Abortion in Holland story?

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well, your dad is wrong.

I'm sure we do things different in the Netherlands but statistically we have the lowest rates of abortion in the world.

thijs m

In your question and in the various responses there seemingly are three different elements. Firstly, that the lives of infants who have are terribly ill, are not prolonged and that this is regulated in the Netherlands. Secondly, that abortion should be allowed in all stages of pregnancy. Finally in some of the answers the fact that Holland has abortion and that all abortion is evil was in some responsed a clear element.
I'll try to answer to the first two questions by facts about dutch abortion law, on the last element I'll give my personal view.

Euthanasia on infants
In Holland about 10 to 15 children per year are born with illnesses that are uncurable, which will lead to terrible, hopeless and untreatable suffering. Examples are very bad cases of spina bifida. With modern techniques it is however increasingly possible to keep these infants alive over very long periods of time, without there being any quality of life. In 2004 at the academic hospital of Groningen, it was proposed that in these cases there should be more clear laws and procedures for active and passive euthanasia. In passive euthanasia a treatment is terminated, leading to the death of a patient, in active euthanasia the death is induced actively, e.g. by an overdose of painkillers. More information can be found at [http://www.azg.nl/azg/nl/english/nieuws/45613].

This request of physicians has indeed led to new legislation and procedures in Holland. If a doctor establishes the fact that a child is indeed unbearably suffering, that that it is uncurable and that there is no medical possibility that there will be any quality of life, the parents of the child can request active euthanasia. In all cases both the parents and the physicians have to agree to this.

Since active euthanasia of infants is still a crime under dutch law, each case has to be reported to the Dutch Ministry of Health, who has appointed a seperate committee of experts. They have to ascertain that there was indeed a situation which justifies euthanasia and that all procedures were followed correctly. This committee than sends their findings to the public prosecutor, who will then choose to prosecute the doctor or not.

Abortion in Holland
Holland has, like many nations, laws to allow for abortion for woman up to 13 weeks [about 3 months). These abortions can take place in hospitals and in certain clinics, who are all non-commercial [by law] and frequently controlled by the dutch ministry of Health.
Dutch law allows abortion only if:
*There has been a consultation between a doctor and the pregnant woman, followed by a 5 day period of consideration.
* The doctor is obliged to verify whether the woman is not forced to have her child aborted.
* The doctor is obliged to discuss all options (e.g. adoption, the options for state support of pregnant teens, etc.) with the pregnant woman.

In designated hospitals, it is also possible to have an adoption up to 22 weeks. This period is in accordance with the international standard of 24 weeks when a child is considered to have a real chance of life outside the womb.

After the 22nd week, abortion is only allowed cases where like in the case for infant euthanasia, the child has no prospects to any quality of life, and if it would be born alive will be unbearably and uncurably suffering. The same rules as for infant euthanasia apply.

Dutch law does not consider abortion to be a regular medical acts, but as a part of criminal law. However, both Dutch law and the common Dutch ethics consider abortion as a method which is the least preferred, but still a realistic option to prevent children to be born in a situation where they are usually unwanted, poorly or not looked after, etc.

The only thing off course that really matters, are mothers that get into the situation where they have to abort their children. In Holland that happens about 8 times per 1000 women per year[in the year 2000]. In the USA it happens about 17 times per 1000 women per year [in the year 2000]. Dutch abortion levels are low on an international scale.

I personally consider abortion as a option which is clearly unwanted and proper sexual education of women and men is a very important factor in this. However, when a (teenage) woman is pregnant and she has no ability to give her baby any chance of a good life, I believe it benefits both mother and child, when the pregnancy is terminated before the child is born.

Kaat

Nobody is killing babies in the Netherlands.
Abortion is possible up to about 15 weeks.

Abortion mandatory for poor ethnic woman?? What kind of country do you think the Netherlands is?
Complete nonsens and once again shows that in most cases it's better to know the facts before speaking up and have an opinion.

