Dutch court case to establish precedent concerning euthanasia of incompetent people.

This article was published by OneNewsNow on November 16, 2018.

A prosecutor in the Netherlands is taking a doctor to court after she killed an unwilling patient but, in reality, jail time is not a certainty.

The 74-year-old victim, who suffered from dementia, was incapable of consenting to a lethal dose. When a sedative failed to calm her down, family members literally held the woman down so the doctor could kill her.

• Dutch woman who euthanized woman without consent is being prosecuted. 

Alex Schadenberg

Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition tells OneNewsNow this same doctor was considered for an earlier prosecution case, too, which was never carried through.

In the case of this elderly woman with dementia, a regional euthanasia review committee examined the case in 2017, ruling that the doctor did break the law but did so, somehow, in "good faith." 

"But then the chair of the committee made it clear he wanted this case to be prosecuted, not for the purpose of the doctor going to jail but for the purpose of establishing what the precedent is," 

"And I believe that's probably what's happening here."

That reasoning is frightening, he adds, because the committee is likely hearing the prosecution case only to set a precedent for future guidance on legally killing people.

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• Dutch woman who euthanized woman without consent is being prosecuted. 
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