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The Dutch decision to legalise euthanasia is a world first which is sure to fuel the debate here in the UK, where eight in ten people are in favour of a change in the law.
In 1806, Dr Christoph Hufeland wrote: "The physician should and may do nothing else but preserve life. Whether it is valuable or not, that is none of his business. If he once permits such considerations to influence his actions, the doctor will become the most dangerous man in the state."
However, when the Upper House of the Dutch parliament approved a euthanasia Bill earlier this year, Holland became the first country in the world to make mercy killing legal, thus enabling doctors to end rather than preserve life.
The practice of euthanasia is not a new one either in the Netherlands or elsewhere, the concept having been described in the time of Plato and Socrates. But doctors have always run the risk of being prosecuted for murder. Now, Dutch doctors are able to extinguish their patients' lives, under certain circumstances, without breaking the law.
While the Dutch ruling is seen as ground-breaking, there has been a precedent, albeit on a smaller scale. In July, 1996, a law came into effect in the Northern Territory of Australia permitting voluntary euthanasia for the terminally-ill. However, the law was challenged by pro-life campaigners and the Act was overturned in March, 1997 after only four patients had been helped to die.
Similarly, physician-assisted suicide, whereby a doctor supplies a...