Word: postma
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...hoped that the publicizing of Dr. Geertruida Postma's courage [March 5] will start the changing of laws against voluntary euthanasia...
...wonder Dr. Postma's mother wanted "to leave this life." The best thing her "merciful" doctor-daughter had to give her was a fatal shot of morphine to relieve her "unbearable mental suffering," instead of taking her home and giving her a daughter's love and care...
...shot was a heart-stopping 200 mg. of morphine injected directly into a vein. Both Mrs. Postma and her husband are doctors in The Netherlands, and she knew exactly how to give the injection. The matter could have ended there; at 79, the old lady might well have died without arousing any suspicion. But Dr. Postma, who has a reputation as a woman of principle, went to the director of the old-age home, explained what had happened and asked him to sign the death certificate. Instead, he called the police. When they failed to act against the popular doctor...
Other doctors in the province quickly signed an open letter to The Netherlands Minister of Justice stating that each had committed the same crime at least once. Two thousand persons from the Postmas' town of Noordwolde signed a statement supporting euthanasia. An 82-year-old man in an Amsterdam old-age home announced the formation of a foundation for voluntary euthanasia; one week later the foundation had 3,000 members. The Minister of Justice took to television to debate the question. He conceded that there is no legal problem with the widespread practice of so-called passive euthanasia...
...three-judge court that sits in The Netherlands instead of a jury: "Risks in legacy cases, families struggling with the problem of a nasty old patient, problems of overcrowded hospitals, the problem of overpopulation." He was unhappy about the case, he admitted, "because I am convinced that Dr. Postma is a woman of integrity. But her act cannot be justified, however understandable it seems from a human standpoint." The prosecutor asked that Dr. Postma be convicted but sentenced only to a month's suspended sentence and two years on probation. When the case seemed to hinge on whether...