An 80-year-old woman with dementia was euthanized in the Netherlands last month, after a judge ruled in favor of her family who claimed that she had a “death wish.”
Charisma News reports the woman’s doctors and family claimed she was incapable of expressing her will to die, despite objections from medical staff who managed her daily care.
The dementia patient was euthanized by the Life End Clinic, a medical center that was founded by euthanasia advocates.
According The Christian Institute, “If a patient (in the Netherlands) has dementia, doctors can only euthanize them if an ‘advance directive’ or ‘living will’ is in place.”
Euthanasia has been legal in the Netherlands since 2002. A recent survey claimed 52 percent of doctors support euthanizing dementia patients that previously made advance directives but are unable to express their will.
Publication date: May 13, 2015
