Bob Castagna, director of the Oregon Catholic Conference, says he would prefer Congress to enact the law rather than leave it up to the next president. Congress resumes Dec. 5, with the pain legislation attached to a tax bill. The new law, which passed 104-40 in the lower house, gives official protection to a practice that has been tolerated unofficially for two decades. Passage in the Senate is considered a formality. Only a few minor Christian-affiliated parties stood up in opposition.
Dutch doctors honor a third of assisted-suicide requests each year, government figures say.
In 1999, more than 2,000 cases of euthanasia and assisted suicide were recorded in the Netherlands. Guidelines to be part of the new law mandate that a patient must be suffering unbearably, be aware of options and have sought a second opinion. The new law leaves assisted suicide as an option for those with only mental suffering. It also allows for doctors to honor previously written requests of patients who are unable to express their wishes. Dutch studies in the mid-1990s showed that doctors each year euthanized hundreds of patients without their express consent.