A Belgian man is challenging his country's euthanasia law in the European Court of Human Rights. Dr Tom Mortier's mother was put to death by a doctor for "untreatable depression" even though she was not terminally ill. Mortier did not find out what had happened until he received a telephone call the day after her death.
"The government has an obligation to protect life, not assist in promoting death," said a lawyer working on the case, Robert Clarke, of the Alliance for Defending Freedom. "A person can claim that she should be able to do whatever she pleases, but that does not override the government's responsibility to protect the weak and vulnerable. We are encouraging the European Court to uphold this principle, which is completely consistent with the European Convention on Human Rights."
Oncologist Wim Distelmans killed Godelieva De Troyer, a Belgium citizen who was not terminally ill, because of "untreatable depression" in April 2012 after receiving consent from three other physicians who had no previous involvement with her care.
De Troyer's doctor of more than 20 years had denied her request to be euthanased in September 2011, but after a 2,500 Euro donation to Life End Information Forum, an organization co-founded by Distelmans, he carried out her request to die because of the depression. The donation gives rise to an apparent conflict of interest, says the ADF.
No one contacted Mr Mortier before his mother's death despite the fact that he says her depression was not only largely the result of a break-up with a man, but also due to her feelings of distance from her family.
Dr Distelmans has no psychiatric qualifications and none of the doctors involved had any enduring doctor-patient relationship with De Troyer. In addition, the commission the government established to investigate any failure to observe the euthanasia law has been led, since its creation, by Distelmans. Despite evidence of widespread abuse of the law, the commission has never referred a case to the prosecutor.
As the ADF application explains, "The institutions of the Council of Europe have shown consistent opposition to the legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia…. [T]he only positive duty on a State is the positive duty to protect life."
The application argues that Belgium's law, which now allows children to kill themselves as well, has gone too far: "the balance has shifted unacceptably in favour of personal autonomy at the expense of the important public interest and a State's obligation under Article 2 (the right to life)."
"People suffering from depression need compassion and love, not a prescription for death," says ADF lawyer Roger Kiska. "The state has a duty to put the necessary safeguards in place so that suffering patients receive adequate care from doctors and an opportunity to consult with family members."