A Dutch mental health patient has shared how she was “overwhelmed and angry” when her new psychiatrist offered her euthanasia during their first appointment.
Manon, who was seeking help for post-traumatic stress disorder, was told she met the criteria to be euthanised.
She said: “I was suicidal, but I was looking for the help that I had actually never obtained – help for the core of my deepest pain and sorrow, my trauma, my post-traumatic stress disorder”.
Help
In the Netherlands, euthanasia is legal if the person is experiencing “hopeless and unbearable suffering” and chooses to end their life.
The doctor said Manon had already done “everything humanly possible” to get treatment for her condition, which made Manon feel like she didn’t “deserve” to continue living.
She said she thought: “Yes, I’m broken, but I want to become whole again. I’m asking for help to get better, not for death!”
“Yes, I’m broken, but I want to become whole again.”Manon
Years later, Manon is still hoping to overcome her condition. She says she has now begun to consider euthanasia herself, before adding: “But I really want to live”.
Jeanne Smits, writing for LifeSiteNews, said Manon’s story shows euthanasia “marks the death of compassion and inventiveness where the worst affected patients are concerned”.
Opposed
In the UK, the Royal College of General Practitioners recently announced that it is to maintain its opposition to assisted suicide, following a survey of its members.
The independent survey of 6,674 doctors found that 47 per cent said the College should oppose a change in the law on assisted suicide.
Of the remainder, 40 per cent felt the College should back a change, eleven per cent favoured neutrality, and two per cent abstained.