Anti-Euthanasia Cards

I do not regularly write about developments concerning Physician Aid-in-Dying.  Indeed, that would be quite a challenge with all the legislative initiatives and court cases now active across the globe.  But I was fascinated with this story in the Telegraph recently.  It reports that “many elderly people in the Netherlands are so fearful of euthanasia that they carry cards around with them saying that they do not want it.”  Some 6000 members of the Dutch Patients’ Association (NPV) have “living will declarations” stating that they do not want euthanasia if they are taken into hospital or a nursing home. 

Now, there may be some basis for concern about involuntary euthanasia in the Netherlands.  I am not writing about that.  My more immediate concern is that similar fear, misinformation, and distrust here in the United States will cause many people to complete the same sorts of cards (with respect to passive, not active, euthanasia), undermining the positive potential of advance care planning.  For example, the NRLC has been distributing a "Will to Live" for several years.  While such documents may accurately reflect the preferences of some individuals, they are inappropriate for many.