Post by King Ghidorah on Jan 17, 2013 2:20:28 GMT -5
www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/belgian-twins-euthanized-blind-article-1.1239658
Identical twin brothers in Belgium who were going blind — so distraught that they would one day never see one another again — chose to be euthanized by lethal injection.
The case has become noteworthy in the country for the fact that the unidentified 45-year-olds, who were also deaf, weren’t actually afflicted with a terminal illness.
“They were very happy. It was a relief to see the end of their suffering,” Dr. David Dufour, of Brussels University Hospital, told RTL television news after the pair chose to die in “full conscience” last mont
Dufour said the men shared a final cup of coffee together and “rich conversation.”
“At the last there was a little wave of their hands and then they were gone,” he added.
Euthanasia remains illegal in most modernized countries, although some do allow physician-assisted suicide.
Montana, Oregon and Washington are the only states that permit some form of assisted suicide.
The idea of deliberately killing a person in pain has divided Americans, some of whom oppose it on religious grounds
Catholic leaders have been particularly vocal about right-to-die issues. In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI called euthanasia a “false solution” to suffering.
A 2011 Gallup "Values and Beliefs" poll found that doctor-assisted suicide was the most controversial of all social issues, with 48% agreeing that it’s “morally wrong” and 45% saying it’s “morally acceptable.”
Euthanasia has been legal in Belgium since 2002. In Europe, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have also decriminalized it.
A 2010 study by the Free University of Brussels found that most Belgians who choose euthanasia are younger, males and cancer patients. They typically select barbiturates as the method of death.
Now, Belgium's Socialist lawmakers have submitted proposals to expand the right to die to minors under 18 and Alzheimer’s patients, according to London’s The Telegraph.
“The idea is to update the law to take better account of dramatic situations and extremely harrowing cases we must find a response to,” said Socialist leader Thierry Giet.
Identical twin brothers in Belgium who were going blind — so distraught that they would one day never see one another again — chose to be euthanized by lethal injection.
The case has become noteworthy in the country for the fact that the unidentified 45-year-olds, who were also deaf, weren’t actually afflicted with a terminal illness.
“They were very happy. It was a relief to see the end of their suffering,” Dr. David Dufour, of Brussels University Hospital, told RTL television news after the pair chose to die in “full conscience” last mont
Dufour said the men shared a final cup of coffee together and “rich conversation.”
“At the last there was a little wave of their hands and then they were gone,” he added.
Euthanasia remains illegal in most modernized countries, although some do allow physician-assisted suicide.
Montana, Oregon and Washington are the only states that permit some form of assisted suicide.
The idea of deliberately killing a person in pain has divided Americans, some of whom oppose it on religious grounds
Catholic leaders have been particularly vocal about right-to-die issues. In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI called euthanasia a “false solution” to suffering.
A 2011 Gallup "Values and Beliefs" poll found that doctor-assisted suicide was the most controversial of all social issues, with 48% agreeing that it’s “morally wrong” and 45% saying it’s “morally acceptable.”
Euthanasia has been legal in Belgium since 2002. In Europe, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have also decriminalized it.
A 2010 study by the Free University of Brussels found that most Belgians who choose euthanasia are younger, males and cancer patients. They typically select barbiturates as the method of death.
Now, Belgium's Socialist lawmakers have submitted proposals to expand the right to die to minors under 18 and Alzheimer’s patients, according to London’s The Telegraph.
“The idea is to update the law to take better account of dramatic situations and extremely harrowing cases we must find a response to,” said Socialist leader Thierry Giet.
