April 10 in History
2001 - The Netherlands passed a bill permitting euthanasia, the first such national law in the world
The Netherlands became the first nation in the world to legalize euthanasia, with the passing of the Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide (Review Procedures) Act on this day in 2001, with the Dutch Senate voting 48 for and 28 against. The Act, which makes euthanasia (and assisted suicide) legal under certain conditions, came into effect in April 1, 2002.
Defined as an act of painlessly putting to death persons suffering from a painful and incurable disease or incapacitating physical disorder or allowing them to die by withholding treatment or withdrawing artificial life-support measures, The Netherlands, in legalizing euthanasia imposed a strict set of conditions, according which the patient must be suffering unbearable pain, his/her illness must be incurable, and the demand must be made in “full consciousness” by the patient.
Children as young as 12 can request assisted dying, but parental consent is needed for those under 16.
The legal debate concerning euthanasia in the Netherlands took off with the ‘Postma case’ in 1973, concerning a physician who had facilitated the death of her mother following repeated explicit requests for euthanasia. While the physician was convicted, the court’s judgment set out criteria when a doctor would not be required to keep a patient alive contrary to their will. This set of criteria was formalized in the course of a number of court cases during the 1980s.
-ENCL
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