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Empirical evidence indicates that euthanasia and assisted suicide laws are abused in Belgium

Jan 13, 2016

By Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director – Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Prof. Stuart Chambers

Prof. Stuart Chambers

A recent article by Stuart Chambers published on January 5 in the Ottawa Citizen argued that there is only anecdotal abuse of euthanasia and assisted suicide. Chambers, a professor at the University of Ottawa, claims “It was a bitter pill to swallow for secular prohibitionists when large-scale abuses against vulnerable populations failed to materialize in those jurisdictions.”

Chambers ignores the data from a study that was published in a lengthy letter to the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine published in the March 19, 2015 edition. “Recent Trends in Euthanasia and Other End-of-Life Practices in Belgium” examined the experience with euthanasia in the Flanders region of Belgium.

The study examined 3,751 deaths in the first six months of 2013 in the Flanders region of Belgium (the Dutch-speaking area). The authors concluded that 1.7% of all deaths were hastened without request .

And while the official Belgian reports indicate that euthanasia represents 2.4% of all deaths, the study found that euthanasia represents 4.6% of all deaths. In other words almost half of all assisted deaths went unreported, a clear abuse of the Belgian law.

Chambers also ignored the data concerning the Washington State assisted suicide law.

The Washington State assisted suicide report for 2014 states that 176 lethal prescriptions were received, 126 people died by assisted suicide, 17 deaths were from other causes, 6 people remained alive and 27 deaths were from unknown causes.

The report states that the ingestion status of the 27 deaths from unknown causes is unknown and the lethal prescription is unaccounted. What kind of oversight is that?

For the purpose of brevity, this article only examines a few key points. It should be a bitter pill to swallow for Chambers that my response did not require anecdotal evidence.

Editor’s note. This first appeared in a slightly different form at alexschadenberg.blogspot.ca and is reprinted with permission.

Categories: Assisted Suicide