The Netherlands: new regulations concerning euthanasia.

• Author: Fenigsen, Richard

The new regulations concerning euthanasia were approved by the Lower House of Dutch Parliament (Tweede kamer) on February 9, 1993, and will become law if confirmed by the Higher House (Eerste Kamer). The new regulations do not abolish the legal prohibition of euthanasia. Articles 293 and 294 of the Penal Code, which make euthanasia and assisting a suicide punishable crimes, remain in force. The regulations, voted as an amendment to the Coroner's Act (Wet op de lijkbezoring), state that doctors who carry out active euthanasia upon request of the patient, or actively terminate a patient's without his or her request, should report the case to the coroner (gemeentelijke lijkschouwer), who will inform the district attorney (officer van justitie). No judical inquiry should be started by the district attorney if the circumstances of the case indicate that the doctor acted with due conscientiousness and care. It is assumed that the doctor acted carefully if he followed the rules which had previously been established by court decisions, the health authorities, and the Ministry of Justice.(1)

The new regulations do not bring about essential changes in the legal situation or the practice of ethuanasia in the Netherlands but constitute a parliamentary acknowledgement of practices that have been going on for two decades and procedures worked out in the last fifteen years. The regulations encourage reporting, which had been unsatisfactory in the past.(2) The reporting form to be filed by doctors carrying out euthanasia (see Appendix) includes both euthanasia upon request of the patient and active termination of life without the patient's request.

The new regulations were proposed by the Minister of Justice and the Secretary of Health. An assured majority of the Lower House has steadily supported the bill.(3) Nevertheless, the passage of the bill proved difficult. The debate was postponed, resumed on April 1, 1992, but again was postponed. The final debate, on February 2, 1993, revealed persistent opposition to the bill. The bill was passed a week later with ninety-two votes for and forty-five against. The votes for the bill were cast by the representatives of the governing coalition (Christian Democratic Alliance and Labor Party). Most votes against the bill (forty-two) were cast by consistent supporters of euthanasia: members of the parliamentary factions of VVD (Liberals), D 66 Party, and the Green Left Coalition. Acknowledging the importance of the opposition to the bill, the Lower House agreed to continue the dabate on the issue over three years.(4)

The Liberals, the D 66 Party, and the Green Left, as well as the Dutch Society for Voluntary Euthanasia and the Royal Dutch Society of Medicine, have opposed the bill because it does not legalize...