Belgium & the Netherlands Pass Right to Die law for children

[Grunt]

Belgium & the Netherlands Pass Laws to Kill Kids just as the Nazi's did. Since the Europeans are doing this, expect puke democrats to introduce laws that are similar.

From The Blaze: Controversial ‘Right-to-Die’ Legislation Passes in Netherlands…for Children | TheBlaze.com

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I'm ok with this.

The decision was made last week by the Royal Dutch Medical Association, applying to newborns with conditions so severe that no further medical treatment is being pursued and who have been taken off ventilator support.

“Most children then die quickly, but some will remain [alive for a time] and suffering. Once a doctor administering muscle relaxants, however, the baby dies within minutes,” the Dutch Press stated.

I've had to make the decision for a loved one to leave her on life support suffering, try a risky surgery with a 70% she'd die on the table and if she survived her quality of life would have been terrible and her life would have been extended maybe 12-18 months tops all of it in a hospital bed without the ability to eat, drink, control her bowels, etc. Or to simply take her off her medications and let her die. I already knew her wishes, but letting her die was one of the hardest things I've ever done. Sometimes when there's just no hope of survival or a decent quality of life, the most human (not humane, human) and caring thing we can do is make them comfortable and not let them linger in torment.

Its a terrible decision that I hope you never have to make, but if you ever do I don't think you'll be so quick to compare it to Nazi law.

 

[BogWalker]

It applies to newborns for which all routes of treatment have been attempted and they have been taken off of a ventilator. As in children who are going to die. As in this is stopping the suffering just a bit earlier. What's the deal? Maybe the Nazis, if the Nazis went around only killing people who had a few painful hours left to live due to terminal illness.

These children have been slated as such an inevitable death that they are taken off of life support. Did you read the article? Standard practice is, if treatment won't work, take them off of the feeding tube and let them die. As in they're going to die no matter what. This just speeds it up saving the child much suffering.

This isn't an abortion. They're not killing children because they want to/feel like it. They're killing those who are already and without a doubt going to die.

 

[The Bubba Effect]

That is a sorrowful situation and I would leave it to the parents to decide what they should do.

 

[Double T]

Watch someone die in agony for whom it is expected. It's not a pleasant experience. While I agree we take oaths to "do no harm", what harm is it really in a patient who is going to die anyway?

I'm on the fence about this, but I really understand why it passed.

 

[brownhornet]

If the kid is terminal and in a horrible amount of pain and nothing can be done, I guess I'm okay with it. I've watched a friends sister screaming in pain from cancer while doped up on morphine that did little to help. I don't wish that upon anyone. If the parents think it's the right thing to do, that's their decision. I don't really see the Nazi comparison here.

 

[CarmelHP]

Euthanasia was first introduced in Europe for adults, supposedly, only for the terminally ill, then pressure built to use it for anyone whose family is tired of having them hanging around anymore. Grandma is old and eating into our inheritance, she should be "encouraged" to off herself. I see a similar progression happening here, first kill any "terminally ill" children, then it progresses to killing any children whose family no longer wants them.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Euthanasia was first introduced in Europe for adults, supposedly, only for the terminally ill, then pressure built to use it for anyone whose family is tired of having them hanging around anymore. Grandma is old and eating into our inheritance, she should be "encouraged" to off herself. I see a similar progression happening here, first kill any "terminally ill" children, then it progresses to killing any children whose family no longer wants them.

Agreed. Fortunately, I've never been around children in such a state but I have been around adults--my father was the last one. I do not want this formalized/codified into law. I'm not sure how my dad's passing was "handled"...and I don't want to know if it was...but we all knew he wouldn't have wanted to hang on in the manner he was in at the time.

 

[Birds Away]

I have mixed emotions. I hate to think of anyone suffering needlessly. I also see the slippery slope. Like virtually everything there are no "clean" answers.

