Euthanasia ruling for prison lifer sets a worrying precedent

A Belgian serving a life sentence for murder and rape has won the right to an assisted suicide under the country’s euthanasia law, thus widening the scope of the law’s application and setting a precedent that has prompted about 15 more convicts to request the same option.

Frank Van Den Bleeken, who has spent three of his five decades behind bars, convinced doctors that he deserved permission to die because he suffered intense mental anguish due to the violent sexual impulses he could not overcome. Because of that, he had no hope of ever being released from prison.

Dr Wim Distelmans, head of the commission that reviews euthanasia applications, reported the new requests and said he expected more. He also spoke out against granting euthanasia to prisoners who could be medically treated for their condition. No Belgian prisons offer such treatment and Van Den Bleeken was denied permission to be moved to one in the Netherlands that does.

The case has sparked a debate in Belgium ranging from the limits of the euthanasia law to the parlous state of local prisons. The sister of a woman Van Den Bleeken raped and murdered asked why he should be able to “die with dignity” when his victims could not.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) is launching a campaign educating Canadians on the difference between medically assisted suicide and a national palliative care programme, writes Peter Kavanagh. CCCB President Archbishop Pau-Andre Durocher described the initiative, scheduled to be unveiled at the end of September, just days ahead of a Supreme Court hearing into medically assisted suicide, as “promoting a vision of life, a vision of care of the dying. And that vision is best embodied in good palliative care.”