Belgium Euthanasia Deaths Have Doubled

Euthanasia deaths in Belgium are rising dramatically, now “officially” at 400, up from 200 at the beginning of the killing program just a few years ago. But there also appears to be rampant underreporting, as in the Netherlands. The estimate in this story is that some 2000 patients are killed each year in Belgium by doctors.

Not surprisingly, most of the euthanasia killings are reported to be in Flemish areas, which are closer culturally to the Netherlands where, as one medical journal put it, euthanasia is beyond effective control. The same thing would happen here once we got past the squeamishness of actually killing patients.

The events of the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and to a lesser extent, Oregon, demonstrate the wisdom of Canadian journalist Andrew Coyne’s point of a few years ago: “A society that believes in nothing can offer no argument even against death. A culture that has lost its faith in life cannot comprehend why it should be endured.”