The Netherlands' parliament approved a bill legalizing mercy killing and doctor-assisted suicide in some circumstances.
The vote in the lower house of the Dutch parliament was 104-40, overriding the objections of small Christian political parties and the Roman Catholic Church. The Dutch senate must approve the bill, but under the system in the Netherlands approval is a mere formality.
A poll in 1998 showed a large proportion of the country's population approves of euthanasia, which has been a long-standing practice in the Netherlands. A newspaper report said doctors "now are virtually never prosecuted for performing thousands of assisted suicides for terminally ill patients each year."
Whether a medical practitioner snuffs out a life before birth (abortion) or near the end of its normal span (euthanasia), the taking of life is still a violation of the Sixth Commandment. Nothing in God's Word sanctions such practices. For further understanding of the principles undergirding respect for one's neighbors and their right to life, please request a free copy of The Ten Commandments. (Source: International Herald Tribune .)
