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Euthanasia move sparks protests

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands -- A decision by the Dutch Senate to legalise euthanasia has prompted angry protests in The Hague.

But the move has also been welcomed by campaigners and political leaders in the Netherlands, which is the first country in the world to allow mercy killings.

The bill allows doctors to kill patients with terminal diseases who are suffering "unbearably" if they request it.

Thousands of protesters carrying oversized syringes gathered outside as the Dutch Senate voted to allow euthanasia.

Waving placards with slogans such as "Euthanasia is still murder," praying and singing hymns, it was the culmination of an ultimately futile campaign to stop the legislation.

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The Dutch senate passes a law making euthanasia legal in the Netherlands. CNN's Ralitsa Vassileva reports

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But they appear to be in the minority, with recent polls showing 86 percent of the Dutch population supporting the move.

Health Minister Els Borst applauded the "very careful decision," saying it reflected the view of the vast majority of the Dutch population that doctors should not be prosecuted for following a patient's wishes.

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Jacob Kohnstamm, Dutch Voluntary Euthanasia Society President: We wanted to be able to control euthanasia

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"I feel good ... both patients and doctors can feel safe now," said Borst.

Meanwhile, a physician dubbed "Dr. Death" said the Dutch vote was a boost to his plan to moor a ship in international waters off Australia and ferry terminally ill patients there to help them die.


Thousands gathered to denounce the bill

Dr. Philip Nitschke is investigating the possibility of mooring a Dutch-registered ship off Australia. He hopes such a boat would be able to operate legally by falling under Dutch law.

Nitschke rose to prominence when he performed euthanasia on four terminally ill patients after Australia's Northern Territory state briefly legalised the practice in 1996.

In the Netherlands, political leaders said the country must stress that the new law would be carried out with care.

Nicoline van den Broek Lamen Trip, leader of the liberal VVD party in the Senate which supported the bill, said that "it must be stressed how careful this whole procedure is."

It is not an easy choice for anyone involved, says Rob Jonquiere, managing director of the Dutch Voluntary Euthanasia Society (DVES).

"Most doctors hope, some of them pray, that they will never have another euthanasia case. I'm a doctor myself and I know all doctors have an inbuilt resistance to giving (euthanasia) help."

Tamora Langley, of the UK Voluntary Euthanasia Society, welcomed the news and said: "This is part of a broader development in Europe allowing people to make their own informed choices."

She said the strict requirements meant it "was in no way a licence to kill."

But Rita Marker, a spokesperson for the International Taskforce on Euthanasia, speaking to CNN, called it a "chilling" development and said it would damage doctor-patient relationships.

In the weeks preceding the debate, the upper house was swamped with more than 60,000 letters, most of them urging the legislators to vote against the bill with the anti-euthanasia group "Cry for Life" gathering a 25,000 signature petition.

As the vote took place up to 10,000 protesters gathering, with several Christian schools cancelling classes to allow students from across the country to participate.

After the vote, they said they were disappointed but not surprised.

"The tide will turn back someday," said 69-year-old Piet Huurman of the Cry for Life protest group. "They will realise they have made a terrible mistake."

Kars Veling, Senate member for the Christian Union party, stressed the need to preserve trust between doctor and patient and improve palliative care.

"It is dangerous and unworthy for a civilised society if doctors are allowed to kill. It could put people under pressure to choose death," he said.

Internationally, Germany's Justice Minister Hertha Daeubler-Gmelin has criticised the Dutch legislation, and said on ARD television that the emphasis should remain on therapy to reduce suffering.

'Subject to abuse'

Russian Health Minister, Yuri Shevchenko, on RTR state television, warned of the dangers.

"In our country, there cannot be euthanasia," he said. "All our medical schools, public opinion, our culture and history would not allow such a law to be passed.

"I can tell you now that this would be subject to abuse, to crime. Imagine an ill, old man induced to die with his belongings and small apartment taken from him. This is a great sin and we must not allow it."

The Vatican strongly denounced the bill after it was passed by the lower house last year but has not reacted yet reacted to Tuesday's move.

But an influential Roman Catholic bishop in Poland, Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek, former secretary general of Poland's episcopate, said: "Euthanasia allowed in one sphere ... can slip out of control and embrace other groups of people -- those unwanted and disabled.

"Such a selection was made by Nazi Germans in concentration camps," he was quoted as saying by local news agency PAP.

"It is an attempt by man to correct God. Human life is not in our hands, because we are not the giver of life," he added.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.