Belgium's euthanasia culture.

The following article was published by OneNewsNow on June 9, 20014.

Euthanasia in Belgium: Please sign the EPC - Europe petition.

Alex Schadenberg

Belgium has released its latest figures on euthanasia -- a practice that is legal there. When introduced, it was only for the terminally ill and could only be carried out under certain circumstances. But as Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition reports, it gets more commonplace every year.

"The number of euthanasia deaths in Belgium in 2013 went up by 26.2 percent to 1,807 deaths, which is a massive increase," he details. "You have to put it in perspective; the year before, there had been another 25 percent increase, and so what you're seeing is this huge increase in the number of euthanasia deaths in Belgium."

The number of qualifying categories is expanding. For example, OneNewsNow recently reported about a woman whom a physician euthanized for depression -- something for which the patient had never been treated. And now, under some circumstances, ailing children or those with disabilities can legally be killed.

"So what you're seeing is this massive euthanasia culture where to actually kill somebody has become a right," Schadenberg laments. "And when it becomes a right in the culture, then it goes right out of whack. And what we're seeing is euthanasia is now becoming commonplace for any and all reasons."

He feels that ought to send a message to Quebec, Canada as it moves to legalize euthanasia.

In America, doctor-assisted suicide has been legalized in Washington, Oregon and Vermont.