Word: euthanasia
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...touch of bravura was uniquely Swarttouw, but the candor about voluntary death was typically Dutch. While euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide remain taboo subjects in much of Europe and are contentious topics in the U.S., they have been openly debated and researched for more than 20 years in Holland, which has a record of pragmatism in dealing with thorny social issues like drugs and abortion. Euthanasia is still, under Dutch law, a crime punishable by up to 12 years in prison. But in fact, the Netherlands has tolerated the practice for more than a decade, and the number of cases...
...government has established official guidelines, and physicians who follow them are not prosecuted. "The euthanasia debate is far from over, but there is an acceptance of the phenomenon," says Gerrit van der Wal, professor of social medicine at Amsterdam's Free University. "There's less discussion of the pros and cons, and more about how to control...
...feel impelled to break a law on their patients' behalf, that law probably needs retooling. Opponents, however, may suggest that the current system works just fine: a statute outlawing assisted suicide, loosely enforced, will be reluctantly violated by doctors when necessary but will still express society's view that euthanasia--whether practiced by relatives, health-care organizations or a government out to save money--remains taboo...
Proponents of voluntary euthanasia also contend that physician assisted suicide is already practiced by countless doctors across the world, it's just that it's never reported. Therefore, the argument goes, by legalizing euthanasia we would actually be reducing the potential for misuse because such a process would then be subject to close scrutiny with strict guidelines. But if there are doctors who play God already, although it is illegal, given a freer hand, there might be doctors who could even more severely misuse their powers. A physician has a job to perform, and that is to save lives; just...
...suffer. All of us feel the pain and anguish of those we love who are terminally ill; like many others, I have personally experienced the anguish of a loved one experiencing a slow, painful death. But my response to such suffering differs fundamentally from those who would legalize euthanasia. As a society we should show compassion for those who suffer, not by saying "we can help you get rid of your pain--by getting rid of you," but by making such individuals feel wanted. We should provide them with companionship, care and love, and send out the message that every...