TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Dutch government wants to draft new mercy killing law
Change Size
Dutch police meet outside the Knight's Hall (rear) where Dutch King Willem-Alexander is expected to read the speech outlining the Dutch government's budget plans for the year ahead in The Hague, Netherlands, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP/Peter Dejong)
T
he Dutch government says it wants to draft a new law that would allow people who consider their lives to be "completed" to get help to die "in a dignified way."
The announcement, the latest step in the development of the Netherlands' liberal mercy-killing laws, was welcomed Thursday by the country's foremost pro-euthanasia organization, while one group for the elderly called it "unnecessary and undesirable."
The Netherlands legalized euthanasia under strict conditions for people facing unbearable suffering in 2002, making it one of the few countries in the world where mercy killing is allowed.
Announcing plans for a new law late Wednesday, the government said it now wants to help people who are suffering because they consider their lives to be completed.
