Humanize From Discovery Institute's Center on Human Exceptionalism
Topic

Netherlands

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a hand in a medical glove draws liquid from an ampoule from a syringe with a needle
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Ten Euthanasia Stories That Caught My Eye

I always enjoy Kathryn Lopez’s ongoing Corner feature in which she posts about news stories that “caught my eye.” So I decided to blatantly steal the concept to discuss euthanasia/assisted suicide stories that have recently been in the news.

  1. A Spanish father lost a legal case to prevent his daughter’s euthanasia. The young woman, who has a severe mental illness, tried to commit suicide previously by jumping off a building, leaving her with paraplegia. A court has now decided, in a bitter irony, that due to her disability, doctors can finish what she started. Awful.
  2. Euthanasia killings in the Netherlands increased by 10 percent between 2023 and 2024, with nearly 10,000 killed by doctors in one year. Lethal jabs for the mentally ill also increased to 219, and 427 dementia patients. There were also 54 reported cases of simultaneous euthanasia deaths of family members. The report doesn’t say how many of these people were organ-harvested.
  3. Nearly 4,000 Belgians were euthanized in 2024. According to the Brussels Times, “The vast majority of patients experienced both physical and psychological suffering (82%). Just under 16% experienced only physical pain and 1.9% psychological suffering.” Belgium was also a euthanasia tourism destination, with 120 people traveling to Belgium from other countries to be killed.
Read More ›
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corridor in hospital
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Euthanasia Homicide Averted at Last Second

Why do you oppose euthanasia, Wesley? If people want to die, we should help them die. No. And here’s an individual example explaining just one reason why. A deeply depressed woman was about to be lethally injected in the Netherlands — but changed her mind just in the nick of time. From the New York Post story: Romy, 22, who suffered from clinical depression, eating disorders, and anorexia due to childhood abuse, made the heartbreaking decision to end her life in accordance with legislation in the Netherlands, which allows for euthanasia under certain circumstances. She decided not to go ahead with it at the very last moment. After turning 18, Romy campaigned for four years for her right to die via voluntary assisted dying Read More ›

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Stethoscope on Spain flag, 3d illustration
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Spanish Government Plans to Okay Euthanasia for Mental Illness

Once a society generally accepts killing as an acceptable answer to human suffering, the categories of "suffering" permitting termination continually expand. Latest example: Spain, where people with serious mental illnesses may soon be permitted to be put down. Read More ›
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An empty hospital bed with dying flowers.
Image Credit: Elle Arden - Adobe Stock

Euthanasia Poisons People and Societies

Most of the media report on euthanasia in the glowing, uncritical language of empowered patients "dying peacefully on their own terms." In contrast, euthanasia abuses and horror stories—an ever-growing list—generally receive little focused media attention and remain outside the notice of people not engaged with the issue. Read More ›
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Definition of word euthanasia in dictionary
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Legalizing Euthanasia Poisons a Nation’s Soul

Euthanasia isn't only bad medicine but also poisons the soul of nations that embrace killing as an answer to human suffering. Read More ›
Wesley Smith EWTN

Wesley J. Smith Discusses Dutch Court Decision to Strike Down Measure that Expands Euthanasia Laws

A court has struck down a measure to expand euthanasia laws in the Netherlands. Activists wanted to make it legal for non-medical professionals to perform assisted suicide procedures. Read More ›
woman in sheet
Studio image of mentally ill woman in straitjacket
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Euthanizing the Mentally Ill

Should psychiatrists and other doctors assist the suicides of mentally ill patients? Not that long ago, the answer to that question would have been unequivocally, “No” The job of a mental health professional is to save the lives of suicidal patients, not help them die. Read More ›
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Netherlands healthcare concept. Medical stethoscope with country flag
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Dutch MD Describes Euthanasia and Organ Harvesting

Euthanasia homicide is conjoined with organ harvesting in at least three countries — Canada, the Netherlands, and Belgium. In the latter two, the donors who are killed are sometimes mentally ill, not physically sick. Or, they might be disabled. Read More ›
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Netherlands healthcare concept. Medical stethoscope with country flag
Image Credit: ink drop - Adobe Stock

Dutch Doctors Can Now Drug Dementia Patients Before Killing Them to Prevent Resistance

A few years ago, Dutch doctor Marinou Arends attended to her dementia patient in a nursing home. Arends wasn’t there to treat her, but to kill her via lethal injection. Read More ›