PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
EUTHANASIA IN THE NETHERLANDS (7 March 1995)

That this House notes with interest that in March BBC 2 has arranged to broadcast the Dutch television programme 'Death on Request', which records a Dutch doctor administering a lethal injection to his terminally ill patient; is concerned that the BBC should accurately report the real situation in the Netherlands where in a substantial number of cases euthanasia is carried out without a request from the patients, where the hospice and specialist palliative care movement is very much less developed than in the United Kingdom with the result that patients may request euthanasia in the absence of effective specialist palliative care, and that as a result of the ruling of the Dutch Supreme Court, doctors in the Netherlands may practice euthanasia not only on the physically sick, but also the mentally ill and those who are simply depressed; and calls on the BBC to give a complete and balanced picture of the situation, including prime time for the discussion of the full experience of the slippery slope in the Netherlands and the work of the hospice movement.

Sponsored by:
Dame Marion Roe (Conservative)