laws in Austria and the Netherlands

In Europe, the Netherlands was the first country to authorize active euthanasia and assisted suicide in 2001, and in Austria, assisted suicide has also been legal since 2022. Our correspondents detail this legislation for us.

Emmanuel Macron detailed, Sunday March 10, 2024, the contours of the bill on the end of life, proposing a “assisted dying”a French model, while bMany European Union countries authorize a passive form which ranges from refusal to stopping treatment. The Netherlands was the first country in the world to vote in April 2001 on the law making active euthanasia and assisted suicide possible. As for Austria, it legalized assisted suicide at the end of 2021, following a decision by the Austrian Constitutional Court.

Netherlands: A law that “excuses”, but does not decriminalize

In the Netherlands, 8,720 euthanasias and assisted suicides took place in 2022. country passed, in April 2001, the law making active euthanasia and assisted suicide possible. During the parliamentary debates at the time, in the second chamber of the Estates General, several parties considered that this decriminalization would partly allow us to escape from hypocrisy. Some claimed that the practice had been common since the 1980s and there was even an article in the law on funeral directors which established a form to be completed by the doctor and had to be sent to the courts to rule on the question of a request. express from the deceased patient.

But the Dutch law of 2001 on the “request and assistance in suicide”does not expressly decriminalize, it “excuse” the act if it is done properly. THE Dutch penal code was amended at the same time and it still provides for 12 years in prison for anyone who takes someone’s life at their request “express and sincere”. But the following paragraph of this article stipulates that the acts are not punishable, if they are carried out by a doctor who follows the criteria established by the law on the termination of life.

There were six legal criteria defined at the time. First, the fact that the patient had to be an adult, that he had to have made express and repeated requests, that his suffering was unbearable and that there was no prospect of improvement. Then, that an independent doctor is consulted, that the patient is fully informed of his condition and the progress of his illness, and that the doctor practices euthanasia himself or is present to help a patient who would like to carry it out himself. even.

An enlargement in 2023

But that was more than 20 years ago and these criteria have changed in the Netherlands. From now on, a Request for euthanasia can be made by minors, if the other conditions are respected. Since 2023, children under 12 have also been affected, but these must be children suffering from an incurable illness, who are suffering desperately and unbearably, and for whom palliative care options are not sufficient to alleviate the pain. suffering. According to the Ministry of Health, this would potentially affect between five and ten children each year.

Austria: a period of 12 weeks to ensure the patient’s choice

In December 2020, the Constitutional Court censored an article of the penal code which provided for punishing with a sentence of up to five years in prison any person “who provides help” to suicide, believing that this was contrary to the principle of free will. In their censure, the judges gave the Austrian government until the end of 2021 to regulate assisted suicide. It is for this reason that the eco-conservative government looked into the subject and presented a law legalizing assisted suicide for people suffering from a serious or incurable illness. The law was passed in Parliament at the end of 2021 and came into force at the beginning of 2022.

Today, in Austria,People suffering from serious or incurable illnesses, who are adults and capable of making a decision, can benefit from help to end their lives. But the requirements are strict. The law states that each case must be evaluated by two doctors, one of whom must be qualified in palliative medicine. At least 12 weeks must then pass before access to assisted suicide is granted, the aim here is to ensure that the request is not due to a temporary crisis. This mandatory period is shortened to two weeks for patients in the terminal phase of an illness. Finally, advance end-of-life directives, which are valid for one year, must be validated before a notary, before being able to collect the lethal preparation from a pharmacy.

Criteria that are too demanding for associations

When this law was passed, there were no major protests in Austria, a country where the Catholic Church nevertheless has significant weight. All parliamentary parties validated the text, with the exception of the far right. Today, critics focus instead on the fact that the law does not go far enough. The criteria and requirements imposed are, in practice, too great obstacles for the end of human life, according to Austrian society. The association criticizes, for example, the 12-week deadline imposed, considered too long, but also the fact that advance end-of-life directives are only valid for one year, because the annual renewal, before a notary, entails significant costs. . The association therefore filed a new request with the Constitutional Court, with the hope, in the future, of leading to a relaxation of the law.