slippery-slopeWesley J. Smith reports that the Dutch government is drafting a law that would legalize euthanasia for the perfectly healthy who feel that they have “completed life” and want to die.  This is not surprising given the logic of the pro-suicide position.  The two prongs on which it hangs are self-autonomy and ending suffering.

I’ve long thought that these two rationales would be decoupled, such that justifiable suicide would no longer require that both requirements be met.  In this case, self-autonomy alone is the justification for suicide.  A perfectly medically and mentally healthy person just wants to die.  No more justification is needed.

Suicide opponents have always said assisted suicide is a slippery slope to death-on-demand.  This new law is essentially a blank check for death-on-demand, and thus the Dutch have nearly arrived at the bottom of the slope.  True rock bottom will be reached once suicide advocates start arguing that the ending of suffering in and of itself is justification for ending someone’s life.  Without the requirement of autonomy, personal consent is irrelevant.  Doctors will be allowed to actively kill those they (or family members) deem to be in too much suffering, even without their consent.  This would be murder in the name of compassion, under the banner of “death with dignity.”  This is already happening with newborns in the Netherlands (The Groningen Protocol).  All that’s left to hit rock bottom is to extend this to all ages and codify it in law.