 

[hornadylnl]

Like always, those who are adamantly opposed to this won't be the ones to witness the suffering. They'll fight this law, win, and move on about their lives feeling morally superior for the saving the lives they did.

I watched both of my parents suffer agonizing deaths only to have a few of their "supposed friends" who visited a few minutes every few months bad mouth is for the decisions we made.

 

[steveh_131]

The family members are the ones who must live with the consequences of this decision, and the decision should be left to them.

I won't be the one to point a gun at a father and tell him he must watch his baby die a torturous death. If you will then I have words for you that this forum does not allow.

 

[hornadylnl]

How many here have actually had to make life or death decisions for one of their family members?

For the last 9-10 months of my mother's life, she was severely brain damaged from pulling a vent tube out. It was her 5th time on a ventilator by the way. She spent the last 10 months of her life thinking she was still a newly wed and a teaching student at Purdue. She thought her own children were her brothers and her grandchildren were her nieces and nephews. Every time she was told her husband died, it was the first time she had ever heard it in her mind. I finally instructed all family and nursing staff to never mention it again.

One night I get a call from the nursing home that she had fell and was taken to the hospital. I spoke with the surgeon on the phone and he was asking if he should do the surgery for a broken shoulder as she was a no code. There was a pretty good chance that she wouldn't make it out of surgery. I opted to not go through with the surgery and I had to watch her in pain whenever she moved that arm.

I pray to God none of you are ever in the position to make those decisions.

 

[Jack1861]

In the us we kill about 3,000 children a day, but you do not have to demonstrate the child is terminally ill or even unhealthy.

 

[Degtyaryov]

I've never understood the opposition to allowing the terminally ill to peacefully end their own lives. How sick do you have to be to demand that they continue to endure suffering just to appease your sense of morality?

 

[Degtyaryov]

Euthanasia was first introduced in Europe for adults, supposedly, only for the terminally ill, then pressure built to use it for anyone whose family is tired of having them hanging around anymore. Grandma is old and eating into our inheritance, she should be "encouraged" to off herself. I see a similar progression happening here, first kill any "terminally ill" children, then it progresses to killing any children whose family no longer wants them.

This is absolutely false. There is no country in Europe that does this.

 

[Denny347]

Grossly misleading title. Par for the course.

 

[Expat]

Troubling trends on euthanasia in Europe, June 2008

 

[hornadylnl]

In the us we kill about 3,000 children a day, but you do not have to demonstrate the child is terminally ill or even unhealthy.

And if people cared as much about them after they were born as they did before they were born, I think you'd see a dramatic decrease in that number.

 

[Classic]

How many here have actually had to make life or death decisions for one of their family members?

For the last 9-10 months of my mother's life, she was severely brain damaged from pulling a vent tube out. It was her 5th time on a ventilator by the way. She spent the last 10 months of her life thinking she was still a newly wed and a teaching student at Purdue. She thought her own children were her brothers and her grandchildren were her nieces and nephews. Every time she was told her husband died, it was the first time she had ever heard it in her mind. I finally instructed all family and nursing staff to never mention it again.

One night I get a call from the nursing home that she had fell and was taken to the hospital. I spoke with the surgeon on the phone and he was asking if he should do the surgery for a broken shoulder as she was a no code. There was a pretty good chance that she wouldn't make it out of surgery. I opted to not go through with the surgery and I had to watch her in pain whenever she moved that arm.

I pray to God none of you are ever in the position to make those decisions.

I'm with you on this. Watched my father die a very slow and painful death a couple of years ago. It shouldn't have been like that for him. There should have been a less painful, quicker way for him to make his exit.

 

[mrjarrell]

Humans treat their animals better than their family members when it comes to this issue. Rather sad when you think about it. We had to decide to remove my mother from life support some years ago. It wasn't even a hard decision for us. We refused to see her suffer or be kept alive for no good reason. There was zero chance she was going to get better and we knew what she would have wanted. I'd do the same again for any of my family. Laws like this make compassionate decisions easier. OP, you've shown your colours again.