After the two draft laws on euthanasia and palliative treatment were approved by the Commissions for social affairs and justice of the Belgian Senate on 20 March, the secretary of the Belgian Bishops’ Conference, Etienne Quintiens, reviewed the situation during the meeting of the secretaries of the European Episcopal Conferences held in Prague from 21 to 25 June. “It is important to recall – observes Quintiens – that the draft law extends euthanasia also to patients not in a terminal phase”. In this sense, “ the law endorses the right to support for suicide, since the law also holds good for mental illness, including Alzheimer’s disease, or for those who suffer from incurable (but not life-threatening) physical diseases (e.g. blindness or diabetes) whose condition may cause them mental suffering”. Moreover, during the whole parliamentary debate, Quintiens points out, “euthanasia and palliative treatment were considered as alternatives”, whereas “those opposed to euthanasia have always maintained that a good system of palliative treatment as a basic right accessible to everyone would reduce the number of requests for euthanasia”. “At this rate – he concludes – Belgium is a step away from obtaining the most liberal legislation on euthanasia anywhere in the world“. Quintiens has announced that the Belgian Episcopal Conference will soon make a pronouncement on the fundamental question of the self-determination of the individual.
