Legalizing Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide is not safe. Patient Safety must come first.

By Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Official studies from the Netherlands and Belgium indicate euthanasia deaths are occurring without request and abuse of the law is common.

When researching statistics on euthanasia and assisted suicide it is interesting how the euthanasia lobby have created their own studies to cover up the truth concerning "assisted death" in the countries where it is legal.

Recent studies on the Belgian euthanasia law indicate that a significant number of “assisted deaths” occur without request. A study published in the CMAJ - June 2010 found that 32% of all assisted deaths in the Flanders region of Belgium were done without request.

Another study published in the BMJ – Nov 2010 found that 47% of the assisted deaths in the Flanders region of Belgium were not reported.

The meta-analysis study of the practice of euthanasia in the Netherlands, in 2010, that was published in the Lancet – July 2012 found that 23% of the assisted deaths in the Netherlands were not reported and 192 assisted deaths were done without request.

A study published in the CMAJ – June 2010 examining the role of nurses with euthanasia in Belgium found that nurses were euthanizing patients, even thought the law limits euthanasia to doctors. Two nurses admitted to euthanizing a patient without a doctor even being present. 

The data from these studies prove that the assisted deaths that are done without request and the assisted deaths that are done by nurses are usually not reported.

Since the studies on euthanasia that are done by the proponents of euthanasia are limited to the "assisted deaths" that are officially reported, these studies create a false sense of security.

The deaths without request and the abuses of the law are not reported.

The fact is that legalizing euthanasia and/or assisted suicide is unsafe and the studies from the jurisdictions that examine all deaths, prove it.

Giving doctors the power to directly and intentionally cause your death assumes that all doctors are ethical and all acts will be done within the law. This is a big assumption.

Euthanasia and assisted suicide must remain prohibited out of a concern for patient safety.

For more information about the practice of euthanasia and assisted suicide in the Netherlands and Belgium order the book: Exposing Vulnerable People to Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide.