Dutch Churches in Last-Ditch Effort to Stop Euthanasia Law
"More than 50 religious and social organizations send petition to The Hague, hoping to defeat final vote."
Ecumenical News International | posted 3/01/2001 12:00AM
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Last November, after the Second Chamber approved the bill, Plaisier commented: "A boundary has been crossed that actually should never have been crossed."
Presenting the petition on behalf of the Catholic Bishops' Conference, Bishop Antonius Hurkmans, said: "There are better solutions to safeguard the human dignity of suffering and dying, even when the suffering is unbearable and seems hopeless. … The bill touches on the foundations of our society." The Roman Catholic Church is the biggest church in The Netherlands.
Other signatories include the Council of Mosques in The Netherlands, SKIN, which represents 35 Protestant, Pentecostal, Anglican and Orthodox denominations, The Netherlands Patients' Association, The Netherlands Doctors' Union and the Foundation of Christian Hospices in The Netherlands.
Copyright © 2001 ENI.
Related Elsewhere
Other media coverage of the Dutch bill includes:
Holland is first country to legalise euthanasia - The Independent, London (Nov. 29, 2000)
Netherlands Moves to Legalize Assisted Suicide - The Washington Post (Nov. 29, 2000)
Dutch Becoming First Nation to Legalize Assisted Suicide - The New York Times (Nov. 29, 2000)
Holland: Bending the rules? - BBC (Nov. 28, 2000)
For other recent news and opinion pieces on euthanasia, see WorldNews.com or Yahoo's full coverage area.
Books and Culture took on the euphemisms that surround euthanasia in "The Subjunctive that Killed Hugh Finn | Our language about what a patient 'would' want turns sympathy into empathy, pity into murder."
Previous Christianity Today coverage of euthanasia includes:
Death by Default | Few seem to have noticed the euthanasia movement's latest gains. A Christianity Today Editorial. (Feb. 15, 2001)
Severe Mercy in Oregon | How two dying patients dealt with a new right: When to die. (June 14, 1999)
Hospice Care Hijacked? | A bottom-line, cost-efficient mentality obscures the movement's original Christian vision. (March 2, 1998)
What Really Died in Oregon | The state's voter-approved suicide law represents more than an extreme belief in personal autonomy. (January 12, 1998)
'Right to Die' Debate Returns to States | (August 11, 1997)
Deadly Compassion | Some support physician-assisted suicide out of fear of a lonely, pain-filled death. Here are four professionals who are making the dying a part of the church's ministry. (June 16, 1997)
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