AFAIK the 5th bullet is practiced:

"A person may qualify for euthanasia or assisted suicide if the doctor "holds the conviction that the patient's suffering is lasting and unbearable." [Chapter II, Article 2, 1b] There is no requirement that the suffering be physical or that the the patient be terminally ill."

The other 4 bullets, well, I guess they are quoted correctly, but I don't know whether the context of the quotations can be left out. All I can say that, with a lot of doctors (GP's) in the family, they are rare, and when they happen, they generate a lot of publicity. There are 'suicide-advisors' in this country. But very few, and they are generally regarded as untrustworthy.

The quote "Wasn't it the dutch who euthanize patients at a certain age, when they become a burden on the health system?" can be answered with 'no'. I've never heard of that.

Well, those are the facts as I percieve them. There is a lot to sigh about the laws on life here. The laws on euthanasis make me sigh, but the practice is not that bad. But when talking about abortion, practice is as bad as the law allowes here...

So, some muttering about the Dutch is allowed :-) AFAI'm concerned.

Lennert

>I don't mind you smiling at all. In fact, I have lived in Europe, but never visited the Netherlands. My experience here with Walter has soured me on all things Dutch. Your post at least gives me hope that there is some sanity in the Netherlands. However, I googled about what I thought I remembered and found a number of links on Dutch euthanasia including this:
>
>http://www.internationaltaskforce.org/hollaw.htm
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>I'd love to hear your comments on it.
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>Thanks..
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>
>
>
>>>>>That does not prove that America is the best which was your assertion.
>>>>
>>>>Stories like this continue to back up my assertion. They seem to happen daily.
>>>>
>>>>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=FRLIVWT2WXRDFQFIQMFSFFWAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2007/01/22/nhealth22.xml
>>>
>>>That reminds me of something also. Wasn't it the dutch who euthanize patients at a certain age, when they become a burden on the health system?
>>
>>I hope you forgive me at smiling a little at this. No, 'the dutch' don't do that. They also don't smoke soft- or harddrugs 50% of their time, their gardens are not crowded with tulips and wooden shoes are hard to find here.
>>
>>I guess I have the same type of misunderstandings in my thoughts about the US; I've never been there, and met only few americans personally.
>>
>>The dutch have their own problems and faults, but at least I can reassure you that people are not euthanized like that here.