Politics
Sunday May 1, 2005
See today's LifeSiteNews stories
Council of Europe Rejects Euthanasia - Vatican Praises Move
STRASBOURG, May 2, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On April 27th, during the plenary session in Strasbourg, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) rejected a draft resolution on "assistance to patients at the end of life", a report submitted by Dick Marty (Switzerland, LDR). Euro-fam, a pro-life group which monitors the European Parliament reports that at the end of a long debate, parliamentarians voted on 71 amendments. Once amended, the text was overwhelmingly rejected by the Assembly. 138 voted against, 26 in favour and 5 abstained.
During the debate preceding the vote, several members also warned that any attempt to legislate euthanasia would lead to serious consequences. For example, recent reports show that the rate of euthanasia cases is escalating in countries where it was legalized. Today, euthanasia kills one person a day in Belgium and five persons a day in Netherlands. In both countries, the numbers are on the rise. The Netherlands even have a law that allows children aged between 12 and 17 years old to be 'euthanasied' on request.
The Vatican's Bishop Elio Sgreccia, commented on the vote on Vatican Radio saying, ""It has been a positive sign. It means that there are still forces in Europe that respect and want the life of the seriously ill patient respected, in the final stage."
Bishop Sgreccia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, warned however that "We must expect that pressure in favor of euthanasia will attack again with similar proposals, given that, in Europe, some countries have approved euthanasia." Indeed, Marty expressed his hope that the issue would come before the council again.
jhw
Back to TopSHARE THIS STORY: E-mail Print Newsvine Digg Reddit Del.icio.us Facebook
Latest Headlines
- Toronto Archbishop Decries Morgentaler Order of Canada - Sets Sunday as Day of Prayer Against Abortion
- Shock: Connecticut Supreme Court Strikes Down State Ban on Same-sex "Marriage"
- Boycott Successful: McDonald's Abandons Homosexual Activism
- Victoria, Australia Decriminalises Abortion: Criminalises Doctors' Consciences
- Pro-life Efforts Redouble as U.K. Embryo Bill Goes Back to House of Commons
- Mark Steyn "Not Guilty" of "Islamophobia": Human Rights Commission
- Gibbons Charged With Disobeying a Court Order
- Host Desecration Videos Back on YouTube
- Brampton Catholic High School To Host Pro-abort Liberal Leader Stephane Dion
- Exclusive Interview with "Fireproof" Co-Star Erin Bethea
- Oregon Court Orders Frozen Embryos Destroyed, Considered "Property Rights" Issue
- Canadian Archdiocese Advertising Fundraiser for Anti-Catholic Abortion/Condom Promoter
- Barbara Kay - Poland's "preemie miracle" is an embarrassing postscript to Henry Morgentaler's Order of Canada
Most Read this Week
- Canadian Artist and Catholic Novelist Michael O'Brien on Modesty in the Culture of Shamelessness
- Amazing Stories Come out of 2008 Life Chain
- Video Catches Planned Parenthood Covering Up Statutory Rape
- Heartland Christian Church Demands Peaceful Pro-Life LifeChain Participants Leave
- Franciscan University Board Member Backs Obama, School Distances Itself
- The Palin-Biden Debate and Where Things Stand Now
- Mandatory Homosexual Indoctrination in Grade School Survives after Supreme Court Turns Down Case
- The Silver Lining of an Obama Victory
- Harper Would Have to Personally Kill an Unborn Baby to Avoid the Hidden Agenda Charge
- Pro-life Hero Linda Gibbons Arrested Again, Only Days after Acquittal
MORE NEWS: 
LifeSiteNews.com Home Page Last 10 Days Archives Special Reports
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.