Herbert Hendin

Herbert Hendin argues in the following viewpoint that, in practice, it is impossible to regulate legalized euthanasia so that it is limited to terminally ill, mentally competent patients who request it. Hendin contends that legalized euthanasia in the Netherlands has encouraged doctors there to accept euthanasia as a routine practice, and that in many instances doctors have ended the lives of patients without their request. He believes the Dutch experience clearly illustrates that even extensive legal safeguards cannot prevent euthanasia from being abused once it is initially permitted. Hendin is executive director of the American Suicide Foundation and author of the book Seduced by Death: Doctors, Patients, and the Dutch Cure.

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1. What is the name of the report commissioned by the Dutch government to study the...