In the Netherlands it is possible to stop treating very sick new borns. This is, this is my opinion, more human than keeping them alive for a year or so on heavy medications or machines.

Tina L

Where do you live? In most European countries women can get an abortion until the 3nd month of pregnancy. We believe in free choice here. In the Netherlands an abortion can be performed until later than the 3nd month, provided the health of the mother is in danger. In addition to that young girls receive a lot of information about sex and contraception, to avoid such sad situations. And the strategy works: Europe has less teenage pregnancy and less STDs.

Martha P

They are called mercy killings of terminally ill newborns, or born with intolerable and incurable illnesses.

These children are born with extreme malformations. For instance they may have no brain.

Edit:
If my baby has no chance to survive, why should I keep him/her alive for another year or so, in pain and suffering?

Preciosa

I think you are confused, or your dad is confused. I'm thinking they mean perform an abortion up to the 3rd month in pregnancy, not kill a baby that is 3 months old, that would be murder.

I thought abortion was already legal in most of europe.

Endie vB

It was on the news?
Is he sure that this was about Holland (Netherlands)?
Did he get the info right?

In fact, the latest news on abortion here is that the new government promotes more attention to a mother before abortion, and more and accessable alternatives for pregnant teenagers (like adoption, or special support).

As far as I know, the limit is still 3 months and that certainly has not been changed by this Christian coaltition.

What might have caught your dad's ear is about stopping treatment for uncurable new-borns, by which they will die and be spared for a life without quality.

@ Diamondlil: Hey, you need to read your stuff well before you spit it out as your opinion! This country has grown way past German's nazis, and will not pass mandatory abortion just because of some individual in a minor ultra-right-wing-party such as Leefbaar Rotterdam.

This ms vd Anker is anti-black, anti-homosexual, etc, and her ideas regularly go wild. Even her colleague, Alderman Leonard Geluk of the same party has blasted her ideas as "absurd and idiotic".

pffffffff

of-course this is not truth. There are strict rules about abortion. What you probably mean by killing a baby is the discussion about baby's who are born without any change to stay alive. Sometimes baby's are born who are so sick that they are in a lot of pain. Everybody knows that they Will die within a few weeks or months. Sometimes, with all the medical things these days, you can keep a baby like that alive for a few months longer. But if you know it Will suffer horribly pain it's maybe better that you let nature do its work. It's forbidden to active end this live, but its more in the interest of the baby that you do anything possible to make it as comfortable as possible until it dies a natural dead. It's a horrible decision for the parents who don't want to loose their child. But it's more horrible to keep a baby a live for a few more months knowing it's in a lot of pain and will die in the end. In a lot of country's baby's who are born like that will died, but just because the Netherlands have more technical possibilities you have to make decisions like that.

Chesare

Diamondlil needs to wash her mouth with soap, not blurting out something completely out of context. How can you say that a country wants to pass a law, only after one neo-nazi has come up with that sick suggestion? This person is member of a very small party, with very little votes!

By the way, abortion is legal up till 3 months in the Netherlands.

angelheart

Your dad may of heard that wrong" that would be murder!!!
maybe it was up to 3 months pregnant! it still is murder to me
no matter how far, but that is my opinion .

Sparkles

Maybe something was mixed up here. Holland is trying to pass a law to make it mandantory for poor ethnic women to have an abortion because of the high crime rate among these people. We should pay attention to this law, because it is becoming that way here in America because of all the unplanned pregnancies.
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/feb/06022109.html

~Jamaica~

Probably...usually 3 months is the cut off at a bunch of places....its sick

facts9

Yes, this is true. Doctors in the Netherlands (Holland is technically a region in the Netherlands) are asking for new laws that allow the killing of newborn infants with disabilities or illnesses:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4093965.stm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6621588/

If it's legal to kill babies in the womb, why not outside the womb, right? This sickens me. We are all imperfect. We will all die at some point. That doesn't mean anyone has the right to kill us.

For more information on abortion, visit http://Abort73.com

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