n

In Belgium, the Euthanasia Law requires that all euthanasia cases be reported to the FCECE. \u201cThis Commission, which is neither a court nor an administrative body, is supposed to check for each reported case whether the legal criteria were met\u201d.<\/p>\n

The paper points to profound conflicts of interest<\/a> in the Commission itself as a number of the doctors on the Commission perform euthanasia themselves and they often end up examining each others cases. If the Commission finds malpractice, it is supposed to pass this information onto the Public Prosecutor.<\/p>\n

However, as the authors say<\/a>: \u201cIn the 18 years since the law entered into force, only one case has been referred\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cImportant to note is that this euthanasia case was televised as an episode of the Australian show Dateline; hence, the specifics of this case came to public attention. Since the TV show made clear that at least one of the legal criteria for euthanasia had not been met, it would seem that the FCECE was left with no alternative but to refer the case to the Public Prosecutor\u201d.<\/p>\n

Expanding euthanasia law in Belgium<\/h3>\n

Belgium legalised euthanasia in 2002 and since then, in accordance with the finding of the journal article, the practice has even been extended to children<\/a>. The current law allows euthanasia if the patient is in a state of constant physical or psychological pain.<\/p>\n

There is now a renewed push for euthanasia to be available for those who are healthy but have decided they have a \u2018fulfilled life\u2019.<\/p>\n

The President of Belgium\u2019s Liberal Party, Gwendolyn Rutten, told the Brussels Times<\/a>: \u201cWe must be able to choose the right to die not only when we are suffering in an intolerable way but also when our lives are fulfilled and we request to do it explicitly, freely, independently and firmly\u201d.<\/p>\n

In 2019 there were a total of 2,656<\/a> reported assisted suicides in Belgium, up from 2,357 in the previous year. Since 2010, there has been a 178% increase<\/a> in just 9 years.<\/p>\n

Right To Life UK spokesperson, Catherine Robinson, said: \u201cThe findings of this paper should make for explosive reading as it essentially amounts to an expos\u00e9 of a deeply corrupt institutional practice. It has found unaccountable doctors apparently policing themselves and their colleagues with little or no outside scrutiny, as well as laws being expanded as and when wanted. Sadly, euthanasia appears to be so deeply entrenched in Belgian medical culture now that, as the authors themselves lament, it not clear whether anyone will take notice of their shocking findings\u201d.<\/p>\n

Editor’s Note: This article was published by Right to Life UK<\/a> and is reprinted here with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Right to Life UK) A recently published article in an academic journal has found a \u201cwidening\u201d scope and failing safeguards in the provision of euthanasia in Belgium. The article, \u201cEuthanasia in Belgium: Shortcomings of the Law and Its Application and of the Monitoring of Practice\u201d, which was published in The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":669,"featured_media":126464,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[7077,5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nBelgium euthanasia law broken, says academic study<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Belgium has some of the most permissive euthanasia laws in the world -- but according to a new study, even these lax laws are being violated.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/belgium-euthanasia-law-broken-says-academic-study\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Belgium euthanasia law broken, says academic study\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Belgium has some of the most permissive euthanasia laws in the world -- but according to a new study, even these lax laws are being violated.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/belgium-euthanasia-law-broken-says-academic-study\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-03T19:44:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-15T02:22:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Belgium-licensed.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"631\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Right to Life UK\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Right to Life UK\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/belgium-euthanasia-law-broken-says-academic-study#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/belgium-euthanasia-broken-academic-study\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Right to Life UK\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/150f7162a1227b6c017d7c5a195741fb\"},\"headline\":\"Belgium euthanasia law broken, says academic study\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-03T19:44:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-15T02:22:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/belgium-euthanasia-broken-academic-study\/\"},\"wordCount\":964,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Guest Column\",\"International\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/belgium-euthanasia-broken-academic-study\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/belgium-euthanasia-law-broken-says-academic-study\",\"name\":\"Belgium euthanasia law broken, says academic study\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-03T19:44:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-15T02:22:47+00:00\",\"description\":\"Belgium has some of the most permissive euthanasia laws in the world -- but according to a new study, even these lax laws are being violated.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/belgium-euthanasia-law-broken-says-academic-study#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/belgium-euthanasia-law-broken-says-academic-study\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/belgium-euthanasia-law-broken-says-academic-study#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Belgium euthanasia law broken, says academic study\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Live Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"width\":701,\"height\":710,\"caption\":\"Live Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/150f7162a1227b6c017d7c5a195741fb\",\"name\":\"Right to Life UK\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ee6bbdc4cbe7693ee7cbacf0cff9e7c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ee6bbdc4cbe7693ee7cbacf0cff9e7c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Right to Life UK\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/right-to-life-uk\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Belgium euthanasia law broken, says academic study","description":"Belgium has some of the most permissive euthanasia laws in the world -- but according to a new study, even these lax laws are being violated.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/belgium-euthanasia-law-broken-says-academic-study","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Belgium euthanasia law broken, says academic study","og_description":"Belgium has some of the most permissive euthanasia laws in the world -- but according to a new study, even these lax laws are being violated.","og_url":"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/belgium-euthanasia-law-broken-says-academic-study","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2021-03-03T19:44:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-15T02:22:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":631,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Belgium-licensed.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Right to Life UK","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Right to Life UK","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/belgium-euthanasia-law-broken-says-academic-study#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/belgium-euthanasia-broken-academic-study\/"},"author":{"name":"Right to Life UK","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/150f7162a1227b6c017d7c5a195741fb"},"headline":"Belgium euthanasia law broken, says academic study","datePublished":"2021-03-03T19:44:02+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-15T02:22:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/belgium-euthanasia-broken-academic-study\/"},"wordCount":964,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Guest Column","International"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/belgium-euthanasia-broken-academic-study\/","url":"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/belgium-euthanasia-law-broken-says-academic-study","name":"Belgium euthanasia law broken, says academic study","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-03-03T19:44:02+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-15T02:22:47+00:00","description":"Belgium has some of the most permissive euthanasia laws in the world -- but according to a new study, even these lax laws are being violated.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/belgium-euthanasia-law-broken-says-academic-study#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/belgium-euthanasia-law-broken-says-academic-study"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/righttolife.org.uk\/news\/belgium-euthanasia-law-broken-says-academic-study#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Belgium euthanasia law broken, says academic study"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Live Action","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","width":701,"height":710,"caption":"Live Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/150f7162a1227b6c017d7c5a195741fb","name":"Right to Life UK","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ee6bbdc4cbe7693ee7cbacf0cff9e7c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ee6bbdc4cbe7693ee7cbacf0cff9e7c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Right to Life UK"},"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/right-to-life-uk\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241050"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/669"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241050"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":301693,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241050\/revisions\/301693"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}