NETHERLANDS PASSES EUTHANASIA LAW

AMSTERDAM, Nov. 28, 00 (CWNews.com) - The Dutch parliament passed a new law on Tuesday becoming the first country to formally legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide.

The law was approved by a vote of 104-40 and is expected to receive the approval of the Senate and come into force next year. Euthanasia, the act of killing terminally ill patients, has been tacitly legal for 20 years, but recent prosecutions of doctors propelled advocates to push for full legalization.

Under 1993 guidelines which did not legalize the practice but said doctors would not be prosecuted, a patient must be undergoing irremediable and unbearable suffering, be aware of all other medical options and have sought a second professional opinion. The request must be made voluntarily, persistently, and independently while the patient is of sound mind. Doctors are not supposed to suggest it as an option.

Under the new law, a patient will be able to make a written request for euthanasia, giving doctors the right to use their own discretion when patients become too physically or mentally ill to decide for themselves.

The euthanasia advocates have said they will not stop with the limits imposed by the new euthanasia law. They want to allow children as young as 12 to demand their own death even if their parents disagree and to allow people who are "tired of life" to also ask their doctors to kill them.

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