Letter to The Editor, The National Post, January 5, 2016

Letter to The Editor, The National Post, January 5, 2016

Euthanasia ‘landslide’

Re: Granting A Child’s Death Wish, Jan. 2.
In talks about end-of-life issues and euthanasia, people are always horrified when I tell them that children in the Netherlands and Belgium can request and receive euthanasia. The Groningen Protocol in the Netherlands not only allows for the killing of newborns with serious complications, as stated in this article, but also allows parents to request euthanasia for a child up to the age of 12 who has serious complications. Apart from the fact that a child cannot possibly be truly capable of consent, in this last circumstance, consent is not even sought: the parent requests death for the child.

This is light years from what most people in Canada think euthanasia is about. The move towards euthanasia in the Netherlands and Belgium began with a plea for compassion for adults with terminal illness who were suffering unbearable pain. Euthanasia was then rapidly extended to people who cite “unbearable suffering,” but who do not have a terminal illness and may only be suffering from depression. Now, the Groningen Protocol allows euthanasia for children, and euthanasia proponents in Canada want the same. This is more a landslide than a slippery slope!
Dr. Moira McQueen, Burlington, Ont.