Back-Alley Euthanasia?

By Terrence McKeegan, J.D. | September 8, 2010

How far will euthanasia advocates go in pushing their agenda?  Here’s a story out of the United Kingdom, where the End of Life Assistance Bill is being proposed in Scotland to make it the first part of the UK where assisted euthanasia would be legal.

A committee organized to examine the isssue brought in a host of euthanasia “experts”, many from Switzerland and the Netherlands.

One general practicioner “likened the process to abortion, saying the “back-street” alternatives were worse for patients.”

Which raises the immediate question, just how could any alternative to assisted death be worse for these patients in some mythical back alley?

More disturbing than bringing in the tired “back alley” argument, is how dishonest euthanasia advocates are in presenting this issue to the public:

Dr Rob Jonquiere, communications director of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies, and a former GP who has carried out euthanasia in the Netherlands, said the law has not led to a “slippery slope” in the number of people asking to die and that the percentage of euthanasia cases had “more or less stayed the same.”

This is completely untrue.  A June story in the Dutch News has the following lead paragraph:

The number of reported deaths by euthanasia rose 13% last year to 2,636, following an increase of 10% in 2008, the NRC reports, quoting figures due to be published at the beginning of July.

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