Gaby Olthuis was killed by euthanasia on March 1, 2014 (in Dutch). She was the mother of two children. She was not at end-of-life. She did not have a terminal illness. She suffered from tinnitus, the "perception of sound within the human ear when no actual sound is present".
Yes, Mrs. Olthuis not only asked to be, but was actually killed because she had tinnitus.
According to the Dutch media, she experienced intense and painful noise for a dozen years. Doctors said there was no cure for her condition. In fact, Mrs Olthuis was living with a disability, but her situation was not terminal. It is easy to imagine that her situation would cause depression.
Initially, her request was declined. But she persevered and the request for euthanasia was accepted on February 1. A month later, she was dead.
The Netherlands began by allowing only euthanasia for people at the end of a terminal illness. But there is more and more abuse. The case of Mrs Olthuis is neither the first nor the last case of abuse of the Dutch euthanasia law.
It is impossible to create safeguards that won’t be ignored. Abuse is inevitable. Let’s not make the same mistake as in Belgium and in the Netherlands: Let’s refuse the legalisation of “medical aid in dying”, euthanasia or assisted suicide in Québec and Canada.
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2014