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Dutch debate euthanasia law

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands -- The Netherlands is poised to become the first country in the world to legalise euthanasia if its Senate approves the measure this week.

The upper house has begun debating the controversial issue and is expected to vote on the measure on Tuesday.

The lower house has already approved the bill that would allow doctors to help patients die and it only requires a simple majority in the 75-seat Senate to become law.

Outside the debate chamber, a handful of pro-life protesters demonstrated against the bill and pro-life pressure group Cry for Life handed Senate members a petition with the signatures of 40,000 people who object to the law.

A spokeswoman for the Dutch Voluntary Euthanasia Society (DVES) said that a 104-40 vote to pass the measure in the lower house in November made the organisation confident the bill would become law.

"After fighting for 27 years to legalise euthanasia, we were very glad when the bill was passed by the lower house," she said.

"We will be even more glad when it goes through this final stage."

The three parties which govern the upper house -- the Liberal VVD, the Labour Party, and the moderate D66 party -- hold 38 seats between them and back the bill, as does the Green party with eight other seats.

"Morally and ethically, it is correct to change the penal code so someone who is terminally ill can ask their doctor to help them die without fearing he will end up in jail," said Jacob Kohnstamm, D66 spokesman and President of the DVES. "We are very confident this bill will become law."

He said 86 percent of the Dutch population were in favour of the law, and thousands of letters and e-mails -- some from Britain, France, Belgium, Australia and the U.S. -- had urged members to approve the bill because it would help encourage debate in their own countries.

The Christian Democrats (CDA), who are not against euthanasia in principle but object to legalising the practice, opened the debate by saying the bill went against the basic task of a government -- to protect life.

"If this bill becomes law, euthanasia becomes a viable option for treatment instead of an exception which emphasizes the rule that all life deserves protection," said CDA spokeswoman and Senate member Yvonne Timmerman.

If passed, the Netherlands will be the only country to make the practice legal.

The U.S. state of Oregon allows physician-assisted suicide while Australia's Northern Territory legalised medically assisted suicide for terminally-ill patients in 1996, although that law was later repealed.

"Someone has to be first. There's nothing to be proud of and nothing to be ashamed of. Within 25 years, most countries will have a euthanasia law," Kohnstamm added.

If passed, the law will legalise a practice that has been carried out by Dutch doctors for more than two decades. It is intended to clear up a fuzzy area of law which has left open the possibility of doctors being prosecuted for murder.

Latest figures from the DVES show there were 3,600 deaths from euthanasia or assisted suicide in the Netherlands in 1995.

The Christian Democrats, the Socialists and the smaller Calvinist parties oppose the bill, but they have less than 30 seats in the upper chamber between them.

Christian Democrats (CDA) do not object to euthanasia itself, but take issue with the bill on the grounds that legalising the practice makes it too easy.

"All 20 members will vote against it," said CDA spokeswoman Yvonne Timmerman. "We're afraid that with this bill, euthanasia will become a normal act."

Reuters contributed to this report.