German Minister Wants Europe Wide Euthanasia Debate



BERLIN, (LSN.ca) – German Justice Minister Herta Daeubler-Gmelin, who condemned Belgium and the Netherlands for legalizing assisted suicide, wants a Europe-wide debate on euthanasia. “We should immediately begin discussing questions as fundamental as euthanasia in the European Union,” Daeubler-Gmelin told the Rheinische Post on Wednesday.

She said the measure was contrary to the European Union charter on fundamental rights, an interpretations that the European Court of Human Rights seemed to confirm last week when it ruled that the EU Charter's right to life does not imply a right to choose death.

Daeubler-Gmelin renewed her criticism of a law passed in Belgium on May 16 legalizing “mercy killings” under some circumstances. A year ago, Daeubler-Gmelin said Germany would shun the Netherlands example of legalizing doctor-assisted suicide and instead focus on helping the terminally ill to “die in dignity and without suffering.”

The administration of a deadly drug is outlawed in Germany and euthanasia is illegal in Italy, Greece, Norway and Turkey. It is also outlawed in Britain and France but debate on the subject is mounting, according to a report from Agence France Presse.

(This update courtesy of LifeSite News.)

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