Dutch Set to Legalise Euthanasia

The Netherlands is poised to become the only country in the world to legalise euthanasia if the Senate approves the measure this week.

The upper house will start debating the controversial issue on Monday and will probably reveal its decision late on Tuesday, but the vote is seen as a formality after the lower house approved a bill to allow doctors help patients die.

The bill, which lays out strict rules for doctors to perform euthanasia, requires a simple majority in the 75-seat Senate before it becomes law.

A spokeswoman for the Dutch Voluntary Euthanasia Society (DVES) said that a 104-40 vote to pass the measure in the lower house in November made the organisation confident the bill would become law.

The three parties which govern the upper house -- the Liberal VVD, the Labour Party, and the moderate D66 party -- hold 38 seats between them and back the bill, as does the Green party with eight other seats.

If passed, the Netherlands will be the only country to make the practice legal.

People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/