A heartbreaking story out of the Netherlands is raising alarms about euthanasia and assisted suicide.
According to reports, Iris Dekker struggled with severe depression and suicidal thoughts for years. By age 16, she had applied for euthanasia under Dutch law, which allows minors to seek death in certain circumstances. After years of waiting for her euthanasia application to be processed, she ultimately chose a different path: voluntarily stopping eating and drinking, a practice known as VSED. She died in hospice just days before her 20th birthday.
Many young people today are facing a serious mental health crisis. A society that wants to provide mental healthcare cannot simultaneously suggest that depressed young people should kill themselves.
Euthanasia and assisted suicide programs are not compassionate care; they are a way to abandon people in their hour of need.
Leave a Reply