The leaders of the Yabloko faction in the State Duma assess the adoption by the parliament of the Netherlands of the law allowing for euthanasia to be a serious mistake.

The law allowing doctors under certain circumstances to kill patients whose condition is hopeless at their consent was approved by a majority of the deputies of the upper chamber of the General States (Ed. parliament) of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on April 10, 2001.

On April 12, the Head and the First Deputy Head of the Yabloko faction Grigory Yavlinsky and Sergei Ivanenko will submit to the State Duma a draft address to the General States of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The address states that allowance of euthanasia “does not comply with European traditions, the values of rights and freedoms of citizens and places in doubt further development of medicine as a science.”

According to the authors of the address, the Russian deputies should propose that their colleagues “once again return to consideration of the issue of euthanasia and analyse the negative consequences of the adopted decision.”