Catholic care home sued for refusing euthanasia
Family of elderly cancer sufferer are suing the care home for not allowing a doctor to administer a lethal injection on its premises
The Belgian flag flies outside the Belgian federal parliament in Brussels. Some politicians have been demanding that the Church should be stripped of public funding unless it allowed euthanasia on its premises (Photo: AP)
by Simon Caldwell
posted Friday, 8 Jan 2016
The family of an elderly cancer sufferer who wanted to die by euthanasia is suing a Belgian Catholic care home for refusing to let a doctor give the woman a lethal injection on Church-run premises.
Mariette Buntjens was instead removed from the Sint-Augustinus rest home in Diest and died days later in the “peaceful surroundings” of a private residence at the hands of a doctor.
Nadine Engelen, the daughter of the woman, is now claiming that the care home caused Mrs Buntjens unnecessary “physical and mental suffering” by refusing her request to die within its walls.
She is taking the care home to a civil court in Louvain in April in a test case which could determine whether Church-run institutions have the right to refuse to be involved in acts of euthanasia.
http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/01/08/catholic-care-home-sued-for-refusing-euthanasia/